For Don and Marie Gaeddert, their first mission assignment in China has been an emotional homecoming.
In June, the Gaedderts, mission workers appointed by Mennonite Mission Network, joined their son, Stephen, his wife, Yi, and their children, Luke and Alex, who live in Shanghai, as well as Don’s father, Menno, who flew in from Colorado. They visited churches that Don’s grandparents, Henry and Maria Brown, helped to plant in Daming and Puyang more than a century ago. They walked along the same roads, stood in the same sanctuaries, and met people who recalled stories of the Browns. The long-anticipated trip was a family reunion that linked generations and time periods.
For the Gaedderts, retracing the Browns’ path marked the midway point of their journey together after a year of adjusting
The couple from Larned, Kan., upon becoming empty nesters in August 2011, followed the path of the Browns, mission workers who went to China in 1909 and served 40 years in the Hebei and Henan provinces. At that time, the Browns were newly-wed and initially childless as they relied on God and each other in a far less modern China. They were among the first Mennonite workers in China from North America.
The Browns taught students how to read and write Mandarin at the Hua Mei school, which still remains but is no longer in use. They also provided medical care and shared agricultural practices that improved life for those in the countryside. They were also interred in a camp in 1941 during World War II when the Japanese invaded China. They were released in 1943.
For the Gaedderts, whose two-year commitment ends in July 2013, retracing the Browns’ path marked the midway point of their journey together after a year of adjusting to their new apartment and surroundings in Nanchong, a city in the province of Sichuan, teaching English at North Sichuan Medical College, and wrestling with Mandarin.
Along the five-hour 445-mile high-speed train ride from Beijing to Henan, the Gaedderts imagined what life must have been like for Don’s grandparents. Did they struggle to learn Chinese, too? Were they as embraced as foreigners as the Gaedderts have been? Did the Browns ever doubt their decision during their long journey, which would have taken more than a month via steamboats, rickshaws, and horse-drawn carriages through rough terrain?
“Daunting for anyone,” Don said of his grandparents’ challenge.
Then, “As the original church building came into view, several of us were emotional, realizing the significance of the Browns’ work so many years before,” Marie said.
Henry and Maria Brown served in China as missionaries beginning in 1909.
“To actually stand on the streets that my grandparents would’ve walked down in Puyang and Daming … just to imagine them 100 years ago being on those streets. And then in the church, too, being able to stand at the pulpit and look out over the worship area and imagine my grandfather and grandmother in that place. That really touched me deeply,” Don said, adding that his father, Menno, 84, was equally moved to see the churches for the first time.
“We’ve got a picture of Don sitting in a chair that his grandfather probably sat in,” Marie said. “It was a very moving time to realize the type of accomplishments that his grandparents realized, and that there is still a church there and people who remember them.”
They met face-to-face with two women from the Puyang church whom they had been in contact with via e-mail. The connection was made possible by Mennonite Partners in China.
Marie said that she was amazed by the lasting impression Don’s grandmother and other mission workers made on the women at the church. Two of them said their grandmothers knew Maria Brown and spoke fondly of her.
“Both of them, you could tell, they appreciated Don’s grandmother especially,” Marie said. “Back then, women weren’t given a lot of attention. It was a man’s world. So for them to be taught Bible stories and that God loves them, and the different ways that his grandmother would’ve treated them in a special way, I think made a huge difference in their lives.”
The Gaedderts, who attend Bergthal Mennonite Church in Pawnee Rock, Kan., are attending Nanchong Christian Church, where the services are exclusively in Mandarin. However, a Chinese friend sits beside them and helps with translations, especially the songs. They have developed new friendships among faculty and students at the university as well, and particularly enjoy Bible studies at homes. Visitors to their apartment have included Mission Network’s Radical Journey participants Kate Swartz of Spring City, Pa.; Paul Dyck of Winnipeg, Canada; and Laird Goertzen of Goessel, Kan.; who completed a one-year assignment.
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Mennonite Mission Network, the mission agency of Mennonite Church USA, leads, mobilizes and equips the church to participate in holistic witness to Jesus Christ in a broken world. Media may contact Andrew Clouse at andrewc@mmnworld.net, 574-523-3024 or 866-866-2872, ext. 23024.
