5th June, 2022.

GLADYS AYLWARD- AIWEH-DEH

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Gladys Aylward (1902-1970) worked as a missionary in China. When Gladys applied to the China Inland Mission she was denied because of language barrier and her young age but she didn't give up. In 1932, Gladys arrived in Yangcheng and began to work with an older missionary, Jennie. Gladys worked for the Chinese government as a “foot inspector”, enforcing the new laws against female foot binding.

She became a beloved Chinese citizen, affectionately called “Ai-Weh-Deh”. She took in many orphans and unwanted girls. When the region was invaded by the Japanese during WWII, Gladys took around 100 orphans over the mountains to safety. Alyward later settled in Taiwan where she spent her remaining days running her orphanage and sharing Jesus with her many friends and the children for whom she cared. That's creative and strategic evangelism. The idea of evangelism some folks have today is not relevant with the times. The more we see the decadence in our society, the greater the opportunities we have to evangelize. We only need to pray for wisdom, the right strategy and timing. No place can be locked against the Gospel. The problem is that we haven't found the key to penetrate. The first outreach we had in our ministry was to street urchins in Lagos. I've preached in that neighbourhood for years but I didn't have the privilege to get the attention of those area boys. As the Lord instructed, we organized an inter-street football competition and put a slot for evangelistic preaching into it. They came. The attendance we had should be over 200 from my estimation. That's strategic evangelism.

The message of the Gospel remains the same but the strategy for propagating it can change from place to place. Do you know that you can share Jesus through caring for people? There are street children in your neighbourhood that are less privileged. You can organize a meeting, cook for them and share the love of Christ with them. What about starting a bible club in your neighbourhood? Yes, you can start a bible club in your neighbourhood. You can celebrate your next birthday in the orphanage and share Christ's love with orphans. Gladys didn't have much money but she had a willing heart. Ask the Lord to give you a heart that is willing to share the Gospel and the right strategy to enter into places locked against the Gospel.