Hello every one! Last night in family worship my dad was reading a book called "By Their Blood" and on of the family's were John and Betty Stam. They were martyrs over in China. It was an amazing story about how the gave their life's even until the end. Their story influenced many people including a man named E.H. Hamilton and he wrote this poem:
"Afraid?"
Afraid? Of what?To feel the spirit's glad release?To pass from pain to perfect peace,The strife and strain of life to cease?Afraid? Of that?
Afraid? Of what?Afraid to see the Saviour's face,To hear His welcome, and to trace,The glory gleam from wounds of grace,Afraid? Of that?
Afraid? Of what?A flash - a crash - a pierced heart;Brief darkness - Light - O Heaven's art!A wound of His a counterpart!Afraid? Of that?
Afraid? Of what?To enter into Heaven's rest,And yet to serve the Master blessed?From service good to service best?Afraid? Of that?
Afraid? Of what?To do by death what life could not -Baptize with blood a stony plot,Till souls shall blossom from the spot?Afraid? Of that?
This poem was written by E.H. Hamiliton,after hearing of the death of his missionary colleague Jack Vinson.Vinson was martyred in 1931 and showed no fear of death to his Chinese captors, telling them,"Kill me, if you wish. I will go straight to God".
Their story is really amazing please read it.
However, the Communists caught up to the Stams and when the soldiers did, they demanded all the money the Stams had; and it was handed over. The Communists then arrested John and took him to their headquarters. They left Betty, their baby, Helen, the maid and the cook in the Stams' house. The soldiers later came back an took Betty and Helen. The maid and cook begged to go along, but they were threatened to be shot if they did. Betty and Helen were taken to be with John.
That night, John Stam wrote a letter to CIM authorities, but it was never delivered. The letter was found later bundled up in some of Helen's clothes. It stated that the Stams were being held by the Communists for a ransom of $20,000. John Stam also wrote to the mission authorities of how he and his wife had been captured, then wrote, "Philippians 1:20: 'May Christ be glorified whether by life or death.'"
John, Betty and Helen were then taken to the local prison where some of the prisoners were released to make room for the Stams. In the midst of hustle and bustle, Helen started crying, and a soldier suggested that they kill her, since she was only "in their way". Then one of the prisoners who had just been released asked why they should kill the innocent baby. The soldiers turned to him and asked if he was willing to die for the foreign baby. The man was hacked to pieces for Helen in front of the Stams' eyes. Thus, Helen was allowed to live.
Martyrdom at Miaosheo
The next morning, the Stams were forced to march 12 miles with the soldiers, to the town of Miaosheo. The group stopped for a night, and Betty was allowed to tend to Helen; but in fact, Betty instead hid her daughter in the room inside a sleeping bag. The very next morning, John and Betty were being marched down the streets of Miaosheo to meet their deaths. Curious onlookers lined both sides of the streets. A Chinese shopkeeper stepped out of the crowd and talked to the Communists, trying to persuade them not to kill the Stams. The soldiers ordered the man back into the crowd, but he wouldn't step back. The soldiers then invaded his house where they found a Chinese copy of the Holy bible and a hymnbook. He was then led alongside the Stams to be killed as well, for being a Christian. After marching for a short while longer, John was ordered to kneel, and he was beheaded. Betty and the shopkeeper were killed moments later.
Rescue and aftermath
The baby, Helen, was found two days later by a Chinese pastor who took her home and took care of her. Reverend Lo Ke-chou and his wife then took the baby girl to her maternal grandparents, Reverend Charles Ernest Scott and his wife, Clara, who were also missionaries in China. The Stams' daughter later came to the United States and was raised by her aunt and uncle, George and Helen Mahy. As for Helen's parents, a small group of Christians found their bodies and buried them on a hillside. The Stams' gravestones read:
John Cornelius Stam, January 18, 1907, "That Christ may be glorified whether by life or by death." Philippians 1:20
Elisabeth Scott Stam, February 22, 1906, "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21
December 8, 1934, Miaosheo, Anhui, "Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life." Revelation 2:10
The story of their martyrdom was much publicized and inspired many to become missionaries.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
I know this is really late but I really wanted to blog about it since I didn't get a chance on fathers day. I just want to say that I have the best father in the world!! Here are 10 of the 1 hundred things that I love about my daddy:
#1. He is soooo kind!
#2. He always will stop and listen to you even for such small maters.
#3. He loves mama and us kids sooo much.
#4. He love Jesus first of every thing.
#5. He teaches us children about God and disciplines us.
#6. When he is here every one can't help but be happy!
#7. He keeps his promises.
# 8. He gives the BEST hugs and kisses.
# 9. He brings home treats to make us happy ( mom to, like flowers)
# 10. He is always playing with us!
Oh and I would also like to say I also have the best mama, but since it was fathers day I wrote about daddy.
#1. He is soooo kind!
#2. He always will stop and listen to you even for such small maters.
#3. He loves mama and us kids sooo much.
#4. He love Jesus first of every thing.
#5. He teaches us children about God and disciplines us.
#6. When he is here every one can't help but be happy!
#7. He keeps his promises.
# 8. He gives the BEST hugs and kisses.
# 9. He brings home treats to make us happy ( mom to, like flowers)
# 10. He is always playing with us!
Oh and I would also like to say I also have the best mama, but since it was fathers day I wrote about daddy.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Bible skit
Hello every one! Last week my dad asked us kids to put on a bible skit about how Hezekiah got sick because we were reading about it during family devotions. It was really fun!!!! We made a huge stage with curtains that we opened with ropes (probably not to professional:-). Isaac was the narrator, Noah was Hezekiah, Gracie and Treasure were his servants and I was Isaiah because know on wanted to memorise his lines. OK, I might have a pretty good memory but I wouldn't make a good actress as far as being serious goes! We all pretty much couldn't keep the giggles away except for Isaac, well Noah actually played off pretty well. Any way I encourage you to do this with your little siblings because you will never forget the story!
Monday, May 17, 2010
A tag :)
First the rules are: Please tag five people and do not tag the one who tagged you. And if you would not like to answer a certain question, simply change it to one you like and answer that.
#1-What song are you currently listening to a lot? Oh how he loves us by David Crowder.
#2- What books are you currently reading? The Elsie Dinsmore books.
#3-Do you sing a lot? Yes!
#4-Sweet or salty?Sweet.
#5-What is your favorite hobby? writing and reading pretty much the same!
#6-What books have you read at least 3 times? Elsie Dinsmore, Janie's freedom, The Bible!
#7-What sites do you always visit when you get on the Internet? My Blogger, ummm.... and my Gmail.
#8-What was the last things you bought? A bag of food for my rabbits.
#9-Which fictional character do you think you are most like? I don't know.
#10-Favorite earliest memory? When I went on a date with my dad when I was 4.
#11-What do you do to change your mood? Play with my pets!
#12-What was the last meal you ate? peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch.
#13-Do you want to learn another language? Spanish and Latin.
#14-Five things you can’t live without?1. My bible, 2. my books,3. my family, 4. animals, 5. sweets!
#15- Find the closest book to you, and flip to page 54.what is the first sentence in the 2nd paragraph? A bible " When anyone offers a grain offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour," that's if coloring books don't count:)
#16-What is something you would like to say right now? God is Good!!
# 17- What are your five favorite animals? #1. horses, deer, rabbits, dogs and all birds!
# 18- Whats your favorite color? lavender.
#19- If you could live in a book which one would you live in? Any of the Millie Keith or Mandie mystery books!
# 20- What is your favorite sport? Basket ball.
And now I tag 5 people~ my Aunt Farah, my Blogger freind Grace, my Blogger freind Nanna, and my blogger freind Jo March
#1-What song are you currently listening to a lot? Oh how he loves us by David Crowder.
#2- What books are you currently reading? The Elsie Dinsmore books.
#3-Do you sing a lot? Yes!
#4-Sweet or salty?Sweet.
#5-What is your favorite hobby? writing and reading pretty much the same!
#6-What books have you read at least 3 times? Elsie Dinsmore, Janie's freedom, The Bible!
#7-What sites do you always visit when you get on the Internet? My Blogger, ummm.... and my Gmail.
#8-What was the last things you bought? A bag of food for my rabbits.
#9-Which fictional character do you think you are most like? I don't know.
#10-Favorite earliest memory? When I went on a date with my dad when I was 4.
#11-What do you do to change your mood? Play with my pets!
#12-What was the last meal you ate? peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch.
#13-Do you want to learn another language? Spanish and Latin.
#14-Five things you can’t live without?1. My bible, 2. my books,3. my family, 4. animals, 5. sweets!
#15- Find the closest book to you, and flip to page 54.what is the first sentence in the 2nd paragraph? A bible " When anyone offers a grain offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour," that's if coloring books don't count:)
#16-What is something you would like to say right now? God is Good!!
# 17- What are your five favorite animals? #1. horses, deer, rabbits, dogs and all birds!
# 18- Whats your favorite color? lavender.
#19- If you could live in a book which one would you live in? Any of the Millie Keith or Mandie mystery books!
# 20- What is your favorite sport? Basket ball.
And now I tag 5 people~ my Aunt Farah, my Blogger freind Grace, my Blogger freind Nanna, and my blogger freind Jo March
Saturday, May 15, 2010
We rescued 2 baby deer!!!!!
Hello every one! Yesterday we had to go some where and my dad was supposed to be home but he was late. When he got home, he told us that he had been holding an abandoned 10 day old baby deer! (He works out on Seabrook Island golf course.) Anyway he felt bad the rest of the day. Then, that afternoon, when me and my brothers and sisters were outside, my dad said that we would go back and look for him because he was so helpless and sick. Well we got there and we looked all around and we couldn't find him. We were all praying that we would find him because we knew he would die if he didn't eat. Anyway, we were getting in the car and my dad was going to pick some black berries for us when he heard him crying again. So he looked and finally found him! He is really tiny and was very sick last night but seems fine today. We are going back and forth between the names John Deer and Bamby for him, but we can't decide. Well anyway, my dad got another call from his assistant that there was another baby out there that he had found! So my dad and I went out there and picked him up. They are both bucks! He looks alot like the other one except just a little bigger! We named him Spunky because when I picked him up he would yell and squirm. Last night we went to Pet Smart and got a small animals bottle for him. We feel like we have two new babies because they have to eat every 3 hours. Hunter made up a joke this morning and said " we are on Noah's ark because we have two by two's, 2 dogs, two birds, two rabbits and now two dear," and my dad said "yea, that's because we have an obedient Noah! " We are going to bring them to an animal shelter soon where they will care for them until they are old enough to be set free in the wild. It's so fun to care for them even if it's only for a day or two. Maybe I'll post some pictures on Peyton's Picture spot.
PS. please tell me if you like John Deer or Bamby best.
PS. please tell me if you like John Deer or Bamby best.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
I am going to try to start posting a verse on this blog each day, some of them from my morning bible study. Well the one I wanted to post right now is one of my favorites. It is Hebrews 4:12. " For the word of the Lord is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and is the discern er of the thought and intentions of the heart". I really like this verse because some times if I have done something wrong and I will sit down and read my bible and a verse pops up that totally makes me feel terrible for my action. I think this verse is good for every one to memorize especially the end.
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