Shining His Light
May 29, 2009
By William E. Richardson
“The Dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to
those who sit in darkness” (Luke 1:78,79, NKJV).
Nearly half a century before the movie “End of the Spear”
chronicled the deaths of five missionaries to Ecuador, Hollywood gave us “The
Inn of the Sixth Happiness,” based on the life of Gladys Aylward, missionary to
China.
The Hollywood project received big name support. Ingrid
Bergman and Robert Donat, both Academy Award winners, signed on to star in the
film.
Ingrid Bergman reenacted the kinds of trials common to
missionaries. Miss Aylward had to raise money to get to the field, faced the
challenge of being accepted in Northern China, and labored to rescue people
from both human and spiritual oppression.
She arrived in the 1930s, when Chinese women practiced foot
binding to keep their feet small. The local official, or mandarin, assigned
Aylward to represent him in dissuading the practice. She successfully did.
The Japanese attacked China in those years prior to World
War II. In the movie, Japanese planes bombed and destroyed the city where
Aylward lived. Robert Donat as the mandarin gave a believable performance converting to Christianity because he was deeply affected by
the missionary’s life. Gladys then led 100 orphaned children to safety over Japanese-infested mountains.
“The Inn of the Sixth Happiness” became one of the most
successful films of 1958. While he didn’t win, the director was nominated for
an Academy Award.
What’s more, the movie is a great tribute to all the men and
women who respond to the missionary call. They exchange more comfortable lives
to be God’s hands, feet and mouth in other parts of the world. Daily, the light
of the gospel shines into spiritual darkness around the world through
missionaries.
Like missionaries who live in foreign cultures, Jesus’ light
shining through you can change lives in the darkness.
— William E. Richardson is senior pastor of Afton
(Iowa) Assembly of God and author of “God’s Billboards.”
