Friday, October 3, 2008

The Inn of the Sixth Happiness

According to Chinese tradition.....there are five happinesses in life...wealth, longevity, health, virtue, and peace in life and death...
Yesterday, during our mini church....we talked about the sixth happiness (according to two missionary ladies to China) and most important happiness...being in the center of God's will...
According to 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 we found out the answer to...
Which kind of people does God invest in?

...and sometimes the answer comes as quite a shock....and definitely counter-cultural...society values: those with good looks, the right clothes, lots of money, great talent, highly respectable name or position, or material acquirements...those are the kinds of folks the world invests in....

Paul, in these verses says that God chooses the seemingly foolish, weak and insignificant (as the world sees them) as the ones He calls to invest in. And why does God do that??? V.29..."so that no flesh should glory in His presence"...so no man gets the credit!!!

Gladys Aylward (1902-1970) was one of those whom God chose...she had deep within her heart that she was called to be a missionary to China....she was born into an English family with 2 sisters and a brother...all whom of which took after their parents as they were tall, blond haired and blue eyed....Gladys was born small in stature, with dark hair and eyes...she was told by the head of the Chinese missionary board that she was "not qualified" to be sent to China...but instead of deterring her from the "call" on her life, she took a job as a house maid, saved up her earnings and went to Yang Cheng, China of her own accord....where she met up with the aging Christian missionary, Agnes Lawson...who had founded an inn...called the Inn of the Sixth Happiness.....to evangelize travelers who passed through...This inn later became an orphanage under Gladys Aylward's direction which housed 100 orphans...who then in 1940 fled Yang Cheng because of wars to the safer providence of Sian...a perilous 100 mile mountainous journey with 100 orphans in tow...

Glady's story became the movie...The Inn of the Sixth Happiness...now out on DVD...starring Ingrid Bergman...even when Gladys had the chance to go to a comfy, clean, upscale orphanage....she chose to go back to Yang Cheng...and the Inn of the Sixth Happiness...(not because of the love of a man as portrayed in the movie version) but for the sixth happiness as she said...that is the greatest happiness...to be in the center of God's will for your life!!!

Insignificant and Ordinary?
At the end of her life Gladys wrote of herself: "My heart is full of praise that one so insignificant, uneducated, and ordinary in every way could be used for His glory for the blessing of His people in poor persecuted China."

Are you living in the sixth happiness??? It's the happiest place on Earth....sorry
Disneyland®!!

1 Corinthians 1:26-31: Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when God chose you. Not many of you were considered wise by human standards. Not many of you were powerful. Not many of you belonged to important families. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. He chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the things of this world that are common and looked down on. He chose what is not considered to be important to do away with what is considered to be important. So no one can brag to God. Because of what God has done, you belong to Christ Jesus. He has become God's wisdom for us.He makes us right with God. He makes us holy and sets us free. It is written, "The one who brags should brag about what the Lord has done."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Dear Pam,
I would like by this email request permission to post the attached picture of Gladys Aylward onto my blogspot,www.James516ministries.blogspot.com
under the posting called...The Inn of the Sixth Happiness....

Dear Char,
That’s fine; permission is granted as requested below.

Pam

Pam Pugh
General Project Editor
Moody Publishers
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