I Come from Africa
Surprised that I had greeted him in Chinese, the man sitting opposite me on the train asked, "Where do you come from?" "I come from Zimbabwe in Africa," I replied. "From Africa? But you are the wrong color!" Being 'white' and a 'long-nosed foreigner',' it would have been no surprise had I told the man I was from America or Britain or somewhere in Europe. He nodded understandingly when I explained that yes, although I was from Zimbabwe most of my forebears came from Europe.
On another long train journey in China, I got chatting to a retired cadre- turned businessman. Mr Wang had an incredible story. He shared some vivid childhood memories of living under the Japanese occupation and went on to speak about the Nationalist/Communist Civil War, 'Liberation', the Cultural Revolution, and the rise of Deng Xiaoping.
When I suggested he should write up his story he replied wistfully, "It's not the time to write true history. I would only get myself and my family into trouble."
As I tell my story, I trust I will not get anyone into trouble. My aim is to bring honor to the One who calls us to follow, and to share some of the wonderful things I have seen Him do. God called me from Africa to China but let me begin by mentioning my early forebears who followed God's call to Africa.
Born in London, William Anderson (1769-1852) of the London Missionary Society (LMS) was amongst the earliest Christian missionaries to South Africa, serving for fifty-two years. His great grandson, my grandfather, William Wardlaw Anderson (1888-1978), together with my grandmother Sheila, served with the LMS in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) for almost 60 years.
My maternal grandparents too were missionaries in Africa. My mother's father Reuben Bishop Flinn (1887-1988) arrived in Kenya in October 1813 a recruit with the Africa Inland Mission (AIM).
He married Miss Elizabeth Ann Thompson a young worker with the Heart of Africa Mission' which had been founded five years earlier by C.T Studd, the famous cricketer and missionary to China."
