MEET DAVID AND JONATHAN!

sma

DAVID LOWELL MORSE

JONATHAN RUSSELL MORSE

9 Months

NEWS ITE^^^anuary-February, 1950

Kunming, China

'

Yunnan-Tihetan Churches of Christ TTTlTl^usselCW^se, Director

The mission headquarters house at 340 Shang Hsipa, Kunming, is filled with missionary refugees from interior points of China. Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Cooke, of the China Inland Mission, whose station was 12 days journey south of Pugeleh on the Salween river, are there with their three children. Eugene and Robert Morse worked with them in 1947 getting out the Lisu hymnal. Mrs. J. Russell Morse has had tele-. grams from Mr. Morse, but no letters have been received from him or by him since last December. Mrs. J. Russell Morse, with Eugene, Helen, David and Drema, are refugeeing in Hong Kong, 11-A Carnarvon Road, care Presbyterian Mission Home, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Eugene is supervising an electroplated edition of the Lisu New Testament which will be flown to Myitkyina, Burma, in about two months and then by
caravan distributed among the Lisu mission congregations in upper Burma. Hundreds of the Salween valley Lisu Christians have moved

over into the upper Burma area after being burned out in their old
homes. The task now is to reorganize them into working congregations

and to equip them with testaments, hymnals, and teaching material. Thus fortified, the native pastors might be able to continue Christian worship after their American teachers have to. leave, them. If possible,

Mr. and Mrs. J, iRusseUr Ivlorse will joinJifo; aiid Mrsi itbbert Morse in

Janet,: l^-^e
hopdd

or J^i^'Refe^^

aii^ i^ssilfe

ihiS^ Ite.

be ^bl^^to'^ts^fbi^'tfe

DO]^^ Si^^Uhgi Wis

br as

up by-^e1^^
gent^''fedl^8i^V-^"f

5Iil
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a
- -A ..T;tCr_^^r; .V_ l. / V;X)

forw^c^g w6i?1|' fo^ d^ Missionary^ Mrs: dpra SteMig^^" "cai^ on" in to

Charles Sterliofe^o^ M

iAnoffier very great loss- 1^ been sustaiiled in tibe ]^sirig of Mr.

ye^

tife^eriq^ ^d
Rt^rliviig

building in the Hon^^d forsthey have endure^ ^^^el^f^.wra<^JVn^ ordeals in a" WOT torn areavwheEiB-tcj^ical feveris'.and ailmpntg aryi^ nTnigfially
maKgnant;^ ,sv>'\-:-cv^.^ "-',

Chula Vista/Gali^iS^ Our Idite and svmpatl^ ^^i<g fertiily All oip rettmoing: Eb^sionaries now need mui^'rit^ anMi ifp-

Excerpts from Robert letter of January 22, 1950, written from Rangoon, Burma, give an idea of the problems faced by mission
workers in northern Biurma.

"The Lord delivered us from the Chinese commimists and got us

across mountains and rivers to Taraiwanggong, Burma. The congrega

tion there had built a four-roomed, rough bamboo house several days before we arrived and so we were nicely fixed for Betty's confinement
and for the six weeks after when we stayed there. Isabel and Janet

Dittemore had the front room; Dorothy Sterling and Aime were nearby. "Vi^en we "fled" from the Salween we brought out the barest necessities
in jfood, olothing and medicines. Later Pastor Stephen was able to for ward other boxes so that we have at least a third pf our supplies,^ which ^
by rationing,?will last several months. '

Jonathan Russell, or J. Russell Morse the Second, whom we Johm, came normany k 9:25 pjh. by cMidle light, oh October Sl Since we had no drugs or ir^trimients to a^isi: NWse Sterling in Betty's

trav^ ^e was; bacQy torn, so we have come to Rangoqn for hospital

services both for her and the child, ; All's well nowi Jonni c^e feet

st^^^j^---a;:lpud

first and face up:vjrardj mesu^g that we, a^ost ?lost him. Fortunately, herwas toly q^ck, and has proved tp be ey^,since* "Qur little, Burma

crier with plenty of Idcfc, Weiihti 5^rpounds,i

Brea$t,;fed,'fpFtmiately; and iie thrives on it-*'Iliai^yGod^lvithi

Betfe^ w^-and-is?wondetfed. -Hieva^isur-fnendgr

Jomu on her back in a cradle strap: *'She looks just like one of usP*^ We'plan to iretulTi upKCbimtry soon, as the work Ihiere is so urgent;; and we shall stay-until we havfe to evacuate-again or if we can't giel^'fobd' sUppliies. We dread evacuation, for' this time it bfe through Ladid, and we may never be able tocome back again if the i^eds take-Btinnal Quar xAurches iall-need a period of intensive teaching and if possible, a revival, to establish them solidly for the times to come. Over 1,000 of the Lisu Christians hav(&evticuaite(d to-th^ Buniia i^tion and they need help getting re-settled:^d l?eor^!a^^2^^^^ sv- :

so overwhelmed by the needs'of^-this woiM! Ouif^p^ple need a spiritual boost, yet instead of'being-^ jdblie ^ give ii to th^ii,:we feel so drained
and empty that we need td fee on the -i^ceiving a^ This can only come
from a great outpouring of prayers from ^our Christiian co-workers. We

More than anythinj^ 'Ve' n^: i^tiyers! We f^l so inadequate and

need material support, y^-for our exp^es are many times greater
than normally, but most of ^* w^ need:spiHtual' stipport. The past year hits been fuU (^ r^at rhissionary work. We
arrived at the nearest mission station, I A^ited all

but one of the Mekong congregations,

^^8^^

twice a week,

made a trip up the SsdweenitaT^a an^

refugees in the wars.going on aibtmd-te.; ^

and weeks helping

men with bullet

wounds; one of her souvenirs iS a bidlet sSie^dt^^^

We spent weeks with -i^ie siiid Isabel jprej^

of a fellow's hip.
teachingleaflets;

I worked on the Rawarig lan^agiev i^^

Myitkyina and^ereabputs.

acters. Since the evacuatioii l^e^^i^bt^'^iiEt^

; r . -

the Lisu char

and preaching

at Tarawanggong, and I've preached ait several places en route to

It is a wonder Beitly doesn't feel very much nej^ected^d homesick,

but she is as eag^ to ^o back as I am. ;It?is juSt-lhat'we are.ve^^ticedv Lonesome^ too, for lett^:^ from^ homefolks and friends. Cain you imagr
ine: since-May we have had letters-only from Mbther MferiWethfeitiaA'd

you, dear Grandmother. We need fellowship, encouragement, and morale boosting. Please, friends, buy a 25c air mail stamp. Put ilr oil a letter addressed to us at Yun7iaTir-TibetaAn.Christian MisMon, TUrawansh gong, P.O. Putao, via Myitkyina^ Kachin State, Ujj^jer Burma. Thin
paper only. Keep writing, even if you don't hear from us.
We left China because we were warned we would be "concentrated"

and thus lose our freedom to work among the Lisu congregations. We
know what this war means. Several times we had "war" and the Reds

right on our doorstep. Once we went into the forest to hide; several times we heard the shooting at the front lines. We even preadied to the "Commie" soldiers who swarmed over our place for all the summer

months, ^o, we left so we might go1>ack againwith Betty and young

Jonni. The Burmese situation is "critical", but so is our mission work. For their sakes we can't afford to leave the churches yet. We shall be in the Kachin State, which is strongly anti-Communist and, from their

experiences of the last war, very pro-American. We have food for the
summer and in that brief time we have much to do. "The night cometh."
^Robert Morse.

Mrs. Betty Morse (Mrs. Robert), wearing a Lisu costume with typ ical baby carrier,-stands beside the rough bamboo house at Tarawanggong. Plenty of fresh air gets through this flimsy wall. The dress is hand-made from home-woven cloth made from hand-spun grass fibers. The head-dress has a fringe of gay colors. Jonni was a month old.
Distributed by Mrs. Ruth MorsEj Forwarding Agent, 114 South Denver Avenue, Tulsa 3, Oklahoma,

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j-.vj,. 3W o".-tO s J r i u i l a/U j6

no jfl^h uvr aottiiJ

Iln
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saalq iu( Tivo bamiBwa udw

ibh/OS 3*^

"aiiiUoO"' orfi

V>/
TEE MORSE STORY

as of March 4, 1950

.3

J. RUSSELL MOHSE, 340 Shang Hsopa, Kunming, Yunan, W. China (na mail going through). , .
Mr. Morse has not received nor sent letters since December. He

>

wired that the mission station is full of refugees.

MRS. GERTRUDE MORSE, 11-A Carnarvon Road, tjo Presbyterian Mission House,

Kowloon, Hongkong, China (Airmail only).

Mr. and Mrs. Morse plan to join Iiflr. and Mrs. Robert Morse in upper

Burma as soon as conditijns permit.

Mrs. Ruth Morse, Tulsa states:

"Send prayers only, not moneymoney should be sent to 114 S. Denver Avenue, Tulsa 3, Okla.

MR. AND MRS. EUGENE MORSE, DAVID LOWELL, AND DREMA (Same address as Mrs.
Morse).
V

Testament whicl^w^ll^.e flown to Tyitkyina, Burma, in about two months and then^fby ^caravan to be distributed among the Lisu mission
congregation in Upper Burma.

Eugene is supervising an electroplated edition of the Lisu New

AND MRS. ROBERT MORSE, AND J. RUSSELL, JR., c/o Methodist English

School, 57 Signal Pagoda Road, Rangoon, Burma (with the. notation,

"If not at this address, please forward^").

LAVERNE MORSE AND MELVERT BYERS, MOBY, c/b American Baptist Union, Myitkyina, Kachin State, Upper Burma (Airmail only).
No word has been received since Dec. 2, 1949 when they were safe in Tsakalo, Province of Kam^ Tibet, and making plans to go by caravan into Burma. They are believed to be snowbound. If this is true, there-will likely be no-further word until the passes open in May or June.
MRS. ISABEL DITTEMORE AlW JANET,

According to Mrs. Maude B. Maxey, a cablegram was received, March

kong.

2, stating that they were leaving Rangoon, Burma, to go to Hong

They will not gcr to Putao for six months as was originally

planned

JANE KINNETT AND DOROTHY STERLING, R. N., Yunnan-Tibetan Christian Mission, Tarawanggong, P. 0. Putao, via Myitkyina, Kachin State, Upper Burma

(Airmail onl^).

Expecting to return to States on furlough as soon as possible.

Miss

Sterling has adoped a Lisu child which she hopes to bring with her.

BffR. AND MRS. DAVID H. REES, (same address as Jane Kinnett). Expect to stay through the coming summer if food supplies last.

Robert Howe Morse and Betty Meriwether Morse

with Jonathan i?ussell Morse, aged jour months, Rangoon, Burma

SECOND NEWS LETTER1950

Messages From
RUTH MARGARET MORSE
ROBERT MORSE BETTY MORSE

EUGENE MORSE HELEN MYERS MORSE

THE J. RUSSELL MORSE FAMILY AND ASSOCIATES

YUNNAN-TIBETAN CHURCHES OF CHRIST

"Where China, Tibet and Burma Meet"

A Co-operative Association of Undenominational '

Direct-Support Missionaries "Now 1 beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Chrises sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with ttve in'ydiir prayers for me that / may
be deliKered.from, them that .do not believe." Romans 15:30-31.

SECOND NEWS-LETTER, 1950

Concerning the Yuwiav^Tihetan Churches of Chri^ and

Mis^OTi^ in Burma.

Foreword hy Mrs. Ruth Morse, Forwardir^ Age^t, tl4 South Denver Ave., Tuha. 3, 0kWkdnM
Dear co-woxkers throughout these troubled times: ;

Christian misst^ fields "out whp'e China, T^et and'^ufma meelf' is

that the Direc^, J. Russell Mor^e, still mii&ers to the Christian con
gregations in Kunming to which there have recently heeii added eight

As of May jfirst, the over-all picture of yshat has 'kdj^ened on the

hy baptism. S^eral bombed out Christian families have been sheltered

and fed at the mission house, 340 Shang Hsipa, Kunming. Almost no overland mail gets out of that part of ChiTia and there is no air service but messages w^e exchanged by radiortelegraph between Mr. and Mrs. Morse until she left Hong Kong for Burma on April 11. Eugene Morse,

his wife Heleri and year-old son David, toith Drerna, jFteio with Mrs.

Russell Morse] to Rangoon, Burma,rin A^l enroute t6, join Robert

Morse and farkily at the frontier misskj^'station of Tarajwanggong, in

Upper Burmxi!'1^'is'Kc^ed thafJ^a^ei^ Morse and M^ Byers have

completed their journey through Inner Tibet, northern India to the
mission ^stations, but there has been no word from them for. several
months. Mr. and Mrs. David Rees with two sons remain on the Burmaside of the mission

ling readied hier home,

April, flying over the Pacific. Mrs. Isabel Maxey Dittemore and her daughter, Janet, stayed on at Hong Kong to receive the printing Eugene Morse was supervising for the mis^on schools.'' She plans to forward this material by air to Fort -Hertz froni whence it wUl be carried by caravan to the Christian congregajAons in tjpper Burma. By this delay
in Mrs. Dittemore's homecoming, Eugene andihis family were enabled to rejoin Robert Morse and the other workers in Upper Burma in tirtie

for the- spring Bible schools. This is a fine example of the. cooperation
and team work between members of this mission group.

It is a plea^re to report that the same steadfasiness and co-operation continues among the supporters of these missiqns'and-aniong the several

forwarding agents. It is good, too, to know of the physical and spiritual growth of Rutfe Margaret Morse, Only p| Mr. ,OTid Mrs. J.
Russell Morse, now fifteen years^^old. Her address is 2024 North 14th Street, Terre Haute, Indiana; in care of Mrs. Osedf Myers. Before giving
details from workers on the mission field, we quote from Ruth Mar-

garei^s letter xjbritt'^ for tH

' '

'
^ghedr Iii1rs> Ruth Morsb -

GREETINGS

from RUTH MARGARET MORSE

P
WT"*"*
S -

1
,

g
*
'

flying alone from Hong Kong after a three weeks'

It was really wonderful to make such a trip via Panon which I flew was called the "Kit Carson." The

O" July 15th and came to the U. S. A. in August, 1949, delay there, waiting for my reservation on the plane.

the U. S. A., I would like to extend greetings on behalf those who are still in China, Burma, and Tibet. Probably most of you know that I left Kunming

As I am the only one of the J. R. Morse family in

American World Airways. The four-motored plane way and Honolulu. There were many very interesting
plane made stops at Manila, Wake Island, Guam, Mid-

Ii
. i, 1

sights to be enjoyed each time we stopped. Also, at each stop all passengers were taken to a restaurant
and served a big meal of delicious food with almost

. . . mas^7jZssM

everything imaginable on the menu. Our longest stop

Ruth Margaret

through customs. The trip was really short, though it seemed long sometimes during the time over the ocean. We left Hong Kong Thursday at 4:30 p.m. China time, and arrived in San Fran cisco at 7:30 a.m. Sunday. Miss Dorothy Patmont, who has been so land to many of the missionaries, was at the airport to meet me. I took
ing Helen Morse's mother, Mrs. Oscar L. MIers. I came to Terre Haute I arrived just in time to attend Lifework Recruit Week at Cedar Lake where I met many fine Christian young people. ' I am a freshman in Garfield High School where I found the teachers

in Honolulu, where we spent four hours and went

the noon train for Los Angeles where I was met by many friends, includ

with her, after a brief visit with mv Grandmother in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

,American school in Kunming, which-1 attended last year. There were only thirty-eight students and Garfield High School has an enrollment
of over five hundred.

and students very friendly and helpful. It was quite a change from the

family with whim I am making my home, try to help me from becoming

'Edith, who is 16, and a "brother," Tommy, who is 13.

Of course I miss my loved ones who are so far away, but the Myers

homa, help a lot too. In the home here I have a "sister," Margaret
We have such a fine group of young people in the Maple Ave. Chris

too homesick. The letters from my parents, also from Eugene and Helen in Hong Kong, and the "letters from Grandma and my aunts in Okla

tian Church were Mr. A. L. Althaus is Minister, and where I am having opportunities for Christian service and training in Christian leadership I have made many friendships which I'm sure will last through the
and Lifework Recruit Group. I enjoy singing in the choir, too. I am planning to prepare myself to do missionary nursing. I hope to be able
to return to Lisuland, but if that is impossible I'm sure that the Lord will
Signed: Ruth Margaret Morse

years. I have been active in our Bible School Class, Christian Endeavor

lead me into other paths of service.

Letter from Robert Morse, wHUen Oct.

1949, from upper Burma.

For many months we have been wishing, that all our friends back
home could see and know some of the events which have happened to

our mission work, and to us, and many is the time we have wished to write to you, butthere has been no time to write and ijo way to get mail out. And now, after these many months, it is hard to |get back into

the letterrwriting habit, especially when we don't get any mioll at ^ ourselves. So first of all, let us teU you that we now have direct mail service again, and all you need to do is xise an air letter| form cost^g

ten cents, and address U. S. jPost Office Putao, Via Myitkyina, Kac&
State, upper Burma, and we should receive your letters within six weeks of mailing. After having lost contact with the outside wjorld and our friends smd loved ones during otir short period behind the "Bamboo

Curtain" (which is hardening into iron) , we now feel doubly apprwiative of our new freedom, and wish to make use of it. So if ajnyonewishes
to write directly to us, we sure will do our best to get an ahswer to you.

Although it was a great shock to all of us in Lisuland to find burselves right in the heart of a rapidly growing warfare on the Yunnan Tibetan Border, we tried all during the summer to continue our work. Realizing that our time was at best short, we never wMted for better

opportimities to come along, or conditions to improve, but raAer changed our long range plans to immediate concentrated activities^ Al though our former mission stations of Yeachi and Kangpu were devas tated, and natives driven out and killed; the northern half of our work including the Tada Station caught on the opposite side of the battle line
and foi^ a time fellow Christians were practically forced to fi^t against

each other; and although we had at one time to evacuate both the Pugeleh and Drats' stations, still we all tried to continue the work, day and
night, which would best build up the native congregations. Betty was .at a great disadvantage from a serious case of brain concussion which kept her in bed for over a month. The day we climbed the moimtain from the Mekong river up over the narrow trail to Isabel's Drats' Station, at 7300 ft. elevation, Betty's horse fell off the trail, her saddle straps broks, and she was thrown and pinned down beneath the horse, knocking her head against some unseen
rock on the hillside. She was carried tmconscious the rest of the way

to the house, although she did make an attempt to get back on the horse immediately after. For several weeks she regained consciousness only periodically. When she finally got the best of it, with much prayer and

helpful care by Isabel and Jane, she pitched right in, as she was able, and helped work on materials for translation, and studying the lan guage. However, relapses occiured periodically all summer, clear up
until the time we crossed the last hi^ divide which put us temporarily

out of readi t)f the Communists. -Many a'tiihe, when others of us felt strdineid to the breaking point, the way in which Betty kept going woul4
encoiirage to continue.

Inasmuch as the warfare which, enveloped our surea like a sudden storm, was entirelyjmexpected* the whole vaUey of the Meknog, as well
as the Salween, was unprepared, and thus practically defenseless^ Being entirely agricultural, all the natives were engaged in their busiest sea son of farming, so the entire area faces a very. bad. fan^e .1^ ynnter and spring. One of our main efforts was caring for refugees, first froin

one \r^ey ^d then the bther^ as thieir homes were destroyed and fields

ruined. Tliiis we did by providing labor as a means of getting food. We

had bur eqiiipment and hymriails carried intd the Salween.valley. Mmy

Christians were wounded in the warf^e. Fortimately most of ^ese

were flesh wounds. A Lisu Cluristian who had backslidd^ required a
month's hospital treatment due to a badly infected, deeply imbedded bullet. Isabel and Betty took care ,of him and we had the opportunity to exhort him to repent, and finally to see him return and testify in the grace of God in bringing him through. (David Rees dug out the bullet) Because of our long work in this area, we have been accepted as part of the area's social structure, and most of the young Chihese and Na:^ soldiers had been former fellow-students of mine, or pla3nnates with ^a biackground of Sunday School attendance. Hie defense leader who had

been a former army officer, was a recent convert of tsabel's personal

livangelism, and quite a few had but recently been baptized

themselves, which we believe they did.

there

w^ plenty of opportxmity during this time of str^s for them to prpY

That is part of the purpose of this letter. To let you folk know that
we are still ahve, and working, that we feel very much in need.of.the moral support and encouragement that a few letters from the states could give us; and that finally we are in a place where we can get some mail. First of all, we want you folk to know that oin: past year h^ not

been wasted. Each step we have felt and se^ the guidance of the Lor^
^d in many ways, we know we have been used of him, even though we have had to do an extraordinary lot of traveling, and even "fleeiiig".
Signed: Robert Morse

Oct. 8,19^, just three weeks after the fleeing missidn group drossed the

Jonathan Russell Morse {Jonni jor short) vjos horn in Tarawanggong

11,000 ft. mountain pass between Chinese territory and upper BumuL Nurse D<yrothy Sterling, who attended his arrival, writes that noTie of his pictures do him justice and that he is a very happy little fellow,

Robert ref^s to him as their "little Burma shav^' "with a lusty yej^

Hivi w ^ong kick " 'The little family made: the long trip to Rangoon in Simy^ry ior m^^ Mc^se a,rid Jonru. T^ey also hrougliA swj^lies and medicines to replace the most essential items which

Rcmgqtm for, ponf^

and Fort Hertz. \

the Communists had "borrowed" -from them. lEugene Morse flew to

flew ha^ to Hong Kong to, have some
^ .

f^abhin^'TTiat^al 'j^nted^

as j)osblc to get up to the mission field by way of Rangoon, Myitkyind

tAsu Bthle irdcts arid as soon

' Oct; 30, 1949 '

Dear; Mother arid Djadd^

aU ofmyfar^

;V . Yesterday Jonatheua was three;/weeks old Today Wj? went to

,.9hurch,: a memorable day! How long I had planned for this day!

y,^er a Lisu wom^ h^ .baby &e mother k, supposed to let S9me -jM^otind I 'reaUy tried to niake Robert or Dorothy (my blessed Doctor), take hiih for me. The next day crowds of people caine to see ' c.the tiny baby-who weighed only 5:pounds and was only 19 inches ;lpng.. , ... Monday, A.M.--We are all in-the front room of our bsunboo house .'Sitting around the ;fire in,the: center of the room. The board benched t r on which we sit are only about six inches above the dirt floor. There ;,are no,arm rests or back rests and so I soon suffer with a terrific ,

Cjbaci^cjbe. cTonathpi loves tp be held, ^e natives think it is strange tiiat we jbave Jonathan ^e dovm so much, imd are riot carrying him ,
a^oimd of thW time. ."V^ they put their babies in a b^ket they ieaW iiiem ihl3ie hou^ alone wlule the go to the fields to work; or
some child will carry the baby all day.
'

'

""

Betty Mobse Airo JoNNi.

have Ipngeid for riiessage? firom, the jhomeland but so far .we have had only yoitfs arid from Be^'s mbtiiCT..-Thank you! Please let our

Robert Morse frprn-^ 1950, to Mrs. Riitti Morse," We"^ at getting your letters yesterday and today. We

j^ieri^ iaibW that m^ ug: YUnndn'Tibeian CKristidii Missi6n^:P.f&..PuidO, v^ Miiiikyvha, ^diM^^ Upp^ Bliiind: a 25^
air stamp and" we'U ^ef tJiieiliiri'paiyei', plfiai^e; ' PliekseS^te; all out friends. ^ our co-workers! Write and write again even when we can not g^f^fettOTS 'Back io fdvL

.Qur,s(tuati(Driv VpU wiU .rec^ that b ^jBurma side; Now 3)v:e are,aU iPVer on ti^e3urm^

side and also and the ijieeds of

hundre(k of"the Christian i4su were moving into Burma to escape the w^. Since then thous^ds of our bretlu-en have carried out a mass
niigration which has covered ^ area some twenty days in width smd ptit' oiir work right on the border of Ass^, India. At least six new congregations have been established in the Fort Hertz pl^in. !

expensive thi^ it was on ;&e China side. Even before we evacuated,

^ m^y, ways ^ese people are-justas discouraged as any escapees from other" wars are, for most of them have lost all their earthly possessions m ^e, recent border fitting. We must see to it that they do not lose their spiritual steength m this hour of trial. }. Yes, 'I know we have been in the thick of things. Being "guests" of the GWnese Communists-was a lgreat mental strain, the effects of which OTe still felt these months after. You can't imagine the relief of being in a comparatiydy free country again. I think we had actually' given up hope of getting out agsiiji; of being where there were newspapers and
magazines, free correspondence and stores and trade. The reaction came

setting up their new way of life need us as much now as they ever" did;

Now all these, refugees, who are our own converts and friends, in

as yet unravaged by wal:. Yet,-now I wonder if we niight, hot have stUck it out, as Father is doiilg in Kunming. I thirik he has been the bravest and most faittiful-shepherd of us all.

when we fmally realized that we had crossed the mountains into a .valley

COME HOME NOW. I know it is hard for you to see

So, Grandmother; de^, may we ask you NOT TO ASK U3 TO

going back

preachers need the encouragement our presence ^d advice can give ,tiiem. Betty feels just as I do; in fact, it was she who first said, in Hanr

ments for malaria alone. The re-establi^ed congregations'native

but truly 'WE FEIEL GOMPELLEID. It is bur duty; our privilege. jWe ^e needed. the past year I havegiven about four Aoiis^d t^at-

goon, tliat she was homesick for the lisu people.

.j

feveiythmg^is chanjging these days. A lot''=of otir suppUes are gone, yet
it is surprising how much, the lK)rd Saved for us; perhaps Wou^h t6 car^ bri for a year or so. The thing that bothers Betty hiqst the abspjthere fcari!be;ri6 privacy; ho ^ay even of -takirig a bath." We d2*eis'eil3i^ iitader-'thb ^bed doveris or get up befbi'e davim, , ,. '., ' "V

' Of course going back now won't be like former titaes, but ther^,

lute lack of privacy. Sin^^

live lii vath tiie pebpleln bam

.. :.4^.9|^r^thmg yre have,, tp consider ri? ihiat we may agaiu be caught

jtb .JTwaw^i^bng, wre shallibe 20;d miles. liqrth of BUyitkyina among peo ple, jV^hp ^e entirely friendly,, the Kachm.fEawaui Our wpr^ .will take, us toward the west of the vaHey^ closer to the Indiaside, fiyeii the,.Iisu^ are in'p^ving; we^ from the Chinese, border.. If we have' to evac uate .ag^ M India ^pver,; another tremendous 12,000 fpojt 'mpwtain such..a .jthoye -probable,; but dohH- wony
aWut, i^rtr'rahdfnbtHpr. 1 . ' VV " . ;, "' ";

R^gbpn cpntrpi most of

.;Cpii^u^t'pf .upper Burma:" W;e nbw hWe to fly fropsi

:four Jipuf. flight "insurgents'' territory ibHween.'thbse pointe. When.we get "hbine':

We go ahead with the assumption that

olil^-&''^6irV^tiMe.

Eugene wHl bring up more New Testaments and Bible materials and we saved a good portion of our hjnnnals. We have primers ,and I have
done considerable work on a booklet of "Old Testament Stories". These

^ooks in the native Christians' hand ^vill help them even if their white

ping willi each congregation for a period of intensive personal work,

strengthening the con^egations. Our main effort will be to train native preadiers; and teachers. This program should keep all of us busy for a year and then> we can take stock of Ihe situation.

pastors^e gone. We plan to make a trip aroimd the minion area, stop

Don't ever forget that the greatest help you can give us is in the encouragement of your prayers and your letter?. We need them far more than you heed' to hear from iis. Yes, we shall "vmte as often as we can and then will you share our letters with others. You will "be glad to faiow Aat Anzie's influence will still be working for the Lord
ais tiie "Old Testament Stories" which I am revising and preparing for

publication was first translated by her. We shall miss her so muchand all tibe graiid folks who are out on furlough. God bless them.
Signed: Robert Morse

R^goon by air. on March 8. "niey were able to hire two. jeep trucks
which transported their 700 pounds of medicines and provisions,to SiraiT

Robert and Betty and young Jonni Morse reached Myitkyina from

prabimi, a distance of 200 miles. They would then still have 16 days of caravan travel ^fore reaching their Lisu home.(Editor)
Excerpts from letter from Eugene Morse, March 14, ai;id April 4,1950> "Althou^ on the surface of things it may seem that the last several
months have been somewhat fruitless and disappointing, yet it begins to seem now that the Lord has had a plan in it all which is truly working

praising the Lord, and stop rejoicing, resting, and trusting in Hiih, then the de^ has an advantage over us and we can't get the Lord's clear leading or guidance in our problems. Every time we have started to praise and thank and rejoice in Him, things have cleared up. Even so,
although we have been rather troubled in the months past, we can see how the Lord still has ruled and is still working things out. Maybe it has t^Trpn longer for Him to do so because of lack of faith and victory on our part but still we have been trusting Him to keep us from going
far out of His will and I believe He has done so.

th^gs together for good. I believe that when we as Christians stop

"Among other things, Helen hasn't been well from time to time since
David was bom and so upon arrival here in Hong Kong we made an

appointment with a good doctora specialisthere at Queen Mary hos pital. After two examinations, he advised a slight operation. So sev

eral weeks ago Helen went to the hospital for the operation which was successful. However, she still must have another examination and some
further treatment as she is still not up to par. In fact it seems necessary

to me that she get really back to good health before we should attempt
instead of having the family come and join me in Rangoon at the time. Please ask our friends to pray for Helen's health that she may be strong
and well enou^ to go on into Burma soon.

o go on to Burma. This is partly the reason I came back from Burma

' -will hot be takmg mudi "wath us this time, but are depending on the supplies of ours which were gotten over to Robert, and also on

stuff that ]^bert and Betty have, of which they have enough to share

with us. Then we will buy some things in Myitkyina just to tide us over
so we won't have to take much from here. It will be on the scale of the

"Bible and toothbrush" outfit which is often talked about. Only abso lutely bare essentials will be taken from here.

"As for the Lisu New Testaments^with Psalms,' they are being pirinted by the Bible Society here in Hong Kong and they will under
take all ihe responsibility of getting them into Rangoon, Burma, so we ^ill only have to get them from there when they are ready next fall.
The Cranes of the China Inland Mission^Lisu Missionarieswill do

the proof reading, so that relieves us of that job.

"We are now printing the first edition of Genesis^typesetting these days. The lisu first reader is also being worked on simultaneously biit

will not take nearly so long as Genesis. We are taking the entire Ran

dal responsibility, of printing Genesis and the Primer and .then other missions will buy them from lis as they need them. However we will be able to use them all if they are not used by the others. This proof reading is quite hard work and very exacting and tedious. Each page

will be proof-read three to four times or im^ it is absolutely correct

doesn't realize what a hard job it is and especially in a forei^ languag^.

as far as possible. Anyone, who hasn't ever done this type of work

"Isabel Dittemore and Janet Leigh are due to arrive here day after tomorrow^ March 17, and she will help what,she can on this proof-reading. She has had previous experience in the States at the Christian -Standard before coming to the mission field. We are looking forward

to her coming as I did not get to see her while in Burma. Bhe certainly
writes sweet letters, and, as Robert said, is so lovable and a most ex cellent co-worker. We all love her and appreciate her very much.

"The Reeses, Jane Kamiett, and Isabel have all been granted tempo rary visas of six months but they arie not allowed to do any missionary work and the visas are on condition of 'good behavior'! Therefore, it seems that all of them may have to leave Bunna by next fall, in Sep tember or October. It certainly seems that the whole Far E^t is fast

closiijg all its doore in every country, to the GospeL Which to me means the end of this dispensation^the end of this 'Time of the Gentiles!' We are still planning to work as long as possible and try to get everything set for the time when we will all have to leave, but it is heart-breaking. Then, after this, what next?"
April 4,1950

"The Hong Kong Police Department has said they will issue Drema a travel document or affidavit on which a Burma entry visa can be stamped. We already have a residence visa for her. So since the Police will give this travel paper, it doesn't matter about her passport. Now that this travel paper has been granted, they will be going to Burma too. We have reservations on the Cathay Pacific Airlines for Tuesday,

April 11th. They are giving us a special rate on our baggage because we have so muc^ more than is usii^y taken by air. ThL makes it as

"idieap to fly aS fo go by"Boat and'"takes only brie day/instead of two weeks or longer. The strange Ihing is that it will cost almost as much to fly from-Rangoon to Myitkyina as fromi HongKong to Rangoon. From "Msdtkyina, if the rains haven't made the roads too bad, we'll be going by jeep for two days to Sumprabimi. If we can't go by jeep, we'll have to go by horse, which will take about 10 or 12 days. In eiiher case, we'll be going by elephant from Sumprabum to Ft. Hertz, which is 6 to
,8 days'journey. _

"We certainly do enjoy and look forward to receiving ypur, letter^.

.ifirom time; to.time, but hardly any from elsewhere in the States. ^

Vfe have rficeived quite.-a few letters from: folks there in Terre Haute

on .the heavy correspondence that would entail. So consequently we '^e fairly "miarooned" from! the homeland far as mail is concerned,
"soh^y. ! "David wrote 'hello folks' with his mama's coaching. He sure loves

much as we. want to maintain all the intimate ties and contact with friends at home, it still is very difficult to answer each one and to carry

it seems people just don't write imless you c^ answer each one per-

'Maybe he wiU be mechanically ,inclined like his Daddy and hi Mania top. David has been doing quite a bit of toddling in the last few days. He doesn^^ mind launctog out on his o\m uid will walk .clear acrpss
the room now. The trouble is we don't have everj^hing put away in

;to play widi the tj^pewriter and is really showing an interest in gadgets.

'more and more and uses quite a few words understandably.

"toddler tight" compartments. That word is my "idea." He is talking "Please do keep praying for aU of us arid for the work. is surely time of great trial and toting for all of the Christians in this part of

:the world. We'll try to keep you informed as we go alorig, at least as iniich as we can, although sometimes it may be quite a little time be-

twe^ letters,. There are so many last minute things to be done here,
that we scarcely Iniow what to do first."
. ' Love to all,
Eugene Morse;;

"

Excepts from letter from Helen Morse, AprU 3,195Q.

'Dear Folks: ; . . ' :. "This is about the fourth time Fve started to, write to

i'ii wondering if I'll even get this finished. Things have been so ''topsy-turvy" the past two weeks, we have been"going around in

square circles.' As Eugene has written, we are planning to fly to Rari-

-liittle.Mark on the 27th. Dorothy and Mark flew on the 31st for the States. We all tad a nice visittook the three youngsters arid all went -to the beach one afternoon. ^They loved it, and Janet and Markie both

Hong'Kong. Isabel-and. Janet arrived on the ITth and Dc^o&y and

goon^on Ai)ril Uth. '^We've had a regular convention of Lisuland missionaries here in

W^t wading, and got all wet Fortunately David 4sn't quiteto that stage

!injhe sa^. He is almost as big as Mark, although a whole ye^ yongeir.

(Mark is Dorothy Sterling's adopted Ldsu babyXv lj

yet but give hto another, year!: But he had a woriderful time playing

"You would have loved seeing David on his birthday. We didn't have; a cake for him, but he received several gifts. We dressed him up in the new clothes you sent him, and we had gotten him some new shoes and socks. We got him a little plastic covered horsewashable. Isabel and Janet got him a little plastic car and a 'roly-poly' toy which rocks back
and forth. Some folks here in the house gave him one of those toys that looks like a little lawnmoweryou push it, and there are large wooden beads inside the spolces, which rattle. In the afternoon we went
over to Mother's room. Isabel and Janet went too. We all had cakes

except Janet and David, and they had orange drink. David really liked it. Just the last few days he's learned to drink through a straw and thinks it's quite a treat to have his milk that way. Later we came back
to our room and had ice cream and marshmallows, both of which David

thought added greatly to the interest of his supper menu. I almost forgot to tell you that he had a few "licks" on his first lolly-pop. That afternoon he said "thank you" ("kank oo"). A few days before his birthday he started really walk'1 ing and has been going all 'round * ' ever since, getting into things. Iv . _ . - . ... He's been saying 'walk walk'
lately, too. He's even trying to words together 'go-go-gobye-bye-bye' and has been saying

If: y

r -

' ' i
,U

^ ^
"

i ^
" '

He sure looks cute walking

around, 'cause his little legs are short, and he's so chubby, that he just looks like a little ball runalong. He has nine teeth

'all gone' for quite a while now.

s.;

ftgii'i '
1^/'

ninth one came through a

dayand another one is almost

through. Eugene cut his hair oh

to play with anyone's hair, so we

was quite contented.

let him play with that, and he

cut a few little locks off first, and

Son of Eugene and Helen Morse

"You will be glad to know that

David Lowell, Six Months,

Drema had another X-ray, and

that the Dr. thought that it is

merely a scar, and not anjrthing active. So she had a sedimentation rate done (blood) and that was perfectly normal. So we're pretty sure that it is merely a scar^but even so, it was enough to prevent her from
getting her visa to America.

"Eugene has told most of the news so I won't repeat. I will try to write agaiQ before we leave. Please pray that we'll be able to get away all right and that we will be able to get through customs in Rangoon,

baggage to Mj^tkyina, We are anxious to be-going. vPray too that the

I^l:6bf-i:eading-and our packingLxxii^t all be finished qtiickly too."
i Love to all,

HjEaiBN, Eugene and David"

Return Postage Guarahteed

From

Sec. 34.66 P.L&R. i

Mrs. Ruth Morse,

"Forwarding A^nt,

J 14 South Denyer Avenue,

Tulsa 3, Oklahoma

^4 i

iyj-K

(jf- yii I;'V/ I

i'.- ;! c
' .i . 7

:.r

1 .SV;::- "

or ^LU >d iliW -V

Dorothy Sterling and Betty Moree

THIRD NEWS LETTER, 1950

News from the Mission Field

YUNNAN-TIBETAN CHURCHES OF CHRIST

"Where China, Tibet, and Burma meet"

THE J. RUSSELL MORSE FAMILY AND ASSOCIATES A Co-operative Association of Undenominational Direct-Support Missionaries

ANZIE RUTH MORSE

Biography by Mrs. Gertrude Morse

Tribute by Miss Dorothy Sterling

have fought a good fight, 1 have finished my course, I have kept the faith:* Henceforth there Is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shaii give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing." II Timothy 4:7, 8

rOEEWORD

have tahen place among the memhers of the Morse family and their coworkers, Our hearts are full of praise and thanJcsgiving as me receive word from the various worhers. The way the Lord has answered prayer, and the wonderful way in which He has brought them through places of danger, makes us ever mindful that in this world of chaos, God still watches over and cares for His own. On behalf of those so far away, we want to thanlc those who are remembering them in prayer. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Morse and so7i Jonathon Russell (Jonni) arrived in Putao (Ft. Hertz) April 4th, after spending two months in Rangoon where Betty and Jonni received medical treatment. Mrs. Eugene Jlforsa and son David Lotoell reached Putao on May 11th. They were accom panied by Mrs. J. Russell Morse and Drema. Eugene went overland with the supplies, arriving at Putao May 2Jfth. While Eugene and family were at Myitkyina awaiting transportation to Putao, the joyous news came through via a radiophone message from Mrs. Robert Morse {at Putao) that LaVerne Morse and Mel Byers were safe in the Salween Valley. Be cause the Burmese govci'nment required them to come to Putao to register,
the David Rees family were in the Putao area, according to the latest word. Robert and David had gone together to meet and confer with LaVems and
Mel. Jane Kinnett is at Putao with the M&rses.

'Since our second inewsVeit'er of. 1950 d numher of important changes

Mrs. Isabel Maxey Dittem&re and dav-ghter Janet Leigh arrived in the States June 17th. Mrs. Dittemore had remained in Hong Kong to complete proofreading and shipping details on Lisu printing so Eugene
and famili/ could go on to Burma.
1st.

Mr. J. Russell Morse is still in Kun^

ming. His mother Mrs. Ruth Morse received a cablegram from him July
All friends of the Tunnan-Tihetan Christian Mimon were grieved to learn of the death of Anzie Ruth Morse, Tihetan foster-daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. J. Russell Morse. Her death, which occurred at Ft. Hertz last

December, was a shock to all who knew and loved her. We feel that those who knew of her faithful work for the Lord in Lisnland will appreciate the biography of her life by Mrs. Gertrude Morse and the tribute to hei\ by Miss Dorothy Sterling:"
Biography of Axzte Morse

Anzie Ruth was bom in the mission hospital in Batansf- in the fall of
1982. Her father was Chinese, her mother Tibetan. T)r. Shelton had hired

her father as road cook for the Shclton-Dnncan-Morse party on the trip from T<ikiang to Batan^ in 1981. After onr arrival in Batang, Dr. Shel
ton told ns that the eook and his wife wanted to work for ns. As we

ne'eded helpers, we were glad to have them. About ten months later Anzie was born. She grew up as any normal eliild. Often she came to onr home

to play with Euffene and Robert. As the years passed Anzie was blessed
with two baby sisters.
When Anzie was about five, her father and one sister died while we

were in America on onr first furlough. Tlien about two years later, her mother suddenly died after one night's illness. So the two little girls, ages seven and four, were left orphans just overnight. Anzie was just old
enough to feel the loss keenly, but her little sister Drema Esther tried

to comfort her by saying, 'TDon't cry, for Mrs. Morse will give us candy."

Anzie's mother had said that if anything should ever happen to herself,
she did not want her children sent bad to their heathen home where

they would be sold to the highest bidder. As' she and her husband Werffboth Christians, she wanted her children to be rais^ as Christians. Sa
when she died in March 1931, we took the diildren into our home. We

tried to care for them and teach them as ive thought their parents would,
wish. Since we had a mission school^ both girls attended this school.
Besides Anzie Euth and Drema Esther, we also took care of a Lisu

boy named Pu-She, later named Daniel, thus making six children in our

home at that time. Eegularly each evening I taught Bible stories to the six children, using Hurlbut's Story of the Bible. The stories and lessons of the Bible were deeply implanted into the hearts of all. Even after they were grown, the children often remarked that that period of Bible teaching

helped them so much in their work. All of them had many happy times
together.

Anzie was a good student. She had to work hard for what she got, but she had a strong determination to acquire knowledge. She could read and
write Chinese, Lisu, and English, and spoke the two additional languages
of Tibetan and Mosu. One more recent accomplishment was the reading
of the entire New Testament in English.

Just before our last furlough when the Dittemdres and' Miss Sterling were taking over the mission work, they needed an in^terpreter. I talked to Anzie, pointing out to her that this was an. o;pportunity of being a real missionary for Christ, if she wanted to do so. She thought a while

Dittemore, it seems that she really tri^^ to do her best, even despite her
work, preparing to go home on furlough, Anzie went Home to her Savior, her parents, and her reward. She had kept the faith, for which I am
indeed thankful to Christ. Gertrude Morse
Tribute to Anzie Euth Morse

and then said that she would. From reports of Miss Sterling and Mrs.

weakness due to tuberculosis. Then just'^as the folks were finishing tlieiij

Anzie Euth Morse was my co-worker, companion, and loyal friend from January 1947 until her death in December 1949. Anzie had rare talents for making friends among the liisu. She was loved and honored by the many, many students in our Bible schools because of her ability in trans lation and her patience in teaching and the rare tact and insight with
which she was able to help straighten out personal and home problems of the indi^idual students. She had a God-given talent for teaching child ren and, because she loved them, won their love and adoration. Disci pline was never a problem in her work with children.

Anzie was loved and respected bV the elders and leaders of the churches
because of her ability to consider from all angles church problems brought to us, and her judgement was always fair. For myself, I owe much to her. She taught me, not only the Lisu language, but helped me to understand the people and their ways of think ing and doing. She saved me from many a mistake due to insufficient knowledge of the language and customs by her wise and tactful counsel. Most of the success of our Bible schools was due to her enthusiastic, faith-

fuj, and competent assistance. On our village to village preaching jour

neys she helped with the teaching and translation, with church problems,

and occasionally with clinics. T^en I was kept so busy with sick folks

a as god meals wer posible and

that there was little time even for eatiug, she always looked after the pre
that I took time out to eat them.
we would return in two months to

paration ol' ineuls and made sure 1 had

Anzie had her heart set on coming to America \vith me for several years of schooling in. order that she might prepare herself to help with opening a hospital in Lisu country. She had a brilliant mind, and together we planned our furlougli. In 1948 we made a quick trip to Kunming to gether, promising the Salween elders

hold

the

requested

spring
the

Bible
road

schools.

Amie was ill on

downa three weeks' journey by foot and caravanand an X-ray showed

she had a mild case of tuberculosis.

It was necessarj' for her to remain in Kunming for six months' treatment
and for me to return alone to the Salween. At that time Mrs. E.uth Morse

urged her to come to the States and offered to pay her expenses. Realizing
she would Imve much better care in the States, I urged her to go and offered

to help get her j)assjK>rt before returning to the Salween. It was a strong temptation because she had wanted so long to go, but slie det^ided against going, and out of love and loyalty to me and to the Lisu people to whom we had promised schools, she made a heroic sacrifice and refused her furlough, choosing to return to the Salween as soon as able and lielp me with our schools and then take her furlough the following year together
with me.

Anzie returned six months later when her X-rays were negative, and after our Salween schools, went with me across the 12,000 ft. pa.s into Burma where the elders were urging us to come and hold Bible schools in their cliurches and treat their many sick folks. Eiglit months later, otliers of our Mission, refugees from China, came into Burma to take over the work, and we started do\\Ti country to apply for Anzie's passport

and to go for furlough. Just one week from Ft. Hertz we stopped to treat tlie people in a village where sixteen had already died in a typhus epidemic. It was there that Anzie contracted the disease which, two weeks
later, caused her violent illness. She died twelve days later. It seemed incrcdible that after all our happiness and sorrow and work together

she should be taken just when the longed-for opportunity for study in tlie States was alx)ut to be realize<l. Her many, many talents were so needed
in Lisuland! TTer Avork, hoM'cver, was finished, and she has heard Jesus' words, "Well done thou good and faitliful servant: thou hast been faitliful over a few thinffs, I will set thee over many things; enter thou into the

joy of thy Lord." Until the day when we meet again, the memory' of Anzie Huth and her unselfishness, love, and loyalty will live in the
hearts of all of us. Dorothy Sterling

it, but if it is able to use its voice ill the morning then we'll take it and all our siclmess will disappear."

she was alone, ashing for kerosene. When she told them she Mdn'i have any^ they searched the house and found some Jam had bought, at Putao,

Betty also gave a clever account of some, Shan tribesmen coming whUe

arid offered to pay Betty. She refused the money, tetling ih,em they

would have to come bach and pay Jane. They were rmU^y surprised when they came bach. Betty wrote: "Because of the way they went through everything, Eotert sent word to their chieftain, telling him not to let anyone else come here. Then we found out the Vhy.' Someone had told them we were running a store. (Why else would people build shelves in their house?) That explains why they rummaged through everything. They were looking for stuff to buy. I'm relieved that is all .they wanted,, ^ut feel insulted that they didn't find anything; they would have! "Saturday I went to Putao to see the official on behalf of the Lisu who don't have food. I can't speak Lisu well and sometimes feel that I don't do muxjh for the Lisu people, but I felt that this was one thing I could do. I rode my horse more than eighteen miles that day. On the way I saw tiger tracks several times ! I have bragged a lot in the past about wanting to,see a tiger and what I would do if T did. The last official told us that fifteen people had been eaten by tigers between Septenuber and PecembeE on the road from here to Sumprabum, the road which we traveled tw^ce. We used to tease Eobert about taking so many pictures, saying, "Keep your lightmeter out 'cause when the tiger gets you he won't wait. Snap
his picture and throw the camera to us, and after he finds out we have his picture and' know who he is, he won't do anything.' I was really scared, though, after seeing the tracks and hurried on to tell the .official, thinking maybe they would orfiranize a hunt or somethinar.- .When I told him the exciting news, he smiled and said, 'Yes,:this is the time of yeari for them.' He seemed surprised that I saw pnlv one. I mumbled some thing about if there were that many I guessed I'd take a nickel's worth." . Betty found that the government'had given sanction to buy grain for. the starving people, but it was too latethere was no surplus grain to be . bought, Tt had all been sold to other districts. ' Concerning famine conditions Bettv wrote: "Beally if thepeonle are starving alreadv, we don't know what will happen in the four months before the new grain comes in. Not only are the newcomers hungry, hut Christians who have lived here for years have shared all their ripe. We love these people foy thf^ir generosity and feel uch a pity for them. I can't tell you what con ditions would actually be during a famine out here. I haven't been

throuffli one yet. The other 5ay we were talking and somebrlp paid' they
remember^ one familv who got so hungry they ate their child. 'Other families threw their, babies into the river to keep from doing the samel

People, hungry peoplp, l^and .together and. attack whole villages, talcing

the Ijttle ^ain they can find.. . ,.

, ! ..

..'We are doing, what we can to give the Lisu.mpnev to buy, rice.fropj the Shans at the now higher prices. iTow we are trA'ing to think up .ne^^ work projects fo.r thepi.; t We don't have to. think too .hard rto get ideas, for

to live .decently in the jungle,takes a.^ot of.work. ...We hnyo men digging

trpnclios', alljaround onr houses so the .water! .will drain o;ff and not gtand! uiidemeaith, breedmg mosquitos. Our garden, tooj is very important

moresothan before becausewe won't be getting vegetables from the natives; so we have men digging a big field. Also we need a fence to keep the animals out. We have four chickens that are always in the house and have

eaten the little plants from our seedbed; so we are having a chicken yard built today. Two of them are laying, and we are glad to get the eggs
every day.

This letter is getting to be quite lengthy. I hope that you can get a picture of our life out here from it. We want you to know all about us so your prayers can be definite. I wish that everyone who knows us would pray especially for little Jonathon. We are trying to do the best

we can for him, but we can't raise a child alone. There are many things
to take his life out here over which we have no control. Our house is

believe God \^1 keep him in spite of all the germs people bring in because
this is the best we can do out here. We couldnt win souls in Lisuland

open to the natives at all times, and although we try to keep them from touching his toys, sometimes we aren't successful. They have neveij seen anything so pretty, and it's hard to tell them not to touch. We

if we tried to live apart from the people. We need your prayers. Jona thon is really growing. He is sweet most of the time, and is learning new things quickly. The other day I finished making a cloth swing and you should have seen him the first time I put him in it. I was so sorry I didn't get it finished before Robert left because he was cuter than ever before. He gave us a little old. toothless grin from ear to ear and kept sticking his tongue out. His eyes seem to laugh when he is happy. He pulls himself up to a standing position in his play pen, and the natives just can't believe he's only six months old. Their babies don't stand until they are a year or more. It seems funny to me that he can stand and even take steps, yet can't get to a sitting position alone. He can almost make it, but instead of sitting he pulls up to a standing position. You must also pray for Robert. He will be visiting the churches during
the monsoon when even the Lisu stay at home. The roads will be dnnsrerous, and he wiU have to watch for falling rocks and landslides. And for David Rees; he will be with Robert part of the time. Keep writing to us, too. Letters mean a lot. A letter from America represents a number of things: someone who loves us; electric lights; smooth pavements and pretty shop windowsall the things we mis?.

Please know that we are here for God's work and that your prayers are needed. Your friends in Christ, Robert, Betty, and Jonathon Letter from Gertrude Morse, May 25, 1950, from Mii-la-di, near Putao. Dear loved ones: Helen, Drema, David, and I arrived here May 11 at Putao. That was just one month from the time I left Hong Kong. The Lord opened the way for us to come up by plane and also to bring part of our baggage. Although the airfield at Putao was not in use and the pilot had not seen it since the war, yet the Lord brought us safely through

and' we landed smoothly on the grassy strip. There were many of our Lisu
in Yunnan, China.

We were so happy to see them. They had come from the Salween Valley

I have preached several times since I liave been here. I thought I Christian friends as well as Betty and Jane Kinnett waiting to grepf us.

A letter from Rohert, wniicn March 9, 1950, at Myithjina, presents some of the problems they had to face as they went hack to Limland and how they were met:
Dear Grandma: Well, here we are again, back Myitkyina. Betty,

Jonni,

1 flew up Wednesday morn* a safe trip. We both felt a bit 8ad at leaving Rangoon, I must confess. The short time of seeing civilization again with its paved roads, cars, easy transportation, and cs]>ecially electric lights, made its impression on us. How we wish we
could liave como home for a short

visitbut the Lisu need us badly. In our two months' absence large
numbers of Christians have died with

T. B., smallpox, and malaria. Wc are iinxiou.^ to be back up there with them and help them somehow.

Already we have had testimony

that this is the Lord's will, for the seemingly impossible has turned into an open road. The 07ily way to come

Kachin State so it was difficult to get permission for all our baggage. At fi7*8t wo were refused! Then just by accident (?? or through the Ijord's working) T mentioned it to my Chinese dentist. He spoke on our behalf
to the airlines manager who was an old schoolmate. We didn't even have

up here is by planeone plane a week leaving Rangoon eaoii Wednesday is the only outlet for the whole

to wait a week and were able to bring most of our baggage. Tiien there was the problem of a Lisu helper for the road. The one we had, who promised to wait for us, had gone on, but one of our Mekong Valley
enroute; so that problem is solved.

preachers who had evacuated was down here and is going to help us

From here we save ten days walking if we can get a jeep to take us as far as Sumprabum. The cost of gas on the streets is $3.00 per gallon which would make our trip cost $90much too prohibitive for 130 milesHowever, by the Lords leading and througli the help of friends, I am getting a supply of government gasenough for our two jeep loads at

for the next consignment, whicli would have delayed us until April 1st,
Now we know the Lord wants us to hurry.

one-third the cost. We are so tliank-ful, too, that wc do not have to wait

here, too, biit a government olTicial, a friend of ours, came to our rescue and has made it possible for us to buy not only all we need, l)ut all wo
can afford to pay for now. It really thrills us and convinces us that once again the Trd is helping us on.

It was impossible to get milk in Rangoon d.ue to strict rationing, yet it is necessary that we have it lest we develop T. B. It seemed hopeless

It IS truly so difficult to get into this mission field that we feel quite
privileged to have this sacred trust. Many of the Burmese marvel at our

ttyiug to go so far inland under such difficult circumstances. We hope and pray th^t th^yvmay see it is for no other., reason than to see soula
saved. Yes, if it were only to help educate of doctor the natives, Tra afraid I'd be very unwilling to go back,up- So help keep us. spiritually

ftepaV^ to will j)e0)lef4^ Christ by. praying fqr us..

Don't worry.4^

don't hear from us as the mails are frequently delay

ed. We love you all. Signed: .Robert and Bbtty. . The following excerpts from a most interesting letter from Betty

jungles of Burma. It was written from MiUadi, near Puiao, April SJi-,
1950,

ISiorse, written after their return up-country vividly depict life in the
Dear Loved Ones:

I've just come back from saying goodbye to Robert for two or three
months. How hard to say goodbye in this country! He is going east, )}ack to Tiliwtigo and Nyitadi,. the .first village in Burma on the China

we were down"iu Rangoon, and everything seema fo be ,working out per

border. Then he will go down into Rawang country to.visit the churches ^d do language study and translation >vorlc. We planned this trip while

fectly. Everting was arranged for him to. leave today. Monday the

carriers called and the loads were r^ady.. Then Saturday word caine that

LaVeme and Mel are safe in the Salween and will be up at Nyitadi around

May lliti. liobert and David will go to riieet them and confer about the

situation in the chuvcheSi ; Their letter was full of adventure, and we are thankful the}^ are'safe. It was wonderful to see Robert after he got news

of their safety. Yjou could almost See the burden of responsibility lift off him, knowing that there would soon be another who can speak Lisu and
been faithful to the Lisu and the work. Seeing him ni.sht and day as I

help* in the tremendous amount of work here in Burma.. Robert has

.have been able to, I know he is thorough in everything he does. He can .ali^ady s.pealc Kaehin. Not of course as well as his native language, but all along the road he spoke to everyone in sentences,^ not in words, as T do in LisuT. He preaches every Sunday, and there have been lots of days
when he has been too busy to speak more than a, few senitjences in Endish

all day, including liie^time. Jane and Jonni and Tare here now. Jane
want me to, especially after the kidnaping of a Baptist Missionary down countrv, but we didn't know what else to do. Then we got a tele^ni from jane, saying she was here.' That was our reason for double-staging it coming up to* get here before she started back east. I like Jane a lot and am glad to work with her."

planning to stay bv myself, but with conditions as they are, Robert didn't

and f will study Lisu and try to do what we can for the people. T was

of their bamhoo home almost catnJiing fire when a grass fire got out of
control and how the natives worked frantically, even runmng through,

There is'plenty of extUemeni v)lien living in the jungle. Betty told

the"fire barefooted to get water from the nearly stream. She also told of a sixteen foot python being hilled in a nearby village. The natives gave
her the skin, which was very pretty, and they sa/ited the gall-bladder to mahe ir>edicine. When Betty asTcdd them what tlmj would do if the

people died when they took it, they replied'. "Oh, ho one will die. Before we take it, we'll^ive some to a rooster.
If the rooster isn't able to crow the next morning we'll know not t6 take

would have to study up on my Lisn but find I iiaven't forgotten it. There are many of our Salween Christians here. It is good to see them. We

are having to treat many sick people, and nsany will have to be lielped with
food.

a school. We are holding a scliool here soon if we can buy enough rico
to feed students. It is hard to buy riceit is so scarce.
David loves him so. Give our love to all our friends. Lovingly, Gertrude

Eugene arrived yesterday. The elepliants brought the loads clear up to our porch. All is well. RolKirt is six days from here. He will hold Our bamboo

house is about finished so we may move in toniglit. Jormi is sweet and

Bthelast few minutes ther have

Dear loved ones and friends:

The follotmng excerpts from Helen ^fols(''s letter written April SOth while in Myiihyina^ (jives us an idea of the toivn and the snrroiindingfi of the Baptist Mission Home there, where, they, ns well as Eohert, Betty, and Johnathon stayed during their waitover in Mylthyiiia.
I just wish I could describe the

in. a BmWhist monk, and one jeop.

yards from heroflows the Irrawaddy

soon to become a ragii^ torrent when

clear da;v one can see as far as the
tains are visible.

Just to the south of the house here

is the Baptist j\rission Bible School and the dormitories where the students

stay. Just bej'ond is a pasture where there are cows grazing. It is so

nice to be where there are lots of trees again, because that was one of the things we missed in Hong Kongit was so cro\vded there was no room

for trees. A few hundred yards down the. road is a grove of teak trees,
and all along tlie road are othersmost of wliich are new to me..

After landing at Myitkyina, I was talking to the pilot, and imagine my surprise to leani that he was from Paris, Illinois, but had spent a great deal of time in Terre Haute, Indiana, my home to^^^^. We enjoyed talking
aboiit the places we l>otl> knew. His name is Don Bussarf, and I learned
he had done a lot of flying from Paul Cox field in Ten-e Haute. I certain-

ly never expected to meet anyone from home away out here in the middle
of Burma 1

One of the first people we saw here was Jesse, the Lisu boy who helped "US in Likiang, and was with us through all our troubles with the Commiunists there. It was good to see a familiar face in a strange place. I got to see the town today. We went out to see just what is available and where to buy what we need. The streets are fairly wide, and all along each side are shops, small but interesting. I have been amazed at
some of the things for sale here: Ovaltine, Horlick's malted milk. Lux soap, American face-powder (several brands), as well as some other cosmetics. On the other hand, some of the things one might expect to find, such as washtubs, are not available; so we will have to Imve a wooden
one made.

Jhist yesterday we found that there is a possibility of our flying to Ft. Hertz. The Public Works Dep't of the government here may be sending a plane to Ft Hertz and have said tliat, if they do, we can go, too, and take all our baggage at a very reasonable charge^much cheaper than overland. We hadn't even dreamed of such a possibility, and then to have it come upespecially as an offer from an officialmakes us wonder if it is the Lord's way of getting us there quicldy before the monsoon rains begin. We are praying that if it is His will for us to go that way, the details will be worked out and the way opened for us to do so. It would mean only about forty-five mimites traveling time as compared to a possible two weeks overland.

The political situation in Burma is far from stable, although it appears

to be somewhat improved at present. All is quiet Here just now. Trouble

may come, sooner or later, but we are just tinisting the Lord to lead us, and we feel definitely that it is His will for us to oome now because He has been opening every door before us. So, with the assurance that we
are in His will, we are going on, knowing that He will keep us. Plense

pray that we may all remain in good health because this is the timp of year when illness is most prevalentduring the monsoon rains. The supply of fresh fruits and vegetables will be very, very limited, if any at
all are available. Without proper foods resistance to disease is lowered, and we can remain well only through the Lord's protection. Also we ask you to pray for the progress of the work. The harvest is ^ great and
the laborers so few. Pray that we might each one be so submitfed to the

Lord's will that He might be able to use us to the arreatest advantage, that the greatest number of souls might be won for Him. Know, too, that we are praying for the work in the churches back home. When we hear reports of revivals and growth at home, it encourages us to put forth an even greater effort out here. Signed: Helen, Eugene, and David

Before Mrs. Isabel Maxey Ditiemore left Hong Kong she received several telegrams from J. Russell Morse, who remained in Kunming mhen
all the others felt it bef(t to leave. He said he expected to go to Burma irh

September and ashed that the brethren pray earnestly for him. He alxo reported that all four churches in Kunming were thriving dejipite condi tions. One telegram, was a request for his mother Mrs. Ruth Morse to forward $1,000 to him for the relief of destitute Christians there. Since

it is a diificuU and dangerous proceedure to send funds into China ai present, we feel that there is reason for much rejoicing over the following cablegram which his mother received early in Julg: **Bemitta/nce cam&
ment not interfering with Christian worTc."

through on time. Send ^1,000 for emergency reserve. Received your letter of April 2J^th. Forty-five more baptisms recently. New govern^

May we all pray earnestly, as Bro. Morse has requested, that when he feels that the time for him to go over into Burma has come, he will he

hept in safety and health. Also that the Christians in Kunming will have

the spiritual strength to enable them to continue in the workremaining

faithful until the end.

The most recent news from Burma is a letter from Helen Written June 15 and received by her parents July 12th:
Dear Family all: I, think someone is going to Putao tomorrow with the mail,
so will write at least this air letter for now. We are all O. K.

it especially so we could all get up here and the loads could come through from Tilawago. But now it seems that the famous monsoon has really begun
things are beginning to mold! ^ We are finishing the second week of our Bible School. We have two groups preachers and new students. Mother is teaching Personal Evangelism to the new group and Revelation to the older ones; Jane is teaching M-I-'MI (Lisu primer) to the new students and Ephesians to the old; Betty is teach ing Acts to the new group, and I'm teaching Life of Christ to the new students.
Eugene is teaching Romans and Preachers' Problems to the older ones and

Everyone has been joking^wondering where the monsoons were that we'd heard about, when it rained buckets and tubs, and everything molded. The rains have really been late this year, and we feel as though the Lord iallowed

We have been having remarkably dry weather until just about the last week

Reading, Writing, and Music to the new ones besides translating for me. He is really kept busyfour hours straight without a break. We have thirteen preachers and fifteen new students, really a nice group. The new students having never been to school before present a number of problems. They must be taught to write their notes; most are afraid to recite, even when they know, and all classes must be taken very slowly in order for them to absorb, the material at all. However, it seems that each couple of days shows an
improvement, and they are doing much, much better than at first.

Besides the school there are plenty of other things to keep us busy. It seems as though people start coming before we are scarcely out of bed want ing medicine, grain loans, work, or discuss some problem. Sunday a group

of elders was here from a village two days away to discuss problems. They talked all afternoon, and then after evening services, they came and talked
until almost 10:00 p. m. There has been a very serious food problem, not only in this area, but in all northern Burma. There are between 15.000 and 20,000 people near starva tion^perhaps more. In the a'*ea around Tilawago there just isn't any rice to buy. Around here, though, the Shan people do have some to sell, but know ing the Lisu folk are almost desperate for food, they demand black-market prices. The Lisu people haven't the money to buy that way, so didn't know what to do. We have tried to help what we could by hiring a lot of them to workbuilding our houses, etc., but that lasted only a limited time. The latest plan has been to loan them money, to bo paid back when the new crops come in. We give them so much as a loan to buy rice for themselves, and an equal amount with which to buy rice for us. That solves our problem of transportation from Putao to here (nine miles) as well as helping them. That grain we are saving, to use for relief a little later, just before the crops come in. but when the Shans. perhaps, will not have any to sell. The plan has really been a life-saver because they have been able to buy up enough for a month or so now at one time, before the price pcoes un any more. LaVerne and Mel reached Nyitadi around May 12th or 13th, according to

latest letters.
this, however.

The latest rumor via carrier is that Robert and Mel have

gone on a trip into Rawang country (which Robert was planning anyway) while LaVeme and David Rees-stayed at Nyitadi. We are not sure about
There has been quite a bit to do along the medical line with everyone taking part. The most frequent requests are for atabrine for malaria, aspirin for headache, iodine for sore backs or joints or goiter, laxative and worm medicine, also soda for upset stomachs. However, we have had some more serious cases. One girl was carried on a stretcher from Me'-ilapkhu, about three hours away. We thought she'd be gone within twenty-four hours from the way she looked. We gave her what we could, and she rallied somewhat There wasn't much we could do though, as we feel sure she has cancer. Another

man was brought in, scarcely able to talk. Symptoms seemed to indicate a gall bladder attack. We gave him penicillin, and two days later he went home. Then there was a little girl, about two years old, who was brought too late. She had worms so bad she was almost dead. We gave her medicine but without results. We did all we could for her, but couldn't save her, and about three days after they brought her in she died. We all felt really bad, but felt it must have been the Lord's way. Now, we have a young preachen boy here for T. B. treatmentstreptomycin. A fine young man and we are
praying that tTie medicine will help him.
students, and part for the sick folks.

The church folk built a little honse

as a guest house and place for sick folk to stay when they are brought in here for treatment Part of it is being used as a dormitory for some of the
After this school is over Eugene and I are planning to go on a triptonr of the nearby churches, see conditions, etc. It may not be such pleasant travel

ing, as it will be during the heaviest part of the rainsin Julybut even so", I want to go, if at all possible. We can take David, too, carrying him in a
basket, the way Dorothy traveled with Mark. within three or four days of Ft Hertz. The entire area would be

Please do ask all to pray for the work out here; the needs are so great, and the workers so few. Pray for guidance in all our problems that arise, that we might act wisely and properly. Pray much for the Christians still remain

ing in the Salween, tor they are truly undergoing great testing and perse
cution under the new regime. Pray, too, for the health of all of us, fot there are many diseases which we may get, unless the Lord keeps us. Please pray for me, too, that I might be able to learn Lisu quickly and well. I've
learned quite a bit in just the short time we've been here.

Love to all,

Helen, Eugene, and David

From

Sec. 34.66 P. L. & R.

MRS. RUTH MORSE,

Forwarding Agent,
114 South Denver Avenue

Tulsa 3, Oklahoma

Return Postage Guaranteed

Mr. and Mrs. J. Russell Morse, Laverne and Ruth Margaret

1950

FOURTH NEWS LEITEK

MESSAGES FROM BURMA

YUNNAN-TIBETAN CHURCHES OF CHRIST

"Where China, Tibet, and Burma meet"

THE J. RUSSELL MORSE FAMILY AND ASSOCIATES A Co-operative Association of Undenominational Direct-Support Missionaries

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God; I
will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the
right hand of my righteousness." Isaiah 41:10

Foreword

Ai we tool; at the picture on the cover-page we. realize anew, that we have a loving^ hind, and all-ioise Heavenly Father. It is good that He permits us to live 'by faith, hut one day at a time. Had it been known
when this picture was taken how soon the family would he scattered m various parts of the world, the happiness of the glad reunion with LaVeme, who had just returned to China, would have been marred.

What a blessing they could not foresee the months of ha/rdship and danger just ahead for LaVerne and Mel Byers as they detowed tjirou^k
Tibet into the mission area.

In previous years the Morse family hoAJe experienced man/y hardships, including famine, flood, and war. Each time seeming disaste/r has meant the opening of new fields and opportunities for spreading the Gospel. The
earthquake which occurred on the Tibetan border on August 15, 1950, was no exception. It affected the mission area in North Burma, as well as adjacent areas. It has already had far-reachiitg results. First hand

accounts from the folks contained herein makes us feel vei^ thankful and.
humble as we acknowledge His love. His mercy. His guidance, and His
power.

At this wnting Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Morse and son David and Drema
Esther are at Muladi, nea/r Putao. Mrs. J. Russell Morse, Mr. and Mrs. Bohert Morse and son Jonni, LaVerne Morse, Mel Byers. and the David*

Bees family are at Tiliwago, on the China-Burma border. Mrsf^. iRussell Morse is still in Kunming. _
We know there must be many thoughts on the hearts of those out there who are working, as it were, against time; hut the one request made by each and every one in every letter is for PRAYER. Prayer for their health; prayer that the forces of evil may be stayed if it be His loill, and especially for the new Christians who have a hard struggle ahead; prayei^ that they may be able to remain until more native leadership is trained to go out into tlie "fields that are white unto the harvest" when, the missionaries must eventually return.
News of J. Russell Morse

The health and safety of J. Russell Morse has been a burden on the hearts of his family and friends as he r&mains in Comnmnist-occupied Kunming. There had been no letters direct from him for man/y months,
hut word has been received from time to time by means of telegrams to the family while they were in Hongkong, and later to Mrs. Isabel Dittemore. Since none of the famHy or other members of the Yunnan-Tibetan Christian Mission -ah so located that they can receive^ messages from Brother Morse, Howard Phillips of the "Phillips Hmise". .{mission

home) in Hongkong, has been very helpful in: sending and receiving,
messages to and from Kunming. There have been many rumors and reports of Brother Morse's plans

for the future. The rest of the family who are now in North Burma, re ceived reports that he ivotdd be in Burma sometime in August. We know
how disappointed they must have been as they realized his plans were
changed. .

Three recent communications have "brought us pretty ^eU'up to dateon the Kunming news. A letter was received by Mrs. Ruth Morse, mother of J. Russell, from HongTeong. It was written by T, L. Yrjola, Finnish missionary, and was dated September S6, 1950. We quote: "As I have recently come down from Kunming and there had an opppr-timity to meet your son J. Russell Morse quite often, and to comply with his request, I am writing to you and thus bringing to you, his mother, his best regards and good wishes. As I left Kunming August 31, he was happy and busy in his work, caring for many churches and also side people. We often met each other during the past winter and summer. We had long talks together. He would like to come out to join his family in Burma, but for some time yet he wants to keep going in Kunming.
He has been in good health and tries to do what can be done while doors are yet a little open for foreign missionaries."

Concerning Mr. Yrjola's stay in Hongkong Mr. Howard Phillips wrote: He left Kunming August 31, and took an elapsed time of fifteen daysonly five of which were actual traveling daj's^to reach Hongkonjg. This is
"We had a visit from a Finnish brother who has been in Kunming.
good time.

Brother Yrjola says that Russell is fine and so far as he knows could

get a permit to leave Kunming anytime. But he would Have to come

via Hongkong, as Burma has closed her side of the Sino-Buima, border.

Another possible reason for delay is that if one leaves China now, it will!
be impossible to return. possible to do so. This, of course, make^ the old-timers (and

even gona^ Tiew missionaries) want to stay on as long as it is physically Now, Russell plans to stay on into next year some time. Ther;e really does hot seem to be aiiy great hardship in Kunming yetand there are

the Christians to help ^ong so he has stayed on." ^ The latest news is from Brother J. Rmsell himself, and brought great
She received it October SOth:

joy to his mother because it was even in his own handwriting. It was forwarded.to his mother by the student to whom he refers in his letter.
Kunming, September 26, 1950
Beloved Mother: . '

Just a^ few lines to go with Mrs. Yen's letter,to her husband^ to let. you Imow I am in excellent health, and as busy as a bee could be, with some of the greatest and most important work of my life. Sixty-eight new Christians recently baptized since last report, and over twenty, more pre paring for baptism about ten days hence. But we will need the money I requested you to send to Howard Phillips in Hongkbng, for the childsaving projects now under way and others soon to be undertaken. If

ever there was a time to use our money for the Lord, it is now. There are no "rice Christians" here. And by all means, give David Yen, Jr. the balance of that $400.00 I promised to help. The ministry of his

father with the Tai Ho Kai congregation has been eminently satisfactory, and both his wife and mother continue teaching very satisfactorily. Right now, a number-of sick people are waiting for my medical services, so I

niTist close foo: \ ; r

present.. ' "\ ' V With love and prayers, . , . Your son, J.'.Russell Morse.

T%e following paragrayU tvntten hy Broilier^ Morse s&veral ago is expres^ve of Uis deep fdUli and steadfastness, and lits great zeal and determinaUdn io derve where he feels he is needed, not counting the.
cost: ' '' y

"Another missionary has, written, yery truly that 'the only certain ty in present-day China is UN-certainty.' Perhaps I shall never again

see the TJ-. S. A. and my loved ones there. But this shepherd is no hiteling,
to flee and fpriBsake the flock when the storms arise. Our Lord Jesus

every situation; so please stir up the churches "to pray especially for all
of us, and then watch God do great things to save China."
Excerpts from letters from LaVerne Morse.. /

Christ has nQ^er .forsaken us either, and is,truly our 'Good Shepherd^ in'

Although LaVerne's Tibet Journal was recently piMished in its entirety, in the Ghiiitism Standard, there are a few portions which we want to repeat in this newsletter because of their significance in demon"

undertook ^dnA^. with Ood's hfilp completed), such a dangeroiis and uncer-

striding the zeal he and Mel Byers hcLd ,forpre(w1i^ing. the Gospel^ as they

tain2oiii/'ney. 'AUo^Laverne has'a real m^sdge for those here in America..

the Lord's*Dayj the two of us alone partook of the Lord's Supper, and had:
a bit of singing, studying, and devotions.

music, we had a qiiiet Christmas Sunday. Accoi'ding to our custom on

Chri^ttn^ came,.. /^itlioiit Juaiiy colored, street ^lights or, Christma^

"The iji^as "were the cla^s of power in j.the land of Tibet. .Sometimes a,

Concerning t^

sfay at -Its^jcaio, %aVerne wrote: '^Veelcs pass^; thert

large crowd of them would come to visit and hear Mel play, his piano

accordian. AVe wondered sometimes whether they came to see what each would like to have if \they dealt'with us as they did with the ambushed Swiss Catholic priest.

"In spite of obstacles and the imcertain feeling that We might be leaving
any day and yet might not leave for mionths, after Christmas we were able to hold Several pireaching .sei^ices in Tsakalo, Inner Tibet Various ones warned us we should not try preaching, reminding. us of wliat liappened to the Catholic priest, Then, they suggested we'd better ask

permission for several times. Mel pla^-ed the axxiordian and I spokei Wo
felt a good-work could he done in time throughout Inner Tibet if the
supreme power of tlife lamas was broken.

permission'from the "Go^a Lama's regent. He ghid^ngly allowed us,

_"One can't, imagine the; depth of evil and darlmess to which Satan has plunged the people in such a heathen stronghold. One: could truly see and feel evil in their !every action. They i'know nothing such as love; they i could not imagine sucht a thing as "love thy' neigh bor as thysdfYon who read this, tell people back in the States to be more thanMul to God for the trustworthiness, the peace, the -love that CMsti has mstilled in the American life. Tell the young "people of America, ^on't, you,, to cherish and strengthen .the Cliristian principles

that are the foundation of our

life and hope, and to do their

iKst with all their heart and

life that Christ's love might break through to these pits of

darkness. America is wonderlul when one realizes the com-

])arative utter spiritual wretch

edness, the shadow of death,

that chokes the air of a heathen land sucli at Tibet."

LaVerne gave a detailed and graphic description of the Dev il dancean annual religious
event which he and Mel were

permitted to witness.

In clos

ing his account of the event he

wrote: "By this time we had

a tliorough repugnance and hoiTor of the satanic religion of Lamaist Tibet. Surely the
country is in the darkest
X-M.

chitches of the Devil's power,

within the depths of satanic fear and superstitious IwndMel Byers

LaVernes final paragraph tells of conditions among the churches when they finally roachnd the Suhvecn Valley mission- area: "Mainly, we were p'lad to aiTive where we were nic^t needed. JIany of the leading Chris tians, including a large number of the prcaehers, had moved into Burma l.jist fall because of the troubles in the valley. !Many of those left in tlic Snlween had stood admirably faithful in spite of all trials. Ifowever, .ome of the weaker ones had fallen to the temivtatio-ns. Some were bj'okenlier.rtod and i)ewilderetl at their own Tailings and the confusion around them and before them. They needed a lot of teaching, love, and exhorlatinn to l)e set back on their feet, Prol)a.bly tlie maiority had not neces sarily fallen, but needed encouragement to stand faitJiful in impending difficulties. The ehunihcs necd-.'d to be sot again in order, and to Ix*
started on a working ])lan under the new and more difficult sitiiations

wliich they would have to facc. Once started, they could probably keep
on quite well in spite of persecutions. We certainly seemed to have 3'eachod the place where we were most needed at the right time. Wo 1hanked Ood for a safe ending of our Detour through Tibet. Praj' for us that we may ever tnist Him! May we always be instnunents in His
hands for His use."

Reports had, hem received that all were safe "both at Putao and Tiliwago in letters from Helen {Mrs. Eugene) Morse and Gertrude (.Ifr.?. J. sell) Morse who, with Eugene. David, and Drcmn were in the Putao area

at the time of the earthqmJee, August IStli, The first word direct from Tiliwago where the rest of the folks were working was a letter from Lor Verne, part of which follows: Tiliwago, Kachin State, Burma September 1, 1950 Ky dearest Grandma, Aimt Louise, and Aunt Eva: It certainly has been good to have the Christian fellowship togethei here duxing the past several months. The Reeses have done a very excel lent work. Mrs. Eees knows enough Chinese to teach and preach, so even when there is no one here who knows English she can teach through one or two helpers who know Chinese here. She is really a remarkable person the way she takes care of the medical needs of the people,, advises preachers and other workers, and then arrainges for the meals and so forth for the rest of us. David is likewise doing a good job. AH in all, I am surely thankful that for a while at least Robert, Betty, Jonathon, the Rees family, and Mel and all of us can be together foi* the Christian fellowship. Of oourse there is enough to keep each one of us. busy. However, each can work in his specific way. Tliis has been helpful to Mel, too. He is really getting enthusiastic about the Rawang work." LaVeme told of the great need of shepherding and evangelizing the tribes on the Tibetan border, expressing hope it may he done soon. 'Tlease pray that God might lead each step of the yra.j and that we shall have the courage and ability to follow. I surely hope that there will
be at least one more year in which we can work unhampered here in Burma, I think we should pray every day that such might be the case.

By the way, Eugene has also proposed tliat he, too, go up into the Taron area from Hertz. If this works out, perhaps we can really get down te a lot of work there. However, Mother, Eugene, Helen, and the others, have done a good work at Ft. Hertz with the school and preaching trips.

"There should really be a Bible School held here this winter also for developing additional leadership in this area. There is a tragic need for more native preachers. Especially since our big earthquake of August 15,
in which for about twelve minutes the mountains and everything on

them rocked violently about, non-Christians have really been frightened. The earthquakes have continued now through the seventeenth day. About everyday we have a moderate-to-violent earthquake or two, though of shorter duration than that first awful night Mud-walled or stone houses imdoubtedly would have almost wholly crashed. The bamboo huts are fairly elastic. Many hillsides, not being so elastic, have had
terrdfio landslides. Bodies have been floating down the river with

wreckage of houses. The river at first became so muddy that thousands of fish apparently choked. We're far above the river, but do\vn below, near the river, it is said to really stink. I wonder if there has been vol

canic activity up the valley. Anyhow, the non-dliristians and Christians

alike are being shaken. Formerly the calls to teach were more than could
be filled; now we are swamped.

Above all, I wish that people would write. Undoubtedly I have not written my shaa-e to the States either. But I've had the job of keeping

in

contact with

the

Salween

"

chuixhes, writing

letters

of

exhortation, advice, and teach-

ing to the churches, prcachers, elders, etc. Practically ever}'

person needs dii^erent and individual advice. Thus far I've
written several hundixd Lisu

letters to all parts of the mis- HiB|iiM

not written as many letters to H||H|B|||B^

the States as I'd like to have

sion area.

Because of this I've

written.

Nevertheless,

letters

from the States are one of tlie

gi-eatest factors for enconrage- IgiiBa^M^MH

ment on the field.

throughout the States praying,

with all of you and friends everything had to turn out jvl,
right in the endgoing through Tibet and the bandit
threats. I know a number of

'^Dearest Grandma, truly thanks a lot for all your love and Oiire and prayers. Surely

X. & ' 3 & 'ftp.jL J

trouble, then the Communist

R. LaVerne Morse

times I doubted very much that we'd ever get out alive, and wondered how it would feel to expect to get out alive. However, there was one verse which 1 read in about the worst of the trouble, from Psalms 118:17, "T shall not die, but live and declare tiie works of the T^ord." Truly God's

"Word is a comfort, a lamp unto our feet tlirough darkness.

Yours with a heartful of love, (Signed) R. LaVeme Morse

Letter from Robert Morse from Tiliwago, N. Burma, September 1, 1950.

Dear Grandma:

As one period of emergency follows on the heels of another, and the calls for oxir services seem to multiply daily, we definitely have not been able to keep up with our corresi)ondence duties.
In June I began a eoncentratod study of the Pawang, because there was such a large opening among them. liouglily 400 had turned to the Tx)rd in two month, in this tribe alone, and the Lisu work was expanding. Tn July I took time out after a three month's absence to go back to Pulao (Muladi) to get Betty and Jonni. .1 made tlie. 11 day cross-jungle trip

safely and easily in 5^ days' walking, taking my Rawang informant along,

working when we stopped. After a week at Muladi, wliere I met Mother, Helen, Gene, and Es^ther agnin after IG months and got rcacquainted, conferred, discussed church problems, etc., wo sta.rted back, thni rain and leech-soaked jungle, a.n-iving here at Tiliwago August 1st, sifter 11 hectic,

painful, fever-ridden problematic days. Everyone except me got sick. On

imobtainable. After arrival Jonni came down with measles and Betty

afford to delay onthe road b^aufie our food was scarce and more would be

days. wh^ .the carri(^^^

lokd, W we coTlldn't

a^d I had several bad attacks of malaria. But otherwise we continned as ii$ual in the usual work around a station, as well as language study and tifanslating^relief arrangements, medical care, teacher supervision and

other incidentals. Mel bas made good progress in tiie language in my

absence and now prefers Bawang as his foreign language, to either Chinese

or Lisu. We were going to continue right down into the heart of Kawang country, but various problems kept us heire, and then we decided to stay for the two month's school we are starting in October, so We have had a small 'T)asha'' built and are settling in here to heavy work. After the sdhool, I suppose we Will go on into Eawang jungle (we're partly in it
k^p calling. This year is proving to be one of the most fruitful in our whole mission history.
^ school or several itineraries into the areas that

i.As of yesterday, I have finished work on a preliminary primer^ to start the Eawang work with. Ifs just a 32 page booklet, but it has taken an

a^ul lot of headw;ork. It marks the completion of linguistic analysis

tlfe grammar, of course; I've hardly started.

and search for a scientific alphabet. I haven't completed my studies on However, with Lisu back ground, it comes to me quite e^ily, so about all I need to do is to keep enlarging my vocabulary. Hope to be preaching my first sermon in Rawang by another months if I keep studying. The people themselves seem very much thrilled, and looking forward to the first printed literature
in their own. tongue.

Herewith is their alphabet: "G, K, Q, H, N6; J, C, S, Y, R; D, T,

S, Z, N; B, f, W, L, M'; I, B, A,T, "U, 0." A line.or two from their

primer follows: "Ang kaq mvre pe wa angri angyang iaoe, wa n vtamgoe.', Most difficult of aU was hjonn translation, where an idea must be squeezed into a set, limited number of syllables. Some hymns have stumped us, but I've gotten a fair start so far. Here's a stanza from "He T-adeth Me": 4. Evgaq turn bongli wa dango, Navju keni dang bngo n ; Si Ivm long sang n ga mja^sreng, Nga akang Gvrayi eslie.'- And do they love to sing them! It's really something quite new tot them, haviag something to sing in their own tongue, so it go^ over big. And of course, I'm having my troubles trying to get across our "Christian concepts, find ing words. They don't have a good word for love, or grace ,or even spirit or soul, but in other ways they have shades of meaning we wouldn't think of. It looks now like we might have trouble getting preacher material, so please pray miich, that the Lord wiU raise up native Eawang
l)oys who will want to enter the ministry. are so great, and the workers so few. The needs of the whole field

Jonni grows and changes daily. He is not yet ^a year old, although he can take several steps, walk everywhere, holding on, and getting into all kinds of mischief as well as talk Eawang more fluently than me. (joke)
Pray for us all.

Ix)ve, Eobert, Betty, and Jonni

Robeirt Morse laclcs $450.00 of his living link support. We feel

sure that this has not been generally understood among the churches. If there is any church or church group who would like
to complete Robert's support, please contact Mrs. Ruth Morse, 114

Si Denver, Tulsa Oklahoma. It will be greatly appreciated. Robert is doing a splendid and sacrificial work and is Worthy of full sup
port by the brethren.

Another letter from, Robert presents to the homefolk the problems that are confronting them since the earthquake, and also the victories that have been won. We feel that all will be thrilledand inspired with ifeis letter,
even as we were.

Dear Folks:

Tiliwago, N". Burma September 6, 1950

.

from outside, and want to know if tliis is just our private show, or has

As our earthquake goes into its 22nd night, we ai-e aniionis for news

was right in preaching such things in the latter days: 'T^ok up for our redemption draweth nigh, is ckwer than when we first believed." To the non-Christian it has brought such great upsets, bewilderments and con

physi^lly. To most Ohristians it has had a heartenilig eff^: Scripture

thin^' to us, at least it has, so to speak, upset worlds, both spiritually iind

been affecting the re^ of the world. Of course it seems like the ''big

wTtjo can live at peace; what profit is there in living as we do? There
is no hope, no future, no security. ,.

fusion that they all seem to say, "l^y, you Christians aire the only ones

Consequently, as of Tuesday, the 15th of August, "we have been swamp ed with as great a job (I think), as has ever faced our mission.; Spread
over an area of over 35 daj'S travel east to \s^est' and 25-30 days north to south, hundreds upon hundreds of requests are coming in for someone t^ "spread the glad tidings," and let the pagans know more about the

only way in which there lies peace, security, and hope. luasmujdi as this
comes on top of an already existing "awakening" or ne^, we are swamp ed indeed. Up until the time of the qiiake, however^ our biggiest "net" work was'in the Communist controlled areas at that 1! Despite the

exodus M hundreds bf refugees pouring oTOr into this north Bumia jungle, including m^y of the main pillara of the churches over there,
in both the Mekong and Salween vallej^, hundreds, and hundreds have flocked to the banner of Clirist, counting the stigma of the cross of more value thain the respect of atheism or their wdl-beirig^ It would seem tliat the main motive for this "swimming against the tide" is that the non-Christians see how untenable is their position, having no . hope of life or blessing in the world to come, and seeing their world of semisecurity topple to ruins and chaos round about them.

fully cope. Certainly, people who do not know wliait the next dawn will
are tauight, how can they even

The earthquakes have made the situation one with which we cannot

bring are not going to wait several weeks until teachers find time to come or send someone around to tcach and pray with them. Yet, unless they
considered as bdievers or Christians

people who...lqi95^ .thiLt: ,God .has a rway^ .wherein

must be taught a crucified aiid ris^ Christ, and we liiusit strike while
the iron is hot. ' Me^while a large tribej not Lisu,' biit Rawang, is eagerly

and promisW^thein life eyierla^ng and p^ce (of heart) on .earth? They

accepts all comers

waiting. Mmy of them have-already become Christians through Lisu

ieaching; knowing that several of the white jteadiers-are concentrating on learmng their l^guage, reducing it to; writing,-translating God's Word, they still do not want to wait, but leam anothsr language themselves. Of the many others who await the time that they can be taught in theiu own tongue, many keep impatiently sending word asking "Is the first book (or primer) ready yet? Can you start teaching in Rawang now? and holding a Rawang school? So much they expect, yet actual work in this direction didn't start until last June when Mel and I went deep down into Rawang country. !

Thus it may be seen that what we want most of all is prayersa ^eady stream. Areas that have been among the hardest and most difficult now: send for the Gospel. In one village between two Rawang congregations, where the 'teadiing of the Gospel has been anathema and a believer in danger of expulsion or worse from the tribeover 25 conversions re sulted when the earthquake showed the people how precarious was their position on the brink of eternity. One family which turned to the Lord
en masse was tliat of a fomer Christian who had backslidden due to

social pressure. An extremdy large boulder broke away cliff above and in crashing down mashed their house to anyone being hurt. They were grateful for the mercy of spring them, to once again follow the Jesus way. . .. ,

from a high bits, without the' Ix>rd in ,

Out herCy Christianity means definite clear-cut and well-defined sepa ration from the world and the cross becomes truly a cross upon which
the desires and habits of self are crucified. To love the world, or go

back into the world,, is to backslide, and turn away from Christ. Pray then that all the hundreds and hundreds of new inquirers and believers

may be taught; that they are soundly established in the faith with roots
that will stand the sun's heat, the wind's blow.

I/anguage study, or rather trying to acquire a new language in six

months or;so, so as to be able to teach therein, is not a nine-to-five o'clock

proposition.) Rather it has proved to be almost a 24-hour grind;.some

thing you work, relaxji eat, sleep, and dream with and about. It has to be a do-or-die proposition, too, esepcially with a language like the Rawang language. It is no easy problem, cracking the rule: and systems involving
7-8 vowels, 3-5 tones, a dozen or so classes of verb conjugation and more

aspects and modes than Greek and Latin put together. Parts of speech are all jumbled up; most nouns derive from verbs and verbs seem to sub
stitute as adjectives, adverbs and most other things, including pronouns. Then the words seem to act like magnets, and pick up a dozea extra

syllables or vowels before th^ are satisfi^ to inake sense. Who even
The Lord has provided wonderfully for this northernmost section of Lisuland in bringing the workers all together again. LaVerne Morse andi Mel Byers finally arrived after a six-month detour through southeastern

swd the languages of the Orient are all monosyllabic?

Tibet, and have kept busy. Eugene, Helen, and son Bavid in an unpre
cedented and unexpected move, through the Lord's intervention, were able to fly clear from Hongkong to within one day's walk from our Indian border, Tibetan border station, (Muladi near Putao). With them were Mother (Mis. J. E. M.), and foster daughter Drema Esther. Only Eugene

made the trip overland with supplies from Myitkyina to Putao. Nowi Betty, Jonathon, and I are back close to the China border, working with, the Eawanglanguage and hoping to have the primer out by winter. Pray that the Lord may guide and lead us each step and keep back the forces of evil so that we may have further time to work.
Yours for Christ's Kingdom, (Signed) Robert, Betty, and Jonni Morse

{Excerpt from a letter from Tychichusthe Rawang preacher who is worleing with Robert in preparing a Rawang Primerto Mrs. Isahel Dittemore, which she received October 1950.

"About this earthquake I mentioned, my aged father teUs me he has

never seen anything like it in all his lifetime. We are all amazed by it.

What is it, and why? What do you folks think of it? If you would
tell us it would make us very happy. '^Because of this great earthquake, a great many kinds of fish that
everyone can eat and which we have never ever seal before have been

given, us to eat. And although the earthquake killed a great many people so that all of up and down tlie valley have heartache, still nearly

who had not believed Jn God before have from this, time beUev^in, v'^y ^eat nmnbefs. Ple^ pray for us because G^d's Workers are few
and many have not the things they need. Others are not mlliiig to do it. So please pray much for us. "I wanted to teU you this so have added an extra page to my letter. Go in peace." (Signed Tychicus Tychious also reported in his letter that he and Sergiouseven before

the earthqiiaheh^ gone into the heart of the Rawang area this mmmer

for two months and had baptized SJf6 new converts.

A word from Mrs. Ruth Morse about .this native worker: "Tychicus had been a Christian, then backslid. He was taken very sick and was going
blind. He called for the Elders and Deacons of the church. He confes

sed his sins to God and asked forgiveness, promising God that if He would heal him he would preach the Gospel and live as near right as he knew how. Then they prayed and God healed him. He is an outstand ing Cliristian today and is Robert Morse's Eawang teacher and helper. Isabel Dittemore says he is like a brother to her. Please pray for all who want to hear the Gospel and pray we may have an "earthquake" in the IT. S. A. to waken the sleeping Christians." At the time of the earthquake August 15, Mrs. J. Russell Morse and JHugene were on a teaching and p)-eaching trip in the Putao area.. .Helen and Drema were at the mission station at Muladi. The first word to reach the States after the em-thquake came to Mrs. Ruth Morse from
Helen:

'

^^

Muladi, Biirma, August 16

Bear Grandma:

tlief and |B^en(3 have been gone for over a week now, out visiting some
then Eugene weiit on to another place while Mother stayed. "Wie had some excitement last night in the form of an earthiquake of sizeable proportions. Drema and I were here with two Lisu girls when it happened. Even our boy who helps with the cooldng had gone home
to spend the nightL So it was only women folk here. Of course we were

Your letter of June 29 made pretty good time, only one montli. Mo-

of the nestrby churches. Tliey went togethCT as far as the first church,

somewhat frightened, but started pi-aying right away and the Lord kept
us Side.

This morning, evidently as a result of the earthquake, the small stream (a branch of the big river) nearby has had hundreds of big fish in it. All the folk going dmvn and bringing back fish by the basket load; 20-25 fish, ^h weigliing 10-15 poitrids, isome probably more.

JJ.elen gave, ^ms concerning the folks at TiUwago and then in closing

Mrs. Uuih Morse Jells- of lier experiences during the, eartliquahe as she
was going-ahout among the villages near Puta,o:
.
Muladi, IT. Burma September 20, 1950

wtoU : "Drema says to tell you Tiello' for her and she sends her love, too-. We do appreciate your praying for all of us all the time. We surely need prayers nowas ne^er before. Ask all our friends to pray for us, too. I of love to you, ' ' Helen, DaVid, and ibrema. , Tlifi following letter, from Mrs. Gertrude (Mi% J. Bussell) Morse.

My dearest Mother Morse: We do praise the Lord for His tender care over us through these past weeks. , We have had a, very unusual experience.. Tliere have been a hundred or nuore earthquakes in the last nipnth, and some of them, Imve been so hard that the,people could not stand up. The earth has

cracked in mpy places, and there have been countiess landslides which
ikve filled the rivers with mud a!nd killed the fish.

in two churches when the earthquakes stSted. Then the elders of thcJ
church where Eugene had gone, wanted me to come and help Eugene
hold a Bible sdiool. So I went there and we had a school for the women,

. Eugene and I went on a three and a half weeks' preaching trip to chjUrches in this area during most of August. I had finished teaching

girls, and young nijei^.

The women got someone to take care of theii>

babies while they studied, for a changeat, least most of them did. I have been so concemcd for the mothers because they never got much of

an opportunity to really listen to the sermons or read their Bibles and song books. We had a good school and the Lord blessed.
As the earthquakes seemed to be accomi>anied by liard rains, the streams were flooded terribly, bringing immense trees due to the quakes and to the landslides. So it was impossible to get letters to Helen and DTCtna

i'

' '' aiili

Mr, & Mrs. Eugene Morse and Son David Lowell (Age 18 Mos.) here at Muladi, b\it we trusted them to His care constantly. The quakes ci)ntinued constantly all the rest of the trip. It ccrtainly made everyone seek, the Lord. Wc did not know what minute a harder quake would come, or what would happen, or if Clirist would come. Surely we do, believe that tliis is one of the end-of-time happenings. How we wouldi like to hear from the outside world what has happened!
Tlie tnp to and from the churclies was quite interesting. We traveled over plains with tall grass and many deep mud holes and little streams,
some of M'hieh were rather swift and al>out to the waist. But several

of us would hold liands when we crossed them, for it was liard to stand alone. We climbed one quite steep mountain. It took us about two hours to climb it and one or two Lisu Cliristians lielped me in the slipper}' places. Then we descended to the village on the other side. The moun tain trip was through a forest. The trees were immense. Upon out^ return, we came across a ]>lacc which was blocked by a giant tree which." had fallen. I remember having heai-d a great noise like a bomb while teaching one day in the school. We thought then that it might have been a landslide or a great lK>uldcr crashing down. The Lord Icept ii?' all the way. We do thank Him. We left Nam-de hku on August 30 and arrived at the river's bank one hour's Journey, from home here on the evening of August 31. But tlie river was still quite flooded and the boatmen did not dare to cross. So we waited over luitil the next morning and prayed that it would, not rain. The Lord granted our prayer and we got across the next day. Even so, it was dangerous crossing. Eugene had to liclp take his horse across by holding the bridle up to keep the hoi-se's noi-e out of the water. The horse refused to swim and just went with the stream, so it rather made the boat go farther down towards the rapids. But God undertook and protected. Upon our airival home, we found ever^'one well and the houses still standing.

We have had-aa Mail iOT aearly^- moi^^^

are hoping to have

some tomorrow wh6n the runner comffi hack from Ft. Hertz.

Lots of love and prayers, your daughter, Gertrude.

Letter from Eugene R, Morse to Helen's fdfntly and to Jiis sister Ruth Margaret Morse, who is with the Myers family in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Mnladi, N. Burma

September 28, 1950

Dear Folks:

We sure enjoy getting letters from all of you and I believe Mother Myers is about the best correspondent Fve seen tq keep us so fully in formed at all times. Fm glad that Helen can do the writing to keep you folks informed, too, because I am usually too. busy to get around to doing any writing ordinarily.
We have just completed the erection of the new church building here at Mnladi yesterday so I am hoping to have a week or two to take care, of some other things that need to be done. This is the biggest church building that has ever been built in our whole work and I. believe it is

the biggest unobstructed floor space in any building that I know of north of

Myitl^ina. It is 36 ft. wide by 90 ft. long. From the floor to the edge

of the roof is nine feet, and from the floor to the ridgepole is twenty-one feet. It is a trussed roof, supported by cross-bracing, so no supporting poles will obstruct the view. It really looks huge in this country. I estimated that the roof structure supports 10 tons of grass (300 loads) and bmbpo,structure. I have been working right along with the churdi folks every day" from the first and have felt that it wasn't best for me to

Mye the work all up to them as the elders had diificulty directing all the
workers. I roughly estimated the amount of work put in by the church folk Is at least 1,000 maorlabor days, and may be closer to 1,500 including getting the grass by the women. Some days there were 100 to 150 work ers, and some days only 20-30. They put in a total of 19 days from the

clearing of the junglj^j getting all the materialposts, bamboo, grass, ties,

etc. to the actual finish of the building," The only money used was 20 rupees ($3.00, U. S.) for nails. But the outstanding thing about this whple accomplishment is that it was built entirely by the local congrega tion and not by "American fmids"i.e. mission funds! That is the principle of self-supporting churchesdoing all their own work and not relying on foreign aid,dso supporting their own preachers. We know that congregations which are taught, guided and shepherded along

these lines, and fiSly established in the faith will be able to meet the tests
them.

that may come in the future, even when the missionaries are not with Many people are turning to the Lord as the result of the earthquakes. We are not sure yet of the explanation of all that has taken place. We have heard that the quake centered in Assam, and that a volcano erupted. But whatever the explanation, we feel that it was the hand of the Lord. Around, here, the people have been praying for the Shan pwpleBhuddists^to open their hearts and turn to the Lord. In fact, the morning

of the day of the earthquake, over at Nam-htu-liku, where I was preach ing, tliey had special prayer service tliat morning and prayed especially for the Shans, the Rawangs and Kacliins. That night eaine the earth quake, and a great many of the Shan idols, temiples and other objects of worship were eithei- com7)letely destroyed or else badly damaged. One of their largest centers in all of N. Burma was made a wreck. Surely it seemed as if God were working in a mighty and wonderful way to answed
prayer!
Our love to all,

Eugene, Helen, and David

(Excerpts from Helen Morse's letter to Mrs. Ruth Morse.)

Mu-la-di, N. Burma October 13, 1950..
Our dear Grandma Morse:

It is really a tlirill to write and tell yon this news. You can imagine our suprise, joy and thanksgiving when we received this telegram fronn Daddy last Saturday: "Is family safe. Hope basic staff remaining. Cannot leave Kunming before November." We are continuing to pray for him all the time. We just have to commit him into the Lord's care and trust that He will keep Daddy from all hann and danger and bring him out to us safely. How wonderful it is to hear from him, and to knowi
lie is safe. Praise the Lord!

Mother left Wednesday, October 4, to go to Tiliwago. Robert and LaVernc wrote asking that Mother come and help hold a Bible school for the Rawang people. The alphabet Robert has worked out for the Rawang language can be typed on the Lisu tjqxjwriter, so they are cutting stencite and mimeographing the primer Robert has completed and will have it to use in the school. It seems the Lord has given" him a special talent and ability in learning the Rawang language quickly so he could do the translation work more quickly. Tiliwago is aijout 10 dap' travel from here and we liated to see Mother sE'art out without any real companion especially when she hadn't been feeling very well. But she felt it was tlie Lord's wll for her to go, so she went, even though she Imew it would be a hard trip, because the monsoon rains aren't quite over yet. Wo are praying that the Lord will give her the strength for the journey and for teacliing in tlie school after she gets there.
We sure would lilce for you to see David, he's getting so big and is so sweet and loving. He's talking quite a bit, too. He says his mealtime prayer all by himself, too"Thank you, Jesus, Amen." We thinlc that's

prehy good for only 18 montlis old, don't you? He's learning to sing
and will follow us through on almost any hymn. "I Surrender All" M'ithout any help. He even sings part of

Betty wrote that Jonni was taking steps alone, and walked all around hanging on to (lungs. PCe had stood alone several times even before they left here in July. You never saw a more lively, bright and alert little
follow.

Grandma, we surely do appreciate your faithfulness in writing and sending clippings. Seaixjoly a mail paj;ses that doesn't have a least one

letter from you, and \isiially two or llnoo,. We know how miieh writing yo\i liavc to dp, and it really means a lot to us to hoar from von jfo regu
larly.

We love you and are praying for yo\i, too.

Lots of love, Helen, Eu^ne, and David.

("Received just as we went to press.)

November 1, 1950

Reanved a niessa<(c from Daddy. It had come rather roimdabout: To HoAvard Phillips in iiongkong, then to M.r. Tegenieldt, American Baptist Mission, Myilkyina, who sent it on through militar\' radio to the American Ji^idio here. The mch'sage wa: "ileqTicst family declare de sirability my visiting Burma churches enroute lionieward from Kunming." We replied that it would Iw very much worth while. We have wi-itten letters c/o H. Phillips Hongkong and c/o American Consulate, Kfingoon
so he will receive one whichever way he comcs out.

Had a letter from Mother saying she rc-oched Tiliwago safely Helen. Kngene, and David.

Christian Co^op Press

Terrc Haute, Ind.

From

Sec. 34.66 P. L. & R.

MRS. RUTH MORSE,

114 South Denver Avenue

Tulsa 3, Oklahoma

Forwarding Agent, Return Postage Guaranteed

lir. Buxris Butler

The Christian Standard

Cincinnati, Ohio

"

iiI

J. Russell Morse,

340 Shang Hsipa, Kunming, Yunnan, China Kunming, China

fJxuM.

Utln.

December 1, 1950

My Precious Mother, Sisters, and Ruth Margaret:

I am very homesick for all of you these past weeks, and hardly a day passes that my heart does not overflow with tears sometime at the thought of how rapidly time is running out on me. The needs for my ministry here are so many and pressing, that try as I do every day to lay them aside and clear the deck for my departure, it seems I can hardly get away on my journey to Hongkong before international developments may make it (my departure) inadvisable. After 29 years given to China, my roots are too established here for easy transplanting. It is a grateful surprise when your letters keep coming through. I get more letters from you than from all the rest of the world put together. There have been several this past month. The only news of our folk in Burma comes to me through Hongkong; only telegrams forwarded by Mr. Phillips, no letters. I was so relieved to learn of their being safe and well after the many earthquakes, which were so terrible in Assam (north east India) to their west. Mr. Phillips forwarded me a letter about it written by Helen's mother in Terre Haute, then the only other letter-news came a few days later from you. We should all be very grateful to Mr. Phillips for his great-spirited Christian help in acting as a go-between for us in this perplexing situation. If this Mission has any future prospects in China (and I believe it has if we only keep the faith), then Kuruning will be the logical place for making a new start, so I must try to hold on. Praise God, my faith has been rewarded far beyond what there seemed reason to expect. I am sure that, had I left when the others did, the past work of the Missionaries here would have been dissipated by the greatly changed circumstances. Now, not only has all the former work been continued and conserved, but also numerous inspiring advances have been made. My remaining here has
been WORTHWHILE.

During the nearly a year since the last of our missionaries left Kun-

ming, there have been two hundred and twenty newChristians baptized, one new congregation well established aiid thriving, and a fifth congrega tion well started. I could tell you about many other phases of the work, but this letter must not be too long. In recent months, I have been almost overwhelmed by the numbers of sick people who call for my medical help. Practically all the Christians are too poor to afford a professional doctor and to buy the needed medicines, of which I have quite a variety on supply here. As 1 chsirge nothing for my services, and as nearly all my patients have been decidedly benefited, my reputation has grown far beyond my time and strength to meet all the calls. This has been one of the main reasons I have been hindered so on preparations for departure. One of the very great gains of the past year has been the addition of Mr. and Mrs. David Yen (Sr.), both elderly, and their daughter-in-law Jean (Mrs. David Yen, Jr.) to our staff of workers. With my support in numerous ways, Bro. Yen has steadily revived the Tai Ho Kai congregation and developed it into the largest congregation we now have. He is not

character and longs^ering kindly patience have made him a highly re

experience, which togetiher with his ^iritual- wisdom and goodness of spected leader. His wife and daughter-in-law ^Juivev taught our daily l^dergarten in Hsipa about 8'monthis pas^ with remaurkable improvement

only an excellent teacher and preacher, but has had many years of medical

in nearly all the children, which has had a very favorable reaction on the whole church. Many of these children from non-C!hristian homes now openly express their faith in God and Christ, take the Christian hymns and memorized Bible verses into their homes, and in addition have become the best "choir" in the chvurch. This being such a happy development, about

6 months ago we started a second kindergarten in liie Tai Ho Kai church,

which has also been a very gratifying success, and Jean has also been teaching there two days eadi week, has a genius for education, and has the kind of personality that insjnres the children. But church work here is very different from in the States,one of the main problems being
lack of materials.

Please continue the U. S. $400.00 per year scholarship of David Yen, Jr.,
out of my own personal funds, for a second year if he is able to continue his studies, and even longer if necessary. Moreover, I want it \inderstood

worker from difldhood. David (Yen Teh Fu) meai^ eveiyttdng to his family (parents, wife and child) here, as he is the only child, and they are

I quite approve of his majoring in Chemistry there, as it is very unlikely he could find laboratory facilities at all comparable anywhere in China. I person^y know he has been a devout Christian and an active Christian

all gladly enduring eyery sacrifice if it will only help him continue his

preparation for a ^eat future in "New China". Personally, the more I

become acquainted with the Yen family here, the more I have hi^ly esteemed and lowed Dayid, Jr.
With love to all, your own
J. Russell Morse.

December 4, 1950.

jniies away come to me for treatment. A great many are now in desperate
poverty, but I cm truly say there are practically no "rice Christians" in these chiuTches. For months I have been trjdng to get &ee enough &om all this work to give my attention to preparations for departure, but there is no; one .to take-my place and the needs keep piling up insistently. I am

P.S.: I have written this letter with my own hand as additional proof that I am still, ^ve. I have been so overwhelmed by the work here many months past that I,seem,to have lost the ability to write letters. Repeatedly my being here Has saved every one of these congregations from going to pieces. I estimate that my medical ministry this past year has saved nearly 100 lives, and brought healing to over 1,000, so that people from many

reassured again and again that it has been God's will for me to stay by the work here. But I "feel my way in Hie dark." Only God knows when and where we shall meet again, but it is such' a comfort that He (our Heavenly Father) knows and cares. I just received another,telegram urging me to re-join the work in Burma, and that Robert and LaVerrie especially need my medical care. They advise my going via Hongkong to Rangoon, which in fact is the only way open to me novv. But

with the recent sad developments in Korea, and the increasingly tense

dangerous for me to tty getting out tp Hongkong than just to stay by the
work in Kxmnaing. ,

international situation, I naturally wonder whether it would be more

Just today I received your letter of October 11th. Your letters always
inspire me, because they are full of "faith, hope, and love", never a com plaint. This is a poorly written letter, but please pass along the news to all our fahiily, friends and living link chui'ches.
Forever yours,
J. Russell Morse.

' Tarawonggong, Kachin State, N. Burma

October 30, 1950.

Dear Grandma: ^

is making the cross-jungle trip to'Putao, so I'll write a note and try to send by him; As usu^ we niusl; merely wait haphazardly imtil some one
has reason tormake the 20-day round trip until we can send or get mail.,

Just, found putJionight that one of the district "pyadas". or policemen

students, m two classes, or grades. ' First grade is largely, 40 odd mostly

I held a school here in 1945. Unexpectedly we have a total of 68 or so

We are in the midst of oUr fall school, with the largest attendance since'

Rawang, i^d sbcond ^aide Usu. Although this is as originally plannied,

dropped our fair-reaching plans. But the Lord brought it to p^ Myhow!

we later didn't have tilie faith to .think it wotdd work, and had practically

Shortly^before our school, the C's stated massing troops right ^croira the border for their attack^ on Tibet, and we thought wb wbtild be affected too",
so althoiijgh we wanted Mother to come help teach, I actually advised

sible &at she could have come that awful hard jungle journey^10 days of climbing and .mud-wadingall by herself, without aiiy companions, except a ^Uple of,toad-carrier coolies. /Hiat I think is ;the most heroic trip that has b^n malde across this jungle area, Tiliwago-Putao. Now that she is

again^_ it. What a isurprisej* on the eve of the school, to get word by the grapevine that she was o^y a ,day's journey away. Truly it seetried impos

here, we are all glad, for she will really ease our bxirdens lots. ^

would not be safe, so instead he made a trip into an vmexplored new area where they were interested in the Gospel. That's his story, but briefly, when he returned there were 2 congregations in the making, and over 100 converts. And he brought back 9 more students for the school, boys who know not one work of Lteu, neither care to leam. TTiat is why we must stress the fact that this is the first Rawang Bible School, taught jointly with the Lisu. The Lisu classes go thusly: 1st hour Parables of Jesus, by Betty; 2nd hour. Fundamental Doctrines of Salvation, by Mother; 3rd hour, Life of Christ by Lois; 4th hour, Homilectics (or sompin' similar) by Mel; 5th hour, music, by Robert; 6th hour, New Testament church by David;
7th hour, Recreation, by Mel. I translate for Betty, LaVerne translates for Lois, Mel, David. Every morning we have devotions from 7-7:45, for both groups. Rawang classes are as follows: 1st hour, Reading, by Mel; 2nd

a trip nor& to our Taron area churches on the Tibetan border. However, with C. troops and Tibetans fighting all along that front, we decided it

LaVeme hadn't planned to be here at all, as he was supposed to make

hour, .Wnting, by Robt.; Srd hour, Life, of Christ in with Lisu, with added inteipreter; 4th hour, Basic Doctrines, by Mother^ 5th hour. Music, by LaVeme; 6th hour, Scripture verses in Rawang, by Robert; 7th hour, Recreation. Whatever Scripture verses are slrossed in their other classes, I translate into Rawang (with native help), and teach the Rawang students

for them to copy, so that at the end of the school, the Rawang students will

to memorize, read, and write. Tm also translating Mother's i^dy notes

have thcsir notes in Rawang, and will be able to read and write in their nativ^ Iraguage. It really is quite thrilling to do this, and see the marvel

ous progress uey are mahdng. Also, we have finished mimeographing fhe first Rawang Gospel Primer, and are using that material in the school. The
time for that yet.

books still need to be sewn up before distribution, but we haven't had the
What wiu correction papers for my Rawang classes,

and taking cu:e of incidental matters of mission business, my time is very full, clear up into the ni^t. At the s^e time, I am trying to continue work on a more complete, round; out "primer r", which will contain approximately 120 pages, includihjg arotmd 45 hymns. If I can get this finished by next spring, we may be able to get it printed in Rangoon, and brought back up before the monsoons, next year. Meanwhile, if we can teach the people to read with this first booklet, with the 2nd Primer we can really start work establishing a solid group of Rawang chxurches by the end of next year, and perhaps, if the Lord so wills it, we might even cover the whole field of this tribe, with the Gospel. Me^while we are having oiur preacher troubles too,^not enough new material, and the old ones getting over-worked and wanting to lay off for awhile, even though

the c^s from new areas keep multiplying. Our Lisu work grows apace
too, and we hardly are able to keep up with it.

We're getting complaints about our not writing enough about Joni. He's really growing, and made tremendous stridies since his first birthday. That day we wwe sM at a convention, and he saw aU the kids playing

top) . I was shocked whien I saw him do it; he just lauded at me and startednmning away. Although we have a Rawang girl taking care of him (and attending classes) he really loves and wants to play with both
cbht^t to play arotmd the bedroom by himself if there's someone arotmd. Mo^ of. all he likes books, pencil and paper. He's learning to run, dance,

around, took off on his own, started walking, as as 20-odd steps. Now he walks all over the house, even climbs out of his table-chair (over the

par^ts. He sleeps byJiiniself in a Uttie room of his own, and usually is

flnd can hold his own in conversation (private dialect) with a Rawang

(but not in Englidi). He's gotten the idea of using a pencil or pen to write, and gets annoyed if his one doesn't make the proper marks on paper. He imitates the cows arotmd here, and loves to hear me do various imitations. He's learned what singing is, and joins in at chtirA, doing his

I^pa, waving both anns, and gets his most serious look when he so does.

best when he has a book in hand, otherwise he prefers to lead, like his

and sasring "gaaa". He's ri^t handsome, and of course the cut^ one

He likes to make love :With parents, hugging and kissing and patting, coping

arotmd, (iubby, wiry, blue eye ^d wiiming smile. All for how.
Love,

BoBETTYRobert and Betty.