Nichols Edgar Mabel 1950 Tibet&India

8/10/2019 Nichols Edgar Mabel 1950 Tibet&India

1/13

W^IiB jnOM THii

KICHOLa AT ijlIllLO]itG.yj;]ilDlih

Hb

Their l e t t e r

dated

Feb.24,states tha t Right

af ter

oar 6:30 breakfast

this^saorning

Edgar,the Mowlai pasiar-and two student preachers

l e f t

to

do some

evangelizing

at Mongpoh,a village that

is half way

to

Gaahati,

There

are

a few Christians there and they have asking us

to

come.

-day is market day so there w ill be crowds of people there.Our party

wil l gtop a t Amsaw

vi l l iage

on t he i r way

back,where

there

are

a few

Christians,and

where

they

want tq

s ta t t

a

school

and

church.

Edgar

got back

at about 4^.^.and in the evening he and the rest

went

the^^ miles to Mawkrih

and had

a service in a

home

there. w

1

QYig

-h-w^pg In nnn In nmnny tinn mnnh-TTift

people

a t Jflawkrih Want

weekly s e rv i c e s so

Edgar

wi l l t r y to

t ake

someone t h e re

e very F rid ay

fo r

a meeting at 7: ^.]/. There is pressing need

for

trained-paatuaza^for all

these

vi l l iage3,and i t

will

take money

to support th is educa tional p ro -

gram,but should prove

to

be

money

wel l spen t .

The

above

ex t rac t s , f rom t h e i r

l e t t e r , i nd i c a t e why th e Fai rb ro th -

brqvhuiiudlua ljody\^of January a7th. -yare anxious to be on

the i r

way

to

bring

them

relief.They have been in Oklahoma

and

Texas


2/13

par t s

of

Copy of/a letter received frcm Edgar Nichols,

dated

July

6

1950

**Dear Niaiat

Your

very welcome letter received Frankly,

i t

brought

tears

to

my eyes

I fear we have

not fu lly appreciated

. .. .- ti ie fa ith fu lness of

a l l our

friends

yib o have been praying

for us

That mot bo the outlook

is

not good, try the uplook

comes

to

my

mind

often these days God has been so

good

to us in

preser^vlng

our lives and supplying

onr needs* i am sure he has fur-ther work

for

us though

all

doors seem closed at

present

is

going

to

oust

us

much

more

to

live

in

Kalimpcng,

maybe

as

much

US

as

250*00

per

mon th life have been

trying

to

find

work

for

Yosay

and

Yohanj work

idiere

êy could be

learning

some thing

useful

and perhaps

get their

board* fe

hare not

been

successful so far as tiie local si-tuaticn

in Kalinpong

is very

difficult due

to

the washed out hi ways Mabel wishes to teach Aidrew English

and

later place

him in

school

in

Kalinpong*

^

Pfe have no information as to our missionaries

in

Burma. ISiere are Mr. and

^s .

Morse,

the boys, Mrs.

Dittemore

and Reeses? Tihat is Melba and Bills address?

LaYeme

Morse and Mel

Byers

passed through Paan last November as you know

They

wrote

from

Gartok

tha t they

would

try to go

down

the

Salween and

try to contact

seme of their people

in

U W.

Yunnan.

Pfe have had no

direct

word frcaa -them since*

m

met

their soldier escort on the road* They told us that they accompanied the

boys to the last Tibetan ou-i^jost in ihe

Salween Here they

left their baggage in

the care of the escort,

and

went

into

^\annan

bo

Tada,

where they

found

the Mission

house

Durnedp

They

returned with

some

lAsu

Christians

claimed

their

baggage and

started for the

Binrma

border This is their story, -which we have no reason to

doubt, but

we

have

heard many

disquie-ting rumors since Tfe think they

must

have

reached

Burma

safely or vm

would have

heard to

-the

contrary*

I am aîng

you

to send

two

500*00 drafts to me at our

Kalinpong

address

made a money deal

wi fch

Hie Treasurer of -the Paan lamasery and -{his money is being

jwed

bo pay salaries

and

care fot the

Orphans

Hfe

have

confidence in

Brother

Shao,

TOO is

carrying

on

-the Dispensary and is Treasurer, Tseng Drema and Naomi, tho are

m of the Orphanage and Primary School and, to a limited e:rtent

in

Pastor

Lee

who

will now

have

to carry on with the preaching* (Altogether we

have

20

orph^s and indigent

idio

are being cared for)* Proceeds from the Mission property

are to go

first

to -the

orphans

Salaries are bo be

met from funds

from America*

p have

told

YoSay he \7ill have

to

find work

Pfe

wonder i f some school or

iîvidual

would

like

bo

give

15*00

per

mon th

to support

Yohan

while

he

is

going

^ school or learning a brade* Tffe feel that Andrew and Reuben are

our

responsibili-ty*

TheseJnvo are precious and are beginning to show a real fondness for each other*

We can receive packages but

do

not

want

a

lot

of things

Quick

mix cakes and

puddings,

Jello

and

candy

are appreciated, as sugar

is

severely rationed* Send

no

bandages

or children s do-thes until

we

find if we can get fcem to Paan


3/13

T

^

j

T IBETAN

MISS IONARY

wl mal^e all

my

mountains

away

...IsAiftH49illCa)

Vol. 3

FROM NAOMI

HO .

NATIVE

BIBLE

WOMAN

My dear Sister in the Lord, Gladys :

I

received your

l as t

let ter

a

month

ago.

Maybe

this

wil l

be my last to

you

fo r

some

t ime.

You wil l

th ink

as

I w ri te t his

le t ter tha t my hear t is

a lmo s t

b roken .

I t

l ooks

l ike

t h e

Lord is

t ry ing us with fire.

Firs t

He has

ta ke n our co-worker s ,

nex t

i t

l o o k s

l i k e

H e

wo u l d

t a k e

o u r

money away, th ir dly it

s eems

tha t

we who stand

fast will

be perse

cuted.

No matter

wha t

comes, Ro

mans

5:3-5

s t i l l holds

good.

We

hope

in all th is t o g lo ri fy

His

Name

mo r e

t h a n eve r

befo re .

Now I w is h to tell

you

something

of

our

w or k h er e in

Paa n. T h ro ugh

God s

blessing

quite a few p eople

h av e been saved . B u t som e h av e

backsl idden.

We

are still

sorry

fo r

th em . B ut I remember the parable

of the sower

which

our Lord

gave.

Some

seed fell

by

the

roadside,

some

fe l l on sha l low soil , some

fell

among

th e

thorns and other fell on good

grou nd . I t see ms th e sam e in

th is

day a s

when

our Lord was on ear th .

We

s ti ll s hou ld

plant

the seed,

no

ma t t e r i f

s om e d oe s no t l iv e to b e a r

f ru it . U n ti l ou r L ord co mes for H is

ow n

we mu s t con t i nue t h i s

wo rk .

Before, Mr.

Nichols

planned

to

stay here and con ti nue worki ng .

Now because of th e

trouble

Yo

Say

had a t Gartok about permission to

go

on , Mr. Nichols must

go

with

M rs

N ic ho ls to

I nd i a . We do

no t

k no w w he th er

h e w il l be ab l e

to

r e tu rn in

a

sho r t

t ime or whe t h e r

he

will

go

t o Amer ica. Looking

from

the hum an

s ide, he wishes

to

do

everything

he can fo r

us , even to

g iv in g h is

life

fo r th e

work.

From

our side i t

is not

easy

to see him

go .

If it

be

God s

will,

we

can not

but bow to it . As

Hebrews

13:8

says,

Jesus Christ, the sam e

yesterday

today an d forever . Jesus nev er

fai ls ,

wha teve r He

does

is

best . We

hope

tha t

after

Mr .

Nichols

tends

to

th e

bus ine ss necessa ry in

India he

will be

able

to

return.

However,

if

he must go to

America, we

hope

that both

you

and he and

his

fam

i ly will be

able to

r etu rn in

a

few

years .

I th ink tha t whatever may

come you two

f am il ie s w is h t o

con

t inue th is work. The

Lord

shed

His

blood,

we som etim es shed tears,

bu t however difficult the

work,

we

cannot shirk

our responsibili t ies .

We ho pe yo u and Mr.

Nichols

wil l

never change your mind about

working here. Perhaps these next

few

years are years

fo r

preparing

fo r

even greater th ings .

There

have

been many Christ ians from many

nations

who

have

hoped to

preach

C on tin ued on pg. 4, col. 2

Oc tob e r ,

1950

MR. AND MRS . ARCHIE FAIRBROTHER AND MAR ILOIS

COMMENDATION FOR THE

FAIRBROTHERS

Dated

Feb rua ry

26, 19 50)

To

whom

i t may concern:

Bro t h e r

Archie F a i r b r o t h e r i s

c lo s

ing

his second

y ea r w ith u s to day ,

a n d h e an d Mrs . F a i rb r o th e r l e av e

a t once

to

prepare fo r

the i r

chosen

mis s i on

w ork in T ib et .

They have bo th

cont inued the i r

educa t i on a t Linco ln Bible In s t i t u t e

the

past

year.

Mrs. Fairbrother,

daughter of Dr .

and

Mrs. N. H. Bare,

l ived

in

Tibet

fo r

thirteen

years ,

where

h er p are nts

w ere m iss io n

aries,

and where she

s tud ied

th e

Tibetan l anguage thoroughly.

Wi th t h is worthy

and

muc h n ee d

ed

choice

of

this Chri st ia n coup le

goes

much

self-sacrifice and

faith.

W e c omm e n d t h em

to o u r

c hu r c h e s

fo r suppor t

in this

work ,

and

with

them

go ou r p ra ye rs

and

r iches t

blessings.

(Signed)

H.C.Kennedy

(Signed) Asa

L.

Browning

( S ign ed ) C l ar e nc e B rowni ng

(S ign ed ) He rs c he l

Kleinlein

(Signed) Harlan Kennedy

ELDERS.

CHRISTIAN CHURCH

CHAMBERSBURG, ILLINOIS

MR. AND MRS. A RCH IE

FAIRBROTHER

The Fairbrothers are preparing to

en t e r th e se rv ice of

th e

Lord in

Tibe t . Gradua t e s o f L in co ln

Bible

Inst i tute, they

have served

tw o

yea r s

a t

th e

Church

in

Chamber s -

burg, Illinois.

Archie

Fairbrother,

a

native

of

Wisconsin, dedicated

h is life

to

his

Lord

in early you th and has

devoted

the

years

since to

t ra ining

fo r

ful l

t ime

se rv ice .

Marguerite

Fairbrother,

the

daughter of former missionaries, Dr.

and

Mrs N. H.

Bare,

was born on

th e border of Tibet and spent twelve

yea rs among the Tibetans, a

people

whom

s he knows and loves .

Marilois joined

the

Fairbrothers

on January 15 ,

1949

and Jewel Aline

on August 1, 1950. We ar e sorry

we

do

no t have a picture

fo r

you

s howing l it tl e

Jewel

Aline

also.)

The

Fair br ot he rs h op e t o sail to

India

soon to

join

Mr .

and

Mrs.

Ed

gar

Nichols.


4/13

Page

2

I H E T IBETAN MIS SIONARY

THE TIBETAN MISSIONARY

EditorMrs.

Arthur

H Schaal ,

6709

Plymouth Ave.,

University

City

14 , Missouri .

MissionariesMr. a n d Mrs. E d g a r

Nichols,

Wicke t Ga te , Lai tumkhra ,

Sh il lo ng , As sam , India.

Missionary on

Furlough

Miss

Gladys

F. Schwake,

R.N. c/o

Mrs.

Wilma Watson, 157 Parkdale Ave.,

Buffalo 13 , New York.

Recru i tsDorothy Uhlig , 1026 Main

St.,

Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Mr. a n d Mrs. Archie

Fairbrother,

Route

1 Oconto Falls, Wisconsin.

F o r m e r M i s s i o n a r i e s D r . a n d M r s .

Norton H Bare, Box 112, Chagrin

Falls,

Ohio.

Forwarding

Secretaries

For Mr.

a n d Mrs.

E d g a r Nichols:

Mrs . A r-

tliur S c h a a l .

For Miss

Gladys

F. Schwake,

R.N.,

M r s .

W i l m a W a t s o n .

DOROTHY UHLIG

The

la t ter

par t of

August

I fi n

ished my f inal term a t the Summer

Insti tute of L inguis t ic s a t Norman,

O klah om a. Th is

relatively new

course

in l ingu is ti cs i s

a

valuable

aid in learning

a

new language and

in doing t ranslat ion work.

Before com in g acro ss co un try to

spend

a

few

short days w ith my

fami ly in

Klamath

Falls,

Oregon,

I

s tayed a week in Carville, Louisi

ana ,

observing

th e

care

a nd t re at

ment

o f l ep ro sy p at ie nt s i n t he U.S.

Marine Hospit al th ere . Many of

those

afflicted with leprosy are joy

o u s

w i t n e s s e s

f o r t h e Lord .

T h e i r

v er y e vi de nt s pi ri t

of

thankfulness

was impressive.

I t

w a s

in

t h e

F i r s t C h r i s t i a n

C h u r c h

i n K la m a th F al l s t h a t I a c

cepted the Lord a s my personal

S a v i o u r

a n d r e s o l v e d

t o s er ve

H i m

as a missionary.

While

I

was a t

tending

the

Bible

Insti tute of

Los

Angeles

th is resolve

took

more

de -

finite form in^ a desire

to

serve

th e

TCord i n Tibet^th .at~almost i n a c c e s

s i b l e

l a n d

o f l o st s o u l s .

Since making

t h a t

decision

I have

completed

nurses

training

a t

Eman-

uel

Hospital

in Portland,

Oregon,

and have spent

a

y ea r s tu dy in g

Chinese

a t th e

Uni ve rs it y o f

Cali

fornia a t

Berkeley,

California

If

the

Lord opens

the

way I

will

go

with Gla dy s S chwak e

to

t h e

mis

sion station a t Batang.

Since

Ba -

t a n g is under

Chi ne se r ul e, i t is

necessary to have some knowledge

of

t h a t la ng ua ge . H av in g s tu di ed

Chinese he re ,

I

will

have

more t ime

to l ea rn t he

Tibetan language a t the

m i s s io n s t at io n .

In

th e

meantime

I

am f inishing

m y

l a s t

s e m e s t e r o f C hi ne se a t Ber

keley.

Also I am doing

visi tat ion

w o r k f o r t h e E l m h u r s t C h r i s t i a n

Church a t Oakland, California.

In

spite of th e uncertainty

and

th e

apparently impossible situation

in

the wor ld today ,

the

Lord

is able

to open t h e w a y before us.

C on

t inue stedfastly in prayer,

watch

ing therein with thanksgiving;

withal

praying fo r us also, t h a t God

may open

unto us a

door for th e

word, to speak the mystery of

Chris t . Col. 4:2,

3a.

Dorothy Uh lig.

THE NICHOLS

JOURNEY

A C R O S S TIBET

Gartok. TibetFebruary

21 ,

1950.

Wo

have

been

h e r e

tw o w ee ks a n d

a

day .

We

sent

Wang

Ts o Tren

back

to Paan

to

ge t some

things

an d b ring l idgar back here,

but We never rea jized t h ^ would

take

so

long.

The Da Ben (Governor) here has been

very good to us , but I am

ready

to

go

to

India tlie s hor te s t a nd qu ick es t way

possible.

Th e trip

t o K al in ip on g f rom here will take

o ve r t w o^ in o nt hs

o v e r l i i g i i

^ n o u n t a l n s . Vo

Sa y

helps me a great deal,

being

able to

bu y

an d seli to a dv an ta ge , a n d

is almost

indispensible on

th e

road,

l le ub en i s becom

in g better

adjusted

to t he t ravel ing, an d one

of

tlie

Tibetan

meh

hero f5 a regular nurse

m a i d to him .

T h a t h elp s m e a

l o t a nd

n a t

u ra lly , Reuben li ke s it.

He

was

20

montbs

ol d on February Ist , an d is lik e an Ameri

ca n

c h i ld i n to s o m et h in g al l th e t ime.

Dri Ye , TibetMarch

25 .

I t

seems

we l ef t th e

most pleasant valley

in

al l

E a s t e r n

T ib et w he n we l ef t P a an

fo r

w e h av e fo un d n o w e a t h e r so

w a r m

a n d m i l d

an d

no place

so beautiful .

I h a v e w r it te n l et te r s

a t

G a r t o k

t h a t

I

can not

mail

unti l we reach a post

office,

an d no w

t l iey

seem

so old.

Wetha t is all

except Edgarwere in G artok six weeks

an d tw o

days.

T he b oy s

became

r a t h e r rest

less.

Reuben, however.

Is

a t

home

wherever

ho

s tays ,

i s a fr a id

of

no one, tr e a ts everyone

as

a f r iend, and inve s ti g at e s ev eryth ing .

We

have

gone through some

wild

coun

try. Sometimes a moun ta in s ide will be al

most entirely

of

granite rocks where the

going is

rough

an d steep a nd particularly

dilTicult f o r

t l ie

a n i m a l s .

Also t h e r e

ar e

heavily wooded

a re as . Ye st er day

we started

ear ly

an d

went up a long,

s te ep g ra de unt il

we c au gh t u p

with

th e slow

moving caravan .

There we

st op pe d to

rest

an d

build

a

fire,

for the wind was

cold.

T here w as no th in g

to b u r n

b u t

a lo w w e ed -l ik e b u s h

t h a t b u r n e d

to o

readi ly.

Soon

quite

an area

was in a

ho t blaze,

bu t

th e snow underneath

it

d id n ot

melt. I t was some kind of grease

plant,

but

th e

Are soon b u r n e d

i t s e l f

out. a n d wo

went

on ,

up and down over rocky ground

an d

a ga in c au gh t

up

w it h th e

animals .

Th e snow

ke pt g ett in g

deeper ,

and the yak,

going

ahead, plowed

a

p a t h fo r us . A f t e r we got

t hr ou gh t he snow, th er e w as

a l on g d e sc en t

a n d then

a

n a r r o w tr a il along

the s ide of

th e mountain

where

the icy wind whipped

i nt o - ou r f a ce s a n dG t ro ug hour - c lo th in g .

Final ly, a f t e r miles o f this, we

reached

a

w o o d e d s tr et c h w h e re w e c o ul d w al k t o t h a w

out

again.

We arrived

here

a t d ar k. T he re

is a lamasary on th e hillside here and we

a rc s ta yi ng in th e home of a f ri e ndl y l ama .

Tibetans

a re

much

mo re f ri en d ly to

Ameri

ca ns t ha n t he y for merly were, for th ey

ar e

l oo ki ng t o the U nited S tate s fo r help. Tsow

t h a t th e

United

S ta te s h as recognized Tibe t

as

a n i nd ep en de nt c ou ntr y .th ey ar e p a r t i

c ul ar ly d es ir ou s o f our f r iendsh ip . Even most

of

th e

l amas

look

on

u s less

hateful ly.

You may be

wondering j u s t wh o is

in our

p ar ty . E dg ar

j o i n e d

u s a t

G a r t o k because

t h i n g s

w er e b ec om in g

worse a t P a a n th e

people

were s tir red up by Communism, th e

new officials

we re u n fr ie n dl y, an d because

this

trip p ro mise d to b e d iffic ult an d da n

gerous

fo r

mo .

W i t h

E d g a r a nd me

ar c

Yos ay , Y oh on , Andr ew , R eu b en , an d three

T i b e t a n

s o l d i e r s . A ll

t h re e o f

t he se m en a r c

unusually helpful an d considerate.

There

is

also a

leper

w ith us wh o is g oi ng t o a leper

hospital

in India.

He is

from t he l ep er vi l

lage

n e a r Paan. At

first T was r a t h e r di s

mayed a t th e thought o f h a vi ng a leper

travel

with

us , bu t he is

no t

v er y b ad ly diseased,

and we ar e a ll c ar ef ul . He had

been

taking

treatments

a t P aan . H e

ha s

proved

himself

h el pf ul a lo ng

the way

b y g at he ri ng wood,

feeding the animals, and making himse lf

useful

otherwise

w i t hou t endange r in g

us .

At one place t he re w as a

rope

bridge

50 0

f ee t a bo ve t h e M ek on g R iv er .

O u r l oa ds w er e

sent across

on

it ,

bu t

we

c ro ss ed s af e ly

on

a r a f t .

We a re s ta yi ng here two

d ay s an d

maybe

longer. Wherever we stop, peojde come to

us for m edical

care

a n d E dg ar tr e ats

those

whom he can. At

S ac hi de n s ev e ra l

lepers

came, bu t w hat can

we

do fo r them in on e

day? I t is so hard to turn these poor people

away when they

come

fo r help, bu t it is even

harder to travel r ight through their coun

tr y

and not

be

permitted

to

sto p an d show

them

th e

way o f S al va ti on ,

Zee, TibetApril 3

We

ar e

sti ll in Tibet, several days from

Riina. We

ar e

in a lower alt itude, t o

weath

er is

warmer,

and the grain

is

quite tall.

Many o f the houses we have passed th e

last

few days are comb in a ti on s to n e an d log

bui ld ings.

A merchant on hi s r et ur n t ri p

from

India

se nt u s

word t h a t

th e snow

is

quite

deep

on

th e p ass tw o days f rom h er e, and it would

be a dv is ab le f or u s to

w a i t

a wh il e b ef or e

a t tempt ing to c ro ss i t.

At

th e

Salween River

crossing there is

a

raft pul le d back an d

forth

a cr os s t he river

by a man. As

we crossed the river the

h or se s w er e

forced i n t o

th e

w a t e r

a n d

th e

m e n

h e l d -

t he ir h ea ds a b o v e

th e

r a f t

so t h a t

they would not get u nd er it .

Al l

went

well

un ti l B en jo cante with ou r remaining loads.

His horse

go t

unde r th e raft. I f th e

me n

ha d

r el ea se d t he

hal ter

the ho rse

probably

would have swum ashore i t se l f , b u t t h e y

c o n t i n u e d to h o l d

i t a n d

t h e h or se d ro wn ed .

They

were

forced to replace it b efo re w e

could continue

ou r

journey.

Zayul

Chun. TibetApril 13 .

We

ar e

on e

da y

from

Rima, an d th at

will

be

th e en d of

ou r

riding . F ro m th ere wi

will

have

to

walk to Sadiya,

India.

We

crossed

another snow-covered pass which

was e v e n

w o r s e

t h a n t h e f ir st one. . l u s t

b e f o r e

we

r e a c h e d

th e

h e a v y

snow,

we

stopped

on

a frozen lak e fo r a cold lunch

o f b r e a d a n d m ea t . T he r e w as

n o fu e l

a v a i l

ab le to build

a fire

fo r tea. When we s t a r t e d

on ,

th e yak ke pt gettin g

of f th e t r a i l

in to

th e

deep snow,

and the men ha d

to

unload

them, carry the pack

to the

mor e s ha ll ow

snow and help th e

ya k

out . This

delayed

us c on si de ra bl y. T ho se w ho

did not have

da rk g la ss es suf fe re d f rom swo ll en , painful

eyes

that

night

an d th e

next

day.

That

night

w e c am pe d

in some

woods

on patches

o f snowles s,

damp

g rou nd . W e ha d

several

in ch es o f sn ow during th e

night .

Since

then

we have been

following

th e

riv er , a nd

th e

roa d has been

good.

T he re a re

no

l ar go v il la ge s b e tw e en Gar

to k

a n d

Rima . Most of th e villages consis t

o f

a

fe w s c a t t e r e d h o u s e s a n d t h e n t h e r e

are long

stretches

of count ry \ybere

there

is

no

i n di c at i o n o f h um an h ab it at i on . T ib et h as

little to offer th e peop lehigh moun ta i ns ,

rocks, a nd t ho rn s,

an d

they

mus t

work co n

stantly

to eke out the

barest

living.

We

have

b ee n d el ay ed

repeatedly

by

ha v

ing

to stop

a nd w ait

f o r a nima ls to take

us

th e n ex t stag e of th e trip. W e

ar e

traveling

by cola, an d that al way s ta ke s l on ge r than

if

we

could

h i r e a c a r a v a n to t a k e

u s

th e

entire

journey. Food-has

been some thing of

a problem, bu t we have

been

able to get

eggs,

an occasional chickerrT ahW gFalir for

t he anima ls .

We bought some r ic e h ere, fo r

we

ar e no w

in th e a r e a wher e r ic e

is g ro wn .

Rima,

TibetApril

15 .

Yesterday

we

arrived hero making it four

weeks to the day since we l ef t G ar to k, b u t

tw o a n d a h a l f m o n t h s

s i n c e

I l ef t P a an .

t

is supposed to

take

us

tw o

weeks

on foot

to

r e a c h Sadiya .

Rima Jiad j u s t exper ienced a disaster

be

fore

we

a rr iv ed . W e ha d h ea r d o f

th e

fire

bu t were

unprepared

to

se e

th e

entire

town

i n a s h e s . T he fire s t a r t e d i n t h e h e a d m a n s

h ou se a nd , w ith the aid of t he w in d, swep t

through

th e

w ho le to wn . Th e townspeople

ha d p u t

up four t e n t s

fo r

us

an d have

b u i l t

themselves huts o f t wi gs and

grass.

They

ar e

b ui ld in g u s on e now

an d in tend

to

put a

t en t o ve r it a s a d d it io n a l s h el te r .

A

few

days

a f t e r

our

arrival, we

vis i ted

th e Kingdom Wards ( me nt io ne d i n S al we en

by Ronald K au lb ac k) , a n

English couple

who

ar e

collecting r a r e sp ecie s of

flowers.

They

were

four an d

a half

hours down

th e

valley

on th e

India side

awaiting

permission

to e n t e r

T i b e t

t o c o n ti n ue t h e i r f lower

se arc hin g. W e f ou nd th em a n a mi ab le

couple,

de l igh t fu l ly in te res t ing .

Walong, Ind iaMay 13 .

I (Mabel) came ahead from Rima

to

send

radiograms

to

th e

g o ve rnmen t o f Ind ia

as k

in g perm is s io n to enter

t he c ou nt ry . Yohon,

Continued on pg 3 col 1


5/13

C on ti nu ed from page 2, col. 3

A nd re w, R eu be n,

nn mile t rek

to

take the pedes

trians on

in to K ali mp on g. T he

driver

of the

c a r in

wh i c h we rod e an d th e

m an

who ha d

come to our ass is tance p re vio us ly w er e b ot h

Neimlese

Cl i rhs ti ans,.Mabe l N icho ls,

LEAFLETS AND SUP PL IE S

NEEDED

We could use some

p rima ry a nd

j un io r S un da y School

leaflets,

and

some p ic tu re

rolls. If

any of you

under take to s en d su ch supplies be

sure

to mark

the

package , Unsolic

ited gift

fo r

Missionary, and

do

not send anything

new,

nor

any

large package .

We

can

not subscribe

fo r

periodicals, but we

could

receive

t h em i f

s om e o n e t h e r e

we r e t o

s u b

sc r i b e .Mabe l Nicho l s ,

THE

T IB E TAN M IS SIO NARY

MR.

AND MRS. ROBERT MILLS

( the former Phyl l i s Nichols)

GLADYS SCHWAKE

Because

of Donnie's legal

affairs

I

must keep

a*New

York state

resi

dence

fo r

him.

This is a disappoint

men t

to

me

as

wel l

as

Donn ie , H e

i s

so

interested

in th e Inglewood

School and feels k ee nl y h is

loss

in

having

to stay

h er e. We

still

do no t

have

a

Washington

O.K. on

his

af

fairs.

May

I explain

here too, tha t

all these proceedings fo r American

adoption

and

stay

of

deportation do

no t m ake h im

an Amer i can citizen.

The

States merely ac t as a protec

tora te for h im. He may no t a t any

t ime

l eave

th e

m ain land of

th e

U.S.

Perhaps later

he can

apply fo r

citizenship,

I do

not know jus t how

they will

do

about that .

While

I

am wait ing to get

him

and h is a ffa ir s o rg an iz ed , I'm h op

ing to do field w ork h ere a t home,

I

wou ld l ik e to be

helping our

young

recrui ts

too,

in

t ha t

way,

I ve offered to

re turn

to my pro

fession bu t many feel

I

am

still

needed

fo r

w ork h er e

a t home ,

I

s t il l ca r ry respons ib i l ity

fo r Don

nie and

a few on th e field

as

we'

can

get funds to them. Hi s (Don

n ie 's ) l egal and medic al b il ls a lone

have exceeded the offerings

fo r

him,

I 'm mos t

grateful to

those

who have

not forgotten him.

Keep up

the good

work

and God wil l

reward

you.

Wha t

ye have done unto one of

the

least of

these

ye

have

d on e u nt o

me.

I

don t

t h ink

God h as changed

His mind

abou t

tha t Do you?

I

do

not wish

to

de t r ac t

from

any

of

th e more

re ce nt a rr iv als h om e

from th e field bu t

if

any of

the

ch urc he s s t i l l de si re to h av e m e

wh e r e I ve

been

un ab l e to ca l l in

this year and a half a t home, I'll

be

glad to

come

to

them.

When the t ime

comes

fo r my re

turn to

the

field,

I

wil l l eave Don

n ie h er e

i n

school .

Our

people

need

your

prayers up

there on

Top of th e Wor ld . Don 't

f or ge t t hem

May

i t

not

be

said of

us

as is recorded , in Isa.

59:16b

A n d H e wond e r e d th t t h er e w as

n o i n te rc e ss o r.

My

Naomi

in

a

personal

letter

to

me asks our

p ra ye rs . D ar e

we le t

them down?

Now

tha t our foreign

missionaries are

out of t her e sa fe ly

does

not g ive us

l icense

to dismiss

tha t station from our prayers.

If

ever

the

prayers

of

God's

sa ints are

needed,

i t

is

now fo r the 7,000 who

have not bowed to Baal

They may

on ly be a handfu l the re who are

faithful , but

God

prizes

them too.

In an hour

l ike

this, le t u s s how

our

loyalty

to

Christ by v ig il an ce i n

prayer

and

later

we

ca n a ll

rejoice

together .Gladys Schwake.

N ICHOLS' P LANS

We

are

ser iously considering tak

in g up

th e work among a tribal

people in Assam about which Broth

e r Shille r w ro te in

th e Standard .

The re i s an indigenous movement in

whi ch se ve ra l

cong regat ions have

come to th e position of th e Church

of Christ through Bible

study.

Of

c ou rs e we have no thought of aban

doning

th e

Tibetan

work, bu t if

newspaper repor ts a re to be relied

upon, t he re seems

no

hope

of

ge t

ting

back to work

in Sikang

for

some t im e. I n t he m e an tim e we can

not si t here id le w hile people are

asking

fo r

the

Gospel.

P le as e p ray

about this.July 18,

1950.

L as t S at ur da y

we

a t last con

t ac te d s om e

of the

Brethren

of the

Church of Christ. Sund ay mor ni ng

they

came

fo r

us

in a

jeep and

took

u s

to Serv ices

a n d a s k ed

m e to

speak. At

close

of

th e

service, by

rising vote they asked me

to

work

w ith th em , an

express ion which I

appreciate.

It is

really quite

a

thrill

ing story, how t he y s tudi ed

them

se lves

ou t

of Denomina t iona l i sm,

bui l t

their

own

Church

building,

and wen t

ou t

and e s ta b l is h e d o t he r

Churches,

all

wi thout any

contact or

help from the outside September

12,

1950.Edgar Nichols.

We are taking Yoh an , And rew,

and

o f c ou rs e R eu be n w ith

us.

Yo

say

is

learning

the

p rint ing t rade

now.

We wil l have to h el p s uppor t

h im while

he

is learning.

We

won

de r i f som e schoo l or i nd i v i dua l

wou ld lik e to give

$15.00

per

month

to s up po rt h im

while

he is

learning

a

t rade.

July

30 ,

1950.

Mabe l

Nichol s .


6/13


7/13

ry^yunCLji

JMlSSlOHABrY-dOWPfcE'S

12 YEARS IN CiJ^T

HAZARDOiJ .lOtJRN^Y

TO

INDI

t'RQM. -i6u-XOiWESPQNpENT::

KALIMPONG.

June

2a (Dela '-ed).

Mr Edga;- Nichols awt, his wife

and four adopted Tibetan children

have arr ived in KaUmpong- after a

,

tliiee

months .iourney from Batang in

eastern Tibet to Sadiya in Assam.

The party left Batang on February

28 and reached Sadiya on June 8.

Mrs Nichols is the first European

woman to do this journey.

Mr NfgWTs Ts Sl

> ^u 3 of^gand

his homo in ..Anoaha. ^JlebrasKat

USA. He holds a science

degree

in

agriculture and at the

age

of

40

he

decided to become a missionary.

Mr and Mrs Nichols have been m

Batang since

1938.

working as mis-

.sionaries of the Church of Christ

among the Khambas. the

dependent and warlike tribe ni Tibet.

They decided to leave Batang on

account of disturbed political condi

tions in this area. The defec.ion of

General Liu Wen-hui. Governor of

this region, to the Communists has

complicated matters, with lawlessness

daily

on

the

increase. . _

Sporadic-

fighting was reported

from

outlviag-districts- on the-borders, of

Tibe't. such as Tacheolieu. between

the Communists and

remi^ts

of

KMT personnel who are still re.^st-

ing though scattered in

pockets.

The

younger generation of Tibetans in

this area is also being organized by

the Communists into the TiD^a_ri

Youth People's Society. ^ y ' o

. Mr and Mrs Nicholshave four

children in the and have brought

with them from Batang four adopted

Tibetan children. The youngest is

Reuben who celebrated his second

birthday on the journey, the others

are Andrew (12), John (17), and

Joseph (21). . t.

The Nichols intend to give the boys

a broad and general

education

so

when they return to Tibet they can

take part in the progress and

lopment of their country. Mr-Ntehof^

.remarked: We have'nb;

mfg^dnrpTj

turning them into Americansr ^

The journey was difficult -and- the

party averaged-ten miles-a day.-cross

ing several high passes and rivers.

Mrs Nichols travelled ahead- and

waited a month for

he r

husband* at

Markham

Gartok.

Over the Tila pass there was deeo |

.snow and. the party luckily re^hed |

the 'timber line on

the other

side of

the

mountain when

there

was a. snow

storm and the pass was blocked for a

month.

. , ,

The pact-yliysd-mainlyon -tsampa

or barley. meaL dry. yak s. jneat.. and

Tibetan tea. - sleeping-, in ..wayside

shelters and villages, and nding

yaks or mules

when

the opportunity

offered. , i

Mr

and

Mrs Nichols4 :opose to-stay-

at Kalimpong- for some-time-


8/13

TTTK

niiafffillfJ TnmTlg

AqRQOQ

ITIIJBT

Gartok, Tibe t Febaruary 21,-=1^&Ve have been here

two

weeks

and

a

day

We

sent

Wangi^Tso tren

back

to

Paan

to get

some

th ings

and

br ing

E dgar back

he re bu t

we

d id

n o t

r e a l i z e

they would

t ak e so l o n g

The Da Ben (Govemor) here

has

been very good to us,

b u t

we

a re ready

to

go

to

In d ia th e quickes t

way

p o s s ib l e

s ince we a re n ot p er m itte d to

s tay

here to

work.

The t r ip

to

Kal impong f rom

here

wi l l

t ake

more

than

two

months

over

high

m o u n t a i n s

Yosay

helps

me a

grea t

dea l

and s ince

he

i s able to

buy and s e l l to

advantage,

he i s almost i nd i spens ib l e

on

th e

road . Reuben i s becoming b e t t e r adjus ted to the t ravel ing and

one of the Tibetan

men

here

i s a

regular nurse maid

to

him.

That helps me a l o t and na tu r a l l y Reuben l i kes it He was

twenty

months old on

February 1 ^

and i s

l ike

an American

c h i ld i n to someth ing ll th e t ime

jH

Dri-y e, T ib et. March

25It

seems we l e f t the most

pleasant val ley

in a l l e as te rn T ib et when we l e f t

Paan, fo r

we have foxmd no w eath er so warm and m i ld

and

no p lace so

b e a u t i fu l

a s

we

t r a ve l across

Tibe t

I h a v e w r i t t e n letters t G a r t o k th t I c a n n o t m a i l

till we reach a

pos t

of f ice^ awH KVifty wflAw wn

niri.

W'e--all

except Edgarwere in

Gartok

s ix

weeks

and

two

days.

The boys

became r a t h e r r e s t l e s s b u t Reuben i s

a t home

wherever he

s tays

i s a f ra i d

of

no one,

and t r ea t s everyone as

a

f r i end


9/13

A

2

Ve have gone through some wild count ry . Sometimes a

mounta inside wi l l he almost en t i r e ly of

g ran i t e

rook,

where

the

going i s rough and s teep and par t icx i lar ly d i f f i c u l t

fo r

th e an imals but th e re a re also beaut i fu l

heavi ly

wooded

re s

Yesterday we

s t a r t ed

ea r ly and went up a

long, s teep

grade mt we

caught up w ith the

slow-moving caravan

There

we

s topped

to r e s t and bui ld a f i r e bu t

the re

was noth ing to

bum.

except

a low, weed-l ike bush

t h a t

burned too

readi ly .

Soon

qui te

an

area

was

in

a

hot

blaze

but the

snow

underneath

did

no t

me l t .

The f i r e soon burned i t s e l f out and

we

went on, up

and

down over roclcy

ground,

and

again

caught up with

the

an i

mals . The

snow

kept ge t t ing

deeper ,

and the yak, g oin g a he ad ,

plowed

a path

fo r

us . A fte r we got th rou gh the snow, there was

a

long

descent, and then a narrow t r a i l along the mountain

where

the icy wind whipped

in to

our faces and through our clothes

iffinally, af t e r

miles

of

th i s

we reached a wooded s t re tch where

we

could walk to

s t i r

up our c i rcu la t ion and thaw out again .

We

a r r i v ed he re

a t da rk . There

s

a l amasa ry on th e

h i l l s ide here and we a re s taying in

the

home of a

f r i endly

l ama . Tibetans

a re much

more f r i end ly to Americans th an they

former ly were, fo r they

are

look ing to

the Uni ted Sta tes fo r

he lp .

Even

most

of

th e

lamas

look

on

us

l e s s

ha te fu l ly .

Yoti

may

bo wondcTiuM Jub t wliu-ii-i in Edga r

jo ined us a t Gartok

because

t h ings w ere bec om ing worse a t Paan

the people

were

s t i r red up by Communism, the new of f ic ia l s were

xmfriendly, and th i s t r ip

promised

to be more

di f f i cu l t

and


10/13

dangerous

fo r th e

r e s t

o f us

wi t hou t

him V/i th Edgar

and

me a re

Yosay Yohon Andrew Keuben and th ree

Tibetan

so l d i e r s A ll

t h r e e o f th e se men a re u n u su a l ly h e l p f u l

and

co n s i d e ra t e There

i s a l so

a

l e p e r

wi th

u s who i s going to

a

l ep e r

h osp ita l in

Ind ia

He

i s from th e l ep e r v i l l a ge near Paan A t f i r s t

I

was

r a the r dismayed by the thought of

having

a

l epe r

t r a ve l with

u s b u t

he

i s

n ot

bad ly diseased and

we

a re a l l ca re fu l He

has proved h imse l f helpfxxl

a long

th e

way

by g a t h e r i n g wood

and

feeding

th e an imals

A t

one

p l ace

the re

was

a

rope

br idge

500

f e e t

above

th e

Mekong Ri v e r Our

loads

were

sen t

ac ro s s on it b ut

we crossed

s a f e l y

on a raft

We

a re sta yin g here tw o

days and maybe

longer Wherever

we stop

people

come

to us

fo r

medical care

and

Edgar t r ea t s

those whom he can

A t

Sachiden seve ra l

l eper s

came b u t

what

can

we

do fo r

them

in one

day? It

i s

so

hard

to tu rn these poor

people

away

when

they

come

for

help

but it i s

even

harder to

t rave l

r igh t

through

t he i r

country and not be

permitted

to stop

nd

show

them

the yky of Salvation

Zee

Tibet

Apri l

We

are s t i l l in

Tibet

several

days from Hima e are

in a

lower a l t i t ude th e

weather i s

warmer

and the

grain

i s

qui te

t a l l

Many of

th e

homes

we have

passed

the

l a s t

few days are combination

stone

and log bui ld ings

A

merchant on h is t r i p back from Ind ia

sen t

us word

t ha t

the

snow i s

qu i te

deep on the pass

tw o

days from here and it

would be

adv isab le

fo r us to w a i t

awhi le

b efo re

a t t e i i ^ t ing

to

c r o s s t


11/13

4

A t

th e

Salveen

Hi ve r

cross ing

t he re

i s

a

r a f t

fo r

peo

p le

and loads

hut

the

horses

a re forced in to the

water

and

t h e

men

on

t h e

r ft

h o l d th ir

h e a d s a b o v e

th e r ft

so

th t

they wi l l not get under

i t

A ll went

well

u n t i l Benjo

came

with

o ur re ma in in g

loads

His

horse got beneath the ra f t I f the

men had

re leased

the

hal te r

the h or se p ro ba bly would have swum

ashore i t s e l f but

they

cont inued to

hold it and

the

horse

drowned The men were fo rced t o r ep l ace it before we

could

con

tinue our journey ^

Zayul

Chun

Tibet^ April 13We are

one day

from Rima

and

t ha t

w i l l

be

th e end of

our r id ing

Prom there

we

w i l l have

to walh to

tladiya India Ve

crossed

another snow covered

pass

which was

even worse

than

th e f i r s t one J u s t

before

ve reached

the heavy

snow we

stopped

on a frozen laJce

fo r

a cold

lunch of

b read

and

mea t The re was no fu e l a va ila ble t o b u i l d a f i r e fo r

tea When we star ted

on

the

yat kept get t ing

off the t r a i l

into

the

deep snow

and

the men had

to

unload them

carry

the pack

to

shallow

snow

and

help the yak

out

This

delayed us co nsid er

ably Those who

did

not

have dark

g la sses suf fe red

from

swollen

painful eyes that night and the next day That night

we caused

in

some

woods

on

patches of

snowless damp ground We

had

sev

e ra l

inches

of

snow th^ t

night

Since then

we

have

been

follow

ing the

r iver and

the road has been

good

There are

no large

vi l lages between G artok an d Sima

Most of the v il la g es c on si st

of a

few scattered houses and

then

there

are

long stretches

of

country where there

i s

no

i nd ica t ion of human

hab i t a t ion

Tibe t has littl

to

o f fe r her


12/13

i

J

peoplehigh mountains ,

rocks,

thorns; and they must work

con

s tan t ly to eke out the barest l iv ing .

We have been delayed repeatedly by

having to

s top

to

wai t fo r

animals

to t ake

us

on

th e nex t s t age of th e t r ip

Food

has b ee n s ometh in g

of

a

pro blem,

but we

have been

ab le

to g e t

eggs,

an

occasional chicken,

and gra in

fo r

the

animals. Here

we

bought

some r i c e fo r we are now in th e a rea where r i ce i s

grown

t

Rima, Tibet . Apri l 15Yesterday

we

arr ived here,

four

weeks to the day

s ince we

l e f t Gartok, but

two

and

a

ha l f

months

s ince I l e f t Paan. t i s supposed to take us two v/eeks on foo t

to r each Sadiya .

Rima had

jus t

experienced a disas te r before we arr ived.

We

had heard

o f the

f i r e bu t

were

unprepared

to

see

th e

whole

town in ashes . The f i r e s t a r t e d

in

th e headman*s house and wi th

th e a id o f th e wind,

swept through

the

whole town. The people

had

pu t

up

four

t e n t s

fo r

us

and

have

bu i l t

themselves

huts

of

twigs

and

gras s .

They a re b ui ld in g

us

one

now

and in tend

to

pu t

a tent over i t

as

an additional shelter.

A few

days a f t e r

our

a r r i v a l

we

v i s i t ed th e

Kingdon

Wards mentioned

in

Salween by Ronald

Kaulback), an

English

couple

who a re

co l l e c t i ng

botan ica l

spec imens

fo r

s o c i e t i e s

i n

both

Eng lan d an d America . They were

four and

a

ha l f

hoxxrs down

th e va l l e y on

th e Ind ia

s i de awai t ing

pe rmi s s i on

to

en t e r

T ibe t

to

cont inue

t h e i r

sea rch

fo r

r a re p la nts . We

found

them an am

i ab l e and de l i gh t fu l l y i n t e r e s t i ng

coup le .

Walong, India . May 131 Mabel) came ahead from Rima


13/13

6

to send

radiograms to

the government of India ask ing permission

to

en te r

th e

coimtry

Yohon, Andrew,

Reuhen, and

one

of

the

Tibetan

soldiers

came with me e had to

cross

the rope bridge

over

th e L oh it R ive r

and

t h a t

was

my f i r s t

exper ience

on

one.

We

rode

horses the

f i r s t

two

days

across the r i ve r

and the

r e s t

o f the

way we walked in

th e

r a i n every

day.

The

Ind ians had

bu i l t grass huts fo r t r ave l e r s along

the

way, and we cer ta in ly

apprec ia ted

them.

The

ra ins ceased

by the t ime we a r r ived

here ,

the l a s t day of Apr i l

Edgar and

Yosay came eight days

l a t e r

The three sol iers returne to

Ga r t o k

We have been wai t ing th i r t een

days

fo r a rep ly

to

our

radiogram,

and

th e

food

s i t ua t ion i s

c r i t i c a l

Our

d i e t cons i s t s

o f

ri e sea soned w i t h a

little

b u t t e r o r a

little

d r i e d

mea t

Sadiya

Ind i a

June

11We

a r r i ved here s a f e ly t oday

I

want to mai l

these

l e t t e r s and wi l l wri te as

soon

a s p oss ib le

abou t

th e Loh i t

t r i p

Signed)* Edgar and

Mabel

Richols

Documents

Nichols Edgar Mabel 1950 Tibet&India