Wheaton College Billy Graham Center Archives
Papers of SARAH ALICE (TROYER) YOUNG
Copyright Wheaton College 2005
by Konstantin O.
Dear Sally I am writing to you this letter to tell you the story of a very interesting woman, a missionary to China, by the name of Sarah Young who died a martyr during the Boxer rebellion on July 16, 1900 just one year after her marriage. Since you are Chinese, I thought it would be interesting for you to learn a little bit about her life. While visiting the Billy Graham Center Archives at Wheaton College, I was able to get examine Sarah’s personal letters and her diary along with some other information.
Sarah was born in the US in 1871 in Indiana. She became a Christian in 1886 at the age of 15. She went to a Bible Institute in Abilene, Kansas. While studying at the Bible Institute, she confirmed her passion for being a missionary. In the letter to her sister Anna dated August 19, 1894, Sarah writes about leaving everything behind and making a sacrifice in order to go and preach the Gospel. She writes, “People think it such a great sacrifice to make leaving everything to go to the heathen- but it would be a much greater sacrifice to me to … stay at home. Since the Bible school, or rather, at the school I gave up, all so far as I know, to the Lord …. it is much more of a sacrifice to have to stay here when we might be earning a great reward by going (Heb. 6:10).”
She left for China in 1896 arriving to China on January 30 after a month of journeying. When I see that in the past it took missionaries several weeks to get to their destination, I always compare it to how missionaries travel today. I am always impressed by the dedication to long-term living in a foreign country by the missionaries of the old. They were ready to sacrifice the comforts of life of the west as well as to depart from family and friends for years. How dear it must have been to receive letters from home. Nowadays, it takes only hours to get to a foreign mission field. The world is shrinking. With Internet one can easily get on Skype and have a video chat with friends and relatives. It’s hard to imagine what 19th century missionaries like Sarah would have thought about such a possibility.
While reading Sarah’s letters I noticed how passionate she appeared about serving God and preaching Jesus to people who haven’t heard it. Her diary written while she was living in China is full of encouraging stories of how God worked in the lives of the Chinese people that Sarah and her companions witnessed to. Whenever she mentions somebody in her letter, she asks the reader to pray for them. Sarah was a human being, and for the most part of her ministry in China, a single woman. Her ministry in China was physically exhausting for she had to travel many miles each time she went out to visit surrounding villages. It was therefore only natural for her to feel vulnerable and weak. Every time Sarah felt emotionally down and weak in her faith, she turned to God to ask for strength relying on His promises recorded in the Bible. There are numerous recordings of God’s answers to prayer in His faithfulness to His children. I want to tell you that reading those letters and hearing about God’s mysterious ways in the lives of the Chinese gives me much inspiration and joy.
Sally, I know it is sometimes hard for you to be openly professing Christianity in today’s China for fear of what others might think about you. But you should know that during Sarah’s time it was even harder. In 19th Century China multitudes worshiped idols, just like today. The only difference is in old China the idols were made of wood and stone. Today, people worship and serve idols that are sometimes less tangible, idols such as money. Sarah has once witnessed a procession with two idols being carried in chairs. Once the idols were put down on the ground, people bowed down to the ground before them. In the letter to her nephews and nieces, Sarah writes, "The heathen are not ashamed to be seen bowing down to wood and stone, and should we be ashamed to be seen serving the living and true God? I hope you will never be ashamed of Jesus, even though bad boys and girls mock you for loving and serving Him." Sarah’s words are the Biblical truth as much applicable to us today as it was a hundred years ago. Let us not be ashamed to serve the living God for others to see!
Sarah was murdered during the Boxers rebellion on July 1900. She met her death together with her husband while following God in bringing many to the light of salvation in Christ. Her example will continue to inspire believers to give their all to God even their lives.
References
Diary of S. A. Young, 1896-1897. Folder 10, Box 1, Collection 542, Papers of Sarah Alice (Toyer) Young. Archives of the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, Illinois, USA.
Letter from Sarah Alice (Troyer) Young to her nephews and nieces, April 19, 1900. Folder 8. Box 1, Collection 542, Letters 1900. Archives of the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, Illinois, USA.
Letter from Sarah Alice (Troyer) Young to her sister Anna, Sunday P.M. August 19, 1894. Folder 1. Box 1, Collection 542, Letters 1984. Archives of the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, Illinois, USA.
Obituary notice, CIM periodical China’s Millions clipping. Undated, late 1900. Folder 1, Box 1, Collection 542, Articles. Papers of Sarah Alice (Troyer) Young; 1894-1900. Archives of the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, Illinois, USA.
Dear Sally I am writing to you this letter to tell you the story of a very interesting woman, a missionary to China, by the name of Sarah Young who died a martyr during the Boxer rebellion on July 16, 1900 just one year after her marriage. Since you are Chinese, I thought it would be interesting for you to learn a little bit about her life. While visiting the Billy Graham Center Archives at Wheaton College, I was able to get examine Sarah’s personal letters and her diary along with some other information.
Sarah was born in the US in 1871 in Indiana. She became a Christian in 1886 at the age of 15. She went to a Bible Institute in Abilene, Kansas. While studying at the Bible Institute, she confirmed her passion for being a missionary. In the letter to her sister Anna dated August 19, 1894, Sarah writes about leaving everything behind and making a sacrifice in order to go and preach the Gospel. She writes, “People think it such a great sacrifice to make leaving everything to go to the heathen- but it would be a much greater sacrifice to me to … stay at home. Since the Bible school, or rather, at the school I gave up, all so far as I know, to the Lord …. it is much more of a sacrifice to have to stay here when we might be earning a great reward by going (Heb. 6:10).”
She left for China in 1896 arriving to China on January 30 after a month of journeying. When I see that in the past it took missionaries several weeks to get to their destination, I always compare it to how missionaries travel today. I am always impressed by the dedication to long-term living in a foreign country by the missionaries of the old. They were ready to sacrifice the comforts of life of the west as well as to depart from family and friends for years. How dear it must have been to receive letters from home. Nowadays, it takes only hours to get to a foreign mission field. The world is shrinking. With Internet one can easily get on Skype and have a video chat with friends and relatives. It’s hard to imagine what 19th century missionaries like Sarah would have thought about such a possibility.
While reading Sarah’s letters I noticed how passionate she appeared about serving God and preaching Jesus to people who haven’t heard it. Her diary written while she was living in China is full of encouraging stories of how God worked in the lives of the Chinese people that Sarah and her companions witnessed to. Whenever she mentions somebody in her letter, she asks the reader to pray for them. Sarah was a human being, and for the most part of her ministry in China, a single woman. Her ministry in China was physically exhausting for she had to travel many miles each time she went out to visit surrounding villages. It was therefore only natural for her to feel vulnerable and weak. Every time Sarah felt emotionally down and weak in her faith, she turned to God to ask for strength relying on His promises recorded in the Bible. There are numerous recordings of God’s answers to prayer in His faithfulness to His children. I want to tell you that reading those letters and hearing about God’s mysterious ways in the lives of the Chinese gives me much inspiration and joy.
Sally, I know it is sometimes hard for you to be openly professing Christianity in today’s China for fear of what others might think about you. But you should know that during Sarah’s time it was even harder. In 19th Century China multitudes worshiped idols, just like today. The only difference is in old China the idols were made of wood and stone. Today, people worship and serve idols that are sometimes less tangible, idols such as money. Sarah has once witnessed a procession with two idols being carried in chairs. Once the idols were put down on the ground, people bowed down to the ground before them. In the letter to her nephews and nieces, Sarah writes, "The heathen are not ashamed to be seen bowing down to wood and stone, and should we be ashamed to be seen serving the living and true God? I hope you will never be ashamed of Jesus, even though bad boys and girls mock you for loving and serving Him." Sarah’s words are the Biblical truth as much applicable to us today as it was a hundred years ago. Let us not be ashamed to serve the living God for others to see!
Sarah was murdered during the Boxers rebellion on July 1900. She met her death together with her husband while following God in bringing many to the light of salvation in Christ. Her example will continue to inspire believers to give their all to God even their lives.
References
Diary of S. A. Young, 1896-1897. Folder 10, Box 1, Collection 542, Papers of Sarah Alice (Toyer) Young. Archives of the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, Illinois, USA.
Letter from Sarah Alice (Troyer) Young to her nephews and nieces, April 19, 1900. Folder 8. Box 1, Collection 542, Letters 1900. Archives of the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, Illinois, USA.
Letter from Sarah Alice (Troyer) Young to her sister Anna, Sunday P.M. August 19, 1894. Folder 1. Box 1, Collection 542, Letters 1984. Archives of the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, Illinois, USA.
Obituary notice, CIM periodical China’s Millions clipping. Undated, late 1900. Folder 1, Box 1, Collection 542, Articles. Papers of Sarah Alice (Troyer) Young; 1894-1900. Archives of the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, Illinois, USA.