Birthdays on April 18

Birth of Henry Guiness in China. As a small boy, he was sent to recover from illness and to get his education. At 17, when he learned of his father's death, he was forced to take stock of his life, and changed directions. Everyone was surprised when he announced his intention to become a missionary, because he had been one of the most irreverent boys in his class. He went to the Bible Training Institute (now the Glasgow Bible College), and joined the China Inland Mission in 1931. Taking the challenges of the situation, he faced the dangers without flinching. Always athletic, and a trained crosscountry runner, he overheard a group of brigands plan to kidnap him (he understood Chinese). At that moment, in a walled-in stockade, he walked calmly across the open space, scaled a 10-foot wall, leaped down the other side, and ran with the mob and dogs following him. Town gates were thrown open and he outran his would be kidnappers, reaching safety in the next town four miles distant. In one area where he worked there was a fearful drought and people were starving on every side. He and his wife went hungry with the rest, and daily ministered to as many as they could. With the Communist takeover, they went to Bombay, and years later he returned to greet some of his faithful converts who were now leaders in the underground house churches. He died at age 87.