I
discussed some aspects of his life recently, and now wish to discuss
his wife, Hannah Ronning, who is a great example of Christian love
and of a Westerner falling in love with China.
Hannah Ronning
She
was born in 1871 as Hannah Rorem, to Anna and Torgrim Rorem,
immigrants from Norway who settled in the prairielands of Iowa.
Hannah grew up as a restless soul who loved to ride horses and
explore the outdoors.
One
night during a fierce Midwestern thunderstorm, she was exhilarated
with the beauty of the raging lighting and went outside to see it
more fully, standing beneath a large maple tree with her arms
outspread as she soaked in the beauty and wonder. She nearly took in
much more.
Her
brother Tom saw her and yelled to call her back to safety, but it was
too late. An instant later a blast of lightning struck and a ball of
fire came rolling right toward her. The next thing she knew she was
rolling in the grass, covered with wet leaves but unharmed. She had
been struck by lightning, it appeared, but had survived. Her father
sobbed, the first time she had heard him cry.
As
she came out of her daze, she felt regret for her irresponsible
actions and felt a need to pray, asking God to forgive her and help
her find herself. As she prayed out loud, she didn't realize her
father had entered her room and was listening. She broke into tears.
"Oh, Papa, I don't understand myself."
He
comforted her with these words: "It's all right, Hannah….
It's all right now." This sent a flood of comforting warmth into
her soul.
A
week later, her father would die from influenza. His last words to
his wife, Anna, were these: "Do not worry, Anna. I have prayed
to God that all my children will come to Jesus and be saved and He
told me that my prayers would be answered … so you see it's
all right …"
With
this loss, restless Hannah turned more fully to God. She gave herself
to the Lord, not knowing how she could be useful to Him and where He
might take her, but she was ready and willing to do His will. (China
Mission, p. 152)
Two
months later, a handsome missionary came to town. Halvor Ronning and
his sister Thea were preparing to go to China. Hannah felt her prayer
was answered. She would go with them to China as Thea's companion,
fall in love with Halvor, and in China become his companion and wife.
It's not quite the way we do missions, but it worked for them.
God
blessed Hannah for going to China. There she would rescue girls from
the tragedy of foot binding, where feet are deliberately broken and
distorted to make feet appear dainty — supposedly essential for
a woman to have any prospects in marriage in that era.
She
would be a pioneer in bringing education to women. She would rescue
numerous abandoned female babies that otherwise would have been eaten
by dogs.
She
started an orphanage, loved and taught, rescued and blessed, raised
her own children, and sacrificed so much of her life to serve that
God who she had given herself to. For this, for nine years of love
and service, her life would be in danger as one of the "foreign
devils" driven out by the secret society of the Boxers.
Though
driven out of China, after a brief visit to Norway and then to her
family in the U.S., that restless soul could could not stay in a
setting of such comfort when there were so many suffering people in
China who needed her love. China was in her blood and she yearned to
return.
They
came back at the first opportunity in 1901, right after the
anti-foreigner violence died down. Their work prospered and by 1903
they had 240 children in their school. What they founded then is now
the largest high school in Hubei province, with over 4,000 students
and a museum named in honor of Reverent Ronning.
They
had come at time of great change in China. Revolution was in the air
and Dr. Sun Yat Sen and other leaders were inspiring many with a
vision of a new China. They had also come just in time for a terrible
famine in Hubei Province where they lived.
This
famine would take a great toll on Hannah, who was recovering from a
serious illness she contracted on this second visit. With proper
nutrition, her recovery might have been complete. Unfortunately, she
grew weaker and died at the age of 36.
Famine
is ugly. Few of us modern folks have any idea of how desperate human
society can become when people are starving. Few of us are properly
prepared for the hardships that can strike when there is famine in
the land.
Reading
what the Ronnings experienced during a time of famine motivated me to
beef up my food storage and better prepare for troubled times in the
future. It was an ugly drought, not even recognized in the capital,
with thousands of refugees from the hardest-hit areas crowding into
Fancheng, the city where Hannah and Halvor had created a mission.
Anti-foreign
sentiment readily returned as mystical rainmakers marched through the
countryside proclaiming that rain would not come again until foreign
blood was spilt.
Hannah
and Halvor were sickened to think that after all the progress they
had made, they would still be blamed for natural catastrophes. They
were moved to almost unbearable fear and despair.
The
potatoes and tomatoes that Halvor brought from America thrived, but
the missionaries had barely enough food to feed the mission workers
and students. They began storing rice and river water in barrels.
At
the beginning of the drought, Halvor and Himle [a missionary doctor]
had gone into the streets to distribute relief; they were mobbed and
forced to run for their lives. It was not long before the refugees
gathered in front of the mission.
They
huddled in dreadful, trembling hordes against the walls, banging on
the gates with wooden bowls, begging for food. The missionaries knew
they were endangering their own lives but felt they had no choice.
They cooked some of their precious fruit and vegetables with rice and
potatoes in large cauldrons and distributed what they could to the
starving people.
Hannah
made sure that all the mission children had adequate food, but her
own food turned to ashes in her mouth. Halvor appealed to the civil
mandarin, who sent some rice, but there was never enough to ease the
hunger.
One
old man collapsed at the mission gate. Halvor and Himle carried him
into the already-overflowing hospital. After he sipped some warm
broth, incoherent words began to tumble out of him. Halvor later
wrote:
His
name is Lin. His eyes were wild and haunted and his body so emaciated
that he could hardly walk. He was a farmer and the only survivor of a
family of fourteen that had started from a town 100 miles north. He
talked in a whisper because he had not the strength to speak louder:
"They
fell by the roadside until there was only five of us left. I could
not bear to see my children suffer anymore; out of mercy I smothered
three of them in the snow. Some others saw me and they dug them out
and carried them away.
“My
wife screamed because they knew they would eat them. I tried to drag
them back but it was hopeless. When they were gone my wife made a
hole in the ice and drowned the baby. Then she went in the water
herself, begging me to cover the hole so no one would find them."
When
he finished the terrible story Hannah was in tears. I comforted Old
Lin as best I could. He looked at me with half-crazed eyes, and said,
"What kind of people are you that will weep for strangers?"
I told him that we were children of God just like he was.
He
has since grown stronger and helps us in the vegetable garden. Food
is the most urgent problem in China. Famines and floods have been the
scourge of China for centuries. Cities crumble but somehow the people
go on.
Untold
millions have died of starvation and no government has taken steps to
prevent it. There must be a way even if it means revolution! (pp.
189-90)
They
would have some relief as a foreign gunboat brought food for the
mission to distribute, but crowds rushed onto the dock and fought to
take the supplies. Neighbor fought against neighbor, even mother
against child, in the crazed struggle for food. Eventually rain came
again and the famine ended.
Today
famine is a distant memory in China, though many of the older
generation have experienced it. When faced with famine, the norms of
civilization can be shattered. Some have experience the horror of a
community that begins turning to cannibalism to survive, though this
is a topic we don't discuss.
I
pray that China will be spared from its long history of famines in
the past. The prosperity it now enjoys is remarkable, and numerous
measures have been taken by the government to reduce that risk.
May
that horror not return, but may each of us, in whatever land we are
in, diligently prepare for the possibility of famine or even
temporary disruptions to our food supply. It can happen in so many
ways: wars, disease, earthquake, hurricane, a trucker strike, cyber
attacks on the supply chain, or other forms of economic chaos.
The
convenience of modern grocery stores stocked with food is the result
of many cogs in complex economic machinery working in unison. When
some vital part breaks down, the shelves can become empty overnight.
Please
be prepared. Don't let the years of comfort you may have experienced
create the illusion that this will persist forever and that someone
else will be there to take care of you if problems arise. Hunger is
an ugly thing.
Though
she survived the famine, Hannah became ill shortly after it ended,
apparently due to inadequate nutrition. Her husband, Halvor, took her
to a mountain retreat and she was on her way to recovery when news
came that their son Chester was ill with diphtheria.
Halvor
wanted to keep her there longer but she insisted on returning
immediately to care for her son. When she saw him struggling for
breath, she had Doctor Himle perform an emergency tracheotomy.
Her
son was still delirious with fever. The doctor said there was nothing
more to be done, but she disagreed and with incredibly renewed energy
spent the next ten days caring for him day and night, bringing him
back to health.
Chester Ronning would
later become Canada's ambassador to China and would have close
personal relationships with some key people in Chinese history. His
mother had brought a dying son back to life, but at a terrible price.
She had a relapse and on Feb. 9, 1907, died at the age of 36.
Alice
Landahl, a missionary who married the Carl Landahl, the husband of
Halvor's sister Thea before she died, wrote an article giving some
details about Hannah's last words.
Just
before she died, she spoke to us with a clear strong voice to tell us
how God had revealed himself to her in such a merciful and wonderful
way that she was fully resigned to his will, and all anxiety for
herself and her own left her fully. I will never forget her last,
touching words:
"I
am so glad you have all come," she told us with a weak smile. "I
want to tell you what an unusual experience that God has given me. It
is wonderful! There are no words to describe it. I have like Paul
been in Seventh Heaven and seen unutterable things.
“I
saw Jesus in all his glory and he came so near to me. I just rejoiced
in His nearness. I couldn't believe that such a poor human being as
myself could contain such grace and holiness.
“O
my dears! God has been so good to me. He fills me with joy and peace
— it is so blessed and sweet to rest in Him. When they prayed
and anointed me, the Lord did such a remarkable thing for me. He came
right to me and His love poured over my whole being. I could feel it
go right through me. All my pain left. Since then I have rested so
sweetly. I have endured pain. I know what it is to suffer. But the
Lord took it away in the blink of an eye.
"Oh
I am so fortunate! And I love all of you so much. I have never loved
the Chinese like I do now. When we come nearer to God we learn to
love. The nearer we come to God, the nearer we come to each other.
There is no difference, We are all one in Christ." (p. 207)
Inspiring
words from a remarkable woman. I look forward to meeting Hannah
someday and learning more of what she experienced in China.
Jeff Lindsay has been defending the Church on the Internet since 1994, when he launched his
LDSFAQ website under JeffLindsay.com. He has also long been blogging about LDS matters on
the blog Mormanity (mormanity.blogspot.com). Jeff is a longtime resident of Appleton,
Wisconsin, who recently moved to Shanghai, China, with his wife, Kendra.
He works for an Asian corporation as head of intellectual property. Jeff and Kendra are the parents of 4 boys, 3 married and the the youngest on a mission.
He is a former innovation and IP consultant, a former professor, and former Corporate Patent
Strategist and Senior Research Fellow for a multinational corporation.
Jeff Lindsay, Cheryl Perkins and Mukund Karanjikar are authors of the book Conquering
Innovation Fatigue (John Wiley & Sons, 2009).
Jeff has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Brigham Young University and is a registered US
patent agent. He has more than 100 granted US patents and is author of numerous publications.
Jeff's hobbies include photography, amateur magic, writing, and Mandarin Chinese.