A little over five years ago, I wrote about Jane White, a Wisconsin woman who moved to Korea as a young missionary with a heart to rescue children who had been abandoned by their parents as a harsh consequence of the extreme poverty suffered by the country at that time.
I would ask you to go back and read that piece, as it says a lot of Jane and how I came to know her.
Yesterday, I paid an impromptu visit. I had always wanted to ride my bicycle to Je-ch’eon (where Jane established the Je-ch’eon Children’s Home the year I was born). While I can’t make the ride from my home (about 80 miles west), I’ve tried to find a way to throw it into another ride to which I would drive. Autumn leaves being as they are now, I found my opportunity, as I knew a beautiful area south of Je-ch’eon to which I’d ridden before. So I designed a route that would go right past the orphanage.
We stopped by the gate for a few pictures, then I went to the office. They’d probably seen me on CCTV, because two young ladies were coming to the door already when I arrived. “Is Jane still here (I really meant, ‘alive’)?” I was expecting the answer I got (although I’d hoped for better): “No. She passed away in September.” I explained who I was, found out where she was buried, and bade goodbye. They seemed genuinely glad that I had taken the time to stop by.
I felt quiet for a while, riding into the hills east of Je-ch’eon. Alright…but reflective. Then I decided to fall back and pray a bit, and the tears came…hard. My friend Jane, who gave her life for this. She left her home in Wisconsin 64 years ago, for a country recovering from war and making its way through extreme poverty. She saw to the needs of so many abandoned children before her own. She never married, but was the mother of hundreds. I felt crushed.
Jane did something that is now more a thing of the past. She started out on her own with the support of Christians and churches, but I know in later years most of the support for the home no longer came from those donations (although I still helped her church in the States when they would send something), but from the Korean government and companies who donated. It was no longer a small house wallpapered with newspapers and shared with rats. She lived through that all, and as I rode, I could not help but remember the words of Paul in his last letter to Timothy (2 Ti 4:7-8):
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
Jane ran the race. She kept the faith. And now, she has received her crown. I will see her again, soon enough…
Here is a link to an obituary. It’s in Korean, but most browsers have a translate function. Please take the time:
https://www.interview365.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=112108