**A Model Missionary **
Atribute in memory of Pastor Egron Rinell on the third anniversary of his death.
By YinYing
Rev. Egron Rinell was pastor in the Swedish Baptist Mission in my hometown Jiaoxian. He spent his whole life there until he was ordered to leave in1948[1].Pastor Rinell spoke Jiaozhou dialect just like the local people. He wasfamiliar with the history and stories of the surrounding villages, and countedhimself as one of the people. Actually he represented the second generation ofthe Swedish Baptist missionaries in the area. His father, Old Pastor J. A.Rinell, passed away in Qingdao. He was much respected by the people whom heserved. After his death a monument was put up in honour of him. At that time Iwas only in Primary School and fortunately I had a chance to participate inthat ceremony! I clearly remember that the monument was raised on the righthand side of the big church.
In those days I went to Sunday School and to the Sunday WorshipServices. I seldom missed any of them. That started when I was in the thirdgrade and continued through my middle school years. We all gathered together inthe beautiful church. I think it probably was the largest building within thecounty. It could seat about 800 people[2]at one time. Every morning the church bell rang. It resounded into every cornerof the whole county. In this church I was taught and inspired throughout myyears in the Ruihua Schools. How can I ever forget the impact it made on me?That was the church I loved. Since I left my home town Jiaozhou, the firstthing I loved to ask about was the Jiaozhou Church. I wondered after all theyears that had gone ñHow is my Church, is it still there?î I was concernedabout the church which I loved so much. Unfortunately it was destroyed, just aswe read about the Jerusalem temple: ñNot a single stone shall be left uponanotherî (Matt 24:2). It was not only the building of the church that was torndown but also the double City Wall and my home, the house which belonged to myfamily of origin. Nothing was left. It is so sad!
When I got to know Pastor Rinell, he was in his 30Ís[3].He still had a youthful appearance and looked handsome. He flavoured hisconversation with an attractive humour which was admired by all of us. Both heand his brother, Rev. Oscar Rinell, were pastors. In order to know which Rinellwe were talking about, we called Egron Rinell Big Pastor and his brother SecondPastor. These two brothers followed their fatherÍs foot steps and becamepreachers in my home town. Big Pastor was the chair of the Board of Trustees ofthe Ruihua Middle School and also my English teacher. He introduced me into theEnglish language while I was still very young. Big Pastor was educated in aBritish school. He was excellent in English and his way of teaching was lovedby his students. He paid a lot of attention to our penmanship and wrotesentences, for instance a quote from the Bible, on the large black board in theclass room, so that all the students could practice copying it.
From my days in Primary and Secondary school, we all had to line up toenter the church for Sunday worship. We all felt uncomfortable when listeningto Pastor HanÍs sermons, because they were long and dry and made us bored. Thepreacher we welcomed most was Big Pastor Rinell. When he taught us about faithhe used real illustrations from life. For instance, once he lit a candle andcovered it with a glass. Slowly the light went out. He wanted us to think abouthow we can let the Light of Christ shine through us. If we covered our light inwould not last for lack of oxygen. Christians need to have ñthe oxygen ofChristî so that their light can shine in front of others. The life of Christ isour oxygen, and this is the only way we can shine. What an interesting sermon!
The sports field of our Middle School was next to the church. Allstudents had to live in the dormitory of the school. In it there were fourstudents to a room. After evening study time we all had to go to chapel. We allknelt down to pray. During these days the Japanese occupied our city and welacked a lot of necessities. There were, of course, no gas or oil lamps to belit in the large church building. So every student had to bring their ownlittle lamp with vegetable oil to church. We all gathered together to pray andafter that we sang: ñHumbly at JesusÍ feetî. Then we went back to thedormitory. By that time it was bed time for everyone. This was the best time inmy life. These were beautiful, unforgettable years and precious moments which Ihave treasured: ñThose little lightsî still shine in my mind! In later yearssome of my school mates told me that they, too, counted those years as ablessing in their life. We all lived together as a big family. Big Pastor andour Principal Mr. Wang were like the heads of our big Ruihua family.
Big Pastor Rinell lived next door to the church, behind an alley in theRinell Garden. It was a huge garden, with a Chinese style house and a man mademountain, a pavilion, all kinds of plants and trees. In Summer time there weremeetings in the garden for the students. Then they offered us to enjoy thebeautiful scenario and delicious cookies and snacks prepared by Mrs. GerdaRinell.
I left my home town in a rush in 1949. Since then I had no chance to seeBig Pastor Rinell. I heard that after he was forced to leave Jiaozhou, he hadgone to do evangelical work in Japan, but we did not have any contact with eachother. About thirty years later I had contact with one of our famous alumni,Dr. Yang Maochun (Martin Yang), a professor from National University of Taiwan.From him I learned that Big Pastor Rinell was retired from the mission field inJapan and had settled down in Uppsala, Sweden. I visited him twice before hewent to his heavenly home the year he turned 90. He was talkative and broughtboth of us back to the Jiaozhou days. He told me a lot of stories I had neverheard before, even about the suffering as an evangelist in a foreign land. BigPastor Egron and his wife Gerda lived in a very small apartment in Uppsala.Gerda, once a beautiful soprano, had attracted ParkinsonÍs Disease. As timeflies, so does youth. From our conversation I learned that the Swedish BaptistMission did not only focus on Jiaozhou, but that the work had been extendedinto other areas East of Jiaozhou and to other counties such as Zhucheng andKaomi. There they also built churches, schools, medical clinics and anorphanage[4].
The Ruihua School that I attended was very famous. The faculty wasrecruited mainly from the highly recognized Qilu University. The attitude amongthe staff to education and to the students was one of dedication and endlessengagement. At Big PastorÍs home there were not many antiques, but a lot ofalbums with historical photographs. I spent most of my time there looking atthere pictures. They retold my life story through the people and the sights,which I had missed so deeply for many years. After Big Pastor died I borrowedthis precious material for further study. I copied many of the pictures andthey helped me remember little things from the past, and cover the gap from mylost home showing all the beautiful buildings in old Chinese style, such as themandarinÍs building, the temples, the church etc. They were all destroyedduring the cultural revolution; there was nothing left.
The second time I was planning to visit Big Pastor Rinell was in May of1983. I had attended a meeting in Europe and wished to see him again. However,I missed this opportunity since I had to rush to another meeting on the way. Ilater found out that his 90th birthday had been on May 15th1984. The church celebrated his birthday after the worship service. For this hehad written John 3:16 and 1 John 1:7 in Chinese. He spoke on these texts inChinese, being translated into Swedish by his daughter Alice. Three days afterhis 90th birthday he went to the hospital to visit his wife, Mrs.Gerda Rinell. There he suddenly got a heat attack and was hospitalized untilMay 28th, when he died. I lost the chance to say good-bye to him. Ifelt so badly to have missed him and there is no way I can make it up to him!
This was written on the third year after Big PastorÍs death. Whenever Ithink about this old missionary pastor, I remember his passion for China, hislove for the Chinese and how he spend half a life time for the salvation ofpeople in my home town Jiaozhou. He educated many Chinese Æ I was one of them.I would like to say to him: ñDear Big Pastor, thank you and thank you again!î Ican never sufficiently thank him even if I do so from the bottom of my heart. Iam grateful for his life as an example of faith and for his deeds, faith inaction. What a Model Missionary!
[1] He was not really îorderedî toleave. Oscar had gone to Sweden 1947-1948, and when he came back it was myparentÍs turn to go on furlough. He even hoped it would be possible to returnto China at that time Æ which, of course was not possible!
[2] The Church had seats for 600, butif the wall to small chapel was folded back, it could take 800.
[3] He must have been older! He was 54in 1946, when you graduated from Middle School. He was born 1894. So when youwent to third grade in Primary School he must already have been 47 years old.
[4] The mission never had îhospitalsî Æonly clinics. In Zhucheng there was an orphanage.