Work in China
On her arrival in Yuncheng, Aylward worked with an older missionary, Jeannie Lawson, to found The Inn of the Eight Happinesses. For a time she served as an assistant to the Chinese government as a "foot inspector" by touring the countryside to enforce the new law against footbinding young Chinese girls. She met with much success in a field that had produced much resistance, including sometimes violence against the inspectors.
Aylward became a Chinese citizen in 1936 and was a revered figure among the people, taking in orphans and adopting several herself, intervening in a volatile prison riot and advocating prison reform, risking her life many times to help those in need. In 1938, the region was invaded by Japanese forces, and Aylward led over 100 orphans to safety over the mountains, despite being wounded herself. She never married.
She returned to England in 1948. After 10 years in England she sought to return to China, but was denied re-entry by the Communist government and instead settled in Taiwan in 1958. There she founded the Gladys Aylward Orphanage, where she worked until her death in 1970.
Read more about this topic: Gladys Aylward
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