Three missionaries I knew

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Part of The Manila Guardian

Title: Three missionaries I knew
Creator: Sepeng, Yang
Language: English
Year: 1950
Subject: Missionaries – Philippines.
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Fulltext: Page 22 THE MANILA GUARDIA!'<. November, 1950 Three Missionaries I; Knew By Yang Sepeng D HA VE missed my favorite pastor at the Cosmopolitan Student· Church of Manila-Mrs. Mary Boyd Stagg-· who, through her life II}Ore than' her S~day sermons, had brought rmbelieveFS .by the thousands to the feet of >be. Master. · So have other church-goers by the hundreds. They certainly would not hear or see her again, not until the day "When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder." . Mrs. Stagg, or "Mother Stagg" as every one U~ed to call , her, Dr. Hawthorne Darby and Miss Helen Wilk, the last twO being former director and manager, respectively, of the En:up.anuel Cooperative Hospital, have paid a great ,price with . their lives for their unswerving and unselfish devotion to the Filipino people during the enemy occ~pation. Yet· th'eir sU- . p'reme sacrifice is hardly known outside of the members of the Cosmopolitan Student Chw-ch. For that maeter, there is no one tottay who is working for the official recognition and reward of their services in the resistance movement. KnoWing Mother Stagg, Dr. Darby and Miss Wille as I do, I am absolutely sure, hOwever, that if they were 8.live today, they would not even like thell: work mentioned much less demand · compensation for their services. WAR was already a certainty as the year 1941' drew eo a · cloie and many Americans, ofraid to be .caught in the Philip- · ·complimenl1$ .of: 6IGAR & CIGARETTE FACTORY ' - - - - - - - - - - f-29 Asuncion St. Manlla ., pines which was sure to be. a battl~ground, hurried ho~~ ~ any availa_ble means of transportatjon. There were~ howevert m_~ny who considered their business and person.al .inte.I-es~ in this country too valuable to be abandoned so' that they deccided to remain come what may. Not a few held .. tl:ie beli~f that American might would be able )o. repel any attack 91\, U.~. defenses in the Philippines,. l_J.e~ce they disregarded the_;, warnings ,Of the times, only to" find themselve~ at the m~ of the Japanese.cotiquerors ·barety three ~eeks after the ttel!~ chery on Pearl .Harbor. But the three WQD).en, wh~se. work among the Filipinos waS a life mission, were i:iot alarmed at the 8pproach of war and stOically, if not. gladly,. f~ced .. the. inevitable. 'For com~::: pletely imoring the war the brutalities .. of which were daily enacted ln China 8nd EW'Ope and continuously reported in the Mtmila pl".ess, these. three heroes and m~rtyrs of the re~ sisfance moVement ·did not regard their stay from· the mere love for adventure 8.nd excitement. It. w8.s rather a chance · ip a lif~time for them to prOve to themselves that as missionaries the mere approach of danger woul4 not shake their will. When nunors of war .persisted, friends urged Mother Stagg, to go home to the States. But realizing her Christi~ stewardship, she refus_ed to leave, saying that her place wa~ here in the Philippines and that the Filip in JS: needed her. ' N AlJ,T I CA;L PHILIPPINE MERCHANT·MARINE SCHOOL AUTHORIZED BY TllE OOVERNMENT _ FOUNDED. BY ~ERAN SEAl'A.BING MENI (Mu~P~u~~r~'s=!~d~nt) (Seam~;~· 9~v1!.~nLg_pt.),, . .. <Japt; J, SANTOS , (Malter Jn Charae Of TSY Y'Sea ·Belle JI") Lectures will be conducted by veteran eeafarlng men. November, 1950 THE MANILA GUARDIAN Page 23 ~· ~- The war overtook Mother Stagg here; so it did Sam Boyd, the Japane_se when her work and those of Dr. Darby and Miss !one of her tvvo sons. Lionel Stagg, the other son, was in Amer- Wilk assb.med a different nature. ica then. So were Mary Stagg and Margaret Ann Stagg, the The philosophy of complete self-abnegation and the unlatter of whom Mother Stagg was able to send home shortly shakeabl~ faith in Christ's promise of finding life after losing before the outbreak of the· hostilities. it for His sake, proved to be of tremendous influence in the I met Mother Stagg in 1939 and shortly .after I was con- social service and underground work of the•three women. As verted to Protestantism. The spbntaneous friendly fraternity, if careless of death, they were absOlutely unafraid, and alnlost the harmonious and affectionate church atmosphere that im- immediately following the entry of the enemy troops in Mamediately impressed me worked- toward my speedy conver- nila, Mother Stagg, Dr. Darby and Miss Wilk were upon sion. The sincerity ~d honesty seen by outsiders were only tasks that did not appertain .t~ women of their training. long-range, though Wmristakable, insight into her personal Unlike all other Americans, they were never concentratcharm.. She possessed a power in her soul which was not hard ed at all, except after their arrest in 19~ . Fortunately or un"to the touch, and seemed to give w'ay before other physical fortunately, their connection with the Cosmopolitan Student )'bstances, but slowly permeated and calmly consumed "with · Church and the Emmanuel Cooperative Hospital which the ~~b.e patience of ~e years," the hardest granites. For,si.x: months Mrs. Yang, my wife, stayed with her and she was ·so _charmed that when she left, her respect and affec-. tion for Mother Stagg grew beyond bounds instead of dimi:6.ishing which usually happens after a long association. Words are_ inadequate to describe the tenderness and aflection whlch characterized the life of Mother Stagg as a missionary and' social worker. She was so wiselfish that the interest slie took upon people, whether in trouble or not, was indeed a warin love which .... one experiences only with ·his or her own mother. She was so prepossessing that her life was like a magnet that draw iron filings towards her. Such qualities accounted for the large number of cOnverts to the Chris~an faith for the twelve years of the Staggs' ministry in the ;.Philippines prior to the war, not .including the period Wldei' Make your sewing a pleasure with-· "AURORA" Se\Ving Machines Guaranteed Against Mechanical Defee.ts I I I (ATRAS-AVANTE) 1 I Available In I TABLE & CABINET MODELS 1 , MARVEX COMMERdAL co., INC. 11· Manila Omce: Oebu Branch: -~U~~!V~- ---~-!I~!:_ ------- - - - - - - II II ,I II II I' Gener~! Lines of • DRUGS e. PHARMACEUTICALS e CHEMICALS •. COS\VIETICS , FARMACIA CENTRAL, INC. WHOLESALE & RETAIL.DRUGGISTS p r e-s c r i p t i o n s I 11 Manufacturers' Representatives I ' 148 ROSARIO, MANILA TEL. 2-62-90 1 1 HERES a TIP for EVERYBODYI FOR COMFORT and -EASE DINE ot :l.J.ecta 0 *~elltnl ifr111f 3 lisAes (./; AMERICAN PURELY NATIVE MERIENDAS AT POPULAR PRICES WE M,AINTAIN CURB SERVICE FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE ALL- KINDS OF DRINKS AT REASONABLE PRICES S l DEWEY BOULEVARD e ecta. OUR SERVICE IS ALSO ,WAil.ABLE AT AZCARRAGA . . SELEcrA (OFFICIAL CATERER FOR CLUB FILIPINO) Page 24 TIIE MANILA GUARDIAN November, 1950 Japanese believed conectly as indigenoU.s, accoi-ded them freedom. So_ their religious and social service work suffered no interruption. Their immunity affected Sam Boyd Stagg .and Clara Ruth Darby, a sister of Dr. Darby who had been a U.P. professor. While others were panic-striken, moving uneasily from one place to another, th~y remained at their posts. During the first three months of the occupation, their underground activities were very meager, consisting merely of keeping up morale among the population ihrough assurances of ultimate victory for the· Allied· forces, transmitting news broadcasts which they heard over their clandestine radios, relaying morale-building information and the like. Their church work was taking i1,1 more of political propagandizing than "spreading the words of God." . In fact, they realized their responsibilities as the only representatives of America· in the midst of a p~ple that was in need of strengthening. As the Bataan-Corregidor campaign closed and guerrilla · resistance gathered momentum, their aGtivities extended to charitable work. They gave away clothing; medicines, foodstuffs and money frOm out of their own savings, and however hidden these ministrations were done to returned soldiers from Bataan or. guerrilla operatiVes and soldiers themselves. A Miss Consolacion Abaya, deaconess ~ho resided with the Daibys and Wilks at the Emmanuel Cooperative Hospital, testifies to the underground work of' the mission~es. She says that wounded and otherwise sick "boys" as Dr. Darby and Miss Wilk used to call the guerrillas, had been treated, hospitalized, fed and the like at .the hospital. Even the men employees of the institution that kept changing often were guerrillas themselves. Mother Stagg who lived at the parsonage had contacts-' with the Straughn guerrillas and the two others and Miss Abaya with Marking's Fil-American guerrillas. They soon solicited contribu~on from other people and gathered arms hidden in the City and smuggled same to thi. guerrilla bands. A story is told by Miss Abaya of a time when the late Cushing went to the hospital one bright afternoon. He brought away with him a radio set. In 1943 the coming in and going out ,of underground operatives at the hospital was a daily 'occurrence. The location of the hospital, being mucJl. out of the way, however, was an advantage. · . At the Cosmopolitan Mother Stagg was as much in· the risky underground as h~r two colleagues, if not_ more. She\ kept arms in the premises. It.is said that in view of the dar-) I-compliment~ Of: I 11 CABLE ADDRESS: TEL. 2-99-3.2 "NGKOK". nq, 1<JG GEN. MANAGER 910 San Ferna.ndo St., Manila • £X10RTER WAREHettTSE 211 JlUELLE LA INDUSTRIA COR. SEVILLA ST. MANILA CITY BRANCH: CANDELARIA. QUEZON MAUBANo QUEZON YAWE, QUEZON 11 COMPLIMENTS OF . TAFT AVENUE ICE PLANT . HUA TONG TRADING HEAD OFFICE: 909·19 Jaboneros Street, Mai;iila, Philippines Tel. 2·63·38 - Cable Address: QUEGUI If I SANTO CRISTO IRANC°H JABONEROS BRANCH 224·28 Santo Cristo Street 909-919 Jaboneros Street I I f' Pasay City and l __ N;;;;;;;A:;;;;;;;V;;;;;;;O;;;;;;;T;;;;;;;1\S-... IC;;;;;;;E_..,P .... LANT ... N .... ~vo .... ta .... s, ' .... Ri .... zal..!I Compliments of Telephone 2·64·08 Telephone 2·63·38 Manila Manila NUEVA BRANCH UNDERSHIRT FACTORY 469 Nueva Street 909 Jaboneros Street Telephone 2·64·0'1 Telephone 2·63·38 Manila Manila SHANGHAI BRANCH No. 'l, Lane 271, Hankow Road Cable Address: "P.uatonghon" Shangliai, China HONGKONG BRANCH 71 Connaught Road C. Hongkong Kian Lam Finance & Exchange torporation no .JUAN L1JNA TELEPHONE 2-B5-M MANILA" I. ~ November, 1950 THE MANILA GUARDIAN Page 25 ~ing activities of the three women, the flickering light of de,,,. lli.Ocracy was burning only at the Emmanuel Hospital and in the church. · Such a fervent spirit was contagious and the three women kept it spreading like particles of yeast. They won people to resistance movement and had them contribute to the c~use in varying amounts in cash or in kind. There was one Co Ban Ho, an alien who through the appeals of Mother Stagg gave to the guerrillas P85,000 in cash. For the act Co paid for his life as did the rest. Days, weeks and months did not go fleeting by but dragged on in tedious slackened pace. And suffering under the ~8els . of Japanese tyranny, the Filipinos grew i-estive. The ;cruel occupation troops, on the other "hand, understood the ··meaning·and moved to che~k the upsurge of patriotism which was as ·evident in Mani18 as it Was in the provinces although less violent. Daily raids brought brutalities, and arrests filled· " Fort S;mtiago and other prison compounds. ' Several times in 1943 the Emmanuel Hospital was raided 8nd searched, resulting iµ the ~st of some boys and punishment Of the women. But no amoUnt of punishments and threats d,iscouraged the ~omen who were already as much .a part of the movement as the guerrillas and leaders ambushing the enemy on the highw;ays or sniping at them in their garriso~ and posts. Their defiance was a constant display of val.or. They played with fire, no less. And their intensifying activities were manifested in the mounting contributions they ;:. collected and passed on to· the forces of different guerrilla ''bands. They soon had contacts with the Ilocos, Visayas and (Continued on page 26) BOTICA DE SANTA CRUZ , .. ESTABLISHED 1881 • •• DRUGS - CHEMICALS - PHARMACEUTICALS [ MAillNCKROPT ANALITICAL REAGENTS ••• LABORATORY & HOSPITAL EQUIPMENT "LEITZ" MICROSCOPES - "LEICA" QAMERAS PHOTOGRAPHIC SUPPLIES »"•« X-RAY & ELECTRO.MEDICAL EQUIPMENT 903-905 RIZAL A VENUE, MANILA TEL. NO. 2-89-68 " ... they fell ====~~ while others sleep ... " ~ur0:;ma;;I' National Heroes -/. FILIPINO BAKERS' ASSN., INC Room 326, Calvo Bldg. Escolta, Manila Tel. 2-82-89 Wear the rubber footwear which givr. you that "airlift" feeling all the time. MAYBE YOU'RE . MISSING SOMETHING .. ! ~-ft; RUBBE~ & PLASTI<; Co., Inc. Gth Avenue, Graee Park, C.alooean, Rizal Tel. (Dial to) 309 Page 26 THE MANILA GUARDIAN November, 1950) Three .Missionaries ••• (Continued from page 25) probably Mindanao. Even copies of the famous and classic Confesor letter had been reproduced by them and circulated. In one raid in which the Japanese Kempei-tai searched the hospital premises, lists of guerrillas that included their names were captur~d. So was propaganda literature. . Suddenly on January 28, 1944, at breakfast time Mother Stagg, Sam Boyd and Agustin Ortega, a dormitory boy, were arrested at the . parsonage at 450 Taft A venue. On that same day a mass arrest of suspects was made in which Juan Elizalde, Enrico Pirovano and Jose Ozamiz were among the prominent ones: Some 120 suspects were ~erded into Fort Santiago that day. The following February 4 another mass arrest was-made. This time Dr. Darby, Miss Wilk, Miss Abaya, Tito Dans and marly other Cosmopolitan Student Church members were in-· eluded. They were taken forcibly before dawn. The .charges against each and everyone were: supporting guerrillas, spreading pro-American and anti-Japanese_ propaganda, membership in a huge espioil:Sge ring allegedly headed by a colonel who, according· to the Tribune of July 11, 1944, was head of the U.S. f\rmy military intelligence service before the outbreak of the war but was able to leave for the United States shortly before Pearl Harbor. This officer referred to was probably Lieue,-Col. Evans, 8D.d ehe Japanese claimed that he was sent back to the Philippines in 1943 in a submarine. Of Mother Stagg it was also charged that she sheltered two Chinese wanted by the Jap Kempei-Mr. Go Puan Seng (Continued on page 32) 'We pay tribute to the memory of the Unknown Heroes ... 11 -:OWERS FOR • Floral Decorations~ • W eddiltg· Bouquets • Corsages J. R. ALCASID C}wner 8t Manag.er ALL OCCASIONS Basket• Wreaths• Sprays• 823 Taft Ave., Manila · Tel. No. 5-34-96. 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Page asi-'· THE MANILA GUARDIAN November, 1950 Three MISslonaries ••• (Continued from page 26) and· myself-and our·. families. Mother Stagg saw to it that those wanted w~re moved from one family to-. another among ·members" of the Cosmopolitan church. Needless to describe, the brutal tortures the missionaries received at Fort Santiago did not make them reveal names of gUerrmas or others who supported the movement in whateyer manner. Unbroken in spirit, they were ~ever seen to giieve or repent. They were almost continuously in prayer and, although conversations Were prohibited, the women. missionaries-· comforted their celhnates and preach.ed to them the gospel· of Christ. • . , _ , In their common sufferings resulting from celJ congestion, meager food, insanitary conditions, beatings,. and many other causes~ Mother Stagg, Dr. Darby and Miss Wilk ministered Unto the rest. Mot.her Stagg, herself quite sickly, forgot her 'own ailments and did, whatever she could, SllCh as massag. ing the aching limbs, ]lack and bodies cif her suffering fellow women prisoners. It was as though only her -"Will kept her from breaking down. ' Of souls saved they certainly had many during their confinement at Fort Santiago and at the Old Bilibid prison. Miss Carmen Chang, a Chinese teacher and of Buddhist religion, . was very close to Miss Wilk, and She soon was repeating from memory Psalm 23 and praying as she learned from the missionaries who be~ame .angels,. no less. Mother Stagg- used. tO express her since~ wish that she could own the guilt of men and women guerrillas who had been continually brought to Fort Santiago. · . 0 It is better for me to be here in prison th"an for others ·as I have already undergone 'the severe Punishments," she uSed to comment. She was so brave, so Christlike in her readiness to suffer and die for others. "If I see these boys being tortured," Miss Wilk, too, had said, "I feel like sinking down, and I am glad I have shared VISAYAN SURETY'& INSURANCE CORPORATION Cebu ManlliL Ilollo Established 1931 MANILA OFFICE 6th Floor~ Trade .& Conunerce Building L2S Juan Lu,pa Tel. z..&8-91 1 --- -::_____ ,_--, I Co~~Iiments Of: --- -I I ~-~"""""""'~= 1 NEW SOCIETY BAKERY, Inc. 808 ARLEGUI, QUIAPO MANILA. TEL. 3-26-16 WEDDING & BIRTHDAY CAKES SOCIETY ENRICHED BREAD the sufferings they ha;e gone through. If they (the Japanese) kill me because I have helped the Americans and Filipino boys, I am going to heaven." Dr .. Darby had spoken in the same vein, ·"I am unrepentant," Miss Abaya qµoted her as saying: "I' am content in whatever situation I am in. I have peace with'God." Nothiiig was heard of Mother Stagg, Dr. Darby and Miss Wilk. Then all of a sudden, through the testimony of some Japanese witnesses at a trial of a war criminal-in Manila, after, liberatioll, it was learned that they had been executed at the Manila North Cemetery where they were beheaded and buried ,in _ Qne dugout. In another were interred the remains of Eliz~lde, Pirovano, ·OzarD.iz and others. · -{ ,Through well-kn!?wn marks, portions of dresses; hair, dental make-up theil' remains were finally idelltified. · G: •. C. UNSON CO., INC • II Exeludv8 Dlstrlbut.on for: Acme, MotoUt.e and 81'per1Ue A.uto Batterlet Battery Parts and -.r1 .. 198 ESP.AAA, MANILA, PJOL. OFFICE TEL= SHOP TEL1 DIAL 4.0 ASK tU ORIOL MARBLE. 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