The Parlor Maid Who Could Not Stop Hearing China

In 1930, Gladys Aylward was scrubbing floors in a London townhouse when something she could not name kept pulling at her heart. She had no education, no connections, no money. But every time she opened her Bible, every time she heard a missionary speak, the same insistent whisper returned — China. She applied to the China Inland Mission. They rejected her after a probationary period, saying she lacked the aptitude for language study.…