Gladys Aylward (1902-1970) was a London parlor maid whose application to become a missionary to China was rejected by her local mission board. Despite this rejection, she saved her money and paid her own way in 1932. Along with another woman, Jeannie Lawson, she opened an inn where she taught the Bible and shared the Gospel. In 1940, during the Japanese invasion of China, she led 100 children to safety during a heroic journey through a mountain passage. She nearly died from the experience. In 1953 she opened an orphanage in Taiwan. She didn’t allow the barriers thrown up by others to keep her from the ministry she knew God had called her to.
