Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. — Ecclesiastes 4:9-10a (NIV)
As I have worked on the Hudson Taylor Movie Project over the last several years, one of the stories that continues to resonate deeply in my heart is that of Wang Laiquan. He was a spiritual giant in the Chinese Church, a dedicated and faithful worker for the CIM, and above all else, one of Hudson Taylor’s most beloved brothers and friends.
Wang and Taylor met in Ningbo during the early days of Taylor’s ministry, beginning a discipleship relationship that led to Wang’s conversion and baptism in 1859. Throughout their long friendship, Wang chose again and again to walk faithfully alongside Taylor and his ministry. When Taylor took over the Ningbo Hospital（寧波福音醫院）shortly after Wang’s baptism, Wang stayed with no guaranteed income. The very next year, when Taylor was forced to leave China due to health issues, Wang chose to leave behind his own family and homeland to follow. He humbly served the Taylors, caring for Hudson and Maria’s daughter Grace while her parents were ill. He also took on ministry work, joining the Taylors to pray for workers in China, and revising the Romanized vernacular Ningbo New Testament. After returning to China in 1864, Wang worked with the United Methodist Free Church until 1866, when he accepted Taylor’s request to pastor a new church in Hangzhou. Throughout the following decades, he planted new churches at his own expense, refused any salary from the CIM, and guided the new leaders of the growing Chinese Church. He often worked alongside CIM missionaries, directly supporting their ministry, and inviting them to support the Chinese church leaders as well. And throughout it all, he remained a steadfast and close brother to Hudson. Wang would continually consult with Hudson, his spiritual elder brother, for wisdom and advice regarding his ministry, and Hudson was always welcome in Wang’s church as an honoured spiritual elder.
This is only a brief summary of the incredible impact and role that Wang had both on Hudson himself and the legacy of the Chinese Church. But the story that truly connected with me was this: that in 1867, when Grace Taylor–whom Wang had cared for as an infant on the journey to Britain–passed away, Wang personally polished and lacquered the coffin he and Hudson bought together to bury her in. In this one act, it becomes clear that Wang and Hudson were not simply close colleagues or disciples. Rather, they shared a deep, profound bond forged through years of shared ministry, sorrow, and enduring, faithful love.
My parents and I have often seen ourselves as sojourners. My father left Malaysia in his late teens to study in China, and due to political circumstances, could not return for 40 years. My mother left behind her family and friends in Malaysia to marry him in Hong Kong. I spent my formative years studying in Australia, lived a few years in Hong Kong, then ultimately moved to Vancouver, where my parents eventually joined me in their old age. We know what it is like to be far from home, isolated in a foreign land. So we know that there is nothing more valuable than deep, loving friendships like Wang and Hudson had.
From 2010 to 2012, I was called to serve God in Asia, which meant leaving my aging parents behind. Though we had no blood relatives in Vancouver, our friends–our found family–became our lifeline. One regularly took my parents out for dim sum. Another called them almost daily. Church friends accompanied them to medical appointments. Knowing that my parents were surrounded by such love and care gave me peace to do the work God had called me to. And when my parents passed away, those same friends stood beside me, mourning and weeping together, because we had all lost someone dear.
When I think about the friendship between Hudson and Wang, and the friends my parents and I found in Vancouver, I see bonds that are tested in fire, unwavering in commitment, and defined by deep affection and love. And I pray that I, too, can be a faithful, loving friend, and bless others as I have been so richly blessed.
