Francesca French

The Quiet One

Francesca French (冯贵石) was born in December 1871 in Bruges, Belgium, to English parents; she was the second child in the family. After the family moved to Geneva, Switzerland, she and her sister Evangeline French (冯贵珠) attended secondary school in Geneva, and later returned with their parents to England. Back in England both sisters found it hard to adjust to its rigid social environment. Her sister went through a time of great rebellion and bitterness, even speaking blasphemously against God; Francesca was comparatively quiet and submissive, and came to faith before her sister. When her sister went astray, it was she who stood by and warned her in time.

Sixteen Years of Waiting

Her temperament was very different from her sister's: she loved to laugh, was quiet, and could be content on her own, but she was often indecisive, because she placed too much weight on her own feelings and experiences. Whenever a decision had to be made, she would tell herself: "These are only your feelings of the moment; tomorrow morning everything will be different." This made it very hard for her to break through her inner knots. In 1893, when her sister left for China, she intended to go too, but her father died suddenly and she became the only companion of her aged mother. Between family duty and service in the church, she could only submit and wait quietly. The wait lasted 16 years.

At Last She Went

In 1908 her mother died, leaving her alone at home. That year her sister and Mildred Cable (盖群英) were back in England on furlough. Watching these two, close as sisters and fruitful in their mission work, she was envious. Mildred Cable saw what was in her heart and invited her to join them. With nothing now to hold her back, she gladly accepted. In 1909 she at last set out for China, 16 years after her sister. From then on the three supported one another in China's far Northwest, sharing hardship and joy and working together according to each one's gifts; they became known as the "Trio" of the China Inland Mission. They never married, and lived, did mission work and labored together into old age.

A Church Built without Public Appeals

While on leave in England, the three prayed together, asking God to provide funds to expand their schoolwork. They never made a public appeal for money, yet they received enough in gifts to build a church holding 600 people and a school for 86 students. They often spoke of this afterward, not as a method of fundraising but as a record of answered prayer.

The Silk Road in Writing

Over the following 14 years, she, her sister and Mildred Cable traveled the Silk Road five times, from Huozhou to Jiuquan, Dunhuang, Hami, Turpan and Urumqi, preaching, running schools and giving medical care along the way; they also adopted a deaf and mute girl, Eileen (爱莲). In 1936 the Xinjiang warlord ordered all foreigners to leave Gansu and Xinjiang, and the Trio was forced to end its service in China. They returned to England with Eileen and never came back. After returning, she and Mildred Cable co-wrote more than 20 books, of which The Gobi Desert is the best known. It was through these writings that the villages, inns and faces around campfires deep in the desert first came into view for readers in the English-speaking world. In August 1960 Francesca French died in England, less than a month after her sister's death.