David Adeney (1911-1994) Reaching Students
Preparation.As God brought about the shift from western to Chinese leadership in the Chinese church, David Adeney was exactly the kind of missionary needed: humble, tireless, quick to repent and quick to serve. Adeney was born in John Bunyan’s hometown in England, and his life resembled a pilgrimage. His father served as a missionary to Jews, and his mother was a joyful, devout Christian. Their four sons all became missionaries. David felt called to China while in secondary school. In taking a degree at Cambridge, he learned to counter liberal theology by making the Cross and Resurrection the vital center, and he laid the foundation of his effective life-long ministry.
Vocational Ministry. Adeney went to China with the China Inland Mission in 1934, just months before John and Betty Stam were martyred. He spent his first term in Henan doing rural evangelism and left China on furlough just before Pearl Harbor. During the war he began working with students in the U.S. and U.K. He returned to China in 1945 and served with China Inter-Varsity Fellowship, newly founded by Calvin Chao, for the next five years. CIVF eventually had chapters on scores of campuses, and its conferences, led by Chinese leaders like Wang Mingdao, Jia Yuming and Yang Shaotang, brought many to Christ. Chinese Christians nurtured in CIVF’s small group Bible studies were a foundational part of the church that endured years of hardship before finally blossoming into a great revival.
Adeney left China in 1950 during the great exodus of western missionaries, but his involvement with the Asian church was far from over. In 1956 he became Asia Secretary for the International Federation of Evangelical Students, serving for 12 years in Hong Kong. When he left this ministry, he became the founding dean of the Discipleship Training Center in Singapore for nine years. Adeney retired officially in 1976, but in 1978 he took the first of several trips back to China. During these trips he heard firsthand of the growing revival and the needs of the church, especially of Christians in unregistered fellowships. Their needs motivated him to publish a monthly prayer letter under the auspices of the Pray for China Fellowship. He wrote of the need to realize "that we have the privilege both of learning from [the believers in China] and of uniting with them in the spiritual warfare.”
Family Ministry.. David married fellow CIM missionary Ruth Temple in Hankou in 1938. They had five children, one born in the U.S., one in the U.K., and three in China, including a son who died during their first term. Ruth was a Minnesota farm girl whose sturdy constitution enabled her to cope with Adeney’s frenetic lifestyle and work, as well as their frequent moves. During their 46 years of marriage, Ruth ministered through hospitality to thousands of students. David went to be with the Lord in 1994. Ruth is now living in California. The church is now growing rapidly in their old home in Henan and on the college campuses.
Quotation “We believe that there is a need for a mighty barrage of prayer which will prepare the way for real advance out in China. Should we not pray especially for reinforcements of Spirit-filled Chinese fellow workers, as well as those who will be prepared when the way opens to go forth from the home countries?”