Gladys Aylward

GLADYS AYLWARD (1902-1970) served as a missionary to China for many years. She partnered with an older missionary to run an inn where they entertained guests with Bible stories. Gladys also began an orphanage that cared for hundreds of children. While in England on furlough, she frequently stayed at the home of Christine Hunter, who wrote down the stories Gladys told. Her life was also told in a 1958 Hollywood film, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, a somewhat fictional account that Gladys disliked. She viewed her book with Christine Hunter as the authorized account of her life.

CHRISTINE HUNTER (1910–1988) attended a teacher training college in Liverpool, England, where she married John Hunter. They both taught in Carlisle and later at a village school in Atworth. Born as Maud Lilly Wheeler, she adopted the pen name of Christine Hunter and became a well-known Christian writer. She befriended Gladys Aylward, who frequently stayed with the Hunters and told stories of her missionary work.