This part of Mabel's story deals with her first landing in Japan at Yokohoma, to the end of World War II.

Part 1 of a multi-part series on missionary Mabel Francis, who served in Japan during the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  In this part, we learn about her background and how she got saved.  Enjoy!

A minister, simply referred to as Brother T., had been out ministering all day to individuals during a horrific cholera epidemic in London.  Very little is recorded about him.  We know that he a clergyman of the Church of England, and that he was 100% committed to his calling.  Here's his story, taken from Anecdotes and Illustrations of the Christian Ministry compiled by Rev. Daniel Smith in 1853.

Shelter and Hostility
Nadia's uncle on her father's side lived close enough to them to see, from his own window, that his brother's family had been literally tossed out into the icy cold.  He struggled for quite a while.  Could he let his brother's children freeze to death in the cold?  But what about his own family?  What would become of them if he helped the family of a political prisoner?

"I'll tell you what will happen!" shouted his wife.  "You'll get sent to a Gulag!  And what will become of your own children?  What will become of me?" she cried.  His children were listening in quite intently.  He reached for his coat, and his wife tried to pull it away from him.  "I will not allow my brother's children to freeze to death, woman."  He walked out into the snow and ice and brought Nadia, Maria, Boris, and their mother, Oksana, into his home.

On December 31, 1924 a little baby girl named Nadia Chaplya was born in the Ukraine.  Nadia would be the middle of three children; her older sister was Maria and her younger brother was Boris.  Her parents were Anton and Oksana.  The Chaplyas had a small farm with a grove of cherry trees that their children had helped them to plant.  Anton, however, struggled with alcoholism and made things difficult for the family.

This was a difficult time for the Ukrainian people as the Communist influence was increasing.  In their small village, corruption and abuse of power was rampant.  The town constable, Ivan Dushko, wanted the Chaplyas' land so badly he was willing to use his power to take it.  To that end, he falsely accused Anton of political crimes, making him a wanted man.