JHON AND BETTY STAM MODERN MARTYRS IN CHINA BY KATHLEEN IN SOUTH AFRICA

  Chinese Communist soldiers barged into the cold room December 1934, where missionaries John and Betty Stam were held captive.  They commanded, “Take off your outer garments and shoes.  You’re coming with us.”  The Stams prayed silently for strength and looked at each other.  They knew what those orders meant.  They were to be executed.  Outer garments would interfere with the thrust of the executioner’s sword. Betty Stam tried not to look at Helen Priscilla, their 3-month-old child, lest she would attract attention to her.  She had hidden two five dollar bills under Priscilla’s blankets during the night.  It was just enough to cover the cost of the journey for their child, now soon to be an orphan, over the Chinese mountains to reach her grandparents.