On October 10, 2018, the unveiling ceremony of a bronze statue to memorize the great missionary Rev. Samuel Pollard was held in a primary school of Yunnan.
In 1908, the British missionaries Rev. Samuel Pollard and Rev. F.J.Dymond founded two respective elementary schools for boys and girls in Huize, Qujing, Yunnan. With a history of 110 years, Dongfeng Primary School, the first bilingual school in Qujin, formerly named "Xinghua Primary School", used to be where Pollard preached the gospel, provided education, and treated patients. The present-day building was extended on a former church and a pharmacy.
In the opening ceremony, a teacher wrote six characters "Yong Sheng Ming Ai Zhong Guo" ("Love China with Life" in English) to show respect to the great English man.
Three retired teachers stood among the participants before the sculpture. One of them was Li Qiongzhen, 78, who started to teach in the school from 1967 to 1996. She said, "Huize has changed too much, even completely different. The statue is really good. We should remember our benefactor forever."
Pollard arrived in Shanghai in 1887 and was suggested by Hudson Taylor to evangelize in ethnic minority regions in southeastern China, like Zhaotong and Huize. He devoted his life to serving in the Miao areas.
- Translated by Karen Luo
