1933 - Eugene Tan

December 3, 1933

Yea Chi, Yunnan

Eugene and Gertrude Morse, who in 1922 had faced great sorrow when Albert Shelton was murdered at Batang in Sichuan Province, relocated their family to an extremely remote part of northwest Yunnan Province, near the juncture between China, Tibet, and Myanmar (Burma). The Morses had also encountered difficulty with the denomination that had sent them to China, and resigned to become independent missionaries. Though faced with financial struggles, the Morses bravely battled on, and by the early 1930s were seeing many tribesmen come to faith in Christ.

One of the main centres of activity was the village of Yea Chi, near Weixi, which the Morses described as “a wicked, heathen village”[1] before the gospel took root there. Revival broke out after just two people were baptized in 1930. The following year 72 were baptized, and 118 in 1932.[2] A small church emerged, but many villagers opposed the work. The opposition spilled over into violence on December 3, 1933. One of the Morses’ closest friends and co-workers was Eugene K. Tan. He was a well-educated man who had been trained as a school principal, and had served as postmaster in Batang when the Morses lived there.

After experiencing the saving power of Christ, Tan asked if he could join the mission, even though he knew he could make a far better salary as a postmaster in Sichuan. Some of the people at Yea Chi were jealous of Tan and what they perceived as his preferential treatment from the Morse family. The trouble started when a man named Lui asked Tan to give his daughter in marriage to Lui’s son. Tan replied that it was his daughter’s choice, but in the era when all marriages were arranged by parents this reply was taken as a grave insult. One Sunday morning, while Tan and the other Christians were meeting at church,

“someone slipped in and put some poison into the chicken soup or stew which was being cooked…. The whole Tan family ate it, and all were poisoned and very sick. All recovered except our earnest Christian worker, Mr. Tan, who lived for two days. He had been ill with flu, and his weakened system was unable to cope with the poison…. We were overwhelmed with grief and could not help crying, ‘Why? why?’ This kind, cultured and intelligent man had been included in all of our future mission plans.

His influence and ministry had greatly strengthened the people of Yea Chi, giving them a new sense of the Gospel as lived by such a man. They began to realize the difference between the old ways and the Christian way as taught by our evangelists. Mr. Tan’s good example would live in the hearts and lives of his students and others who knew him. He was, indeed, a martyr to the cause of Christ.”[3]

Eugene Tan left behind a wife and five children.