Florence Grace RAETZ (née MEEKER) [1905-2003]

Florence Meeker was born in Cook, Illinois in 1905.

She married Erwin Raetz and they had two children.

Erwin Raetz was appointed director of the South China Boat Mission in Canton, China, and Florence worked with the Door of Hope Mission there, working with 25-30 former slave girls, victims rescued from the practice of mui tsai.  The Mission was in a walled compound, giving the girls complete protection.  There was a Chinese matron and amahs helping in the work.

They started the day with a devotional hour, followed by lessons in reading, writing and arithmetic, along with basic history and geography.  In the afternoon they enjoyed handicrafts like embroidery, sewing and weaving. 

Their support came from donations to the mission from back home, and also from friends who supported them and the work personally.

In 1936 they were on furlough in Wheaton, USA and Florence got talking to a young trainee Elizabeth Howard who was interested in helping in the work.  When they returned to Canton, she came with them.

In 1937 when in the Sino-Japanese War the Japanese started bombing Canton, the Raetzs moved the Door of Hope mission down to Hong Kong, onto ‘an island’ (Cheung Chau?) for a year, before moving into a bigger home in Taipo, as more girls from troubled backgrounds had attached themselves to the work.

When the Japanese invaded in 1941, Florence Raetz was interned in the Door of Hope Mission in Taipo and Erwin interned in Canton as he was there at the time.  Florence was joined by American missionary Lula Bell Hough, from Fanling, with her three Chinese companions, which with the two Raetz children and Chinese orphans made a total of 68 internees at the Mission in Taipo. 

After several months an agreement was reached for an exchange of American and Japanese POWs and Lula Bell and Florence both took advantage of this.  They were transferred to Kowloon and boarded the Japanese ship, the Asama Maru, where they met other Assemblies of God missionaries who had been interned in the Stanley Camp. 

Travelling from Hong Kong to Portuguese East Africa, now Mozambique, the party transferred to the Swedish ship, the Gripsholm, arriving back in New York on August 25, 1942.  The Door of Hope work came to an end.

After the war the Raetzs both went back to China with the charity World Vision.

Florence died in 2003 aged 98.

Sources:

Wheaton College Archives

Assemblies of God Heritage Magazine.