Andrew Montonera
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First Person is produced in cooperation with the Far East Broadcasting Company, who rejoice in the stories of changed lives through the power of Jesus Christ. Learn more at febc.org. My hope is that this generation can either discover or rediscover this story. I'm in my mid-twenties, and my generation, I think, can gain so much from the Stams' faith and devotion and calling to their lives. ♪

The story of John and Betty Stamm, martyred for their faith in 1934, will be told on this edition of First Person. Welcome, I'm Wayne Shepherd, and you'll meet a young man who's telling the Stamm story so that future generations will not forget. The author of By Life or By Death, Andrew Montanaro, will be with us.

First Person is a weekly program with the purpose of telling faith stories, both past and present, that encourage Christian believers to stay the course and follow Christ. If you'd like to review any past interview, you can do that easily at FirstPersonInterview.com, where they are conveniently archived. That's FirstPersonInterview.com. On social media, we're found at Facebook.com slash FirstPersonInterview.

John and Betty Stamm are a young couple with a new baby who went to pre-communist China as missionaries. They were murdered by revolutionary communist soldiers, a story that rocked the Christian world of the 1930s.

Author Andrew Montanera came to the studio recently to tell more of their story. My connection to the Stam story is one of my great-grandfathers through marriage was Cornelius Stam, John Stam's younger brother. So your family has been a repository for the writings and even, what, diaries? What did your family have? My family inherited a lot of John and Betty's books that had been recovered from China and

And these are artifacts that Cornelius just held on to as a family member and as someone who really cared about his own family's story. Just being so close to John, held on to several letters, photographs, and books. So John stamps Bibles. Yeah, so you have had access to all this material, even though it was donated upon your grandfather's death.

To the Wheaton Library? Some of the artifacts were, correct. So some of the photographs and some of the letters, but my family did hang on to a lot of stuff. Okay. Who were the Stams? They were a young couple that went to China as missionaries in the 1930s. So take the story from there.

John and Betty Stamm were a young missionary couple that went to China in the early 1930s. They had met at Moody Bible Institute in the fall of 1929, and Betty was a year older than John, so she actually left for China a year early. But she grew up there, didn't she? She did.

Betty Scott grew up in a missionary family, missionary parents. So she was used to China and the culture, the language. It was really her life before she came back to the States for college. And as most people realize, this was long before the communist revolution in China.

which eventually led to their martyrdom. And we'll get into that part of the story. But there were many American missionaries in China at that time. There were. John and Betty served with China Inland Mission, which was founded by Hudson Taylor. Hudson Taylor, famous mission. Yes, of course. So as a young couple, they end up in China in the early 1930s, you said. Did they sense danger at all? Because there were stirrings of communism and people being killed at that point in time. Did they sense any danger?

They did. John and Betty both knew the dangers of especially that time period with the Chinese Civil War going on, which started in the late 20s. And it went all the way through really World War II and what led up to full-blown communism in China. They knew the dangers. And they talk about it in their writings, in their letters to family back home.

But both had just this strong, they felt this urgency to share the gospel to the Chinese people. They didn't doubt their call of God to go there and be his witnesses there. Yeah, no doubt. Amazing.

While they're there, they have their first child. She was born in, what, 1930? September of 1934. Okay, so she was only a few months old when they eventually were martyred. Yes, she was only almost three months when they were captured and then killed. Okay, what were the circumstances of their death then? They were both beheaded by communist soldiers. So they were captured on December 6th.

John wrote a letter to the China Inland Mission, kind of a ransom note. And then he wrote a second one the next day. And then

this would be two days then after their capture they were both um killed the morning of december 8 1934. and their baby and their baby lived through all of it so their daughter helen survived um the whole ordeal and there's multiple circumstances that happened incredibly to that led to her surviving it's a whole other story and in the book

it intertwines different, these real people that, that sacrifice their life for her unknowingly. Yeah.

Well, as I read your book, I've known the story of John and Betty Stamm for many, many years because it was told at Moody where I worked for many years. But I didn't know all the details that you've uncovered in your research and in your family's archives that tell the story now in this book. So thank you for doing this. It really makes them come alive and be the real people they were, committed to Christ and his kingdom. It's amazing. Betty was kind of a poet, wasn't she? She was. Yeah.

And she, from a young age, she started writing these poems about her life and her experiences and seeing, traveling the world, just getting to experience all of those. Well, you have a sample, at least, and more probably in your book of her poetry. Do you want to share something she wrote? Yeah, this is a poem that Betty wrote just shortly after starting at Moody Bible Institute called Open My Eyes. Okay.

It reads,

Open my eyes in power, I pray. Give me the strength to speak today. Someone to bring, dear Lord, to thee. Use me, O Lord. Use even me. That's remarkable. Tells about her heart, doesn't it? It does. Heart to serve Christ.

Did their families object to them? I mean, her family was in China as missionaries prior to this, but did John's family object to him going? John's father was the head of a mission in Patterson, New Jersey called the Star of Hope Mission. And it became a big outreach. They had a building that had a lot of large gatherings and a lot of famous speakers and missionaries and pastors.

This outreach ministry to the Patterson community that John's father, Peter Stamm, started was

in 1913, by the 20s and 30s, as Peter was getting older, he was hoping that one of his children would take over. So he was kind of hoping that after graduating from Moody, John would take over this ministry of his. But he ultimately knew whatever God's calling is for my son, I'm going to go and let him go in that direction. That's a bit of an age-old story, parents letting their kids yield to God's call.

to go wherever, you know. Put your yes on the table and let God put it on the map, as they say. So sometimes that can be a dangerous assignment. That's interesting. There's also a poem that you quote in the book that caught my attention. I wonder if you would tell about it and then share a stance of that poem. Sure. So there's a poem called Afraid of What that was written by a missionary named E.H. Hamilton who

about one of his colleagues named Jack Vinson. And Jack Vinson was captured by bandits and roughly 300 Chinese. Jack Vinson was recovering from an operation and couldn't keep up with these other Chinese prisoners. A soldier poked him with a gun asking if he was afraid. And Vinson replied, "No, if you shoot, I go straight to heaven."

just like that. Just so straightforward. And when missionary friends found Vincent's body later on, they found a bullet hole through his back. And so E.H. Hamilton wrote this poem, E.

in memory and just reflecting on what his colleague went through. His total strength to get that kind of faith, that faith to the end. Well, we don't have the whole poem here, but read just a stanza. Sure. Afraid of what?

to do by death what life could not, baptize with blood a stony plot, till souls shall blossom from the spot, afraid of that? It reminds me of Tertullian who said that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. There's more ahead on First Person.

Hi, I'm Ed Cannon. And as you know, situations around the world are changing quickly. Stay current with FEBC's ministry and get a deeper understanding of people who need to find hope. Hear how you can feel the pulse of God's Spirit moving through the hearts of believers dedicated to reaching the lost. Be sure you join me for the podcast until all have heard. Discover how the gospel is making a difference around the world.

Search for Until All Have Heard on your favorite podcast platform or hear it online at febc.org. My guest is Andrew Montanera. He's the author of a new book called By Life or By Death, The Life and Legacy of John and Betty Stamm, Martyrs and Missionaries in 1934, right, Andrew? Yes. In China. It was a famous story at the time, and we'll get into that in a moment, but...

It happened so long ago. I'm wondering if you have any sense as the author has done all this research and you have this distant family connection, but I wonder if you have the sense at all that you're bringing this story to a new generation of Christians. My hope is that this generation and past generations can either discover or rediscover this story. I'm in my mid-20s, and my generation, I think, can gain so much from the Stam's faith and devotion and calling.

to their lives. You've done us all a service by writing this book. Thank you for doing this. It's a beautiful book full of all these stories and photographs as well. It's very moving to see, Andrew. Thank you so much. By the way, there's a connection between, of course, the most famous martyred missionary of all, perhaps, is Jim Elliot.

His widow, Elizabeth, her maiden name was Howard. And there's a connection there between her family and the Scott family where Betty was from. Elizabeth Elliott's maiden name, Howard. The Howard family was good friends with the Scott family. So Charles Ernest Scott, Betty's father,

One of his best friends in the world was Elizabeth Elliot's father. Did Elizabeth Howard Elliot ever meet the Stamps? Elizabeth Howard did meet Betty Scott. She did, okay. In 1931. Okay. Twice. Interesting handoff of history there, isn't there? Yeah, it's a fascinating connection. And I even have in the book the date that they first met. Remarkable. All right, when this happened in December of 1934...

It made headlines around the world. And that was a time in which, of course, newspapers were the media of the day and radio was coming into its own as well. Did you find any evidence of what impact this had on the world? The Stam story was at the time the biggest news in evangelicalism. It was in newspapers. It was in magazines. And it was even featured on the radio as radio was becoming another medium for news outlets. Yeah.

I was just amazed in my research how many people that they impacted throughout the 20th century. Up to this point, Christian missionaries who were martyred didn't really get a big news story. But what was unique about the Stams is it not only tied in foreign relations with China, but also because the Stams' daughter, Helen Priscilla,

her survival, a lot of people gained interest in wanting to know what happened with that situation. So 20 years and more before the martyrdom of Jim Elliot, that really woke up the world about the missionaries and the call of Christ for these missionaries to give their lives and their very lives in service. More than 20 years before that, the Stam story did the exact same thing. Yes. It had a big impact on everyone.

everybody. You couldn't step into an American church and not hear the name Stam. From December 1934 throughout the 30s and 40s and probably even 50s, the name Stam was synonymous with Christianity in that time. Let's go back to the actual killing of John and Betty Stam. Did they know danger was around them? Were they prepared? Were they fleeing? What were the circumstances? John Stam

They had heard rumors of the Red Army approaching the town that they were living in at the time. And that morning, there was just a lot of chaos, and John and Betty were not able to get out in time. So they tried. They were preparing to leave. They were preparing to leave. And this is in the Anhui province, as I recall from your book, right? Correct. Yeah. I don't know much about the Anhui province, although I was there one time very briefly, and I was told...

That today, it's one of the largest Christian populations in China, is in that very province where they gave their lives for the gospel. So, I thought that was interesting as I read your book. It's very moving to see that Christianity is still very prevalent in China, even though we don't know how many believers are there today and what the government's done with the censorship there. We don't know. Mm-hmm.

Well, as you did all the research, Andrew, what are your thoughts about John and Betty? First of all, John, what did you learn about John that really impressed you and motivates you today? For me, the...

The most fascinating part, I think, was just the whole family connection with Cornelius and getting to hear these stories of Cornelius and John growing up together. John was very faithful to God's calling. I think just for me personally, what impacted me the most was knowing, here's Cornelius Stamm, this guy I called Grandpa Stamm, till age five when he passed away. Your great-grandfather.

uh and as a teenager he's saved the same night as john stam oh really so they were both saved i believe it's may 28 1922 so they got saved the same night john was actually best man at cornelia stam's first wedding to henrietta winner and i think to me um it's just such a unique feeling to have to have such a close connection

But in John's writings, he knew the dangers of going to China, even at Moody Bible Institute. There's one story I left out of the book, and it's actually, it was in a letter in the Wheaton Archives. A friend of John's wrote to Peter Stamm, John's father, a few years after his death.

And he recalled a conversation John and him were having, John and this other Moody student. This student said to John, aren't you afraid of the dangers and being martyred in China? And John's response was, it would be an honor. What about Betty? Feel close to Betty after studying her life the way you have?

Betty was, it was a poet. Her words in the book, I'm able to, I was able to publish several of her poems that she wrote, even as early as age eight, up until close to her passing. But I think another aspect that is fascinating to the story is just their whole relationship dynamic. In what way?

that they weren't sure if they were even meant for each other at moody they they both had these strong feelings for each other and you know they're young and ambitious and um but they weren't sure if if they were both called to the mission field and john being a year behind betty at moody was

He wasn't even sure, am I going to get accepted into the China Inland Mission? Am I going to find you? Even if I do go to China, am I going to still be able to be with you? I don't know where God's, God might have other plans for us. I think in their hearts, they ultimately realized God's both calling them to be together. And so a huge part of this story is just the faithfulness in God and bringing their lives together in marriage together.

using that to change the world. I don't think they had any idea that they would be martyred. There's definitely hints of it, hints of in their story that you read about earlier in the book, things that impacted them that similarly tie into the events of their capture and death and how they just, they were faithful to the end. Their story inspires all of us. It really does.

I've mentioned that there are photographs in the book. You have a wonderful story to tell about those photographs and making a connection. Yes. So there's several photographs in the book. I want to say over 50. Many of them have never been published before, or if they have been published, not as in high quality. And the first photograph that you see in the book is a scan of one of John Stamm's books recovered from their...

Home in China. And it's what I saw as a young boy, which I talk about in the preface. It's what I saw as a boy when my grandma first showed me some of these books, these frail books in a bookcase. That was the beginning of the story for you. You saw this very book.

In your grandmother's bookcase, and you asked about what it was. Correct. So I saw this book, and she opened the front cover, and it signed John C. Stam. It's his actual signature. And right below it is stamped, John C. Stam, rescued from the loot, Tsingtao, China, December 1934. And right below it then is Cornelius Stam's signature. Okay, his brother. His brother.

Because John and Betty's house, the day that they were captured, was gone through. These soldiers went through a lot of stuff, stole stuff, broke many things. There was limited things recovered, limited possessions of theirs. And so after they were returned to their respective families, some of them were stamped rescued from the loot. I see. Okay. Other photographs in the book were taken by whom?

Many of them were taken by a man named Howard Smith that were after John and Betty's death, but after the rescue of Helen Priscilla, their daughter. They were taken in Wuhu, China, where Helen was first brought to. And the son of Howard Smith, Ray Smith...

Ironically, ended up at Windsor Park Manor. Which is a retirement facility in suburban Chicago, so you got to meet this brother.

Yes, I got to meet Ray Smith, the son of the man who took many of these photos. And show him the book? And show him the book. Oh, great. So it was an incredible experience getting to just, for him to hold it, see these photographs come to life. You know, here's a photo, here's photos that so many people in the 20th century either saw in newspapers or magazines.

early books about the Stams, I go, wow, here's me getting to hang out with the son of the man who took these photos. So it's been meaningful for both of you. Yes. Howard never really got credit for these photos. So I'm grateful that they were able to be included in the book and the dates are also attached with the photos. Excellent. To me, it's remarkable that somebody of your age, middle 20s, you said,

would pour all this effort and work and all this research into this book and tell it in such great detail and learn the lessons from it and pass those lessons on to the rest of us. Are you aware of what you've done here, Andrew? I'm still trying to comprehend it all, Wayne. Are you? It's been incredible, three-year journey of rediscovering the story, the writing, the research, the editing. I'm just grateful for...

God allowing this story to be as be part of my own family's life. And I hope that the many other Scott and Stan family members, uh,

are able to appreciate it in some way. And the influence, I was grateful for many of the people who gave me quotes for the last chapter of the book, because my hope is decades from now that this book can still be discovered and that influence can still be for future generations. Andrew Montanera's book is titled By Life or By Death, The Life and Legacy of John and Betty Stamm, and we'll place a link to the book at firstpersoninterview.com.

In addition to our website, you'll also find us at facebook.com slash firstpersoninterview where you can leave a listener comment and interact with others. Once again, that's facebook.com slash firstpersoninterview.

One ministry that is still active in China today, although the challenges are great, is the Far East Broadcasting Company. You can read more about that when you visit febc.org. There you can also listen to the Until All Have Heard podcast, featuring a behind-the-scenes look at the ministry of FEBC in 50 different countries. Listen at febc.org or on any of the major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify. ♪

Now, with thanks to my friend and producer Joe Carlson, I'm Wayne Shepherd. Thanks for listening to First Person. First Person.