Isobel Selina Miller Kuhn
Posted on by admin
Isobel Selina Miller Kuhn
December 17, 1901 – March 20, 1957
“Over my dead body!” cried her mother
Isobel’s heart was moved as she listened to J.O. Fraser’s plea for workers to
come and share the gospel with the Lisu people of China. She sat attentively as
she learned of the Lisu who had not heard of the living God who loved them and
Jesus who could save them from the judgment of their sin. In fact, the Lisu
didn’t even have a word for forgiveness, mercy, repent, compassion, or justice
in their language.
On the other hand, there were hundreds of words to describe the most efficient
way to skin a person alive. Living in fear of spirits, the Lisu were extremely
superstitious, using mediums to contact the spirits and practicing witchcraft to
appease them. Brokenhearted for these people she had never met, she told the
Lord, “I’m not a man- but I’d go! Oh, I’d go!”
Only a few years prior, Isobel Miller (often called Belle) would never have
dreamed of leaving the comforts of home to share Christ with those who had not
heard. It was the Roaring Twenties, and Belle was enjoying every minute of it. A
sweet and popular honor student at the University of British Colombia, she was
making a name for herself both in the theater and through dance. Belle was born
on December 17th, 1901 in Toronto Canada. Although both her parents were
Christians, her dad even being a lay Presbyterian preacher, Belle was a
self-declared agnostic after being patronized publicly by one of her professors
for believing the creation story. After an emotional breakup with a young man
whom she had once hoped to marry, Belle began to spiral into depression and
recognize that the world could not bring her joy. One night, Belle contemplated
suicide, but instead cried out to God to give her peace. It was through this
that she began to turn back to the Christian faith and came to know Jesus as her
Lord and mature in her faith.
Now, in 1924, her encounter with Fraser had left her unable to return to the
ordinary. She explained to her parents her desire to reach the Lisu, only to
have them regard this desire as fanatical, and even selfish. “Over my dead
body!” cried her mother. Her mother, the president of the Women’s Missionary
Society for many years, was not opposed to missionaries- just opposed to her
daughter being a missionary. Her parents had done all they could to give their
daughter the finest education and provide her with the greatest comforts, and
yet now she was throwing it all away. Not only did they view this as ungrateful,
but Belle was currently the only breadwinner for the family, her brother being
unemployed and her dad having lost his life savings in a bad business venture.
Unexpectedly Belle lost her mother during an operation, but learned that the
night before her death; her mother had told a friend that Belle had “chosen the
best way.”
Belle continued in obedience to what she knew God had called her. She packed her
bags and headed to Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. While she was there, a
young man named John Kuhn caught her attention. They were opposites to be
certain. Belle was passionate and impulsive, and John was prudent and full of
common sense. Yet they both had the same vision and heart for China. In 1926,
John left for China with China Inland Mission (CIM), but they continued to write
each other for 2 years while Belle stayed in Canada as God prepared her for the
foreign field. In 1928, after CIM’s requested 2 years of new missionaries
staying single, Belle headed to China to be married to John.
After arriving in China, John and Belle first settled down in Chengchiang for
the first couple years of their marriage, although “settling” may not be the
appropriate word. Belle probably would have described them as quite
uncomfortable. The Lord taught Belle just what dying to herself looked like.
Unaccustomed to the diet, the customs, the lack of personal space, and all the
while adjusting to the life of a newlywed, Belle was faced with the cost of
leaving the comforts of home. She was elated that she was able to share the
gospel with the first visitors into her home, but sat horrified when one of the
Chinese women blew her nose onto Belle’s nice quilt, while another allowed her
child to spit up all over her nice rug. After choking down her frustration, she
immediately realized that her valued belongs needed to go, or else she was
tempted to value her possessions over the people themselves. Although constantly
struggling to die to self, as Belle and John would travel in the villages and
preach, she would watch the Chinese hearing the gospel for the first time and
remember it was all worth it.
The Kuhn’s then moved to Tali, Yunnan from 1930-1932 and then to Yongping,
Yunnan from 1932-1934 under the mentorship of J.O. Fraser. They continued to do
itinerary work sharing the gospel as well as training new missionaries to go
into unevangelized areas. In 1934, the Kuhn’s finally arrived in Lisuland; 10
years after Belle first had her heart set to go to the Lisu. They learned that
during the rainy season, the Lisu villages practically came to a stand still.
Belle took advantage of this time and set up the Rainy Season Bible School,
teaching the gospel and the very basics of Christianity to the Lisu. As people
began coming to know Christ, she trained them and sent them out to surrounding
Lisu villages that had not yet heard the gospel. Thanks to the Rainy Season
Bible School, the Lisu Christians were also missions minded crossing into other
tribes with which they had once warred in order to share the gospel
Although there were certainly difficult times, Isobel saw incredible fruit
amongst the Lisu people. In 1950, during the communist takeover of China, Belle
and her family were forced to flee over the snowy mountainous pass into Burma.
At the time of their escape, 16 years after the Kuhn’s began working among the
Lisu, 3,400 of the 18,000 Lisu were believers and 7 other tribes had been
evangelized directly by Lisu missionaries. Today, there are 200,000 Lisu
Christians- part of the legacy left by Isobel and other missionaries laboring
among the Lisu.
After leaving China at the age of 50, Isobel had a decision to make, whether or
not to continue to work among the Lisu that were living in Northern Thailand. As
she wrestled with the decision, she cried out “Lord, I’m tired! I’m 50. In the
past 20 years I’ve seen wars, I’ve been separate for months and even years from
my husband and children, I’ve been sick to the point of death. Going to Thailand
would mean learning a new language and a new place and a new culture. I want to
sit in a rocking chair on a porch somewhere and rest!”
She felt the Lord gently respond, “Belle, do you really choose ease?” That was
enough to get Isobel back to the Lisu, where she labored the rest of her life.
Isobel’s life is a reminder that God has proven Himself sufficient for those who
have gone before us in reaching the nations with the Gospel of Christ. Isobel
was used by the Lord not because she was or flawless or better trained or less
apt to selfishness, but because she considered Him worthy of her life and
responded in precious obedience.
“I need men. Consecrated men, men willing to live a lonely life for Christ,
willing to suffer and do without the comforts of civilization.”