Rose Marlowe (1890-1980) made her profession of faith at the age of 13 in the Williamsburg Baptist Church (now First Baptist), where she was a member for most of her formative years until 1924.  While she was still in high school, she first felt the call to missions.  She served in China from 1921 to 1948 with the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board (now International Mission Board).  After the Communist takeover of China, she transferred to work in Japan from 1950 to 1955.  When she retired, she settled in Louisville, Kentucky.

§§ Williamsburg, Kentucky
Elizabeth Rose, the daughter of Sherod and Mary "Polly" (Creekmore) Marlowe, was born on Wolf Creek in Whitley County.  Sherod and Mary moved their family from their farm near Pleasant View to Williamsburg to take advantage of better schooling for their nine children.  They lived on Ninth Street near where the University's bell tower is located now.  Mary moved her church membership from Pleasant View Baptist to Williamsburg Baptist (now First Baptist) on December 20, 1903.  Rose made her profession of faith and was baptized by Rev. Henry H. Hibbs, Williamsburg Baptist's pastor, on February 28, 1904.  Tragically, her father died that same year.

Rose first felt the call to missions at the age of 17.

After returning to Williamsburg, Rose finished high school and completed four years of college at Williamsburg Institute (now University of the Cumberlands) in 1912.  However, her mother was sick and died when Rose was 24.  With financial support from her older brothers, Rose cared for her younger siblings.  She was also a teacher, and eventually the acting principal of the elementary and high school.  During the summers, she was hired by First Baptist Church to work with children around Williamsburg.  Regrettably, the church minutes do not exist for 1916-1921.

The pastor, Dr. E. F. Wright, taught her many things about church administration, Sunday School methods, and Training Union, and especially about the psychology of getting along with church leaders.  Every experience of the years, while she waited for the "go" signal, was later matched in her missionary life in the Orient. --Rose of Three Countries by Alice Johnson Tucker

As she toiled, she was encouraged by her friends from church, including Mrs. Joie Buchanan Mahan, widow of James Perry Mahan and sister-in-law of Lucy. 

Her house was truly "The House by the Side of the Road."  As the young toiler turned homeward after a day of visiting up and down those hillsides, very often Mrs. Mahan "just happened" to see her, and would call her in for a slice of cold watermelon, a glass of lemonade or buttermilk, or some such tasty refreshment, seasoned always with words of encouragement and cheer....

One of Rose's special joys was her graded Sunbeam Band of more than a hundred children.  We are told that this was the first graded Sunbeam Band in the Southern Baptist Convention.  She also had a neighborhood story hour once a week on her own porch.--Rose of Three Countries by Alice Johnson Tucker

Rose also reached out to the African-American children of Williamsburg.

After teaching and working for the church for several years, Rose moved to London to teach at Sue Bennett College for a year.  In 1919, Rose continued her education at the Woman's Missionary Union Training School in Louisville.  In 1921, she received her appointment to go to China from the Foreign Mission Board.  She had many tasks to accomplish, including selling the family home and furnishings in Williamsburg, before she could leave. 

§§ Shanghai, China
On August 14, 1921, she set sail from Seattle and arrived in Shanghai after a month's travel.  Rose began to become acquainted with a new country and started to study a new language.  Her assignment by the mission board was to work with the Cantonese, who had moved to Shanghai from south China.

Rose taught at a girls' school, Shung Tak (Achieving the Highest), affiliated with the Cantonese Baptist Church.  She transferred her membership from First Baptist in Williamsburg to the Cantonese Baptist Church in Shanghai in 1924.  China was in the midst of a Civil War.  In 1927, the American Consul evacuated American women and children in Shanghai to Japan for safety.  As Rose's time for furlough was coming soon, she arranged to take it early.  After a year, she returned to Shanghai. 

With the Great Depression, the Foreign Mission Board was unable to help rebuild.  However, the Woman's Missionary Union put the school at the top of the list in the Lottie Moon Offering.  They committed $20,000, which allowed the church and school to rebuild.  About this time, Rose's sister Dorothy came to China to teach in the Shanghai-American School.

During the Shanghai War of 1932, Japan attacked Shanghai.  Rose helped lead some of the assistance as refugee women and children began to come into the Foreign Concession of Shanghai.  During a one day truce, the missionaries were permitted to return to a church in the Chapei Section of the city to retrieve some supplies.  The Japanese had knocked a hole in the wall and had hooked into the church's water supply.  One of the men tried to make temporary repairs to the damage.  After the men had left, the Japanese returned and were upset that the water had been cut off.  The Japanese ruffians, probably prisoners who had been released, started to beat Rose.  However, another Japanese man came and stopped the violence.  After returning to safety, Rose was sent to Hong Kong for treatment and rest. 

While on furlough, she spoke at many meetings.  She was warmly received almost everywhere, with few exceptions.

Rose returned to Shanghai, where the Japanese threat was growing.  When an attack on Shanghai seemed imminent, the American women and children were evacuated to the Philippines.  Rose was able to get permission to eventually return.

However, the stress and tension aggravated Rose's health problems.  By the end of January, she was soon forced to return to the States for medical attention.  Some of her colleagues were not even sure that she would survive the voyage home.  After a stay in the New Orleans Baptist Hospital and extended stays with her family, she regained her health and strength.

In 1939, she was able to return to China, now under Japanese control.  The Baptists were able to reestablish their church, school, and other ministries.  However, people were starving.

Months passed, filled with rumors.  However, they could rejoice with many professions of faith.  As they waited, the teachers and their Chinese pupils continued their education, cramming in as much as possible.

During the fall, the women were processed and given  numbers. Rose was "prisoner 204."  However, they still were not taken into custody.  So the missionaries continued their work in quiet ways.  On February 20, 1943, they had to report to the Japanese officials for internment.  While imprisoned, the food was limited in quantity and tasted bad.  However, the adults took special care that the eighty children in the camp had enough to eat.  The prisoners set up classes for the children during the day and adults during the evenings.  Rose taught in the mornings, and she took a class in the history of socialism in the evenings.

Finally, they received word that they would be exchanged.  They were limited with what they could take with them, and the Japanese inspected the baggage, taking what they wished.  The prisoners, including 39 Southern Baptist missionaries, were put on the ship The Teiyo Maru, which took them to India for the exchange.  On ship, the food was bad, and the ship was extremely overcrowded.  After a month at sea, they arrived to Goa in India to meet the mercy ship Gripsholm.  As they boarded Gripsholm, the Swedish crew gave the Americans chocolate bars.  A feast with almost everything was soon served to the Americans.  They set sail for the United States, stopping in South Africa and Brazil along the way.  On December 3, 1943, they finally saw the Statue of Liberty, which meant even more to them than before.

Back in America, Rose spoke to many groups:  church, associational, state, and regional.  Finally the news came that Japan had surrendered.  Mission leaders planned for resumption of the Baptist work.  However, China was not at peace.  Instead of the Chinese fighting the Japanese, now the Chinese Nationalists were fighting the Chinese Communists. 

In March 1946, Rose was welcomed back to Shanghai.  She was pleased that the Chinese Christians had continued the work while she and the other Americans were gone for two years.  The Cantonese Baptist Church was undergoing repairs.  However, she were saddened that the school and her home, El Dorado, were totally destroyed.  She rejoiced with the return of many of her pre-war possessions that she had given to her Chinese friends for safekeeping.

Sept. 15, 1946.  I'm having fun getting acquainted with my new girls and teaching my Bible classes.  I am again teaching a course that I wrote for senior high school girls.  It is called "Life's Problems Answered by the Bible."  This is my twenty-seventh year as a "misshie"....  Shung Tuk's enrollment is 650.  --letter by Rose Marlowe, quoted in Rose of Three Countries by Alice Johnson Tucker

Among the students at the school were two girls who were suspected of being Communists.  Dr. Baker James Cauthen preached the school revival.  The revival seemed to be getting little response.  On the last day of the revival, the two girls came to see Miss Marlowe.  One said, "I want your God.  I want to be strong and good like you."  The other one felt the same.  At the invitation at the end of the last revival service, those two girls came forward, shocking everyone.  After which, many of the other girls seemed to become contemplative.  In the end, 126 girls accept Christ that day.  Regrettably, the two Communist girls were not seen again after that day.

The Communists were gaining control of Shanghai.  The Foreign Mission Board advised the missionaries to leave, but the final decision was left to each person.  Besides the concern for the missionaries' safety, there were concerns about their Chinese associates as well.  In the fall of 1948, Rose Marlowe left her beloved China for the last time.

§§ Kohusa, Japan, and Louisville, Kentucky
Back in the States, Rose was unsure of her next ministry.  She considered Hong Kong or Singapore.  However, the Foreign Mission Board suggested that Japan needed her.  They knew she had rough experiences with the Japanese during war and were understanding if she declined that option.  She sent her reply that she would go to Japan. 

She started for Japan on December 26, 1949.  Japan was still undergoing reconstruction after the war.  Rose was assigned to teach English at a junior college, Seinan Jo Gakuin (Baptist Girls' School).  During the evenings, she would teach Bible and English at her home.  With little time for rest, Rose's health was under constant strain. 

Rose was able to touch many of her students' lives.  One student Fumiko San was very embittered after the loss of her husband, parents, and grandparents due to American attacks during the war.  Also, while hiding in a cave with her baby, a bomb exploded at the mouth of the cave.  Her son Yasu lost his hearing permanently. 

Then one day the young woman came to Miss Marlowe and asked, "Is it true that our soldiers beat you in Shanghai?"

"They were not soldiers, they were called 'ronin'," Rose said.  "Most likely they were freed prisoners, ruffians, whom the Japanese had turned loose to do just about as they pleased."

"Why then do you work so hard to teach the Japanese?"

Here was the teacher's opportunity.  "Because God loves the people of Japan...."  They talked a long time, but when Rose pushed the claims of Christ, Fumiko San rose abruptly, saying, "Only my son, Yasu, has a claim on me.  I live only to give him a chance in life."

For two years Miss Marlowe tried....  Then one day she [Fumiko] went up to Miss Marlowe's bedroom, closed the door, and in her abrupt manner of speaking, said, "Miss Marlowe, you have made me love you--and your God.  I was saved when I promised Him last night that if He would take hate out of my heart and put love there I would serve Him as long as I live!"--Rose of Three Countries by Alice Johnson Tucker

After finishing her education, Fumiko San started teaching at her son's school.  She later trained teachers at Tokyo University to teach handicapped children.

Rose left Japan in 1955 for retirement.  She moved to Louisville, Kentucky, where her sister Dorothy Ashley and other relatives lived.  She became active in Crescent Hill Baptist Church, which had actually been paying her salary since 1945.  Over the years, she had touched many people's lives for Christ, and many of them would come to Louisville to see her. She died in 1980 at the age of 89.

Edited by Jonathan Ramey, based on the manuscript Rose of Three Countries by Alice Johnson Tucker (1966), Foreign Mission Board Annual Reports to the Southern Baptist Convention, and First Baptist Church Roll Books.
Photos come from an album that Rose Marlowe gave the Women's Missionary Union at First Baptist Church in Williamsburg and The Eglantine (1909),
Williamsburg Institute (University of the Cumberlands archive collection).

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