One hundred years ago, on Oct. 30, 1920, the Christian Reformed Church’s first missionaries to China left by ship from San Francisco. Phil Huizenga reminded The Banner of the significant anniversary.
Phil’s father, Lee S. Huizenga, was commissioned as a missionary Oct. 10, 1920, by LaGrave Avenue CRC in Grand Rapids, Mich. Phil, 82, said that he and his sister, Faith, 92, are members of LaGrave today. Their oldest sisters, Ann and Myrtle, accompanied their parents on that first departure. They, like their parents, are no longer living. Another sister, Eunice, died in 2017 at age 97.
A photo of three missionary families leaving for China ran on the Nov. 5, 1976, cover of The Banner, the magazine of the Christian Reformed Church. At that time, the periodical was a weekly publication.
Pictured in the photo were “Dr. and Mrs. Lee (S.) Huizenga and daughters; Rev. and Mrs. John De Korne and sons; Rev. and Mrs. Harry Dykstra,” according to the caption.