Reformed Church. Board of Foreign Missions. China Mission.

The missionary work of the Reformed Church in China was authorized by the General Synod at its meeting at Dayton, OH, in May, 1896. At the next meeting of the General Synod at Tiffin, OH, in May, 1899, the Board was directed to establish the China Mission of the Reformed Church in the United States. The first missionary to China was Rev. William E. Hoy, D.D. (1858-1927), where he spent a year in Hankow, Hupeh Province to study the Chinese language. It was later decided to open work in Yochow City, Hunan, where the property of the London Mission was purchased by the Board.

The China Mission was located in the central province close to Dongting Lake, the largest inland body of water in China. The history of the China Mission includes the three main Hunan cities: Yochow now named Yueyang, where the first missionary station was located, Shenchow, now named Yuanling, and Yung-sui.

Dr. William E. Hoy, D.D. arrived in Shanghai, China, on March 20, 1898, and officially transferred from the Japanese Mission to Ching on September 12, 1899. In 1901, Mrs. Hoy and their children joined Dr. Hoy in Yochow. Over the next 14 years numerous schools, dispensaries, and hospitals were opened. In 1915, the Hoy Memorial Hospital School of Nursing opened.

During the political unrest and civil war of 1920, Rev. William A. Reimert (1876-1920) was killed by a Chinese soldier at the gates of the Huping Missionary Compound and is buried by the lake on the Huping campus.

During the late 1920’s until WWII, many theological seminaries were started in Hunan, Wuhan, Wuchang and Lingling. The last being disbanded when the Japanese invaded China in June 1944.