On the birthday of Dr. Nelson Bell, his grandson, Rev. Franklin Graham, took to social media to reflect on his grandfather's remarkable years of service in China. He noted that Dr. Bell had a lasting spiritual impact on his parents, Rev. Billy Graham and Ruth Bell Graham.
Rev. Graham shared that Dr. Bell served as a missionary surgeon in China for 25 years. "Under the glass on his desk in the hospital, he placed a note that listed the fruits of the Spirit and tried to practice them daily among those he served," he wrote.
On July 30, 1894, Dr. Nelson Bell was born into a Christian family in the United States. His father was a devout Christian. Reflecting on his father, Bell noted that throughout his life, everyone who interacted with his father knew how devoted he was to Christ.
At the age of 22, on June 6, 1916, Bell earned his medical degree. Later that year, on December 4, following a 19-day voyage across turbulent seas during World War II, he and his wife arrived in Shanghai, China. They reached Qingjiangpu (now Huai'an) on December 8, marking the beginning of his 25-year medical ministry.
Dr. Bell served at Love and Mercy Hospital, now known as Huai'an Second People's Hospital. Appointed as the hospital's third president in 1935, he oversaw significant developments, including expanded facilities and upgraded equipment. Under his leadership, the hospital became the largest in northern Jiangsu and eventually the largest Presbyterian hospital in the world.
1929 marked the peak of the hospital in its treatment of kala-azar. From March to June alone, Dr. Bell and his medical team treated 13,545 patients and hospitalized 736. Their efforts earned the trust and admiration of residents in Huaiyin and neighboring areas.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, before the fall of Huaiyin, Japanese aircraft frequently bombed the city from Nanjing. To protect the hospital, Dr. Bell painted the letters "USA" and a Red Cross emblem on its roof. As a result, Japanese planes flew over without attacking, and the hospital became a place of refuge for local residents whenever air raid sirens sounded, saving countless lives. In the early days of the Japanese occupation, Dr. Bell also used his American status to shield the hospital from harassment by Japanese soldiers and to ensure the safety of its patients.
Dr. Bell served at Love and Mercy Hospital for 25 years, enduring the turbulence of the 1927 warlord conflicts, intense anti-foreign sentiment, and the 1939 fall of Qingjiangpu to Japanese forces. Neither political upheaval nor the Japanese swords drove him away. He chose to remain and continue serving the people of Huaiyin, only departing China after the outbreak of the Pacific War.
According to his grandson, Rev. Franklin Graham, Dr. Bell had a significant spiritual impact on his son-in-law, world-renowned evangelist Billy Graham. In the foreword to A Foreign Devil in China: The Story of Dr. L. Nelson Bell, Billy Graham wrote, "Dr. Nelson Bell was one of the major influences in my life and ministry. In fact, as I look back I am convinced that one of the reasons God, in His providence, allowed Ruth Bell to become my wife was so that Dr. Nelson Bell would become my father-in-law! ... Following the example of our Lord centuries ago, Dr. Bell combined the healing of the body with the ageless message of the redeeming and life-transforming power of the gospel."
Originally published by the Gospel Times
-Translated by Poppy Chan
