Preface | Origins | Embarkation | Persistence | Currently | Anticipation
Communist troops advancing on Canton forced the Boyles to evacuate August 8, 1949 and move to a rented summer cottage on Cheung Chau Island, part of Hong Kong. The Chao family, moved to a small house on the same island. Ted and Jonathan stayed at the Christian School in Canton. Sam Boyle and Charles continued translating Christian books during this troublesome time. The first books were printed in 1950 under the name REFORMATION THEOLOGICAL FELLOWSHIP, later changed to Reformation Translation Fellowship (RTF). “The word of God is not bound” from 2 Timothy 2:9 became RTF’s motto, a truth proven repeatedly since. In 1950, after much prayer, the FMB moved RPCNA China missionaries to Japan. By July the Boyles had found a home in Kobe. The Chaos moved next door to them Dec. 22, 1950, allowing the translation effort to continue. Between 1951 and 1956 the Chaos struggled to get proper schooling for each of their children. Some were able to attend schools for missionary children in Kobe, but the two older boys, Ted and Jonathan, had to travel some distance to Osaka. Charles studied for a year at the Kobe Reformed Theological Seminary and in 1954 was licensed and ordained as a teaching elder by the Far East Commission of the RPCNA. While on furlough in 1955, Sam Boyle arranged for Charles to attend the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh. Charles went to the USA alone in September 1956 and enrolled in the Seminary. Pearl with the children suffered discrimination, being Chinese in Japan. The Chao’s oldest son Ted was able to enter Geneva College in 1957 in spite of the disruptions in his early education. With diligent study Charles completed his seminary courses in two years, and traveled on deputation for RTF throughout the USA. After one of his talks at a church in Michigan, Frederick Nymeyer quietly asked Charles to join him outside the church. Mr. Nymeyer wrote a check for $5000, enough to bring Pearl and the 9 Chao children still in Japan to the USA. On May 8, 1958 Charles went to Toronto and with the help of RPCNA’s Home Mission Board got USA resident visas for the whole Chao family. Pearl and the children sailed from Kobe August 17, 1958 to a joyous reunion with Charles at the dock in San Francisco. The Los Angeles RP Church rented a home for the Chaos. Charles soon left to attend Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia. At the end of a year of study he bought a used station wagon and drove across the country. After several delays due to the car trouble, solved by RP congregations along the way, he reached Los Angeles and the family was reunited again. RTF bought the home of Rev. Paul Robb, retiring pastor of the Los Angeles RP Church, for the Chaos. Nineteen theological books were translated and published from that home during the next few years. More have been published since, totaling over 90 in 46 years. Ted and Jonathan graduated from Geneva College in 1962. Ted became a teacher in the USA. Jonathan met his wife Rebecca while earning a degree at Westminster Seminary. Together they established the Chinese Church Research Institute in Hong Kong. This organization made it possible for books published by RTF to reach Christian leaders in Mainland China. Jonathan’s research into Chinese Churches has given him worldwide recognition as an authority on Christianity in China.