Collection 293 [December 6, 2006]
Suttie, Melvin David; 1912-2006
Interviews; 1985
Restrictions
There are no restrictions on the use of this collection.
Biography
Melvin David Suttie was born on June 4, 1912 in Austin, Illinois to David and Bertha Suttie; he had five siblings. He grew up in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, and attended Glenbard High School. When he was sixteen he was converted. Suttie attended Wheaton College (1931-1935), majoring in history, and after graduating, continued his education, first at the nondenominational Biblical Seminary in New York City (1936-1938) and then at Omaha Presbyterian Seminary (1938-1939). In 1938 he married Mary Elizabeth Cromer, whom he had known at Wheaton and met again at Biblical Seminary. He was ordained in an Indiana presbytery where his father-in-law was pastoring.
The Sutties joined China Inland Mission in 1939. They completed their language training in Tsingtao, Shandong Province in 1940. After several short-lived assignments due to war conditions and the birth of their first child, they worked in Fowyang, Anhui Province from 1941 to 1944, supervised by J. Herbert Kane. In 1944, they were trans-ferred to Ningchang, Shaanxi Province, where they worked until mid-1946, when they had their furlough. Upon returning to China in the fall of 1947, they began their second term in Nanyo in Henan Province, working among students. After the Communist take-over in 1949, they were unable to carry out their work among students, and considered themselves to be a risk to those Chinese the served and with which they associated. They left China in November 1950; (their departure preceded the general China Inland Mission withdrawal by a month). Suttie and his wife formally resigned from the mission in 1952.
Upon resettling in the US, Suttie worked as a pastor in several Presbyterian churches in Illinois (1952-1974) and Arkansas (1974-1977).
The Sutties had four children, Lois Jean (b. 1941), Marilyn Joy (b. 1943),
David (b. 1950), and a baby who died in 1946. Mary Elizabeth Suttie died in
1983. Melvin died November 9, 2006.
Scope and Content
Melvin Suttie was interviewed by Paul A. Ericksen on January 18 and 21, 1985, at the Billy Graham Center Archives office. The time period covered by the interviews is 1928-1977. Time elapsed in minutes and seconds is recorded to the left of the topics discussed in the interview. The index is keyed to a cassette copy and not to the reel-to-reel original.
T1 - side 1
00:00 Beginning of tape
01:00 Introduction to interview on January 18, 1985
01:30 Overview of childhood, family and church life, shift of vocational interest to
missions, conversion, family's Wheaton College connections
04:00 CIM representative Isaac Page
06:00 Glen Ellyn Bible Church's missions emphasis and impact, his conversion, other
influences on his interest in missions
11:30 Wheaton College: reputation in city, academics, Drs. Darian Straw and Elsie Dow,
campus spiritual life, impact of commuting on his social life, literary society, Dr.
Oliver Buswell, courses which prepared him for missions
23:00 Mary Cromer, marriage, her nursing training, theological training at Biblical
Seminary and Omaha Seminary, transition to Presbyterianism
34:00 China Inland Mission's orientation for new missionaries, evaluating language
potential, preparation for departure, travel to China, appreciation of CIM's fund
raising policy
43:15 End of side 1
T1 - side 2
00:00 Beginning of tape
00:05 Overlap from side 1
01:45 CIM companions to China, adjustments to other nationalities, language school in
Tsingtao, short-lived assignment to Hwailu, Dr. Lawrence & Esther Hess
09:00 Impact of war: constant moving, river trip across war lines
17:45 End of side 2
T2 - side 1
00:00 Beginning of tape
01:15 Otto and Katharine Schoerner, their characters and personalities, CIM's handling of
denominational differences, Pentecostalism
06:45 Assignment in Fowyang with Herbert Kane, evacuating Anhwei Province on
embassy advice to avoid advancing Japanese troops, reassignment
13:15 J. Herbert and Winnifred Kane
17:15 Work at Ningchang: preaching in rural area market centers, contact with American
soldiers and other missionaries on transport line, first furlough
24:00 End of side 1 and tape
T3 - side 1
00:00 Beginning of tape
00:30 Introduction to interview on January 21, 1985
01:00 Return to China in 1947 and assignment to Nanyoh (Nationalist and religious center)
to work among students and local church, worship service, sermons
07:30 Communist control, relationship with and treatment of missionaries, attempt to leave
China, CIM's work among university students, comparison of northern and
southern Chinese
17:30 Evangelistic work: Buddhism and persecution as obstacles, murder of Christian
professor, witness to Nationalist troops
25:00 Departure from Nanyoh and China
28:45 Children of missionaries: education and boarding, travels, coping with tension of
China's civil war
32:30 Addressing conflict in CIM: issues and policy
36:00 Coping with turmoil in China, comparison with wife's adaptability
40:00 Mary Elizabeth: her character and missionary work with women
42:30 Return to the United States
43:30 End of side 1
T3 - side 2
00:05 Beginning of tape
00:15 Overlap from side 1: wife Mary and return to United States
01:45 Continuation on return to the US, pastoral work, activities of children, resignation
from China Inland Mission, adjustment to life in the United States and absence of
evangelical spirit, retirement
07:15 Chinese views of denominations, impact of Fundamentalism in China
09:00 Break in recording - silence
10:00 Encouraging mission awareness and support in the Presbyterian church, obstacles
and lack of interest among young people
12:30 Ian and Helen Anderson and other Wheaton CIMers in their area of China
14:00 Meaning of expulsion from China, need for national administration of the church,
and current trends in sending missionaries
17:30 End of side 1 and interview
Provenance
The materials in this collection were received by the Billy Graham Center from Melvin Suttie in January 1985.
Accession : 85-6, 85-10
July 23, 1992
Paul A. Ericksen
C. Easley
LOCATION RECORD
Accession : 85-6, 85-10
Type of material: Audio Tapes
The following items are located in the AUDIO TAPE FILE:
T1 - Reel-to-reel, 3-3/4 i.p.s., 60 minutes. One side only. Oral history interview with Melvin Suttie by Paul A. Ericksen. Subjects covered include his childhood, Christian commitment and growth, education at Wheaton College and seminary training, marriage, China Inland Mission and its financial policies, initial work in China, and the impact of the Sino-Japanese conflict on their work. Recorded on January 18, 1985.
T2 - Reel-to-reel, 3-3/4 i.p.s., 24 minutes. One side only. Continuation of interview with Melvin Suttie by Paul A. Ericksen. Subjects covered include missionary work in rural China, Sino-Japanese conflict, and their fellow workers. Recorded on January 18, 1985.
T3 - Reel-to-reel, 3-3/4 i.p.s., 60 minutes. One side only. Oral history interview with
Melvin Suttie by Paul A. Ericksen. Subjects covered include work in China among
university students, China's civil war and the impact of the Communist takeover,
evangelistic work among the people and Nationalist troops, the Suttie children, coping
with transition, Mary Elizabeth Suttie, their return to the U.S for pastoral work, and
reflections on the meaning of their experience in and expulsion from China. Recorded
on January 21, 1985.