The Inn of the Sixth Happiness

It's pre-WWII Britain. Gladys Aylward, who has worked as a domestic for the better part of her adult life, knows that she belongs in China, despite not knowing the language or anything of life there. She wants to work as a missionary, but is denied because of her inexperience. She even plans to save enough money on her own to go there. Instead, her current employer, Sir Francis Jamison, connects her with a friend of his, the elderly Mrs. Jeannie Lawson, a missionary in China who could use some help. When Gladys arrives in the remote northern Chinese town of Yang Cheng where Mrs. Lawson is currently residing, Mrs. Lawson tells her of her plan: to open an inn, which she ultimately calls the Inn of the Sixth Happiness, which will provide refuge for those traveling by mule train. In this way, they can spread the word of the Lord more effectively. Soon after they open the inn, Mrs. Lawson dies in an accident. With no money, no support to remain in China and still not enough language skills to make it on her own, Gladys has to find a way to stay. That help comes in the form of the mandarin of Yang Cheng, who employs her initially as the foot inspector, the job which entails monitoring the new government rule that young women and female children are not to have their feet bound (the mandarin failing to tell her the dangers of the job in bucking Chinese historical practice). In her travels, Gladys becomes renowned in the area as a humanitarian and is given the name "the one who loves". Despite potential harm to herself and fear for her personal safety, Gladys often places herself in situations where she feels she can provide some good, such as in negotiating with incarcerated men who have started a prison riot, and with marauding bandits. Through it all, she begins a friendship and ultimate romance with Colonel Lin Nan, a half Chinese/half Caucasian Chinese military officer who chose to live in China since he knew he would always be considered second class in the western world. Their friendship and romance is despite their differences, especially his military role versus her pacifist attitude. Those differences are tested with his message to the people of the probable Japanese invasion and what ultimately would become the Sino-Japanese War, when her mission turns to save the masses of orphaned children.