When the Japanese invaded China in 1937, south China was quickly engulfed by the Japanese army. Before long, the Japanese artillery were pumping shells in the Kwong Tung area almost on daily basis. There were many close calls, and innocent people, many of whom were children and elderly, died or were severely injured with each shelling. Finally, Mrs. Mills and Muriel, their second daughter, became sick with dysentery. Reluctantly, the Mills decided to evacuate the family to Hong Kong, then on to Australia. Mills, however, went back to China because he just loved the Chinese people too much to leave them at the time of dire need.     By December 1938, the Japanese had closed all the roads to the Sy Yup area, cutting off all food and medical supplies to the area. By 1940, the famine was so widespread that people were dying like flies. Corpses were piled six to seven bodies high along the roadside because people were dying so rapidly they could not bury them fast enough. Those who could endure a three week journey over rugged mountain terrain made it to Tsing Yuen and told horrible stories about the devastated conditions there. Full of compassion and empathy, Mills organized the Sino-American Relief Committee. At the first meeting, one of the local leaders asked him: "Pastor, what about the finances?" Calmly, Mills replied: "Brethern, during the past ten years in China, day by day I have lived on one character alone." Taking a brush from his desk, he wrote the Chinese character, "shun" (meaning faith), on a sheet of paper and held it up. Then he continued: "Do not let the finances worry you. Trust the Lord and He will assume the responsibility." What a faith he had in the Lord! The next day he sent telegrams to every relief organization he had ever heard of, requesting their financial assistance in the famine area. He continued to travel to Chung King, Sze Chuen Province, visiting the Canadian Ambassador, the British Ambassador, the Canadian Red Cross, the British Red Cross, Madam Sun, late widow of Dr. Sun Yat Sun, and a number of Central Government officials, as well as appealing in a broadcast to the Chinese in America.      By the time he returned to Sy Yup, he had raised $6,18700,000 in Chinese currency. In addition, he had secured the cooperation of the Central Government to supply military rice at a 75% discount. He then organized a train of eleven hundred coolies to carry the rice over the mountains into the Sy Yup area. Twenty-one soup kitchens were set up, feeding over fourteen thousand people each day. His singular action and leadership reversed the downward spiral of famine and destruction, winning much admiration and respect from the people in SyYup area even continuing to this day.      To ensure a steady supply of rice into the Sy Yup area, he had to continue his fundraising effort. Since the only way in and out of the area was through the mountains, he endured many of those hazardous trips himself. One day, the weather was so hot and humid that it finally proved to be too much even for him. While climbing over the mountains carrying 45 pounds of parcels on his back, he developed fever, chills, and a tremendous headache. He continued walking, thinking that it would ward off or check a cold. Finally he was too weak and exhausted, and he lapsed into delirium and a state of semiconsciousness.      His companions carried him to a boat, and traveled two days to an elderly woman who rubbed on him a mixture of chicken feathers and glutinous rice flour dipped in hot water. This brought some temporary relief, but by nightfall he lapsed into delirium again. Not knowing what else to do, two Christian brothers who were with him all that time, held his hands and started praying unceasingly while other Christians knelt around. What a powerful prayer it must have been! By next day Mills woke up and walked out as if he was never sick. Everyone marveled at what God could do in seemingly impossible situations.      It was during this period of time that he found a tender spot in his heart toward suffering little children. The war created a countless number of orphans, lost or separated from family during evacuation, many of whom were severely malnourished and ill. One by one, he took them in, and placed them in "children's refuge" which he created from abandoned schools and ancestral halls. With what little food and supplies he had, he managed to feed and cloth them, and nurse them back to health. His medical supplies consisted of a weed named "chenopodium" to combat intestinal parasites, and a pine needle soup to fight vitamin deficiency. Pretty soon the orphanages were filled to capacity. Yet he could not turn down even one child and let him/her die of starvation. Frequently he tried to comfort his workers by saying: "don't worry, just add another pair of chopsticks and a little more water in the porridge."      When the Japanese army advanced to within 15 miles of the orphanages, they had to evacuate the children further inland. One of the trips involved some hundred and forty children ages three to eleven. With the help of eight workers, the children were led on a three week journey over 450 miles of rugged mountain ranges and treacherous rivers and rapids, detouring constantly to avoid the Japanese artillery. Each child carried his/her own tube of rice around their waists as the only food on route. Some of the children were too small to walk long hours, Mills would carry them himself, six at a time using a bamboo pole over his shoulder, and two baskets at each end of the pole with three children in each basket. The journey was so trying that one of the worker fell victim to a heat stroke, and another one, malignant malaria. It was the grace of God that by the time they reached the final destination, Ku Kong, not a child was lost. Mills continued to pick up abandon children in the interior Kwong Tung Province and placed them in the five orphanages he established, using abandoned ancestral halls as temporary shelters. The children cut the grass, cleaned the windows, and scrubbed the floors, hurling up water in buckets from the nearby river. Mills taught the older children how to make wooden bunk beds so they didn't have to sleep on the floor. Pretty soon they made the "school" the most comfortable home many of them had ever known. Whenever he had time, Mills would gather the children around, telling them stories of Jesus and His salvation. By 1945, there were over 700 children in these five orphanages.