[11]In 1915 Hughes and Stone were injured in a car accident in La Jolla, California, and stayed in the United States into 1916 to recover.

[12] After another leave and lecture tour in the United States in 1919,[13][14][15] the pair left the Methodist mission at Jiujiang in 1920, over a disagreement about doctrine.

[17][16] Bethel Mission included a chapel, a hospital, schools, an orphanage, a printing service, and housing for staff and students.

[20] In October 1920, the pair toured several Chinese cities, "combining lectures on health with evangelism", at schools and YMCA halls, and to nursing groups.

[13][23][24] In 1939 they moved to Pasadena, California with their three adopted daughters, Mary, Grace, and Norma,[25] and two other girls, Loretta Soong and Eileen Chen Lin.