All posts by Mary Walker

The Courage of Diet Eman

Again, a conversation with the doctor. We always come back to the same point: “The church may not mix in politics,” he says. And I tell him that when you are a Christian and profess that God is almighty, there is not single area of life from which you can eliminate God. (Diary of Diet Eman, December 11, 1939)

These brave words from Diet Eman were not just empty talk. Because of her efforts to rescue Jews during the time of the Nazi occupation in Holland, Diet would suffer hunger, loneliness, danger, and imprisonment in order to follow her faith. Like all of us there were times when Diet wondered if God had forgotten her, but her doubts were short lived. She always came back to the knowledge that nothing could harm her unless God allowed it. This assurance of God’s love and faithfulness carried her through the horrible events of of the Nazi occupation in Holland in World War II.

Born in 1920, Diet grew up in the Dutch city of The Hague. She was the third child of four in a godly Christian family. When she was seventeen she met Hein Sietsma, her future fiancé. Diet was ambivalent about Hein at first but soon grew to love him.

In 1938 the Dutch were worried about war. They could see what power Hitler had. Hitler had taken Austria, Poland, and would later take France very quickly. Diet recorded her fear in her diary that war would come and everyone would be in great danger. She knew that Hein would have to fight. Diet often wrote prayers in her diary and concluded the October 31, 1939 entry with, “O Father, console them and please spare our country from that terrible disaster, not because we are any better but only out of grace. And if it has to be different, then teach me to pray: ‘Your will be done.” O please protect him whom my soul loves!”

The Dutch people’s worst fears were realized when on May 10, 1940 the Germans invaded Holland. Holland fell in only five days, capitulating on May 15. Queen Wilhemina and the government had escaped to England for safety taking the Dutch treasury with them. This was important because Hitler had planned on using the money to finance his war.

Diet and Hein had no way of knowing how long the war would last but decided to get busy right away and help the resistance. After they witnessed the cruelty of the Nazi’s to the Jews they knew that they had to help Jews go into hiding. Everyone is familiar with the story of Corrie ten Boom (whom Diet would later meet) but the ten Booms were only one of hundreds of families who hid Jews. Many thousands of Jewish lives were saved by Christians who acted on their convictions of faith.

The resistance work was very intricate and dangerous. Diet and Hein helped to find housing for the Jews and then provide support for them with fake identification cards, and stolen ration cards. Many times while Diet was bicycling to the home of some farmers who were hiding Jews she had to go through check points. If the Germans had searched her and found the stolen cards, she would have been arrested on the spot. She and anyone who was implicated could have been shot.

Eventually both Hein and Diet were caught and imprisoned. Diet was sent to the prison at Scheveningen and then to Vught concentration camp. At the train station on the way to Vught Diet witnessed the reunion of Corrie and Betsy ten Boom. The sisters had a tearful reunion since they had been apart for months and their father had recently died at Scheveningen prison.

Diet was going by her third false name when she was caught and imprisoned. She prayed to God that she could keep her secret not only for herself but for all those who would be implicated if the Germans found out who she really was. She prayed to God to help her get released. The idea came to her to play dumb. Though she could speak German, she pretended to speak only Dutch and acted like a naïve fool whenever questioned. When her trial came up the ploy worked. Though one of the German judges was not satisfied with her story he could not disprove it. She was released August 19, 1944.

You might think that Diet would breathe a big sigh of relief and try to go back to a “normal” life. The Canadian troops were making their way through Holland freeing one town after another. Perhaps Diet could just relax now. But not Diet. She went right back to work in the resistance using one of her fake names – Willie.

The Germans were angry that the Dutch had resisted so long and blockaded any food from getting to the people. The German soldiers stole any remaining food from the farms and so began the Hunger Winter of 1944 -45. Still the brave Dutch resisted. And Diet continued to help the Jews until Dutch liberation on May 5, 1945.

Diet had tried to find out what happened to Hein. She received several letters from him, the last one dated December 10, 1944. Diet continued to try and write to him and finally one day she learned through a letter from Hein’s father that Hein had died at Dachau on January 20, 1945.

After liberation people who had come into contact with Hein or were with him in prison came forward to console Diet as they told of Hein’s great Christian character. Many were comforted by this man who maintained his faith until his death. Diet found some consolation for her grief when she heard these testimonies that her beloved Hein had been used of God even under persecution.

Diet took a job that involved travel. She wanted to get away from the evil of the war. She married and had two children. In 1969 Diet moved to Grand Rapids Michigan where she became an export manager for an export firm.

In 1978 on a news show, Diet was reunited with Corrie ten Boom. This is a very thrilling story. You can then follow a link with that story on YouTube and watch the video of “Diet’s Story of Faith and Courage”. I encourage you to watch and be blessed.

https://youtu.be/_NJasOHexls

Diet retired in 1986 and did volunteer work as a translator for Christian Doctors in the Luke Society, the Red Cross, and the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee in Central and South America.

Diet was asked to put her story in a book. It was published in 1994 and is entitled “Things We Couldn’t Say” and you can easily get it on Amazon. During an interview about the book she was asked, “Would you like to skip that part of your life?” Diet responded that she would not. She could only think of all of the blessings that God had given her – new friends, strength to overcome threats, danger, and prison. She praised God for His protection of her parents who lived to die at the ripe old ages of 91 and 93.

In 1998 Diet received the Righteous Among the Nations medal form Israel’s Yad Vashem in recognition of her aid to Jewish people during the war.

Last year, on June 2, 2015 Diet “stole the show” when Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima went to Grand Rapids for a visit. The royal couple viewed a ballet based on Diet’s book, “Things We Couldn’t Say”, at Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. King Willem-Alexander said that Diet was one of their “national heroes with the highest decoration of anybody in the Dutch Resistance against the Nazis.”

I sent an inquiry to Calvin Seminary to Barbara Blackmore to find out if Diet was still alive. She forwarded my email to Dr. James Schaap. Dr. Schaap is the co-author of the book, “Things We Couldn’t Say”. What a privilege to hear back from him. Yes, Diet is still “alive and well, although painfully hard of hearing and certainly getting up there in age–94 or so, I think. It’s not easy to communicate anymore, except if you’re there with her in her apartment,” says Dr. Schaap. He also recommended The Reckoning, a documentary of Diet and other resistance workers’ lives.

Diet reminds us all that God loves us and is faithful and is in control of our lives. Diet remained totally dependent on Him through all of her life. She could say with David, “The Lord is my light and my salvation, Whom shall I fear? … For he will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble” (Psalm 27:1, 5).

Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. (Psalm 103:2)

Margaret Fell Fox – Liberty of Conscience

I am here this day upon the Account of my Conscience, and not for any Evil, or wrong done to any Man, but for obeying Christ’s Doctrine and Commands … am I here Arraigned this day. Now you profess your selves to be Christians, and you own the Scriptures to be true… So I now Appeal to the witness of God in all your consciences, to judge of me according to that. Margaret Fell, March 1664

Margaret Askew Fell Fox was a woman of undaunted courage. She lived through one of the most tumultuous times in English history. Through all of the upheavals in government and religious policies she kept a steady faith in God and His Word. She always put God first even if it meant going to prison. She strived for liberty of conscience.

Margaret Askew Fell Fox (1614-1702) lived through many changes in government. Since the time of Henry the Eighth (reigned 1509 to 1547) the church in England had been headed by the monarch. Henry broke with the pope and declared himself head of the Anglican church. To this day the monarch is still considered the head of the church.

Margaret grew up during the time of James I and Charles I. Both kings considered themselves the head of the Anglican church and neither tolerated dissenters.

When Charles I went too far by not allowing Parliament to meet, the Parliamentarians declared him a traitor and went to war against him. The Parliamentarians, led by Oliver Cromwell defeated the monarchists. The king, Charles I was beheaded in 1649.

In those days, church and state were not as separated as today. When King Charles and the royalists were in power the Anglican church had the ascent. When Cromwell and the Parliamentarians came to power and tried to form a Republican government, the Presbyterians had more power. Everything would switch back again to Anglicanism when the monarchy was restored in 1660 and Charles II came to power. These changes resulted in more or less toleration for other religions, mostly less.

Often minority religions were declared illegal and there was much persecution. It was during Charles II’s reign that the famous John Bunyan (Pilgrim’s Progress) was imprisoned for 11 years (1661-1672). Margaret and thousands of Quakers would be imprisoned. Margaret was tried and jailed twice for the sake of her conscience. We find this hard to believe in our day of a multitude of religions. But in the seventeenth century there was not much toleration among the various faiths. The ones who had the power did not like competition.

Margaret Askew Fell Fox was born in 1614 to wealthy parents. They were considered part of the landed gentry. Margaret was a bright child and her father saw to it that she and her sister were educated. Because of her social position she was able to marry a prominent lawyer, Thomas Fell. They were a close, affectionate couple and had eight children together, seven daughters and one son.

Thomas Fell climbed higher in social circles, becoming a Member of Parliament and serving as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. During his absences for business purposes, Margaret managed their estate – Swarthmore Hall. Swarthmore Hall was located in a remote area in northern England and the lonely Margaret invited rich and poor alike to partake of her hospitality. Margaret especially enjoyed visitors who were seekers of God and loved the Bible as much as she did. One of the strangers that she entertained was George Fox.

George Fox took the opportunity to stay with Margaret for a few days. He wanted to meet Judge Fell but would have to wait until later since the Judge was in London. Margaret listened to George Fox attentively and was persuaded that the Society of Friends, or Quakers, was true to the Scriptures. She would remain one of the most ardent supporters of Quakerism until her death.

Returning from the business trip to London, as Judge Thomas Fell was heading to Swarthmore Hall, he was stopped by his parish rector who warned him that his wife had been bewitched by a traveling preacher. At first Judge Fell was angry but changed his mind after Margaret and their seven daughters told him of their conversion experience. Judge Fell had confidence in his wife and could appreciate how much her life had changed. Margaret had become exuberant about her faith. Thomas Fell was pleased for her.

The judge did not want to leave the Anglican church, but he gladly gave Margaret permission to hold Quaker meetings in their home. Swarthmore would be the center for Quaker meetings in northern England until 1691 when a new meeting house was built nearby. Today Swarthmore Hall is used for retreats or other events.

Judge Fell died in 1658 and eleven years later, 1669, Margaret married George Fox. She was fifty-five years old and George was forty-five. They suited each other very well and were very happy but did not spend much time together. George was always traveling. And of course, both of them sent time in prison for their faith.

Besides holding meetings at Swarthmore, Margaret carried on a vast amount of correspondence with family, friends, prisoners, vicars, magistrates, judges, Cromwell, Charles II, William III, and William Penn. Margaret delivered many of the letters in person. In 1660, shortly after Charles II had been restored to the throne and promised more religious toleration, Margaret traveled with her oldest daughter to London to appeal for the release of Quaker prisoners, including George Fox.

Margaret spent four months in London meeting with Charles II sometimes as often as three times a week. Finally, George Fox and some other prisoners were released.

The reprieve did not last long. Soon laws were passed that forbade Quaker meetings. Over four thousand Quakers were imprisoned.

In 1663, Margaret was arrested for holding meetings at Swarthmore. She was brought to trial while four of her daughters watched in the courtroom. A magistrate held up a Bible and asked her to swear an oath that she would stop holding the meetings. Quakers do not take oaths because they take Christ’s command not to take oaths very seriously. (See Matthew 5:37.) Margaret responded, “If you ask me never so often, I answer you that the reason why I cannot take it is because Christ hath commanded me not to swear at all; I owe my allegiance and obedience to him…. I own allegiance to the King, as he is the King of England, but Christ Jesus is King of my conscience.”

The judge was frustrated that he could not win over Margaret Fell. He sentenced her to life imprisonment and complete forfeiture of her property. Margaret was terrified in the face of life in prison and for the lives of her now parentless children. But her courage remained steadfast. “Although I am out of the King’s Protection, yet I am not out of the protection of the Almighty God.”

Margaret remained in prison for four years. She used this time to write many letters. She also wrote five books, including the one that is most widely read today, “Womens Speaking Justified, Proved, and Allowed of by the Scriptures.” This is a plea for the equality of women. It was published in 1666.

In October 1669, one year after her release from prison she married George Fox. She continued to hold meetings and write. She did not get to spend much time with her husband because of the amount of time that he traveled but she was willing to sacrifice for God and for the chance of living a life of service for Christ. George traveled to America, the Continent, and to all parts of England taking the news of the Gospel of light to thousands.

Unfortunately, Margaret’s only son, George Fell, was not happy with her marriage. He soon was scheming to get his mother’s estate. He accused his own mother of breaking the Conventicle Act of 1664, which forbade meetings of more than five people of any religious group outside of Anglicanism. Margaret was tried and found guilty and spent a year in prison. Margaret was imprisoned in April, 1670. Her son George Fell died in October 1670.

The Quakers continued to suffer continuous persecution. George Fox was imprisoned again. He also suffered severe health problems. George Fox died in January, 1691. Margaret faithfully carried on the work until her death in 1702. In all of her years she put God first. Not even in the face of persecution, imprisonment, or confiscation of property would she deny her faith. No one – king, judge, jury, her son, or anyone else could make her compromise her beliefs. From the moment she accepted the Quaker tenets until her last breath she remained faithful. Her motto for her life could easily have been the Scripture verse written in one of her last letters in 1700.

Now, I have set before you Life (Deut. 30:19), and Death, and Desires you to Chuse Life, and God and his Truth,

The Wisdom of Sarah Moore Grimké

Oh, had I received the education I desired, had I been bred to the profession of the law, I might have been a useful member of society, and instead of myself and my property being taken care of, I might have been a protector of the helpless, a pleader for the poor and unfortunate. Sarah Moore Grimké

In last week’s post we talked about Angelina Grimké Weld. The Grimké sisters were famous abolitionists in their day. Both sisters also joined efforts in women’s suffrage. They have largely been forgotten but their work has endured. Angelina was the better speaker; but Sarah was just as passionate about justice for the downtrodden. She left writings that have come to the attention of historians today because Sarah was so far ahead of her time in her thought. Today women easily get the education that Sarah could only dream about. She was very courageous to speak out for the truth.

Sarah Moore Grimké was born in Charleston, South Carolina, on November 26, 1792, the sixth child of John and Mary Grimké. Her “baby” sister Angelina was not born until 1805, making Sarah thirteen years older than this child that she would love and dote on for the rest of her life. Sarah would never marry but would see herself as a second mother to Angelina’s children.

Growing up on a Southern plantation exposed Sarah to the many horrors of slavery. This bothered her tremendously. Sarah had a brilliant mind and she longed for a good education, but women in the South were only taught frivolous things. They were just expected to marry and help their husbands run a plantation. This included letting the slaves do all of the work; women were basically just dolls on a shelf.

Sarah wanted a more responsible, fulfilling life. She wanted to study law like her brother did. Because of the restrictions placed on women’s education she knew that she was not going to be allowed to so she moved to Pennsylvania.

Sarah joined the Quakers’ Society of Friends. Their views on slavery and women’s rights were similar to her own. She remained with the Quakers’ until they expelled her when Angelina married Theodore Weld because he was not a Quaker. (See post on May 4, 2016 – Angelina Grimké Weld.)

Angelina’s letter to William Lloyd Garrison was the start of the sisters’ involvement in the abolitionist movement. Sarah was shy and Angelina was outspoken but the two began to attend abolitionist meetings together. Sarah and Angelina would become the first women to testify in front of a state legislature on the issue of slavery.

The sisters launched a speaking tour in New England after speaking at an Anti-Slavery Convention in New York in 1837. They originally intended to speak only to women but soon their audiences included men. Sarah and Angelina became the first abolitionists to speak to mixed audiences. They boldly debated with men and became the first to do away with gender restrictions in the anti-slavery movement.

After Angelina’s marriage to Theodore Weld the sisters retired from public speaking. The Weld’s and Sarah became teachers and worked in several schools that they established. In 1862 they all moved to Boston to continue their teaching careers. As the sisters grew older and began to have health problems they could not be as active in slavery or women’s issues. However, their example inspired many other women who went on to work for justice for slaves and women.

In 1868, Angelina read about a man named Grimké who was speaking on slavery. Thinking that Grimké was not a very common name Angelina contacted him. Sure enough, they discovered that their brother Henry had fathered three sons by his female slave, Nancy Weston. Those children were Archibald, John, and Francis James Grimké. When Angelina and Sarah found out about these three half-nephews, they established close relationships, and true to their principles of equality for blacks, they supported Archibald and Francis through college and graduate school.

Archibald studied law at Harvard, and Francis went to Princeton Theological Seminary. Both men went on to national leadership among the Black communities. As pastor of the 15th Street Presbyterian Church in Washington D.C., Francis Grimké and his wife Charlotte Forten Grimké were friends and colleagues of Anna Julia Cooper. Archibald was a vice-president of the NAACP and president of the American Negro Academy. Sarah and Angelina’s help had further consequences for blacks in America. Archibald Grimké fathered a daughter named Angelina Weld Grimké. This Angelina (often confused with her great aunt Angelina Grimké Weld) went on the get an education in Boston. She taught school and wrote many published essays.

Sarah Grimké died in 1873 without ever having gotten the college education that she longed for. Her legacy remains through her prominent black half-nephews and their children and through her writings.

Today woman have freedoms that we take for granted – education, jobs, the vote, and a public voice. Sarah could only dream about and write about those things.

Here are words of wisdom from Sarah Grimké. Keep in mind that these were written in the 1830’s.

From “Letters on the Equality of the Sexes, and the Condition of Woman” (1837):

“On the Original Equality of Women”

“Had Adam tenderly reproved his wife, and endeavored to lead her to repentance instead
of sharing in her guilt, I should be much more ready to accord to man that superiority which he claims; but as the facts stand disclosed by the sacred historian, it appears to me
that to say the least, there was as much weakness exhibited by Adam as by Eve. They both fell from innocence, and consequently from happiness, but not from equality…. The consequence of the fall was an immediate struggle for dominion, and Jehovah foretold which would gain the ascendancy; but as he created them in his image, as that image manifestly was not lost by the fall, because it is urged in Genesis 9:6, as an argument why the life of man should not be taken by his fellow man, there is no reason to suppose that sin produced any distinction between them as moral, intellectual and responsible beings.” (Letter #1)

“On the Condition of Women in the United States”

“During the early part of my life, my lot was cast among the butterflies of the fashionable world; and of this class of women, I am constrained to say, both from experience and observation, that their education is miserably deficient; that they are taught to regard marriage as the one thing needful, the only avenue to distinction; hence to attract the notice and win the attentions of men, by their external charms, is the chief business of fashionable girls. They seldom think that men will be allured by intellectual acquirements, because they find, that where any mental superiority exists, a woman is generally shunned and regarded as stepping out of the ‘appropriate sphere,’ which, in her view, is to dress, to dance, to set out to the best possible advantage her person, to read the novels which inundate the press, and which do more to destroy her character as a rational creature, than anything else. Fashionable women regard themselves, and are regarded by men, as pretty toys or as mere instruments of pleasure; and the vacuity of mind, the heartlessness, the frivolity which is the necessary result of the false and debasing estimate of women, can only be fully understood by those who have mingled in the folly and wickedness of fashionable life; and who have been called from such pursuits by the voice of the Lord Jesus, inviting their weary and heavy laden souls to come unto Him and learn of Him, that they may find something worthy of their immortal spirit, and their intellectual powers; that they may learn the high and holy purposes of their creation, and consecrate themselves unto the service of God; and not, as is now the case, to the pleasure of man.” (Letter #8)

Amen and amen!! We women today have much to be thankful for to women like Sarah Moore Grimké. I pray that we could all have her courage, faithfulness, and forthrightness.

Angelina Grimke Weld

O that I might live religion – how striking the exhortation of the Apostle – present your bodies a living sacrifice, Lord enable me so to live that every day I may sacrifice my own will to thine. Angelina Grimke, December 25, 1828

The Grimke sisters, Angeline and Sarah, have been pretty much forgotten in our day but in the nineteenth century they were well known in abolitionist circles. They made history in speeches against slavery as well as in publishing tracts calling for an end to the evil institution. They recognized that slavery and discrimination were two separate issues and fought against both.

While there were many famous male abolitionists, the sisters drew large audiences due to their compassionate speeches. Angelina and Sarah were unique because they had been raised in South Carolina on a slave holding plantation and their outspokenness against slavery was based on their first hand experiences witnessing the cruelty of slavery. Audiences came to jeer the women speakers but stayed to listen in rapt silence as the sisters recounted the horrors of slavery and called for an end to it.

Angelina Grimke was born in 1805. She was the youngest of fourteen children born to John Grimke and Mary Smith Grimke. Her older sister Sarah was thirteen when Angelina was born. Sarah doted on her baby sister Angelina and the two remained close until the end of their lives.

Angelina’s family was the type of wealthy southern family that is pictured in movies and books. Slaves were seen as “not quite human” with no rights. They were badly mistreated. One of Angelina’s brothers beat a slave boy so harshly that he could hardly walk. Angelina, even as a young girl, had a deep faith in God and the Bible. She could not reconcile the cruelty to other human beings, made in the image of God just as she was, with her religion. She tried to remonstrate with her mean brother; he told her to mind her own business.

In her personal life Angelina tried to live more as she thought a Christian should live. She began to dress plainly and stopped going to frivolous parties. Her family who were of the privileged class barely tolerated her. Angelina prayed for them and even tried to convince them of the error of their ways. They were quite happy in their position in life and did not appreciate Angelina’s attempts to enlighten them. She desperately wanted to leave home but stayed to help her mother after the death of her father.

Angelina’s religious life went through several changes. She was uncomfortable in the cold established church that her mother went to. They did not preach against slavery. One day she heard a Presbyterian preacher speak what seemed to her the very words of God. She joined that church and since she was a young woman who never did anything by halves she began to teach Sunday School and to work in the church immediately.

When she thought that the time was right Angelina moved to Philadelphia because she could no longer support the institution of slavery. She waited until she felt like she had her mother’s blessing. Though they still disagreed on the issue of slavery Angelina and her mother would remain on loving terms.

Sarah had moved to Philadelphia some years before Angelina. When Angelina was exposed to the Friends’ Church (Quakers) through Sarah, she thought she had found a people of God who lived more closely to the Bible. As usual Angelina threw herself into meetings and church work and became well known for her spirituality. She became attached to the son of Friends’ ministers, but he died of an illness before they could get married. Angelina was heartbroken but believed that God had some purpose for her.

When William Lloyd Garrison began to publish appeals for the ending of slavery Angelina felt compelled to write him a personal letter to encourage him. “The ground upon which you stand is holy ground,” she told him, “never-never surrender it . . . if you surrender it, the hope of the slave is extinguished.” We must continue to agitate for the end of slavery even if abolitionists are persecuted and attacked because, as she put it, “This is a cause worth dying for.”

Garrison published her passionate letter in his paper “Liberator”. This was the start of Angelina’s career as an abolitionist speaker. It was also the beginning of the end of her relationship with the orthodox Quakers. The church leader came to her and asked her to renounce what she had written. Angelina was surprised at his attitude and respected him as her elder and she did some soul searching.
That night I hardly slept at all & the next day I was sunk as low as I ever had been involved in great darkness & desiring to feel utterly condemned if I had done wrong. She threw herself as a helpless sinner at the foot of the Cross & plead for sight & for strength to undo, or bear just what was required. Angelina had come to the place where she realized what God had called her to do. She had promised God if He would only prepare me to be & make me instrumental in the great work of Emancipation I would be willing to bear any suffering. … tho’ condemned by human judges I was acquitted by him whom I believe qualified me to will it, and I felt willing to bear all, if it was only made instrumental of good. I felt great unworthiness of being used in such a work but remembered that God hath chosen the weak things of this world to confound the wise and so was comforted. (From her diary, September, 1835.)

Angelina prayed about the remonstrance from the Quakers in Philadelphia but knew that her call from God was stronger. And so the Grimke sisters began to speak out against slavery. The strong Quaker society in Philadelphia opposed the sisters so much that they decided to move to New York city where they become agents for the American Anti-Slavery Society.

At first Angelina began to hold abolition meetings in New York city for women. Soon however, Angelina and Sarah found themselves speaking to mixed groups of men and women. This was shocking behavior in the nineteenth century and the sisters were ridiculed and castigated. The sisters courageously continued because they knew that freeing the enslaved and ending discrimination were too important to quit.

The sisters began to be in demand as speakers. They traveled so much that Angelina’s health was in danger several times. Their lives were also often in danger due to riots and mob violence. Northerners were just as bigoted against black people as Southerners and did not want to change things.

In 1838 Angelina made history as the first woman to speak before a legislative body in the United States. “I stand before you,” she told the members of the Massachusetts legislature as well as a crowd of enemies and supporters in the galleries, “on behalf of the 20,000 women of Massachusetts whose names are enrolled on petitions [which] relate to the great and solemn subject of slavery.” Angelina pleaded for the end of not only slavery but of racial prejudice that she saw in the North.

Around this time Angelina met abolitionist Theodore Weld. They married on May 14, 1838. Angelina gave one more lecture and then terminated her speaking career. She would take her domestic duties seriously. She and Theodore bought a farm and Angelina had three children. Theodore continued to speak until his voice gave him trouble. In the years to follow the Weld’s and Sarah Grimke would teach in the schools that were established by Theodore. Of course these schools would be open to both boys and girls and black and white children. All three continued to attend meetings and write articles when they could for anti-slavery publications.

Angelina lived until 1879. Though she wanted slavery to end peacefully she accepted the fact of war in the 1860’s. For the rest of her life she continued to work for the end to racial discrimination which did not end with the war. It still hasn’t.

After suffering from the effects of strokes for several years Angelina died on October 26, 1879. Theodore died in 1895. Many women today can thank Angelina and Sarah for their courage in pioneering justice and equal rights for both blacks and women.

Lettie B. Cowman – Comforting the Hurting

We are safer with Him in the dark than without Him in the sunshine.

Lettie B. Cowman, Springs in the Valley

Millions of people have been comforted by the devotional works of Lettie B. Cowman. Lettie gained deep insights into the consoling mercy of God when she suffered through the loss of her own husband. She was used of God to comfort others.

After her husband Charles’ death Lettie put II Corinthians 1:3, 4 into practice:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort Who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Lettie Burd Cowman was born to Isaac and Margaret Burd in Afton, Iowa on March 3, 1870. Lettie’s parents had moved to Iowa as pioneers with their savings sewn up in their garments. Mr. Burd was able to establish himself as a successful banker.

Lettie grew up in a comfortable home. She was exposed to art, literature and music. The youngest of the Burd children, Lettie was lonely after her older siblings left. She filled her world with books, music, and nature. She appreciated the beauty of the creation and always took pleasure in sunsets and blooming flowers. All of these impressions would be reflected later in her writing.

One day Lettie met a young telegrapher named Charles Cowman. Charles had left home to take a job at the Western Union office. Lettie thought he was lonely and invited him to her home. They became more than friends and they pledged their love to each other, but the couple would have to wait to wed until Lettie’s parents would approve. It seemed that they thought that Charles was not right for their daughter.

Isaac and Margaret Burd were glad when Charles got transferred to a distant telegraph office. They hoped that Lettie would marry a successful officer in Isaac Burd’s bank. But Lettie was adamant – she had given her pledge to Charles.

At the age of 21 Charles returned. Now he was a successful telegrapher having risen up in the company ranks to the position of manager. He visited the Burd’s with a promise of reasonable security and bright prospects for Lettie’s future. But it was witnessing the couple together, so much in love and obviously determined to be together that changed Mr. and Mrs. Burds’ hearts. So on June 18, 1889 Lettie and Charles were married in the Methodist Church in Afton, Iowa.

It was at a Missions conference in the Moody Church in Chicago that Charles and Lettie made a dramatic change in their lives. Lettie had been feeling for some time that her life was too frivolous. Now after hearing the speaker, A. B. Simpson (founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church) give a strong appeal for missionaries, Charles and Lettie presented themselves as candidates for the mission field.

At first they wanted to go to India, but Lettie’s health would not allow for it. Instead they trained to go to Japan. Two other men teamed with them who would help in founding the Oriental Missionary Society. (Today it is known as OMS.)

The Cowman’s arrived in Tokyo in 1901. Their first home was just two meager upstairs rooms in a building in downtown Tokyo. This was a far cry from the comfortable home in America, but Charles and Lettie were devoted to giving the Gospel to the Japanese people.

In 1912 the Cowman’s began the “Every Creature Crusade” from which the Japanese Church would arise. Between the years of 1912 and 1917 (when the Cowman’s would be forced to return to America) over ten million households in Japan received a copy of the Gospel.

While in Japan the Cowman’s watched the Korean Church being planted, mostly by Americans. They rejoiced in the work of God as through the sweat and the blood of the martyrs the Korean Church would become one of the foremost examples of a modern New Testament Church in the world.

Charles literally burned himself out for the Lord. After sixteen years of daily meetings, overseeing the Bible institute, the “Every Creature Crusade”, and preaching tours in Korea and China, Charles’ health failed. He and Lettie returned to the United States.

Lettie nursed her beloved Charles for six years. She spent her time reading hundreds of books. She read books and poems to Charles to give him the strength to endure his pain. After the long battle Charles succumbed in September of 1924.

Charles’ death was devastating for Lettie. They were childless and Charles meant everything to her. They had had a “marriage made in heaven” and were completely devoted to each other. She wrote in her diary, “This is a living hell on earth!” This is the only entry in her diary that is so downhearted and pessimistic. Lettie had prayed that God would heal Charles. Why didn’t He? What does this mean about how God honors the prayer of faith for the healing of the sick? (See James 5:14,15.) Had not hundreds of people lifted up Charles to God for healing? Where was He?

Lettie turned to the Word for her help. God seemed to be asking her if she wanted her husband to be healed more than she wanted His will for her. Lettie spent hours reading the Bible and scouring the book stores for books on suffering and encouragement. She copied out many truths from books written by others who had trod the path that she had. Little did she know that she was doing this work for others and not just for herself. From the hundreds of words of wisdom that she gleaned the books she read, Streams in the Desert was born.

While doing her research, Lettie came across a piece of paper in her Bible addressed to her. It said, “Go on with the unfinished task.” This was her husband’s passion – the unfinished work. Lettie knew that she must go on with it. But how could she do this alone? Lettie found the help she needed when she turned her worries into praise. I will not follow Satan into gloom, she decided. Lettie’s life became one of continual praise. She wrote two devotional books at this time – After All There is God and Praise Changes Things.

Lettie wrote a biography of her husband, Charles Cowman: Missionary-Warrior. She also wrote Springs in the Valley and a book for young people, Mountain Trailways for Youth, and a book for the elderly, Traveling Toward Sunrise.

And that was not all. This amazing woman assumed the leadership of the Oriental Mission Society (now the One Mission Society) until 1949. She traveled far and wide to speak at conferences. She wrote countless articles for periodicals.

This indefatigable woman even wrote a book at the age of eighty entitled, Life Begins at Eighty. She presented copies of this book to all of her friends at a party that she gave.

Lettie still wanted to continue speaking but her eyesight began to fail. She spent the last years of her life corresponding with countless other hurting people giving them words of wisdom and solace.

Finally, she was ready to go and be with Charles. On Easter Sunday, April 17, 1960 at the age of 90, Lettie rested from her task. In her papers the following poem was found:

Finish thy work, the time is short.
The sun is in the west
The night is coming down,
Till then, think not of rest.
Rest? Finish thy work then rest.
Till then, rest never.

The work of the One Mission Society continues today in over sixty countries around the world.

Lillias Underwood – Missionary to Korea

The wonder of it, which will grow, I think, more and more through the eternal ages, is that God should allow us, his poor creatures, to share with him in a work far greater than the creation of a universe, even the founding of an eternal and limitless kingdom of holiness, glory and peace. Lillias Underwood*

Lillias Horton Underwood was one of the countless numbers of courageous women who went to serve on the mission field in spite of the dangers. Women who went to places like Africa or the Orient in the nineteenth century were warned that they would return in a coffin. Lillias trusted God and ventured into the interior of Korea as the first white woman ever to do so.

Lillias was born on June 21, 1851 in Albany New York. She went to Chicago to the Women’s Medical College (now a part of Northwestern University) to obtain a medical degree. After graduation she worked at Mary Thompson’s Hospital. It was here that the Presbyterian Mission approached Lillias about serving in Korea.

Miss Lillias Horton went to Korea as a medical missionary in 1888. Though an unmarried woman and alone she was not helpless. She maintained a cheerful attitude and went about her work at the missionary hospital efficiently and enthusiastically. Once she had consecrated her life to serving Christ on the mission field she never looked back. She felt the importance of healing the bodies and enlightening the souls of the poor and destitute to be a life-time and a life-fulfilling call. She had completely sold out to her Lord Jesus Christ.

Not long after her arrival in Chemulpo Korea, Lillias visited the queen who desired to secure the services of Lillias as her personal physician. Lillias and Queen Min would maintain a warm friendship until the cruel assassination of Queen Min in 1895. Lillias described Queen Min as intelligent, warm, an excellent diplomat, and devoted to the welfare of her people. The queen was of a higher mind and morals than the king and was his royal counselor. It was well known that she was the strength behind the throne.

In 1889 Lillias married Reverend Horace G. Underwood. Horace had already been in Korea for four years and knew how to arrange the trips through dangerous territory. He arranged their honeymoon consisting of a trip to the northern part of Korea where few white men had ever been seen and no white women. Most women might have complained about this kind of honeymoon but Lillias said that she was not in Korea to be a tourist in pursuit of entertainment, but she was an ambassador of Christ.

Though most foreigners were distrusted in Korea, the Underwoods impressed the Korean officials and were allowed to take a journey to the far north. They traveled as missionaries without disguise. It was a “plucky undertaking for the young bride, since, so far as known, she was the first foreign woman who had made such a tour. The journey was a protracted one and involved all kinds of hardship and privation. Nothing worthy of a name of inn was to be found, but only some larger huts in which travelers were packed away amid every variety of filth and vermin.” *

We have read many stories of missionaries who gained the trust of the officials in foreign countries because of their service to them. How often have we heard how a formerly antagonistic ruler changed his mind when the medical missionary healed that chief’s wife or son or daughter? The situation in Korea was similar. God used the first medical missionary to Korea, Dr. H. N. Allen to open the door to missions when Dr. Allen healed the wounds of some distinguished Koreans.

And so the Underwoods had permission to travel to northern Korea. With her unfailing good nature Lillias described how the natives would make holes in the paper doors and windows to get a glimpse of the only white woman they had ever seen. This ruined any chance of privacy that Lillias might have had, but she endured “these rude intrusions into my privacy with more sang froid, excusing and understanding it.”*

After this trip the Underwoods returned to Chemulpo. They continued their work at the mission. Lillias was in charge of the Women’s Department at the Government Hospital (Chejung-won) as well as the English and arithmetic teacher for the boys’ orphanage founded by Horace Underwood. She led Sunday school classes for boys and Bible studies for women.

The Underwood’s had one child, a son born in 1890. Horace Horton Underwood would return to Korea as a missionary after graduating from New York University. He would serve until his death in 1951 in Pusan.

Lillias sacrificed all of the comforts of home in America, but she took care of herself. Her wisdom in doing this would pay off. One missionary sacrificed his own health out of love for the poor. The mission sent him healthy food that he promptly gave away to the hungry Koreans. His zeal led to his early death. Lillias admired his great love and sacrifice yet she wondered whether he had not died too early. Surely if he “could have gone on living and preaching, as they might, had they been able to mix with their enthusiasm and consecration, wisdom and temperance” more work could have been accomplished. Lillias maintained the balance between sacrifice and wisdom.

Because of the many invasions by foreign enemies King Gojong’s reign was precarious. He had signed unwise treaties with the Japanese giving them control of much of Korea against Queen Min’s advice. (As we know, the Japanese would dominate Korea until 1945. See a related story on this blog about Ahn Ei Sook, published April 22, 2010.)

In 1894 thousands of Korean peasants were slaughtered by the Japanese. Queen Min tried to get the Russians to come to their aid. Angry that the queen might be able to do something to save her people, the Japanese formed a plot to assassinate her. The Japanese brutally murdered her. The king was held a virtual prisoner in the palace while a group of men sympathetic to the Japanese took over.

Despite the grave risks to their lives from disease, marauders, and the uncertain political situation, Horace and Lillias remained in Korea until Horace’s failing health forced them to return to the U.S. After his death, Lillias returned to Korea with Horace Hornton and his new wife. Lillias retired from medicine and continued missionary work.

Lillias wrote “Fifteen Years Among the Top-Knots, or Life in Korea” published in 1904 and in 1908. She also wrote a biography of her husband, “Underwood of Korea” (1918). These few details of her life given in this blog story are just a taste of her narrative of life among the “top-knots”, so called because of the way they wore their hair in a knot on top of their heads. This book is very engaging and you will be amazed at the love of the Underwood’s as they serve the Koreans. (It is available as a free download on the internet. Go get it; you won’t be sorry.)

*From “Fifteen Years Among the Top-Knots” by Lillias Underwood

Dorothy Day – Friend to the Forgotten

Dorothy Day was born in Brooklyn Heights New York on November 8, 1897. Her father John Day was a sportswriter. Dorothy’s mother was a kind woman whose example of warm-hearted sharing with anyone in need would affect Dorothy for the rest of her life.

Dorothy’s family had moved to San Francisco in 1904 and were there when the great fire destroyed most of the city in 1906. Her mother joined her neighbors in gathering food and clothing for the displaced families who were sleeping in the park in Oakland. Within a few weeks the Day’s would move to Chicago because the newspaper office where John worked was burned down by the fire.

John Day could not find work and began to write a novel. Mrs. Day struggled to put meager food on the table. It was during this time that Dorothy met several kind Catholic women who reflected the love of Christ to her. She never forgot them.  Eventually John Day was hired by a newspaper and the family moved to a nicer home on the north side of Chicago. Dorothy was an excellent student in her high school. She loved languages and studied Latin and Greek.

Dorothy’s older brother Donald took a job with a small paper. This paper sympathized with the rising labor movement. Through Donald’s influence Dorothy studied the works of Carl Sandburg, Upton Sinclair, and Jack London, writers who were calling attention to the injustices of the class system in the industrial world. At this time Eugene Debs became a hero in Dorothy’s eyes.

Though her parents did not claim to be religious – Dorothy’s father even claimed to be an atheist – Dorothy loved to read the Bible. She was confused about God in her early years but gradually came to see how Christ manifested love to people, especially the marginalized. She saw that Christ had rejected the “things of this world” but she did not believe that God meant for people to live in abject poverty either.  Dorothy recalled how her mother and the people in Oakland responded to the poor in the aftermath of the San Francisco fire. She dreamed of the day when all people, not just the social workers and missionaries, would be open-handed and generous to the poor.

The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us?*

Dorothy’s father lost his job again. She did not know if she could afford to go to college but because of her excellence in Latin and Greek she won a scholarship to the University of Illinois. She began to attend in 1914. She enjoyed her independence very much but never forgot the poor and downtrodden.  After two years Dorothy’s father got a job in New York City. Dorothy decided to leave school and go to New York to be close to her family.

Dorothy looked for a job at a newspaper and finally found one in 1916.  She worked for several socialist newspapers and also took part in the anti-war activities of many of her friends opposing the military draft. People in our day have come to accept US involvement in war but in 1917 many Americans wanted to let Europe solve its own problems. Dorothy may have been accused of being anti-patriotic when Wilson made laws against speaking out against his policy of war. Later during the Vietnam war many would agree with Dorothy’s belief that America should not interfere in wars. In spite of the changing attitudes of Americans about fighting in wars, Dorothy would remain a pacifist.

It should come as no surprise then that Dorothy would take part in the women’s suffrage movement. On one occasion after a protest Dorothy and other suffragettes were arrested and put in prison. They were treated abominably. It was hard for her to believe that human beings could treat fellow humans that way. “I had an ugly sense of the futility of human effort, man’s helpless misery, the triumph of might. Man’s dignity was but a word and a lie. Evil triumphed,” she later wrote. Dorothy struggled with her faith in the face of such injustice.

In the next few years Dorothy experienced love, marriage, and the birth of a child. With her common law husband, Forster Batterham she had a daughter, Tamar in 1926. During this time Dorothy was renewing her growth in her Catholic faith and she wanted to be baptized and to get Tamar baptized. The whole discussion of religion bothered Forster and eventually he left his wife and daughter. He would only return at the very end of his life to visit Dorothy when he was dying of cancer. At that time they would make amends and renew friendship. Dorothy always remained devoted to Tamar for the rest of her life, always finding time to be with Tamar and her children even during Dorothy’s busiest years.

The 1930’s was the time of the Great Depression. Dorothy began to seek ways to live out her Catholic faith in service to the poor. In 1932 her prayer was answered when Peter Maurin knocked on her door. He was a French immigrant who had a vision for a society that really lived out Christian virtues.

Together Peter Maurin and Dorothy founded a newspaper called the Catholic Worker. The goal was to start houses for the poor and farming communes. Over the next few years the idea would blossom until it was replicated worldwide.

Dorothy was asked to speak many times. She was really shy but she knew that her talks were spreading the philosophy of the Catholic Worker. Dorothy longed to see a time when everyone would serve humanity through each one’s individual efforts. Putting aside her fear of speaking in front of crowds, Dorothy began to speak to school groups, women’s clubs, conventions, and other social workers. Dorothy bravely explained the concept of service to those in need as real Christianity.

I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least.

Dorothy practiced what she preached. Choosing voluntary poverty, she lived in a small upstairs room in one of the houses of hospitality. Lest one think that she thought of herself as a martyr she maintained that she was privileged. All she needed was a bed and bath and two large shelves full of books. After all, if you’re so busy serving others what else do you need in life? Dorothy was happy.

During World War II Dorothy worked extra hard in the hospitality houses due to the shortage of men. Her pacifist stance was unpopular but in years to come many would see that it was consistent for this woman who wanted all people to love one another.

Dorothy welcomed the strides that the African-Americans made during the 1950’s. On one occasion Dorothy visited an integrated commune. There were strict segregation laws in Georgia and the people in the commune received many threats. Dorothy was warned that there could be violence. One night, fifty-nine year-old Dorothy was on watch duty when suddenly she heard screeching tires. Soon a shower of bullets was rained down on the car in which she was sitting. Dorothy had been criticized for her beliefs, and spent time in prison; now she nearly lost her life in the cause of justice.

In the 1960’s Dorothy would go to the Vatican in Rome to urge the Church to make a strong anti-war statement. Dorothy was thrilled when many protested the Vietnam war.
While in Rome she joined a ten-day fast to bring the attention of the public to the starving millions of the world.

In the 1970’s Dorothy marched with Cesar Chavez to protest the mistreatment of farm workers. One thousand protesters were arrested, Dorothy among them. By this time Dorothy was in her seventies and beginning to look a little frail. However, she took her two week incarceration stoically, remarking, “If it weren’t a prison it would be a nice place to rest.”

Dorothy was beginning to tire. She turned down speaking engagements but continued to write for the Catholic Worker and to visit with family and friends.
Dorothy was distressed about the changes in the world in the 70’s. Even the Catholic Church seemed to be changing. But she found consolation in her Bible. As she had done since the earliest days of her conversion she read from the Psalms every morning. Reading her Bible, Dorothy was comforted in her belief that Jesus Christ is our example of love and living.

My strength returns to me with my cup of coffee and the reading of the psalms.

In her old age Dorothy received many honorary degrees and awards. During her life she had written many books including; “From Union Square to Rome”, “House of Hospitality”, “Loaves and Fishes”, “The Long Loneliness”, and “On Pilgrimage”.

In 1979 the hospitality house where Dorothy was living was sold and she moved back to New York City into a hospitality house called Maryhouse. In her quarters in this house Dorothy passed her time reading, writing, and receiving visitors. On November 29, 1980 Dorothy died peacefully in her room. Her beloved daughter Tamar was with her during her final hours. Her final resting place is the Cemetery of the Resurrection on Staten Island.

*Throughout this essay I sprinkled appropriate quotes from Dorothy’s writings.

Mother Eliza Davis George

My African brother is calling me;
Hark! Hark! I hear his voice.
In a land more dense with work I see
That work is now my choice. *

For over six decades Eliza Davis-George ministered to her African brethren in Liberia. She endured poverty and hardship for the sake of taking the Gospel to her people. Though she constantly had to labor to get support she never wavered from her call. Today thousands of her spiritual children are glad for their Mother Eliza.

Eliza Davis-George was born in Texas on January 20, 1879. She was the third child of the eleven children of Litt and Jane Davis who were former slaves. Eliza had wonderful memories of her mother who prayed often. Her father struggled financially and nearly ruined the family with gambling. One day he was convicted of his sin at their Baptist church and changed his life. He was a faithful deacon and preacher after that.

Though she was raised in the Baptist church, Eliza did not make a decision to accept Christ for herself until she was sixteen. She faithfully attended church services. Eliza had many suitors but she rejected them all because she was sure that God had something special for her.

In 1900 the Davis’s struggled again as the boll weevils destroyed their crops. Eliza wanted to go to school but it was hard enough being black let alone a poor woman. She worked hard and her family helped out and eventually Eliza received a teaching diploma. Eliza earned her teaching certificate and then was accepted on the faculty of Central Texas College. She taught for five years and then the school asked her to be the matron.

On February 2, 1911, Eliza attended a faculty prayer meeting. Rev. Hill prayed for countries all around the world. Eliza was filled with an overwhelming desire to go to Africa and see her brothers and sisters. She told the president of the college about her strong call but he discouraged her from going.

Eliza knew that she had heard the call from God. The poem at the beginning of this post was the first stanza of a poem that she wrote while she was struggling with her decision about going to Africa.

The leaders at the college did not want to release her and they gave her a hearing. They were doubtful about sending her. She recited her poem to them (9 verses in all). The beginning of the second verse said:

Would you say ‘stay’ when God said ‘go’
To that dark foreign land and
Spread the light? Would you say ‘no’
That bright their souls might stand? *

Eliza continued reciting her beautiful poem. The leaders were convinced. They decided to release her with their blessings and prayers.

The Baptist mission could not support Eliza at that time. She prayed and worked hard. Few offered her any help but then Eliza met Rev. James Kelly, the corresponding secretary of the General Baptist Convention of Texas. Rev. Kelly took Eliza around to the churches to raise support.

Finally, Eliza was ready to travel to New York. A ship left from there for Liverpool on December 12, 1913. Eventually Eliza reached Liberia where she and another missionary opened a school for children.

Eliza was concerned about real-life training as well as spiritual training. She called her school the Bible Industrial Academy. Soon they had fifty pupils. In only two years she saw over 1,000 people accept Christ in nearby villages.

Eliza always lived on very little money, but God gave her the support she needed, often just in time to stave off much hardship. About five years after she was in Liberia the mission board stopped supporting her. Some months before this, Eliza had met a medical missionary, Dr. C. Thompson George. Dr. George desired to work as a missionary in Liberia too. He urged Eliza to marry him so that together they could serve God in Liberia.

Eliza did not want to leave Liberia and so she agreed and they were married in 1919. They lived in Kelton. Eliza had already adopted an orphan named Maude who was a teenager by then. The George’s also adopted Cecelia and Cerella. It was Maude who brought Cerella home to Eliza when she was just a baby. Of course tender-hearted Eliza wanted to care for her. Girls were very badly treated in Liberia. Eliza wanted to give Cerella a chance.

Later another girl named Cecelia came to the school seeking an opportunity to join the mission. And so in 1929 Cecelia joined the group. Cecelia remained a faithful, caring daughter even up to the end of Eliza’s life.

Maude and Cerella went to the United States for their education, not returning for thirteen years. Eliza carried on the work at the mission and prayed for her girls.

After returning to Liberia, Maude helped Eliza (now in her sixties) with the school. Maude died unexpectedly in 1947. She had been running the school in Liberia for two years. Cerella married a man in Greenville and went to work in a bank.

Cecelia would eventually marry and have three children. She would serve in Liberia for a few years, later being joined by her husband when he finished his missionary training. Later they returned to the United States when they could not endure the fever-inducing illnesses of Liberia. Though back in the USA Cecelia continued to help Mother Eliza with support whenever she could.

Sadly, Eliza’s marriage was full of conflict. Dr. George had many problems including drinking. He could be moody and mistreat the children. After twenty years of marriage Dr. George died of an illness in 1939. Eliza was on her own again.

Mother Eliza had also welcomed a young man into their group. His African name was Doh, but he took a different name when he decided to join the Christian church – Augustus Marwieh. He would be affectionately called Gus.

Gus was a good student and even at the age of fifteen was beginning to get a reputation as a preacher. He would become the spiritual son who would carry on Eliza’s work in Liberia and other parts of Africa.

Some years later Mother Eliza wanted to send Gus to America to college. He was very bright and deserving of a good education. He had completed his high school education in Liberia at the top of his class. It was difficult to raise the money and obtain all of the visas necessary, but Mother Eliza persisted as she always did. So now at the age of seventy-four Mother Eliza went to California with her spiritual son.

When Gus graduated from college, Eliza had a long talk with him. She encouraged him to marry a girl from Liberia so that he would have more credibility with his people when he went back to minister there. Eventually he married Otheliah, one of the spiritual daughters at the mission. Much in love, the couple served faithfully together even through some dire hardships.

Gus had also obtained an MRE (Master of Religious Education) at Golden Gate Seminary. After six years in the United States, Gus returned to Liberia. He would eventually serve there for many years, taking over Mother Eliza’s work as she grew old.

One day Gus had exciting news, or so he thought, for Eliza. The Southern Baptists had decided to make a 30-minute program about her work in Liberia. Eliza was aghast, but Gus finally talked her into it. The show was televised in 1963 when Mother was eighty-four years old.

In 1978, Mother Eliza was still going strong at the age of ninety-nine. She went to Texas to continue her deputation schedule. She encouraged young people to go on the mission field.

Several months later she broke her hip. Her adopted daughter Cecelia moved her into a nursing home nearby in Tyler, Texas. On January 20, 1979 Mother Eliza celebrated her one hundredth birthday. She attended the local Baptist church, even giving a speech.

A few days later Mother was rushed to the hospital with pneumonia. Cecelia stayed at her side until Mother went home to be with the Lord on March 8, 1979.

Mother Eliza had witnessed the conversion to Christianity of thousands of Liberians. Gus would carry on the work. He founded the Africa College of Evangelism. He moved to Monrovia in 1982 where he ministered to government officials and business leaders.

Gus appeared on Dr. Schuller’s TV program. Gus also started a prison ministry, a ministry for children, a missionary training school, and a technical high school just like the one Mother George started.
Mother George’s former students were responsible for planting and serving in hundreds of churches. Truly thousands of her spiritual children “rise up and bless her.”

*This Poem quoted in: “When God Says Go: The Amazing Journey of a Slave’s Daughter” by Lorry Lutz, pgs. 44,45.

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Early Twentieth Century Women

Women, in their devotion to God’s cause over the world, have never been deterred by any form of heathenism. With cultured intellects, womanly tenderness, and spiritual devotion they have gone into unhealthy climates, suffered privations, isolation, and even death at the hands of those for whom they labored. (From “Eminent Missionary Women” by Annie Ryder Gracey, p. 167).

For the last few months we’ve looked at the stories of 19^th Century women who took the Gospel to the lost, especially to the poor and marginalized in America and overseas. For the most part these women did not seek to “preach” or be in leadership positions in established churches. They merely sought opportunities to serve Jesus by serving others. These were selfless, courageous women.

By the end of the nineteenth century women were going to Asia, Africa, and other third world countries even as single women missionaries. The need was great and many women such as Dr. Clara Swain, Melinda Rankin, Hannah Mullens, and Fanny Jane Butler served overseas as missionaries.

Women also took advantage of the opportunities now open to them to evangelize in the United States and Europe. They opened religious training schools to reach out to the poor and the homeless. They built rescue homes and rescue missions. There were reform movements going on that improved the lives of women who were trapped into poverty, prostitution, or alcoholism. Women built colleges and hospitals. Women entered schools to get the training they needed to join in the great missionary enterprise.

The turn of the nineteenth to the twentieth century has been called “The Progressive Era” (roughly 1890-1920). This was a time of transition for the Church. This meant that there would be changes in the way that women could be involved in Kingdom work as well.

Many would still seek to spread the Gospel as Evangelists, not “preachers”. One might wonder what the difference is – it is simply that “preachers” were seen as male leaders of established churches. Women did not seek these positions since the Bible seemed to be clear about the authority of men in churches. Outside of churches, both women and men have served as evangelists and missionaries.

All Christians, male and female, are called to witness for Jesus. Most women will be active in their homes educating their children and working in their neighborhoods. This has been a primary way for women to serve the Lord.

Some women receive a special call to witness outside of the home. It is not the purpose of this blog post to debate whether or not women should be allowed to work outside of the home. Readers who have followed this blog will see that there are over 60 posts on women who are named in the Bible who followed a call from God. There are thousands more women in history who have served outside of the home. I pray that our fellow believers who limit women in ministry will see that they are limiting God’s work in His Kingdom. God chooses to call women into service for Him.

Phoebe Palmer, Jennie Fowler Willing, Frances Willard, Evangeline Booth and many others accomplished great things with the organizations they founded that would serve to alleviate the suffering of the poor. Their primary motivation was always to take the Gospel into every part of the culture. They were Kingdom workers.

During the Progressive Era women did not seek leadership positions in mainline churches. Most women accepted society’s place for them. In churches, women were happy to fill any positions given to them. Women did the work of nurturers, caring for the poor and giving relief to those in need.

But outside of the mainline churches it was a different story.

What if God chose to work outside of the mainline established churches? What if the established churches had left “their first love” (Revelation 2:4) and were in effect “dead churches”? Liberal theologies had been rampant in the major seminaries for decades. German “higher criticism” and other errant theologies were creeping into the pulpits across the land. The people had grown cold. Men in the seminaries were paying more attention to doctrine than anything else and unfortunately many were imbibing the new liberal theologies.

The Holiness Movement was a reaction against complacency and sterility. The Holiness Movement, initiated by Phoebe Palmer and others during the nineteenth century was not able to make headway in the mainline denominations. This was in part a reaction against the extremes in the feminist movement. It also went against the status quo and the entrenched system in the established churches. The leaders of the mainline denominations did not want to accept anything new especially if it went against their cherished doctrines. In their view a new type of theology based on “emotions” did not fit with their intellectualism.

The Holiness Movement, more like the Charismatic movement that would occur a century later, spread across all denominations. As churches began to emphasize the work of the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts the way for female ministry was opened. If nothing else, women could take the true Gospel to the people, making up for the unbiblical preaching going on in the mainline denominations.

In the next few months we will look at the stories of many women who would answer God’s call on their lives and serve in new ways. Their view of why it is proper for women to serve as evangelists can be summed up by Seth Rees, president of the Pilgrim Holiness Church founded in 1897.

Nothing but jealousy, prejudice, bigotry, and a stingy love for bossing in men have prevented woman’s public recognition by the church. No church that is acquainted with the Holy Ghost will object to the public ministry of women. We know of scores of women who can preach the gospel with a clearness, a power, and an efficiency seldom equaled by men. Sisters, let the Holy Ghost fill, call and anoint you to preach the glorious Gospel of our Lord.

In other words, in I Corinthians 12 and other places where the gifts of the Spirit are listed, there is no gender requirement attached. It took centuries for the time to be right for women to serve along side of men without being seen as revolutionaries. Since the late nineteenth and early twentieth century many women would lose their fear of standing before crowds and begin preaching in the power of the Holy Spirit.

In the second half of the twentieth century women would begin to work in the mainline denominations and other para-church organizations. We will save those stories for later. In the next few months we will cover the Progressive Era – women who ministered in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

Author: Mary Walker