All posts by Mary Walker

Evangeline Booth

It is not how many years we live, but rather what we do with them.

Evangeline Cory Booth.

Evangeline Cory Booth was a Christian social reformer who dedicated her entire life to helping the poor. In the United States today we still revere the Salvation Army as a great humanitarian organization that relieves the suffering of the impoverished and aids in disaster relief. As a leader in the Salvation Army, Evangeline brought comfort to the poor and the downtrodden. Evangeline was a great speaker, evangelist, fundraiser, and organizer.

Evangeline (Eva) Cory Booth, the seventh of eight children born to William and Catherine Booth, was born in London on December 25, 1865.

In a previous posting (12-13-12) we related the story of her mother who was known as the Mother of the Salvation Army – Catherine Booth. Together with her husband William Booth, Catherine began her ministry to the very poorest of the poor in England. They trusted God to provide for them as they visited the downtrodden in the inner cities where they knew that they would receive no pay for their work. Catherine was so grateful for her own salvation that all she could think of for the rest of her life was to tell others about Jesus.

Catherine and William Booth put feet and hands into the Gospel message by working among the outcasts – prostitutes, alcoholics, and criminals. The founded the little Whitechapel mission that became The Christian Mission that would eventually become the Salvation Army.

This Army of Christ would be made up of men and women. At first, William did the only speaking at evangelistic meetings but eventually Catherine would speak at many of the meetings encouraged by her husband.

And the Booth’s children, even the daughters would follow in their parents’ footsteps and become involved in full time mission work as well. As a child Eva would often sing or play music at her parents’ evangelistic meetings. When she was fifteen, Eva began preaching.

The Booth daughters were not ordained and did not serve in parishes. They filled the roles of ministers and evangelists. They conducted Camp Meetings along with many other nineteenth century evangelists. Old timers remembered the “battle for souls” waged by the Army. Often hundreds would respond to the Gospel with penitence.

William was proud of his daughter’s speaking ability and encouraged her. Eva also had great organizational skills. William promoted Eva to the rank of Field Commissioner in the Army. Eva became head of the Army’s International Training College and the head of the Salvation Army in London for five years.

Her father’s favorite, William also recognized Eva’s skill as a reconciler. When trouble flared up, William would send Eva in as a trouble-shooter to calm the waters. Eva was charming and tactful and could disperse angry mobs and soothe dissenting leaders.

Eva’s sisters married, but Eva herself would remain single for the rest of her life. At one time she wanted to marry a Salvation Army major, Thomas McKie, but William rejected the man’s request for his daughter’s hand. William believed that Eva could serve the Salvation Army best as a single officer. Later Eva did adopt and raise four children, one of whom, Pearl, grew up to become a Salvation Army officer herself.

Eva became the Territorial Commander of the Salvation Army in Canada from 1896-1904. At this time her sister, Emma Booth-Tucker and her husband headed up the Salvation Army in the United States. Emma and her husband were killed in a tragic train accident in 1903. Eva was appointed head of the Salvation Army in the USA in 1904. She changed her name to Evangeline and went on to serve as the Commander of the American Salvation Army for thirty years.

It was during her first Christmas in New York when Evangeline began the work that we are most familiar with today – providing food for starving children. When Evangeline heard that there were over 70,000 children going without breakfast, she organized the effort to collect money to feed over 30,000 people on Christmas day.

Evangeline threw herself into her work tirelessly. She expanded the work of the Army by setting up soup kitchens, emergency shelters, opportunities for the unemployed, hospitals for unwed mothers, work in prisons, and homes for the elderly. Evangeline Residences were opened to provide a safe place for working women to live.

People remember Evangeline as a compassionate woman, thoughtful and kind, genuinely sympathetic with the poor and downtrodden, and a dedicated evangelist.

Evangeline had a magnetic personality and was able to hold audiences spellbound for hours. She could charm large fortunes out of the wealthy for the Army.

Evangeline responded with emergency relief assistance after the earthquake and fire in San Francisco in 1906. This was the first time the Army organized a large-scale relief effort for a natural disaster. These efforts have continued to this day.

During World War I, Evangeline persuaded the US government to allow the women in the Salvation Army to serve overseas. One of the women came up with the idea of making doughnuts for the solders. It was a huge success. Soldiers were grateful and appreciative for the “doughnut girls” who were brave enough to serve the men in the front lines. President Wilson awarded Evangeline the Distinguished Service Medal in 1919 for her service.

In 1923 Evangeline adopted the United States as her permanent home becoming a naturalized citizen.

Evangeline became the International Commander-in-Chief in 1934, the first woman General for the International Salvation Army. She launched her “World for God” campaign and began traveling and speaking all over the world. For five years Evangeline was the Salvation Army’s leader in over fifty countries. On her travels she inspected the Army stations and initiated new work throughout the world in such places as India, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. At one of her meetings in India Evangeline drew a crowd of over twenty thousand people. She spoke for an hour and 5000 people seeking salvation responded to her message with prayer.

While Evangeline was significant in the growth of the Salvation Army worldwide, she is mostly remembered for her work in the United States. Evangeline played the most significant role in winning the respect for the Salvation Army that it still enjoys today. One can still go anywhere in the United States at the Christmas season and see the Army volunteers, the familiar bell ringers, collecting money for the poor.

Evangeline led the army in the USA for thirty years and her followers stayed devoted to her until her death in 1950 in Hartsdale, New York at the age of 84. At her funeral a Salvation Army commander said, “She created homes for the homeless, friends for the friendless, and jobs for the jobless. Against tremendous odds, she established faith and hope where it had not existed before.”

Phoebe Palmer – Part 2

O my soul, mayest thou ever remain upon the altar of sacrifice; and Thou, my strength and righteousness, forbid that any unhallowed act should ever cause its removal! It is by Thy power alone, O God that I am kept. Here shall I ever feel the cleansing efficacy. Here shall my soul fill and expand – fill and expand – till it shall burst its tenement, and faith shall be lost in sight. (Phoebe Palmer, The Way of Holiness)

Phoebe Palmer, the Mother of the Holiness Movement, was a devout Christian wife, mother, evangelist, and writer. Last week we looked at the details of her life including her conversion, calling, and work both as an evangelist and a devoted worker for the poor and downtrodden.

Phoebe was a prolific and popular writer. It is hard in our day with our word processors to imagine how many hours Phoebe spent writing letters by hand. She always took time to write back to people even if she didn’t know them when they wrote to her asking for her advice on personal problems. She responded to many inquiries about her doctrine of Holiness (Entire Sanctification) that was different from the traditional view of sanctification for Methodists who followed Wesley.

Phoebe promoted her own views on sanctification in her writing. In her early life as a Methodist, Phoebe followed the Wesleyan view of sanctification. Wesley’s emphasis was on the disciplined life that would eventually lead to the “perfect love”. Wesley taught that while some might experience sanctification at any moment, in most cases, sanctification would only come after years of spiritual growth and walking with Christ.

As Phoebe studied the Bible she became convinced that it was unnecessary to wait for this blessing. She believed that it was available to every Christian the moment they believed and sacrificed everything “on the altar of Christ”. The Christian need only consecrate himself to God on this “altar” and claim the promise of the “perfect love”. Phoebe took the apostle Paul’s admonition in his letter to the Romans literally. “Therefore I urge you brethren by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” (Romans 12:1)

She now saw that holiness, instead of being an attainment beyond her reach, was a state of grace in which every one of he Lord’s redeemed ones should live – that the service was indeed a “reasonable service,” inasmuch as the command, “Be ye holy,” is founded upon the absolute right which God, as our Creator, Preserver, and Redeemer, has upon the entire service of his creatures. (From “The Way of Holiness”)

Through her writing, speaking, and camp meetings Phoebe’s “shorter way” to sanctification became very popular. Between 1880 and 1905, some 100,000 people broke away from the established denomination to form a new one specifically to focus on the new “shorter way” to sanctification. Phoebe became the most influential woman in the American Methodist Church.

Besides a voluminous number of letters, Phoebe wrote eighteen books on practical theology, biography, and poetry.

Phoebe wrote three major books in the 1840’s – The Way of Holiness, Entire Devotion to God, and Faith and its Effects. Later books included Promise of the Father, and its shortened version, Tongues of Fire on the Daughters of the Lord.

In 1858 Walter Palmer, her husband, purchased a popular periodical called Guide to Holiness. Phoebe took over the editorship and circulation grew from thirteen thousand to nearly forty thousand.

In her book, Promise of the Father, Phoebe argued on biblical grounds for a woman’s right to speak in public. She used the story in Acts 2 of the Holy Spirit pouring out His blessing on men and women alike at Pentecost to show that women as well as men could not only speak publicly, but had a duty to do so. In his sermon on the day of Pentecost, the apostle Peter said, “And it shall be in the last days”, God says, “that I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, … even on My bond slaves, both men and women.” The prophet Joel had foretold this event many years before (Joel 2:28-29; Acts 2:17,18); hence the title of the book, Promise of the Father.

While Phoebe believed that women had a duty to witness for Christ, even in public meetings, she did not push for ordination of women. She encouraged women to remain in the traditional spheres for women.

However, she believed that there were occasionally times when God would raise up exceptionally gifted women for leadership. She pointed to Deborah (Judges 4 & 5), Huldah (2 Kings 22), and Priscilla (Acts 18) as several examples of women in leadership in the Bible. And of course, in the New Testament, we see that women as well as men were to study their Bibles and equip themselves for Kingdom work.

In the nineteenth century the Church had been growing cold. Liberal theologies were creeping into the seminaries. This was translating into weak preaching in the pulpits. Phoebe was concerned that true, pious Christians, both men and women, were remaining passive to the gifts of the Spirit. It did not help that women, who made up one half of the army of Christ, were told to remain silent.

“What if”, Phoebe asked, “women had been encouraged to testify to their salvation publicly? What if women were encouraged to take the Gospel to every creature as Christ commanded? Would not the help of the women have hastened the advance of the Great Commission?” The church was slowing down the advance of the Kingdom of God by not employing its women.

Phoebe’s teaching had results. Women began to speak out in the holiness movement. They testified to their experience of sanctification. They accepted the idea that “in the last days” God poured out His Holy Spirit on sons and daughters. Women would not shirk their duty to testify to the work of God in their lives. Pious females would bring souls to Christ as they followed Jesus.

Phoebe also wrote poetry. Phoebe’s constant pray was that she always be close to God. She desired to live in the way of holiness all of her life. This prayer is expressed in the last verse of her poem, “The Royal Heir”.

Thy soul, thy body, and thy every power
Was purchased unto Him and Him alone,
And not one day – no, not one passing hour,
Canst thou by virtual right use as thine own;
The Lord’s free servant, thy Redeemer’s claim,
Sealed with His blood’s deep, traceless signature;
Then go forth in His might – work in His name –
Prove faithful until death – they crown is sure.

Phoebe was secure in her calling from God. She relied on God daily to bless her work. Her devotion to God in ministry lasted for 37 years. Besides speaking and writing Phoebe started ministries for the poor out of her tremendous compassion for the lost and downtrodden. Many of these outreaches are still with us today. We praise God for bold servants like Phoebe Palmer. The church would be so different if she had not been faithful.

Phoebe Palmer – Part 1

Phoebe Palmer was known as “the Priscilla who had taught many an Apollos the way of God more perfectly.” (Timothy L. Smith)

In this coming series of posts we will look at the stories of some leading Christian women of the 19th century. These women received a call from God to minister in various ways. They all strived in their duty to serve God by caring for the poor or downtrodden. They all held to the traditional stations in life for women, but they did not avoid speaking in public just because of their gender. They saw leadership positions as being for men generally, as it was in the Bible. However they also noted the women in the Bible that God occasionally used to accomplish His work. Deborah (Judges 4 & 5), Huldah (2 Kings 22), and Priscilla (Acts 18) are proof that some women are called and equipped to lead God’s people.

In the next few posts we will look at the lives of three women who were primarily evangelists who ministered with their husbands as they thought proper for women – Phoebe Palmer, Catherine Booth and Hannah Whitall Smith.

Phoebe Palmer was born to Henry and Dorothea Wade Worrall in 1807. Her parents were active and devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal church in New York. Phoebe grew up in a home where religious observance was taken seriously. Her family gathered twice a day to sing hymns, read the Bible, and pray. Grace was said before and after every meal.

When Phoebe was thirteen she made her faith her own by acknowledging Christ as savior and joining the church. Shortly after this Phoebe felt that something was lacking in her experience and she began to pray for a fuller assurance of faith.

At age nineteen Phoebe married Walter Clarke Palmer, a homeopathic doctor. Walter had also been raised in a devout Methodist home. Sadly, their first two children died in infancy. Phoebe took this as a sign that she had given too much attention to family to the complete neglect of religious things. From now on she said, “Jesus must and shall have the uppermost seat in my heart.”

Phoebe then had a baby daughter, Sarah, who lived to adulthood. Phoebe’s fourth child died in a nursery fire. Again she interpreted this tragic event as a prompting from God that she was not as ” spiritual” as she ought to be. Phoebe began to seek a more intense spiritual experience.

On July 26, 1837, Phoebe had the experience of a “full assurance of faith” that she had been seeking for so many years. She later wrote, “New light burst upon my soul. The Holy Spirit took of the things of God, and revealed them unto me. It was by the unfolding of this passage to my understanding: ‘I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service’” (Romans 12:1). Phoebe believed that up to this time she had not surrendered her whole being to God. She also believed that now that she had given herself completely to God, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ would keep her sanctified.

At around age thirty, Phoebe began to help her sister Sarah Lankford with prayer meetings. In 1840 Sarah moved away and Phoebe assumed the leadership. These meetings became known as the Tuesday Meetings for the Promotion of Holiness and Phoebe would continue these for the next twenty years. Phoebe’s ministry influenced hundreds of people including many Methodist ministers and several bishops.

Other women were inspired to begin prayer meetings and dozens of groups sprang up around the country. One special thing about these prayer meetings was that Christians from many denominations would gather and lay aside their petty sectarian differences in order to pray together. Phoebe’s influence reached to Congregationalists, Episcopalians, Baptists, and Quakers. All of these Christians had sweet fellowship as they sought the Lord in prayer.

Though Phoebe is more often remembered as the Mother of the Holiness Movement, she believed in putting her faith into action in practical ways as well. Phoebe helped to establish the Hedding Church. This mission was under the auspices of the Ladies Home Missionary Society and was an early example of what would later become the settlement houses. Phoebe also served as an officer in The New York Female Assistance Society for the Relief and Religious Instruction of the Sick Poor for ten years.

Phoebe distributed tracts in slums and visited prisons. She founded the Five Points Mission that housed twenty poor families and provided them with shelter, food, schooling and religious training. Again these would become aspects of the later settlement houses.

Phoebe’s one passion in her life was to be a “Bible Christian”. In addition to all of her ministry activities Phoebe was a student of the Word of God. Phoebe did not hesitate to challenge religious doctrine that she believed was unbiblical.

As a Methodist Phoebe was influenced by Wesley and early in her ministry her thought was very close to the strong “holiness” doctrine of John Wesley. Later Phoebe would come up with her own teaching on sanctification that differed somewhat from Wesley. (See Part 2.) Phoebe believed that once a Christian laid their whole life on the altar the sanctified life began.

In 1858 Phoebe’s husband Walter cut back on his homeopathic medical business and joined Phoebe in her ministry. Phoebe traveled with her husband and helped to conduct the famous Camp Meetings in the summers. At these meetings Phoebe “preached” primarily on sanctification. Phoebe did not believe it was right for women to preach, but believed that she was able to exhort at the meetings since her husband was with her and he gave sermons at the meetings.

During this period of time a holiness revival was spreading across America. It spread to England and Phoebe and her husband were invited to speak to large audiences in Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Birmingham, and many other places.

Phoebe ministered for 37 years, though she suffered from serious health problems. She often had to take out time for rest and recuperation. By the time of her death, she had taken to her bed with blindness, kidney disease, and heart trouble. She died on November 2, 1874 at the age of sixty-six. Her husband Walter wrote, “She was an angel on earth. She was the model mother, the loving wife, the perfect Christian lady. She was God’s chosen one, and faithfully did she obey the instructions of His word.”

Phoebe was a prolific writer. Besides editing “The Way of Holiness”, she also had much to say on evangelism, sanctification, and the role of women in the church. We will look at some of her writing next week.

Women in the 19th Century

Opportunities opened up for women to minister in many ways in the kingdom of God during the nineteenth century.

Historical Review – The groundwork for the great explosion of lay ministries and missionary activity in the nineteenth century was laid in the eighteenth century. Church historians remember the eighteenth century for the First and Second Great Awakenings. During the revivals many more women than men were converted. Jonathan Edwards, the great evangelist acknowledged that the majority of his parishioners were women. Women attended the Bible studies and participated in all of the church ministries. It is interesting to note that to this day in the United States women far outnumber men in our churches.

Yet to Jonathan Edwards and other eighteenth century preachers there was no place for women in public preaching and teaching. And indeed many women did not seek leadership positions in established churches. They merely wanted to serve in other capacities. In the eighteenth century this usually took the form of prayer meetings and home bible studies for children.

New Opportunities for Women — The tremendous new interest in religion that came as a result of the Great Awakenings would lead to the desire to spread the Gospel. A belief that Christ would come when the Gospel was preached to the ends of the earth prompted many to be a part of a great missionary movement within the United States and into foreign countries. Jesus said, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14) This task would more easily be accomplished when all of the soldiers of Christ, including women would move out of their pews and into the world.

Not seeking leadership positions within established churches, women began to participate in lay evangelism. The most common method of religious activity that women used would be the prayer meetings. But other female lay ministries began to flourish during the nineteenth century. Ministries included benevolent societies, Sunday schools, writing and publishing, evangelism, the temperance movement, and home and foreign missions. Women would also begin to see opportunities to serve in prisons, poor neighborhoods, hospitals, to those afflicted with alcoholism, and to prostitutes. Wherever they could share the love of Jesus as the Gospel women would find a way to minister. For the next few weeks we will look at the lives of women who served in the following areas:

Benevolent Societies – Women founded most of the benevolent societies during the nineteenth century. It has been suggested that perhaps this was because the nurturing side of women is stronger than in men. Women are more relationship oriented. They see needs and their tender natures cause them to want to meet those needs.

Many women were already involved in home mission societies. Some desired to do more than just go around asking for donations for charity. Many women wanted to be involved in the work of caring for the poor and downtrodden personally.

Sunday School Movement – Due to the overwhelming numbers of new church members, a need to educate people, young and old arose. In the United States we often think only of the Sunday School Union that took over in New York in the late nineteenth century. A common belief is that the Sunday schools were only held in churches and only taught religion to children. But early Sunday schools were very different.

Women were teaching children as well as the “lower elements of society” as lay ministers for decades before the Sunday school groups were formalized and taken over by churches. There was plenty of opposition to the women. Hannah More and her sisters founded schools for poor children and taught them the Bible and practical skills such as cooking, growing food and handling money. (See post on February 22, 2012.)

Writing and Publishing – Women refrained from seeking to preach in pulpits. But this did not stop them from writing. Actually, a woman could have much more influence through writing a story or an article that would be published in a national periodical than by speaking at a local church.

Women mainly wrote on spiritual themes. These included sanctification or holiness in living, biographies, and the justice issues of the times including poverty, abuse, temperance, and other vices. Women also wrote poetry and hymns. Today we still love the hymns of Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-79) and Fanny Crosby (1820-1915).

Evangelism – A few women led revivals and non-sectarian services. Women like Mary Savage went into poor villages where there were no churches. She was not ordained and did not serve in an established church. Nevertheless large crowds would gather to hear her speak. Other itinerant evangelists included Sally Parsons and Clarissa Danforth.

It is significant that these and other women who desired to spread the Gospel relied on a “call” to service. They did not want to enter what they saw as the man’s domain in the church but nevertheless could not disobey their call from God for service.

Jarena Lee was the first well-known woman evangelist in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. It was important to Jarena that her call was truly of God. She did not want it to be of her own desire or to be a temptation from Satan. She recognized the devil could “transform himself into an angel of light for the purpose of deception.” The first time Jarena heard her call she was very careful to make sure it was from the Lord. She sought the Lord in prayer and her call was confirmed to her. Jarena was concerned with the lost souls of human beings. To win people for Jesus became an all-consuming passion for her. (You can read more about her and other black female evangelists on this blog in the posts of April 23; May 6, 9, 21, 27; and June 3, 2013.)

Other nineteenth century evangelists include Phoebe Palmer, Catherine Booth (Salvation Army founder), and Hannah Whitall Smith, and Amanda Smith (See my post on November 24, 2011).

Temperance Movement, Home and Foreign Missions – Reformers and revivalists include Frances Willard (Post January 23, 2013), and Susan B. Anthony (Post on March 4, 2011). These women spent their lives trying to improve the lives of others.

There were so many women’s missionary societies formed in the nineteenth century that we cannot list them all here. Suffice it to say that in an article about women in mission, Marguerite Kraft stated, “Overall, probably two-thirds of the missions force has been, and currently is, female.” The women’s missionary societies were eventually taken over by men in the early twentieth century. Most women were glad when men became involved. Again, they did not seek leadership positions; they only wanted to be allowed to spread the gospel and serve Christ by serving others.

Taking the Gospel to the lost was the paramount thought on women’s minds in the nineteenth century. Though women did not seek leadership positions in the established denominational churches, they did accomplish much with their organizational work in lay areas. Benevolent societies, social welfare, the early Sunday school, and especially missions became a sphere in which women became actively involved like never before in history.

In the coming weeks we will look at the lives of some of the women who brought lasting change to the kingdom of God during the nineteenth century.

Ida B. Wells — Part 2

… Go on, thou brave woman leader,
Spread our wrongs from shore unto shore;
Until clothed with his rights is the Negro,
And lynchings are no more….
And the wise Afro-American mother,
Who her children of heroine tells,
Shall speak in tones of gratitude,
The name of Ida B. Wells!

Katherine Davis Tilllman

Last week we left off with Ida’s story during the time when she was being hailed as a heroine by the African American Press Association in Philadelphia while back in her hometown of Memphis her newspaper office was being destroyed by an angry mob. Her life was threatened and Ida was advised not to try and return home. And so now Ida began her famous campaign against lynching.

In 1893 Ida took her campaign across the ocean to England, Scotland, and Wales. There she gave speeches and met with leaders of British civic groups. Ida was impressed with how active British women were in their campaign for justice. She helped the women in London establish the London Anti-Lynching Committee. She wrote to women at home in America and encouraged them to follow the example of their British counterparts. Ida returned to England again in 1894 on a speaking tour.

On returning home Ida settled in Chicago. She collaborated with Frederick Douglass, the famous advocate of equal civil rights for blacks. At this time she also met her future husband, Ferdinand Barnett. Barnett was a lawyer and the owner of the first black newspaper in Chicago, the Conservator.

They fell in love and married in 1895. Barnett was willing to support Ida completely. He sold the newspaper to her and she took over the duties of editor. This freed Ferdinand Barnett to practice law and actively campaign for “colored rights”.

In March 1896, Ida became a mother at the age of 33. She had mixed feelings about motherhood. She had taken care of her younger siblings and was happy to have a break from child rearing. Her active public life was also very fulfilling. But after her child was born she understood all the joys of motherhood.

However, before her first baby was five months old, duty called. Ida traveled with baby Charles and a nurse and continued her campaigning. A year later Ida had another son, Herman, and this time she chose to bow out of public work and stay home and raise her children. She gave up her position as editor at the Conservator and told everyone she was “quite content to be left within the four walls” of her home. Taking one child on the road was difficult but manageable; two children required her to be a full time mother. Ida was very happy with her decision.

Her decision was short-lived. Three months later the Frazier Baker lynching
occurred. This was considered one of the most brutal of all times. People looked to Ida to attend the protests and speak to the injustice. Ida wanted to stay home, but explained to the people who were concerned about her new station as a mother that race work was a matter of necessity, not choice. It “seems that the needs of the world were so great that again I had to venture forth, “she insisted. She left baby Charles with his grandmother and took Herman with her on her travels. During this next period of her life she concentrated on getting women organized.

In 1896 Ida formed the National Association of Colored Women. The next year she attended a conference that would eventually lead in a few years to the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Ida combined campaigning and motherhood for the next ten years. She gave birth to two daughters, one in 1901 and the other in 1904.

By 1910 Ida was fully participating in public life again. She formed the Negro Fellowship League. This organization was housed in a building in Chicago. It served as a fellowship house for blacks that were new to the city. The Negro Fellowship League also conducted religious services. It became an employment office for blacks moving to the city and a shelter for the men until they could find a job.

Throughout the rest of her career Ida remained active in campaigning, writing, and activism. In 1909 she became one of the founders of the NAACP. In 1913 Ida established the first black women’s suffrage club, the Alpha Suffrage Club. Also in that year Ida met with president McKinley about a lynching in South Carolina. Later she would also meet with another president, Woodrow Wilson in an effort to get legislation passed that would end discriminatory practices in hiring.

Other famous people that Ida knew and sympathized or even collaborated with included Susan B. Anthony, Frances Willard (though Ida disagreed with Willard on methods), Jane Addams, and Irene McCoy Gaines.

Ida worked tirelessly in many other areas. She created the first African-American kindergarten in her town. From 1918 through the 1920’s Ida covered race riots in Arkansas, East St. Louis, and Chicago. Her reports were published in newspapers worldwide.

Ida even threw her hat into the political ring. She ran for a seat in the Illinois state senate in 1930. She pledged to “work as hard for the benefit of my Race and my district as I have done for the past 37 years I have lived in Chicago.” Ida lost to the incumbent, but she sent a strong message to the people of Illinois that with hard work, women, even black women, could accomplish much. Ida garnered 752 votes out of 8969 votes. That is really a good showing for an independent candidate.

Though Ida was 68 years old by this time and beginning to have health issues, she looked forward to the future. The election defeat did not stop her. She did not look back. Ida had faith in the future. She remained active in politics, and could take credit for helping to defeat an appointment of a judicial candidate for the United States Supreme Court. This man, nominated by president Hoover, was on record as saying he was anti-African-American. With her usual amount of energy Ida went to work. She and other organizations got up a petition against the appointment. The man was defeated.

Her successful campaign against Hoover’s candidate encouraged her to plan a new venture. She began to publish a periodical called the Chicago Review. At the same time she continued to work on her autobiography, begun in 1928 – Crusade for Justice. It would be the first full-length autobiography written by a black woman activist. Ida did not quite finish it before she died.

In March of 1931 Ida was to attend a book fair for African Americans. She was going to donate many of her own books written by black authors. This event would be her last.

On March 21 after returning home from shopping she went to bed saying she wasn’t feeling well. Several days later she had a high fever. Ferdinand and her daughter, Alfreda took Ida to the hospital. Ida “slipped away quietly” in the early morning hours of Wednesday, March 25, 1931, four months before her sixty-ninth birthday. The cause of death was given as uremic poisoning.

The funeral service for Ida was befitting of this extraordinary woman. It was simple, direct, and straightforward. “No fanfare of trumpets, no undue shouting, no flowery oratory – just plain earnest, sincere words” were spoken for her. This was truly reflective of a great and wise woman who spoke plainly but effectively for justice.

Truly, Ida B. Wells shows us what one woman can accomplish. Her faith and determination made a difference in this world for many people. Today, lynching may seem like a horrible thing of the past, but hatred is still with us. People still find ways to be unjust to others. We can learn from Ida B. Wells as we fight against all injustice.

Black men and women received more freedom sooner than they would have if it were not for the efforts of Ida B. Wells. Her life was a truly great example of how to meet problems with justice in an honest, forthright way with great strength. That is why her work has lasting power and is of interest to us today.

Ida B. Wells – Champion of Equality, Part 1

Ida Wells “understood the radical implications of her message and was prepared to endure the consequences even if, as she said, ‘the heavens might fall.’ But she had made up her mind that her campaign, wherever it took her, was her calling and that she would see it through. It was the determination of a woman who was indeed ‘dauntless,’ as the black press characterized her. It was also the determination of a woman whose campaign against lynching fit perfectly with her own leadership aspirations and emotional makeup. As a southerner-in-exile, she possessed an authority that gave her word more weight than those of northern leaders. The ‘outrage’ of lynching matched her inner storm; and the blood-libel horror of the crime gave Wells a wide berth of expression for her moral indignation and anger. Ida’s crusade to tell the truth about lynching gave her the means to reorder the world and her and the race’s place within it. Once defamed herself, now she would expose the lies that ‘sullied’ the race’s name and restore it. Somebody ‘must show that the Afro-American race is more sinned against than sinning,’ wrote Wells, who had found the vehicle of her destiny, ‘and it seems to have fallen on me to do so.’” (Paula J. Giddings, Ida: A Sword Among Lions, pg. 229)

Ida B. Wells-Barnett has pretty much been forgotten today, but she was truly one of the bravest and most dedicated women who ever lived in America. She did not sit idly by when she saw the injustice that was being done to people of “color”. She met the challenge head on and I believe that black Americans came to enjoy more of their rights as citizens earlier than they otherwise would have because of her efforts.

Ida was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi on July 16, 1862. She was the oldest daughter of James and Lizzie Wells who were slaves. After the War ended, James Wells helped to found a school for blacks. Ida attended this school until tragedy struck.

When Ida was 16 the yellow fever took the lives of both of her parents and one of her siblings. Ida dropped out of school to help take care of her younger sisters.

In 1882 Ida and her sisters moved to Memphis Tennessee to live with her aunt. Her older brothers had found work. Ida continued her education at Fisk University in Nashville.

A turning point came for Ida one day in 1884 when she was riding the train between Memphis and Nashville. She had bought a first class ticket and expected to use it. Train officials tried to make her sit in the African American car instead and she refused to move. The railway men physically removed her. Ida sued the railroad and won a settlement, but the Tennessee Supreme Court overturned it. Readers
may recall that in 1955, Rosa Parks refused to go to the back of a bus where the “colored” people were supposed to sit. Rosa went on to become an activist for equal rights for black citizens. Seventy years before this, Ida B. Wells became an activist in her own way.

Dauntless Ida picked up her pen and began to write about the injustices in the way blacks were treated. Her articles were published in black newspapers and periodicals. She was well received for her honesty and clear statement of the issues. Later Ida would be the owner of the Memphis Free Speech.

Another turning point came for Ida when a lynch mob murdered a good friend of Ida’s along with his two business partners. In 1892 Tom Moss, Calvin McDowell, and Will Stewart, African American men, were defending their store against an attack. They shot several attackers, white men. They were arrested, but before they could have the lawful trial that American citizens are entitled to, they were dragged out of their cells and taken a mile out of town to a railroad yard. The men were shot to death in a horrible fashion.

Ida wrote an editorial deploring the lynching in the Free Speech. Realizing that blacks were helpless against the white “mobocracy” she encouraged Negroes to save their money “and leave a town which will neither protect our lives and property, nor give us a fair trial in the courts, but takes us out and murders us in cold blood when accused by white persons.” In fact, many thousands did leave Memphis after this. In the late nineteenth century there weren’t many options for African Americans in cities that refused to give them their rights as citizens.

Ida had proven herself to be a good reporter and writer. With encouragement from friends, Ida traveled throughout the South and gathered stories and information about lynching. One thing that Ida was especially interested in was debunking the myths about the reasons for lynching. One common reason given for the lynching of black men was that they had raped a white woman. Ida gathered evidence that proved that while black men were the most common victims of lynching, black and white women and white men were lynched too. And there were many more reasons for lynching including prejudice, rioting, robbery, fraud, and incendiarism.

For example, in a speech given to a Chicago audience in 1900, Ida said that out of 241 persons lynched in 1892, 160 were of Negro descent. Not all were in the South; four were lynched in New York. Other victims included several children and five women.

Ida also went on to report how horrible and full of hatred lynching was. Many times the bodies would be dismembered, riddled with bullets, or thrown into a fire.

Ida’s reporting was honest and must have been convicting because one day some whites in Memphis had had enough. They stormed the offices of Ida’s newspaper and destroyed all of her equipment. Fortunately, Ida was visiting in New York at the time. Her friends there warned her not to return to Memphis. Her life had been threatened.

This became another turning point in Ida’s life. She would not return to the South again for thirty years.

While in New York, Ida wrote “The Truth About Lynching”. She meant to wake people up and she did. Tens of thousands of copies were sold. Ida was hailed as a hero at the African American Press Association in Philadelphia.

But this was not enough for Ida. She got the press association to adopt a resolution to raise funds for an anti-lynching campaign. Money was needed for travel, publishing, and on-site investigations of the killings.

And so, while in exile in the North, Ida began her campaign against lynching. In Part Two, next week, we will continue her story. Besides fighting for justice Ida would know the joy of being a wife and mother. She would spearhead the founding of many organizations still with us today that help all Americans enjoy their God-given rights.

Women of Extreme Devotion

Summer is just around the corner. Here are four books that will keep you on the edge of your seat (or lawn chair or beach towel) as you read them. Joanne Shetler, Jackie Pullinger, Immaculate Ilibagiza, and the women of the underground churches were willing to sacrifice their lives if necessary to follow Jesus and to bring His message of forgiveness to others. I pray that your heart will be warmed and your own devotion to Christ will become more extreme as you read their stories.

— Ilibagiza, Immaculee, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust, (Hay House, Inc., New York City, 2014).

Immaculee Ilibagiza lost most of her family during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. After bravely hiding for 91 days in a three foot by four foot bathroom where she starved along with seven other women, she was eventually saved and went on to emigrate from Rwanda to the United States in 1998. Immaculee is a woman of extreme devotion. She is now a popular speaker and writer sharing her faith and her message of forgiveness and peace worldwide.

Here is an excerpt from the book:

I heard the killers call my name.

A jolt of terror shot through me, and then the devil whispered in my ear again: “Now they know who you are … now they know where you are…”

My head snapped back, and I was thrown completely off guard. Why did they call out my name – how did they know I was here? Were they coming to the bathroom?

I tried to call on God, but all I could hear was the negative voice blaring in my mind … along with the vicious, sadistic chants of the killers echoing through the house. Clothes soaked in sweat, I fumbled with my faith.

There were hundreds of them this time. They were yelling at the pastor, accusing and threatening him. “Where is she?” they taunted. “We know she’s here somewhere. Find her … find Immaculee.”

They were in the pastor’s bedroom right on the other side of the wall. Less than an inch of plaster and wood separated us. Their footsteps shook the house, and I could hear their machetes and spears scraping along the walls.

In the chaos, I recognized the voice of a family friend. “I have killed 399 cockroaches, “ he boasted. “Immaculee will make 400. It’s a good number to kill.”

As I cowered in the corner, the devil was laughing at me: “They know your name … they know you’re here. Where is your God now?” (Immaculee Ilibagiza, “Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust”, pg. 129)

— Pullinger Jackie, Chasing the Dragon: One Woman’s Struggle Against the Darkness of Hong Kong’s Drug Dens, (Regal Books, Ventura, California, 2006).

Imagine going to work every single day in a slum area. Everywhere you walk you are slushing through the worst imaginable sewage. You walk with your head down in case someone from the tenement above you throws their slop out their window. The streets are filled with homeless men and women and children. Most are lying in a drug-induced stupor. Many of these will die soon. You cannot help them all. You are only one person.

But you can be faithful to your calling and follow where God leads. You can do all you can for even a few people. You can make opportunities for the young, especially, so that they can kick their drug habits and look forward to a totally different life. You accept this call for the long term knowing that poverty and danger from gangs will be your daily lot in life. You have very little outside help.

Who would be willing to do this? A woman of extreme devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ – a woman like Jackie Pullinger.

In this book you will be amazed at how God worked in the slums through Jackie. Many former drug addicts were given a new life thanks to the love and forgiveness of Christ. The ministry has been extended and is still active today in more than one country. You can also go to Jackie’s blog site and the site of the ministry she started – ST. Stephen’s Society – for more information.

— Shetler, Joanne, And the Word Came With Power, (Wycliffe, Orlando, Florida, 2006).

The Balangao people in the northern Philippines had asked for translators to come and translate the Bible into their language. They were not pleased that two tall women came instead of the men they were expecting. But Joanne Shetler and her friend Anne Fetzer were up to the task.

In remote cultures like Balangao the evil spirits manifest themselves more openly because the people believe in them. And the demons keep the people in tremendous fear and bondage.

Here is an example:

An old woman named Chalinggay, filled with evil spirits came to Joanne’s home one day.

Her body was going stiff in the jerky shakes that accompany spirit possession. “They’re killing me, they’re killing me!” She screamed. “Send them away, they’re killing me!”

I was paralyzed with fear. ‘What have I done? Oh God, now what do I do?’ I started to pray. Chalinggay prayed each word, right on top of mine. Then I stopped in mid-sentence.

“Chalinggay, the trouble with you is, you’re not God’s child. If you would repent of your sins, and ask God to make you his child, then God could protect you.” I knew God had to help us in this battle.

Chalinggay didn’t wait for me to pray this time; she just threw her head back and shouted up at God, “God, it is true, I am wicked.” She looked down and muttered curses at the spirits, threw her head back and continued, “But even though I’m old, just a remnant of me left, make me yours and nobody else’s but yours alone.”

Instantly the shaking stopped ant the pain vanished: the spirits had fled. Wonder and awe filled us all. Fifteen minutes later Chalinggay was slapping her leg and laughing out loud at the news that the angels in heaven were playing gongs and dancing, rejoicing because she had become a child of God. (Pg. 101)

Only the extreme devotion to Christ and His message of hope and salvation would keep Joanne serving in the Philippines for so many years. Joanne translated the Bible into the Balangao tongue so that the people would have the Word of God in their own language. Today Joanne ministers around the world giving seminars. You can keep current with her at her blog site.

— Voice of the Martyrs, Hearts of Fire: Eight Women in the Underground Church and Their Stories of Costly Faith, (Thomas Nelson, Nashville, 2003).

These are the stories of eight women who were kidnapped, beaten, starved, and imprisoned because they were Christians. They refused to be defeated. They showed strength and the courage of their convictions as they stayed true to their Savior. They went on to “become leaders who have exercised extraordinary boldness and tenacity, refusing to shrink from the needs and opportunities that challenged them. Ironically, only in suffering have they had equal rights with their male counterparts; in some instance, they have suffered even worse.” (From the Introduction.)

Here is an excerpt from one story:

Purnima was only thirteen when she became a Christian. She was from Bhutan, which was mostly Buddhist. She and her sister became refugees. After some time moving around and sharing the Gospel in villages with people who had never heard of Christ, Purnima was arrested. She was sentenced to three years in prison for being a Christian. She was led away to a horrible, primitive prison.

Purnima and the other women were handed a thin straw mat and led into their cell. It was almost pitch black, but gradually their eyes could make out the silhouettes of others sleeping on the floor. An eerie voice rose from the ground, “Welcome. Welcome to hell.”… The floor was cold, damp, and filthy. (Pg. 69)

There is still persecution of Christians going on today, especially in Muslim countries. Pray for these stalwart defenders of the faith. I would also recommend that you send a donation to Voice of the Martyrs and get on their mailing list. You can keep current with what is going on in Christ’s church in other parts of the world.

As we sit around in the comfort of our homes, sipping tea or lemonade, I pray that we will not become too callous. Pray for these and other women all around the world who are suffering poverty, torture, and even death sentences for the love of Christ. Remember those who do not have our freedom and thank God every day that you get up in our free country that you may serve Jesus openly. We are so blessed!

Immaculee Ilibagiza – Forgiveness Brings Peace

Immaculee Ilibagiza lost most of her family during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. After bravely hiding for 91 days in a three foot by four foot bathroom where she starved along with seven other women, she was eventually saved and went on to emigrate from Rwanda to the United States in 1998. She is now a popular speaker and writer sharing her faith and her message of forgiveness and peace worldwide.

I heard the killers call my name.

A jolt of terror shot through me, and then the devil whispered in my ear again: “Now they know who you are … now they know where you are…”

My head snapped back, and I was thrown completely off guard. Why did they call out my name – how did they know I was here? Were they coming to the bathroom?

In the chaos, I recognized the voice of a family friend. “I have killed 399 cockroaches, “ he boasted. “Immaculee will make 400. It’s a good number to kill.”

Immaculee Ilibagiza survived the 1994 Rwandan genocide in which nearly one million – or three-fourths – of all Tutsis in Rwanda were killed. Even infants did not escape the Hutu marauders once they were found. All of Immaculee’s family were killed except for one brother who happened to be out of the country studying at college. In this picture are Immaculee’s parents (both killed), Amiable (who survived because he was away), Damascene (killed), Immaculee, and Vianney (killed).

Immaculee was born in 1972. At age 23 she was studying electrical engineering at the University of Rwanda when the genocide began. She happened to be at home on Easter break when the killing started. It turned out that this was a blessing from God for her. All of the Tutsi students at the University were massacred a few weeks later.

There had been trouble between the Tutsis and the Hutus before. In 1959 The Hutus massacred 100,000 Tutsis. There was another persecution in 1973. Hatred was seething below the surface for many years.

Then suddenly, the Rwandan president’s plane was shot down. The president was a Hutu and was on his way back to the capital of Kigali. This assassination sparked another genocide. The government seized the radios and told all Hutus to murder every last Tutsi in Rwanda. The slaughter took place throughout the entire country, even in small villages like Immaculee’s.

When it became obvious that the uprising was not going to be small or temporary, Immaculee’s father told her to run to the home of the local pastor for shelter. Though the pastor was a Hutu, Immaculee’s father would not believe that the godly pastor would participate in the killing of innocent people.

This kindly Hutu pastor hid Immaculee and seven other women during the holocaust for 91 days. He had a small bathroom off of his bedroom that was not used much. The bathroom was 3 feet by 4 feet. They had to take turns sitting on the floor. The taller women held the younger girls on their laps. The pastor fed them scraps that were leftover from meals so that his family members would not get suspicious. While in hiding Immaculee lost over 40 pounds and when finally freed weighed only 65 pounds.

The women could not speak or make any noise in the tiny bathroom because it had thin walls. Hutu marauders came by the house often looking for them. They had seen Immaculee and several others go into the house but no one had seen them come out. The brave pastor kept them hidden in the tiny bathroom and tried to steer the killers away whenever the marauders came to his house. Though the pastor was a Hutu he could have been murdered as a traitor for hiding the women. Several members of his family knew the secret of the hidden women, but not all of them. Fear of reprisals was strong and the pastor would not endanger anyone else.

The walls were only 1” thick and often Immaculee could hear the Hutus calling her name as they searched for her. Immaculee turned to God for comfort and strength. Many times she was just sure that they would be found and hacked to death as many others Tutsis were. They could hear the sounds of Tutsis outside begging for mercy only to be brutally tortured and killed. Once the Hutus were infected with the blood lust they went about seeking all Tutsis to kill. Work throughout the whole country was postponed and came to a standstill it seemed until all of the “cockroaches” (Tutsis) were exterminated. It is extremely difficult for us to understand this. It is hard to understand man’s inhumanity to man. We remember the German holocaust against the Jews, Japanese persecution of Chinese and many other events in history. This was tribal warfare. Both were black; both were Rwandan. How could this hatred exist?

The killers never found Immaculee or the other women. Living through that horror the only thing that kept Immaculee going was her faith in God. She knew deep inside that her mother and father and two of her brothers were dead. But she knew that they were in Heaven and she would see them again. They had died brutally, but she would later find out that all had died nobly while protecting others.

While in the bathroom, Immaculee had a dream that she would be working for the United Nations
someday. She knew she would need to know English. She had nothing else to do and really no one else to talk to in her situation since utter silence was maintained at all times. She asked the pastor for a French/English dictionary and some books in English. (Immaculee spoke the Rwandan dialect and French. The Belgians had brought French to the educated in Rwanda. Immaculee explains more of this history in her book, which you will not be able to put down once you start reading it.)

What wonderful hope and faith Immaculee had. In just a few weeks Immaculee taught herself English. Though the devil would often tempt her to give up on God, she would always turn to God for strength. She never gave up but actually believed that God had a future for her. There was a purpose for all of this horror, she was sure.

And indeed after the genocide ended Immaculee did get a job at the United Nations. She eventually emigrated from Rwanda to the United States in 1998. She has married and has two children. Immaculee went on to receive five honorary doctoral degrees. She has written a number of books.

Immaculee’s goal has been to promote peace. In fact, Immaculee astonished many people when she returned to Rwanda to find the man who killed her father. He was expecting her to hate him. Instead, she offered him her forgiveness. Immaculee longs for the hatred and killing to end. If one side is able to forgive the other then peace has a chance. But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) Truly Immaculee has followed Jesus.

For a live interview with Immaculee that will touch your heart go to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7Od6V6Z3ug

Jackie Pullinger – Rescuing Drug Addicts

What kind of a person does this? A person who loves her Savior Jesus Christ and accepts His love for the lost will do this – a person like Jackie Pullinger.

Jackie was born in London in 1944. After attending the Royal College of Music, she left for the mission field. She went to Hong Kong in 1966, where she is still ministering.

And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.
(Matthew 25:40)

Jackie Pullinger knew that she wanted to be a missionary from the time she was a young child. Even before she really knew what missionaries do she made the decision to be one in her Sunday School class at age five when she heard a missionary speak.

Growing up, Jackie put her thoughts of missionary work aside and lived as any other young girl in Britain. Eventually she went to the Royal College of Music.

After visiting with Christian friends she had a dream about missionary work and was determined to follow her girlhood dream and serve the Lord on the mission field. She decided to go to Hong Kong. She would end up working in the Walled City, a place known for violence and drugs.

As you can probably imagine, there is much more to the story about how Jackie ended up in such a place. You can read the exciting story of how God led her to one of the most horrifying places to work in the world in her autobiography written with Andrew Quicke, Chasing the Dragon: One Woman’s Struggle Against the Darkness of Hong Kong’s Drug Dens. Make sure you have plenty of time to read; you will not be able to put this book down.

Opium and heroin abuse – “chasing the dragon” – was and still is an epidemic in the Walled City. The Walled City was a mere six acres, but had a population of at least 30,000 people.
Many of the addicts used a method where they smoked the opium rather than injecting it. Injected drugs were very strong and it was too easy to overdose.

When Jackie got to Hong Kong she started a Youth Club. Many of the boys who came were members of the Triad gangs. These boys were rough and used to violence, including murder. They were skeptical of this British woman but gradually over the years as Jackie continued to live among them they began to trust her.

Who else would live in one of the most dangerous places in the world for the rest of her life? Most missionaries who went to Hong Kong only stayed a few weeks or a few months. They had money and lived in nicer homes. As soon as their money ran out or they got tired of the filth of the Walled City, they went home. They did not have much credibility with the gangs. The gang members expected Jackie to leave like all the rest. But Jackie not only stayed, she lived among them.

One by one many of the gang members became Christians. When the gang members kicked the drug habit they stayed away from drugs for life. The boys turned to Jesus. Many of them went on to witness to their families and former gang friends. When the addicts who really wanted to change could see the miracle of healing that faith in Jesus brings, they were willing to listen to the Gospel. Not all accepted the truth, but many did.

Some were afraid of going “cold turkey” from their addiction. The pain of the withdrawals was horrific and some even died during withdrawal. But many of those who turned to Christ for forgiveness and trusted in Him for their new life never went through the withdrawals. Some didn’t even have so much as a headache. These miraculous healings helped to draw others to Christ.

Not everyone of course had complete relief. And some who turned to Christ did not reform immediately. They needed help. Jackie opened up homes and soon many were begging her to give them a place to stay and overcome their addiction. Jackie would try and keep them for as long as possible while they reformed and really learned how to live a Christian life.

Many of the boys who had been converted worked in the homes. This freed Jackie to continue to go out into the streets and tell people about Jesus.

Over the years Jackie’s efforts led to an amazing degree of success. She not only helped gang members kick their habit, but she even had a chance to speak to some of the dangerous gang leaders. She won their respect. In fact on one occasion after vandals destroyed her Youth club, a gang boss sent guards to watch her building and make sure it didn’t happen again.

The gangs had a rule that once you were a gang member you were a gang member for life. It was dangerous for the boys to leave their gangs. Jackie told them that they could not serve two masters. They had to choose the gang or Jesus. The boys who left the gangs could expect severe retribution or even death. Here again God intervened. Jackie got the gang bosses to promise that they would not bother the boys who left the gang.

You see, strange as it may seem, the gang bosses did not like their men on drugs. A drug addict could be worse than useless. They wanted to make money by selling drugs to others, but they wanted their own men to be drug free. Since Jackie had success in getting men and boys to give up drugs completely, and the gang bosses had been unable to do this, they had much respect for her.

The drug bosses renounced their claims on any boys who became Christians. This was unprecedented in Hong Kong gang culture. Truly it is a work of God.

Years rolled by and Jackie opened several more homes. The work expanded and with the help of some American missionaries she set up the St. Stephen’s Society. It is still in existence today and is one of the most successful organizations in the world, rescuing hundreds of young people from a life of misery on the streets. For some very heartwarming and encouraging stories go to the web page of St. Stephen’s Society, ststephenssociety.com.

The Walled City was eventually pulled down and cleaned up in the 1990’s. Jackie has continued her work there. Today there are over 200 people living in different homes coming off of drugs and being helped to a new life. The work has expanded to other countries including the Philippines.

Jackie Pullinger continued to give her life to the poor and forgotten. You will be blessed when you read her amazing testimony. Her desire to reach the lost for Jesus is being realized every day as those who were rescued from drugs then go out into the world with the Gospel. Many now have a sweet life in Christ instead of a bitter life on the streets thanks to Jackie’s faithfulness.

Bible Women – Old Testament to Now

For the last 8 months I have posted stories on women who lived during the Old Testament times. Let’s look at life for women in Old Testament from creation through the times of the kings. Then we will ask the questions, “Why did things change from the way God originally created men and women? Why were women treated so poorly during Old Testament times? Why are things different now?”

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Gen. 1:26-28).

God created both men and women in His image. This means that they share the same identity – children of God. There are differences between men and women, but both have the same humanity.

When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, God sent them out of His beautiful garden. There were consequences for each one of them. Eve would now have pain in childbirth. Adam would no longer be able to just pluck fruit from the trees but would have to grow things in ground that is cursed with thorns.

Neither Adam nor Eve would be perfect anymore. They now had sin natures. They would now be selfish and be looking out for their own interests rather than just thinking about pleasing God. The sin nature would be passed down to all humans. The whole world is cursed. Things are not the way they were before the fall.

Life became patterned after God’s pronouncements at the fall. Men worked outside, taking care of growing crops and animals. Women worked inside, cooking, sewing, and raising children. At harvest time everyone helped including the children. Life in the rural areas was happy and fulfilling.

The Ideal wife could be summarized in Proverbs 31:10-31. Following are a few verses from that passage:
An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She is like merchant ships; She brings her food from afar. She considers a field and buys it; from her earnings she plants a vineyard. She extends her hand to the poor; and she stretches out her hands to the needy. Her husband is known in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land. Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future.

She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and bless her; her husband also, and he praises her, saying: “Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all.” Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised. Give her the product of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.

Whether we are talking about women in the Old Testament, the New Testament, or today, all of these abilities describe the godly woman. These characteristics are timeless. But one thing we notice is that very few women actually achieved this level of lifestyle during Old Testament times. The Proverbs 31 woman gets the praise for what she has accomplished. This is what the Bible tells us. But apparently the Jewish leaders did not read their Scriptures.

In reality in Old Testament Israelite society women were not allowed above their station as allowed by the Jewish leaders. The Rabbi’s did not believe that women should be educated. Clearly they were violating the Scriptures by not allowing women to do any of the tasks that we see in Proverbs.

In our day it seems strange that women were treated so poorly. We are used to having freedom to go to school, to work outside of the home, and even to
be in leadership positions. While not every woman has such a successful husband and can afford to buy land and have servants, most women are at least allowed to participate in meaningful work. Of course the calling for women is still inside the home if she’s married and has children, but today women can work outside the home as well. Women go to school and start businesses. Women are teachers, missionaries, and executives.

How did the change come about? Why were things so bad for women in the Old Testament but now are better? Christianity is the answer. If you look at other cultures, such as the Muslim culture or the Hindu culture, you will see that women are treated like objects because of their religious beliefs. Women are no better than furniture in those cultures, to be used by the men however they wish. But everywhere that Christianity has gone, women have been treated better.

Jesus is the One Who changed things. When Jesus came, He treated women differently than the rabbis of His day. Jesus modeled the way that men were supposed to treat women. He shocked His disciples on many occasions when He gave so much time to women, but He expected the disciples to learn from Him. He expected them to see that in His kingdom women as well as men were to serve. He did not hand out specific job descriptions; He meant for women to follow Him in whatever way they were called. For most women this would still mean being a good wife and mother. Other women were single or widowed and Jesus affirmed them in their callings as well.

When Jesus met the needs of these women He gave them new life – physically, socially, and spiritually. Jesus gave women back the dignity of the Proverbs 31 woman.

Jesus also restored these women to the position they had before the fall. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve went about working in the garden as equal stewards. There was no conflict between men and women until sin entered the world. Then the temptation to be selfish would affect all people. That is the essence of sin – I want my own way, especially if it means I can boss you around.
Jesus changed all of this when He taught that we are to think of others before ourselves. Now, as we love and serve Jesus we will love and serve others. We can live the way we were meant to when God created us.

My sisters, let us keep a biblical view of womanhood. This means that we must study how Jesus treated women and how women responded. My prayer is that more preachers would also take time to read, Proverbs 31, Luke’s Gospel and the book of Acts, and examine their own presuppositions concerning what work that women would be allowed to do in the Church. I pray that they would seek Biblical answers. I pray that men would be more like Jesus as they allow women to follow their callings.

What Jesus inaugurated, the Church should extend. With the spread of Christianity women can serve along side of men to take the Gospel to the lost.

Author: Mary Walker