Amy Carmichael, (1867 – 1951), had left Belfast thinking that she would be in China soon; she had said goodbye to the Belfast ‘Shawlies’ and the Tin Tabernacle meetings, and had gone to London to train and be prepared for life in China. But having being turned down by the China Inland Mission’s doctor, on the grounds of ill health, she was asked to move up to Keswick in England to help with the very busy Administration of a very dear old family friend, Robert Wilson, who played a major role in the meetings held at Keswick to which preachers, missionaries and believers travelled from far and wide. During this time of waiting back in the England, Amy read and heard about mission work in Japan. The Japanese mission did not have the stringent health regulations of the Chinese mission and maybe this was the place. Arrangements were made and Amy headed out to Japan. Amy got ‘stuck in’ right away and it was not long before she was wearing a kimono and blending in with the Japanese women. She preached the Gospel from village to village and saw one, then two, then three, and then four saved at each meeting she held, but her poor health rose once more to conquer her and the doctor’s diagnoses was, “Get out of Japan as soon as possible!” Once again it seemed that her missionary dreams were shattered. Her voyage home took her through Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) where kind missionaries took her in and nursed her back to health. Nothing could stop Amy from getting back in to outreach work as soon as she could. Just when she thought Ceylon might be a great place to stay a letter came from England, from her beloved Robert Wilson, asking if she could haste home to help him as he was in bad health. After all that this godly old man had done for her, Amy could not refuse, so she took the next possible voyage to England. It was during this time back there that she received a letter from a nursing friend who was working in a Mission station hospital in Bangalore, South India, where, as the friend put it, the climate was mild and gentle yet warm and dry enough for Amy’s ill health. Amy wondered if it was ‘right’ to suit her own health needs when looking for a missionary post, but she was desperate to be back in mission work and after doing all the interviews, she was accepted immediately, and one last time Amy Carmichael made an ocean voyage in the direction of Asia, only this time it would be the last time she ever saw the British Isles, as she would never return from India.
Amy’s first experience of meeting other missionaries in India, was a shocking one to her. A group of missionaries sat in their starched English clothes, eating cucumber sandwiches, whilst being served their tea, bemoaning the fact that they could not find any local volunteers to assist them with outreach work. Amy felt like a fish out of water. She knew exactly why these men and women had not succeeded in the mission field. Just as in Belfast where she had donned a shawl and lived in the slums, and as in Japan where she donned a Kimono, Amy knew that if she could live as an Indian, like an Indian, with Indians, learning to speak their language, she would immediately have more success than the cucumber sandwich missionaries. She was right, and it wasn’t long before Amy, now wearing a Sari, had a group of God-fearing women who travelled with her from village to village sharing the Gospel. There were far more challenges in India than Chinese or Japanese culture, as the complex caste system of India meant that they could get themselves in serious trouble for talking or even looking at someone of a different caste. Amy had to use wisdom to know which lady should share the Gospel with which inquirer, according to the caste system.
After some years of travelling and sharing the Gospel, God gave Amy a new direction as very suddenly a young girl was put in her charge, and this young girl was followed by another and then a baby, and then more. These girls were rescued from being Hindu temple prostitutes (sold to the temples by their families), or from families where they had been sold as child brides. Soon Amy had reason to set up a permanent compound with houses for her growing family and the missionaries. Although never married, Amy was mother to hundreds of girls, and later boys too, who were raised in the Lord and protected from the evils of their culture and religion. Many of her ‘children’ were raised up as missionaries and greatly affected the nation of India.
Buried in India in her late 80’s, Amy, though from Belfast, is regarded as one of the most important ‘Indians’ of her time.
Amy’s first experience of meeting other missionaries in India, was a shocking one to her. A group of missionaries sat in their starched English clothes, eating cucumber sandwiches, whilst being served their tea, bemoaning the fact that they could not find any local volunteers to assist them with outreach work. Amy felt like a fish out of water. She knew exactly why these men and women had not succeeded in the mission field. Just as in Belfast where she had donned a shawl and lived in the slums, and as in Japan where she donned a Kimono, Amy knew that if she could live as an Indian, like an Indian, with Indians, learning to speak their language, she would immediately have more success than the cucumber sandwich missionaries. She was right, and it wasn’t long before Amy, now wearing a Sari, had a group of God-fearing women who travelled with her from village to village sharing the Gospel. There were far more challenges in India than Chinese or Japanese culture, as the complex caste system of India meant that they could get themselves in serious trouble for talking or even looking at someone of a different caste. Amy had to use wisdom to know which lady should share the Gospel with which inquirer, according to the caste system.
After some years of travelling and sharing the Gospel, God gave Amy a new direction as very suddenly a young girl was put in her charge, and this young girl was followed by another and then a baby, and then more. These girls were rescued from being Hindu temple prostitutes (sold to the temples by their families), or from families where they had been sold as child brides. Soon Amy had reason to set up a permanent compound with houses for her growing family and the missionaries. Although never married, Amy was mother to hundreds of girls, and later boys too, who were raised in the Lord and protected from the evils of their culture and religion. Many of her ‘children’ were raised up as missionaries and greatly affected the nation of India.
Buried in India in her late 80’s, Amy, though from Belfast, is regarded as one of the most important ‘Indians’ of her time.
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