Mary Slessor
The Story of Mary Slessor's Battle to Bring the Gospel
and Civilization to the "Dark Continent"
Life means little along the Calabar. Slavery is
common and to kill a woman or a slave means nothing. If a family has too many
children, they will just leave the unwanted child in the bushes to die. The birth
of twins is thought to be an evil sign. Twin babies are cruelly murdered, and
their mother is driven from her home to die in the jungle. There is no respect
for truth and honesty here. "Do right" would be a meaningless phrase,
for these people do not understand what is right. The law of the jungle is
"do whatever you can get away with." For this reason, people live
their short lives in fear and filth. The boat drops anchor well up the Calabar
River beside a rough town. This is Duke Town. The mission station at Duke Town
is the destination for the only woman traveling aboard the steamer.
mission comes alongside the steamer and takes her
to shore. Mary Slessor is 29 years old. She comes from a poor family. Her
father was a drunkard, but her mother was a godly woman. Since she was 11, Mary
has earned her living working in factories for twelve hours a day, six days a
week. Despite these hard circumstances, she served God faithfully in Scotland,
and the hardships have helped prepare her to serve Him now in Africa. The Duke
Town missionaries have had some success in the coastal regions. They have built
a school, hospital, orphanage, and chapel at the station. Through their
preaching and teaching they have been able to stop some of the worst heathen
practices. The village leaders are beginning to realize that what they call
"God-law" (the teachings from the Bible) makes sense. On any Sunday
there are several hundred natives in services. This was the situation when Mary
Slessor began her work teaching in the mission station and visiting in the
coastal and river villages. As soon as Mary could learn the local languages,
she went without a translator. She was told that it was dangerous to travel
alone, but she found that she could get to know the people better in this way.
natives the good news of Christ. She urged them
to quit worshiping the skulls of dead men and not to be afraid of "evil
spirits." The new missionary taught, "Do not kill the wives and
slaves of a 'big man' when he dies. They cannot help him in the next
life." She showed the women better ways to fix food and keep homes and
children clean. Sometimes at night Mary would lie awake on a dirt floor in some
coastal village. "Oh Lord," she prayed, "I thank Thee that I can
bring these people Thy Word. But Lord, there are other villages back in the
jungle where no white man has gone. They need Jesus, too. Help me reach
them!" Then, whenever she had an opportunity, she would ask another
missionary or a native about her going to these villages. The answer was always
the same: "No. You would be killed. They cannot be reached." Her
worst enemy was the tropical diseases which hit her so suddenly. There were
many times when it seemed as though she were about to die, but she pulled
through. It was a real temptation to forsake this unhealthy area and return to
the cool mists of Scotland. The Scottish missionary did go home on a short
furlough, but she soon came back to Africa. She was thrilled to learn that she
was now to be on her own at an outstation. Her new home was Old Town, some
distance upriver from Duke Town.
Her first view of Old Town was of a human skull
swinging from a pole in front of the town meeting house. Each hut had its own
little gods. Mary's "home" was a mud hut next to a trader. Her days
were full of treating sick, teaching the Bible, and visiting neighbors. Mary
became known throughout the area for her wise, fair counsel. There was a
Christian chief, King Eyo Honesty the Sixth, who often asked Mary for advice in
dealing with white men. She, in turn, asked him for help in working with the
natives.
talking the men were calmer and too tired to
fight. They went home without bloodshed. News of trouble might come too late
for Mary to get there in time. If this happened, she would go to her table,
pull out a fine piece of parchment, and quickly make big marks all over it. She
then sealed
this with wax and tied it with a great red
ribbon. A runner sped this important document to where
the fight was about to begin. Mary's scribbles
were nothing but nonsense, but none of the Okoyong could read! The warriors
would spend the day puzzling over the important piece of paper sent by the "white
Ma." They would still be studying the document when Mary arrived in person
to settle the dispute.
traders, soldiers, and diplomats had been unable
to do for four hundred years. There was now a
reason for honest work. This experience was a
turning point in the life of the Okoyong people.
In time, many of the Okoyong would accept the
gospel. Free of their pagan fears and drunkenness, they could now understand
God's love for them. The idols disappeared from the villages and in their place
small churches were built. A court system was established to settle disputes,
and Mary was made the first judge. Civilization came more quickly to the
Okoyong than it did along the coastal regions. For hundreds of years the white
traders along the coast had tried to force the natives to change. It was not
until the gospel changed the people's hearts that real progress was made. As
for Mary, she felt a tug on her heart for the region beyond the Okoyong. Her
converts in Okoyong protested, "We love you. They will kill you. Do not
go." Mary loved the Okoyong people, just as she had loved the people of
Old Town. But her call was, "Onward! I dare not look back." Mary's
reputation as a great and wise woman and as a fair and honest judge had gone
before her into the land of the Azo, a dreaded cannibal tribe. At first the Azo
people seemed to show little interest in her message, but soon many accepted
Christ. Mary reported that there was one town that had two hundred converts.
None of them could read, so she pleaded for pastors to come to instruct the new
Christians.
This land cannot be the same again, nor can they.
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