“Pray for Me!”

“Then I said, Here am I; send me.” — from Isaiah 6

Mary had a younger brother named John. Their mother hoped he would be a missionary one day. But John became ill. He sailed to New Zealand, hoping the warmer weather would make him better, and he died soon after he got there.

Mary was very sad. A quiet thought began to grow in her heart: could she go to Africa in John’s place? For a long time she told no one.

In those days West Africa was called “the white man’s grave,” because so many people from Europe caught fevers there and died. But a friend remembered Mary saying that because Calabar was a dangerous place, it was an honour to go. Few people would volunteer, so she would.

In 1874 news came that the famous explorer David Livingstone had died in Africa. All of Scotland was stirred, and Mary decided it was time. Her sisters were working now, and she planned to send money home from Africa to look after her mother. Her mother gladly said yes. In May 1875 Mary offered herself to her church, and she was accepted as a teacher for Calabar. She was twenty-six, a factory girl who had hardly been to school.

The night before she left Dundee to train in Edinburgh, a friend found her crying at the door of the building where she lived. “Good-bye,” Mary said. And then, with all her heart, “Pray for me!”

On 5 August 1876 she sailed from Liverpool on a ship called the Ethiopia. Two friends came to see her off. They watched as barrels of strong drink were loaded onto the ship, to be sold in West Africa. Mary knew what drink had done to her own family. “Scores of casks!” she said. “And only one missionary!”

Mary did not feel brave or clever. But she knew how much God loved her, and she wanted to say, “Here I am. Send me.” You can say that to God too, wherever you are.

Dear God, thank you for loving me so much. Here I am. Please use me to help other people know you. Amen.