EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE FIRST HALF OF 1900; ROSA L. PARKS P/12

 

In this post I will focus on a woman named Rosa L. McCauley Parks. She was born in Tuskegee, Alabama and  lived from 1913 - 2005. As a child, she went to an industrial school for girls and later enrolled at Alabama State Teachers College for Negroes (present-day Alabama State University). Unfortunately, Rosa was forced to withdraw after her grandmother became ill. Church wise, Rosa was a life-long member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Growing up in the segregated South, Rosa was frequently confronted with racial discrimination and violence. She became active in the Civil Rights Movement at a young age.

Rosa married a local barber by the name of Raymond Parks when she was nineteen years old. He was actively fighting to end racial injustice. Together, Rosa and her husband worked with many social organisations. Eventually, Rosa was elected secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP).

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE FIRST HALF OF 1900; ULDINE MABELLE UTLEY P/11

 

In this story I will focus on a woman named Uldine Mabelle Utley. She lived from 1912 -1995. Uldine was born in Durant, Oklahoma, USA. Her parents were Azie Herbert Utley and Hattie Ellen Bray Utley. Her father was an electrician, a farmer and a postmaster while the family lived in Colorado.

Uldine had a conversion experience in 1921, inspired by the preaching of Aimee Semple McPherson while she was living in Fresno, California. Within two years Uldine was preaching across the United States, and at the age of fourteen she preached to a crowd of 14,000 people at Madison Square Garden. 

In 1928, Uldine married salesman Wilbur Eugene Langkop but they eventually divorced. 

In 1935, Uldine was ordained by the Methodist Episcopal Church. She was called "the Joan of Arc of the modern religious world." She was also called a "second Billy Sunday" and, as a young woman, "the ingenue of evangelism."

Uldine died in 1995, at the age of 83. 

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE FIRST HALF OF 1900, BETTY SCOTT STAM 1906 P/10

In this post I will continue to share the story of a woman named Betty Scott Stam. She lived from 1906 - 1934. Betty and her husband went to Jingde, China, early 1934 to become acquainted with the area. During the day they would go to nearby villages to do evangelism; in the evenings they would go out to lead meetings. The region was mountainous and the inhabitants were poor. 

During that time Betty gave birth to her daughter Helen Priscilla Stam. Unexpectedly, on the morning of December 6 of that year, after Betty had gotten up, the sound of gunfire broke out. Soon after, soldiers from the Red Army rushed into the city. John led the family and servants to kneel down in prayer for reliance upon God. Just at that moment, the Red Army soldiers entered the room.

The next day, Betty and her husband were taken to Miashou where they spent the night. The next morning, a squad rushed into the room and roughly pushed them out of the door. They were led to a small mountainous area outside the town. At the summit Betty and her husband were forced to kneel down and stretch out their necks, and were killed.

Betty was 28 years old when she gave her life for the sake of the Gospel. 

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE FIRST HALF OF 1900; BETTY SCOTT STAM 1906 P/9

In this post I will focus on a woman named Betty Scott Stam. She lived from 1906 - 1934. Betty grew up in Tsintao (today called Qingdao), a city on the east coast of China, where her father, Charles Scott, was a missionary.

In 1925, Betty attended a Keswick convention held in New Jersey. Upon hearing D.L.Moody preach she responded to the call to be amongst the 200 to be trained at Moody's Chicago Bible Institute to reach the unreached through the China Inland Mission.

In 1926, Betty returned to the United States to begin to attend Moody's Chicago Bible Institute. While there she met another student, John Stam. He too had gone to the College to prepare for mission work in China. Over time their friendship deepened and their love and commitment for living for Christ was their most precious bond. 

Betty returned to China in 1931 to serve with the China Inland Mission (CIM) while John still had a year to complete in his studies. However, he joined her in China in 1933 and they got married that year.

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE FIRST HALF OF 1900; GENEVIEVE JONTE P/8

 

In this brief post I will focus on a woman named Genevieve Jonte. She lived from 1906 - 1983. Genevieve was the daughter and granddaughter of the Montbeliard region pastors. She studied theology in Paris, then was an assistant with the Montbeliard parish in 1923, and was eventually ordained in 1937. Genevieve was the first pastor of the small Saint John temple de Peugeot family had paid for and built in the new workers quarter - it was later demolished when the Peugeot company needed the land. 

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE FIRST HALF OF 1900; MARIELEINE HOFFETT P/7

 

In this brief post I will focus on a woman named Marieleine Hoffett. She lived from 1905 - 1996. Marieleine was a pastor's daughter who studied theology in Strassburg, Geneva and Edinburgh. She was a vicar with the Reformed Church of Alsace Lorraine and got married in 1931. She took an active part in the resistance movement and in 1945 accepted a position no one wished to take, namely chaplain in former collaborators' internment camps.She then turned to women's bible teaching. She fought against the rule forbidding married women to become pastors, which was suspended in 1968.

EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE FIRST HALF OF 1900; GLADYS AYLWARD P/6

                                                                                                                                                                           

In this post I will continue to focus on a woman named Gladys Aylward. She lived from 1902 - 1970. Gladys became a national of the Republic of China in 1936 and was a revered figure among the people, taking in orphans and adopting several herself, intervening in a volatile prison riot and advocating prison reform, risking her life many times to help those in need. 

In 1938, the region was invaded by the Japanese forces and Gladys led more than 100 orphans to safety over the mountains, despite being wounded and sick, personally caring for them (and converting many to Christianity).

Gladys did not return to England until 1949, when her life in China was thought to be in great danger from the Communists - the army was actively seeking out missionaries. 

After her mother died, Gladys sought a return to China. After rejection by the Communist Government and a stay in Hong Kong, she finally settled in Taiwan in 1958. There she founded the Gladys Aylward Orphanage, where she worked until her death in 1970.