EVANGELICAL WOMEN IN THE FIRST HALF OF 1900; ROSA L. MCCAULEY PARKS P/13 1913

 

In this post I will continue to share the story of a woman named Rosa L.McCauley Parks. She lived from 1913 - 2005. By the time Rosa boarded a bus in 1955, when she famously refused to sit in the part of the bus she was supposed to sit, she was an established organiser and leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Alabama. 

Rosa not only showed active resistance by refusing to move, she also helped organise and plan the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Many have tried to diminish Rosa's role in the boycott by depicting her as a seamstress who simply did not want to move because she was tired. 

Rosa denied the claim and years later revealed her true motivation: "People always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired but that isn't true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was forty-two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in."

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.