The first female missionary
As Baptists in New England we can claim as our own, Charlotte White (1782-1863), the first unmarried woman sent out from the United States to the global mission field. As such, she was appointed by the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions making her the first official female missionary (while others, like Ann Judson, went along with their appointed missionary husbands).
I have an invested interest in writing this article. Charlotte was a member of the church I currently pastor! She was converted under the ministry of the church’s second pastor, Rev. Batchelder, and was baptized in our local river, the Merrimack. Reading a recently published biography of her life brought out some insights on how we as pastors and church leaders can support our missionaries even today.
Missionaries are not all men
In the 1800s, Charlotte set off a heated debate when seeking to be appointed. Should a female be commissioned if only men are ordained to preach? Even Adoniram Judson expressed his reservations from Burma. However in 1815, the board came to the correct conclusion, “that the term missionary did not mean a preacher only; but one sent” and that it “did not mean to restrict the term to the male sex or preachers only.”
We desperately need missionaries not only of both genders, but of all different ages, trades, and spiritual gifting. In many countries, preaching the Gospel openly is illegal. The rise of marketplace missionaries has become invaluable.
Missionaries need preparation
Do our missionaries have a deep foundation? Do they have a clear grasp of the Gospel and love of the Scriptures? Upon her conversion, Charlotte wrote, “I was led to search the Scriptures in order to find assurance that Jesus Christ is the son of God; in doing which, I was blessed with a desire to be converted from darkness to light; the Holy Spirit rousing me to repent, and enabling me to confess Christ as my Lord and Savior.”
Do they have the necessary education? Charlotte was an accomplished linguist, publishing a Hindustani spelling book, Mul Sutra, used for decades. She used education in India to spread the Gospel in Digah. Churches need to play the long game. Send potential missionaries to Bible School and seminary, immerse them in language studies, and offer them years of mentoring before sending them out to the field.
Missionaries need funding
Charlotte White self-funded her entire mission to India! She lived out of a small amount of invested funds, rented out some mission property, and received pay for tutoring and boarding. She went without tea, coffee, or even wood for fire.
As astounding as this is, it is also a sad statement of the lack of generous support that should have come from back home. While missionaries are often willing to go without, this doesn’t relieve us of the responsibility to give generously.
Missionaries often suffer
Charlotte was mocked and maligned as she tried to serve the Kingdom overseas, and this primarily by fellow believers! She married Joshua Rowe on the mission field, and then lost her loving husband. She was betrayed by a dear brother. All her biological children died before she did. Her biographer writes, “Charlotte Hazen Atlee White had been orphaned, widowed, bereft of her only child, derided at her baptism, exposed to public controversy due to her gender, and accused of underhanded procedure, inconsistency, mixed motives, insufficient qualifications, and weak stamina.”
Missionaries often suffer. For much of this, there is nothing we can do. But we can pray. We can communicate. We can be a voice of encouragement.
Missionaries may go without fruit
Most mission work takes time, often years, without evident fruit. The work is valuable not because of numerical success, but because the very service glorifies God. Charlotte’s husband Joshua wrote in his journal, “when I consider that He has a design even in an unsuccessful ministry, I take encouragement, and hope that my labors are not in vain.” Much of the fruit of Charlotte’s ministry came after she had passed.
We shouldn’t demand evidence of fruit from our missionaries too quickly. Look to their faithfulness and let God bring in the harvest in due time.
Much of the above article relies on Reid S. Trulson’s biography Charlotte Atlee White Rowe: The Story of America’s First Appointed Woman Missionary.
Rick Harrington is a pastor at First Baptist Church - Haverhill in Massachusetts. He is the author of the books "How to Find a Church: Seven Steps to Becoming Part of a Spiritual Family" and "The Weight of Preaching: Heralding the Gospel of Grace". You can follow his writing on his blog The Lamp Post.
