“Missionary Mondays” is a weekly resource for parents. Each week will feature a missionary story that is designed to be read to young children. Also included is a prayer and corresponding activity. Enjoy!
Mary Slessor
Whenever we imagine a hero, or a very brave person, we often picture a man with big muscles who isn’t scared of anyone or anything. We often think of a hero as someone famous, someone whom everyone knows and is excited about.
This story is about a very, very brave person. A person so brave that no one else in the entire world was brave enough to do what she did!
Did you hear me say “she?” The brave person in this story isn’t a big man with muscles. Would you believe that this very brave person is sweet, small lady?
What makes a person brave isn’t about what size their muscles are or how strong they are. It’s about how much they love and trust God. Because when you love God a lot, you start to love people a lot. And when you start to love people a lot, there’s no limit to what you will do for them.
Mary Slessor was a young lady who lived a long time ago in a place called Scotland. She grew up very poor. Her family was so poor that when she was a very small girl she had to work long hours at a factory. She worked so that her family would have enough money for food.
Even though she grew up without all of the nice things that a lot of other kids had, and even though she had to work hard at a factory instead of playing outside, Mary Slessor loved Jesus very, very, much.
Mary found great joy and comfort in the Bible verses that her mother would read every night. And when her mother began to read stories of missionaries in Africa, she began to dream of doing big things for God. At a very young age, God was already starting to fill Mary’s heart with bravery and love for a people who lived far, far away.
When she turned 29, she had everything prepared to go live as a missionary in Africa. To Mary, it was her dream and and she knew it was exactly what God wanted her to do. But to everyone else, it was a horrible idea. See, she wasn’t going to a place where the people liked missionaries, or even listened to them. Mary was going to a place where the people killed missionaries. Everyone kept telling her that she was going to die if she went to Africa.
But Mary saw things differently than everyone else did. When she thought of those people so far away in Africa, her heart was deeply saddened because they had no idea who Jesus was. They lived in violence and in darkness, and Mary knew that if the truth of Jesus was brought to them it would bring light and peace.
So she packed up her things, got on a boat, and against everyone else’s idea of wisdom, she headed to Africa.
When Mary arrived deep in the jungles of Africa, the situation among the village people was very frightening. People would steal, cheat, and kill each other whenever they felt like it. And they lived in fear of everything. The village people thought that anything unusual, like twins being born or someone who looked different, was a bad thing. So they would send away or kill anyone who was a little different. They couldn’t read, they didn’t know how to take care of sickness or injuries, they didn’t understand how to have a fair and honest village, and they had no idea who Jesus was.
But Mary was not scared at all. In fact, from the moment she arrived she loved those people, especially the different ones who needed to be protected and defended.
One day, twins were born in the village. The older men heard about it and were going to go snatch the babies away from their mother because they thought that the birth of twins was a sign of something bad about to happen to the village. But sweet, small Mary stood between the twin babies and those angry village men. She said that twins are not a sign of anything evil; rather, they are a gift from God! She offered to remove the babies from the village if they would allow them to live.
She carried the twin babies in her arms for miles through the jungle by herself to get them to safety. She cared for them in her own home until she could convince the village men to allow the children to return.
The village people thought Mary was very strange, but they allowed her to live with them. After a while, they even began to trust her! They began to realize that all of the things she was trying to teach them – cleanliness, fairness and honesty, and the law of her God – made good things happen. Everything about her God began to make sense to them!
Mary couldn’t believe it. She was so filled with joy that this group of people that everyone else thought was too evil to ever change now loved and followed Jesus. So many things about their way of life began to change – they no longer lived in fear, they were kind and honest, and they began to take better care of themselves. And on any given Sunday, you would find several hundred of the villagers in church.
One night, Mary was lying on the dirt floor of her hut. “Lord,” she prayed, “I am so thankful and happy that you have saved this village from death and darkness. You are their Lord now! But my heart is still heavy. There are so many other villages even deeper in the jungle who live in an even darker evil than this one. Will you please send me there? I want them to know You the way this village now knows You.”
So sweet, small Mary began to pack her bags and planned to head deeper into the jungle in search of more villages. Everyone told her that no person has ever ventured deeper into the jungle. If she was discovered by those people, they would kill her for sure.
But Mary’s heart was fired by the love her Savior, and the hope of those lost villagers knowing Jesus would make her do impossibly brave things. As she was leaving, King Eyo – an honest Christian king from her old village – said, “Friend Mary, if, God is sending you to the dangerous villages deep in the jungle, then I want to send you in my ‘Big Man’ canoe. They will respect you and treat you with honor when they see you arrive in this special canoe that only kings ride in.”
Mary was so thankful. She climbed into the canoe and paddled upriver as all of her friends on shore wept.
She soon arrived at the new village. Her heart began to pound, because the wickedness that she saw in this village was far worse than anything she had ever seen. The only things that the villagers cared about were guns for killing, chains for tying up slaves, and liquor for dulling their minds.
But God had prepared the way for Mary! Against all reason, they welcomed this strange, small woman into their village.
She lived in a mud hut in the middle of the village, and it seemed like everyday she was involved in solving a violent crisis. She prevented murders, riots, and wars from breaking out. Eventually the villagers even began to seek her out for wisdom and advice.
One day, she received news that a group of men were planning to attack and steal from a neighboring village. She knew that she would never get to the men in time to talk them out of it.
“Lord! I need an idea quickly! How can I get to the men in time and prevent them from attacking innocent people?”
And right away, God filled her mind with a solution. Mary found a piece of blank paper and then began to scribble all over it. She didn’t write any actual words, she just scribbled. Then she rolled it up, tied it with a piece of string, and handed it to the fastest runner in the village.
“Run as fast as you can!”, Mary told the runner. “Deliver this message to the men who are going to attack and tell them that they need to do exactly what this paper says.”
The runner took off through the jungle to find the group of angry men. When the runner found them, he told them what Mary said, that they needed to do exactly what was instructed on the paper.
Mary knew that those men couldn’t read. And she also knew that they would be very curious about a mysterious message that had specifically arrived for them. The men puzzled and puzzled over the paper, which provided just enough time for Mary to find and catch up with the group of angry men.
God’s idea had worked! She had stalled the men long enough to find them so that she could persuade them not to kill innocent people.
“My God sent me here to tell you not to kill those villagers. You were all created by Him, and His law is made for all of you. Please, allow my God to take the anger out of your hearts and fill your hearts with love.”
Thankfully, the men chose peace over war and returned home.
Mary lived in the jungles of Africa for the rest of her life. It was never easy, but she loved the people very deeply. Through prayer and perseverance and love, Mary saw hundreds of village people come to know Jesus. Entire villages were transformed.
Mary did something that changed the world. Because of her great faith and obedience, today Africa is filled with men, women, and children who know Jesus. And you can be brave, too! God can do great things through anyone! Just ask Him what He would have you do.
Prayer
Great Father, would You show us how to love others the way You love us? You are so kind and merciful to Your people, forgiving and discarding our sin. Change our hearts to be more like Yours. Thank You for the life of Mary Slessor and the way You gave her such an obedient and brave heart. Thank You for the people in Africa who know You because of her. Would you continue to bring the truth to people who have never heart it? Send me, Lord, if that is Your plan. Amen.”
Activity: Make A Scroll!
You and your child are going to make a “mystery scroll” just like the one Mary delivered to the group of angry men. Once your child has finished, have him deliver it to someone and tell the story of Mary Slessor!
Supplies:
- blank paper
- crayons
- string
- scissors
Directions:
- Instruct your child to make scribble marks all over the paper. Then roll it up and tie it with the string.
- Deliver it to a neighbor or friend, and have your child tell the story of Mary Slessor.
Check out previous “Missionary Mondays” stories!
George Mueller
William Wilberforce
