The White Queen of Okoyong: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism and FaithLivingstone, W. P. (William Pringle)
Religion
The White Queen of Okoyong: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism and Faith
Livingstone, W. P. (William Pringle)
Missionaries -- Nigeria -- Biography; Slessor, Mary Mitchell, 1848-1915; Women missionaries -- Biography
She was a puzzling person in many ways. Perhaps her dear friend, Mr.
Macgregor, describes her best when he says, "She was a whirlwind and an
earthquake and a fire and a still small voice, all in one." But what
girls and boys should remember is that she was, from her childhood, a
dreamer of dreams. Not day-dreams which fade away into nothing. Not
dreams of the night which are soon forgotten. But the kind of dreams
which grown-up people sometimes call ideals, dreams that have in them
the purpose of doing away with all that is evil and ugly, and making the
world happier.
Many boys and girls dream dreams, but they do nothing more. Their dreams
are like the clouds that drift across the summer sky and disappear. Miss
Slessor would never have done anything if she had _only_ imagined all
her dreams. If a boy only longs to be a good cricketer or swimmer, he
will never become one. If a girl only thinks about a prize at school,
she will not gain it. If a sculptor or artist only dreams about a
beautiful statue or painting, the world will never have the joy of
seeing them. We have to set to work and make what we dream about a real
and solid thing.
That is what the White Queen always did. Her dreams came true because
she prayed hard and toiled hard and waited hard and loved hard, yes, and
laughed hard, for faith and toil and patience and sympathy and humour
are all needed to win success.
There was only one of her ideas which did not come to pass--her home for
women and girls; and that would have come true also if she had lived a
little longer, for it was taking hold of the Church, and money was
coming in for it. It was like a bit of weaving which she had not time to
complete. Now, young and old, who loved and admired her inside her own
Church and elsewhere, have taken up the threads and are finishing it and
making it a lasting memorial of her. A number of native buildings and a
Mission House are being built, and there, under the clever guidance of
her old comrade Miss Young (now Mrs. Arnot), young lives will be trained
in all the things that make girlhood and womanhood useful and pure and
happy. And there, too, will be a beautiful gateway where tired men and
woman and children travelling along the hot roadway may take shelter
from the sun, and rest, and find water to quench their thirst, and
think, perhaps, of the Great White Mother who spent her life for their
good.
The church at Ikpe built by Ma was destroyed by a falling palm tree; the
house on the hill-top at Odoro Ikpe was blown down by a tornado, and
part of the roof carried away into the valley; but her work goes on.
Many of the young men she taught are now members of the Church; the
services in all the towns are crowded; the schools are full of scholars,
and others are being built. "All around," says the Rev. John Rankin, of
Arochuku, who looks after them, "there is a desire for schools, but the
want of workers hinders more being done. We need a white missionary in
the district."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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