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About the Book
"Be All You Can Be" by John Maxwell is a motivational book that focuses on personal growth and achieving one's full potential. The author encourages readers to set high standards for themselves and take steps to become the best version of themselves. Maxwell provides practical advice and strategies for overcoming obstacles, developing key leadership qualities, and pursuing success in all areas of life. Overall, the book aims to inspire readers to strive for excellence and make the most of their abilities.
Amy Carmichael
Born in Belfast Ireland, to a devout family of Scottish ancestry, Carmichael was educated at home and in England, where she lived with the familt of Robert Wilson after her father’s death. While never officially adopted, she used the hyphenated name Wilson-Carmichael as late as 1912. Her missionary call came through contacts with the Keswick movement. In 1892 she volunteered to the China Inland Mission but was refused on health grounds. However, in 1893 she sailed for Japan as the first Keswick missionary to join the Church Missionary Society (CMS) work led by Barclay Buxton. After less than two years in Japan and Ceylon, she was back in England before the end of 1894. The next year she volunteered to the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society, and in November 1895 she arrived in South India, never to leave. While still learning the difficult Tamil language, she commenced itinerant evangelism with a band of Indian Christian women, guided by the CMS missionary Thomas Walker. She soon found herself responsible for Indian women converts, and in 1901, she, the Walkers, and their Indian colleagues settled in Dohnavur. During her village itinerations, she had become increasingly aware of the fact that many Indian children were dedicated to the gods by their parents or guardians, became temple children, and lived in moral and spiritual danger. It became her mission to rescue and raise these children, and so the Dohnavur Fellowship came into being (registered 1927). Known at Dohnavur as Amma (Mother), Carmichael was the leader, and the work became well known through her writing. Workers volunteered and financial support was received, though money was never solicited. In 1931 she had a serious fall, and this, with arthritis, kept her an invalid for the rest of her life. She continued to write, and identified leaders, missionary and Indian, to take her place. The Dohnavur Fellowship still continues today.
Jocelyn Murray, “Carmichael, Amy Beatrice,” in Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, ed. Gerald H. Anderson (New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 1998), 116.
This article is reprinted from Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, Macmillan Reference USA, copyright © 1998 Gerald H. Anderson, by permission of Macmillan Reference USA, New York, NY. All rights reserved.
“Ammai” of orphans and holiness author
Amy Carmichael was born in Ireland in 1867, the oldest of seven children. As a teen, she attended a Wesleyan Methodist girls boarding school, until her father died when she was 18. Carmichael twice attended Keswick Conventions and experienced a holiness conversion which led her to work among the poor in Belfast. Through the Keswick Conventions, Carmichael met Robert Wilson. He developed a close relationship with the young woman, and invited her to live with his family. Carmichael soon felt a call to mission work and applied to the China Inland Mission as Amy Carmichael-Wilson. Although she did not go to China due to health reasons, Carmichael did go to Japan for a brief period of time. There she dressed in kimonos and began to learn Japanese. Her letters home from Japan became the basis for her first book, From Sunrise Land. Carmichael left Japan due to health reasons, eventually returning to England. She soon accepted a position with the Church of England’s Zenana Missionary Society, serving in India. From 1895 to 1925, her work with orphans in Tinnevelly (now Tirunelveli) was supported by the Church of England. After that time, Carmichael continued her work in the faith mission style, establishing an orphanage in Dohnavur. The orphanage first cared for girls who had been temple girls, who would eventually become temple prostitutes. Later the orphanage accepted boys as well.
Carmichael never returned to England after arriving in India. She wrote prolifically, publishing nearly 40 books. In her personal devotions, she relied on scripture and poetry. She wrote many of her own poems and songs. Carmichael had a bad fall in 1931, which restricted her movement. She stayed in her room, writing and studying. She often quoted Julian of Norwich when she wrote of suffering and patience. Many of Carmichael’s books have stories of Dohnavur children, interspersed with scripture, verses, and photographs of the children or nature. Carmichael never directly asked for funding, but the mission continued to be supported through donations. In 1951 Carmichael died at Dohnavur. Her headstone is inscribed “Ammai”, revered mother, which the children of Dohnavur called Carmichael.
Carmichael’s lengthy ministry at Dohnavur was sustained through her strong reliance upon scripture and prayer. Her early dedication to holiness practices and her roots in the Keswick tradition helped to guide her strong will and determination in her mission to the children of southern India.
by Rev. Lisa Beth White
How Could We Be Silent
Much to my surprise, I became a Christian as a teenager. But when I did, I was quite determined to be a secret Christian. This was partly because, to be honest, I didn’t like most of the Christians I knew. But it was also partly because, living in a very post-Christian Scotland, I wasn’t sure I could bear the social stigma. Then one day the small group of Christians at my local school found me out. And they asked if I would be willing to speak on their behalf in a debate which involved an atheist, an agnostic, a liberal Christian, and an evangelical Christian (I was to fill that last slot). With some reluctance, I agreed. After the debate, the head of the English department came up to me, shook my hand, and said, “Congratulations, young man. That is the finest performance I have ever heard you give. You almost had me persuaded that you really were a Christian.” I replied, “Sir, I am. And that is the last time anyone will say that to me!” From then on, I have tried to live my faith openly, speaking up for Christ as boldly and graciously as God enables me to, and praying he’d give me the wisdom to say a word in season for the weary, the lost, the enemy, and the seeker. Speak Up What do I mean by speaking up? Some associate it with big public protests or demonstrations. But that is not what I’m talking about here. Did Paul, Barnabas, and Luke join forces with Lydia, Priscilla, and Aquila to organize demonstrations and marches in Greek cities to protest idolatry and the emperor cult? Sometimes when we hear the exhortation that Christians should be speaking up, that’s the image we have in mind: political action, media pressure, demonstrations, and protests. But that’s not what the New Testament church did. And in an increasingly hostile and anti-Christian West, it’s not normally what we should do either. Now, of course, there’s a place for Christians to use media and other public forums to prophetically speak truth to power in our degenerate cultures, and a few of us are called to do this. But most of us aren’t called to address the masses or the power elites, but to speak up for Jesus, proclaim his word, declare his glory, advocate for his people, and defend the poor right where we are, in the spheres of influence we are given. In Scotland, when we take each other aside for a quick chat, we will sometimes say, “Can I have a wee word?” That phrase is appropriate for this discussion. When I talk about speaking up as a Christian, I mean having a “wee word” about Jesus to the people we meet. Let me give a couple of personal examples. Ordinary, Courageous Speaking As a pastor, evangelist, and apologist, I now do a lot of speaking up for Christ in many public forums. But the vast majority of us Christians are called to speak up in our ordinary spheres. And when we do, doors open. I think of the football player who, when we met for lunch, quickly told me that he was a born-again Christian. A friend that he had brought along asked, “Am I one of those born-again Christians?” The new footballer replied, “If you have to ask, you probably are not!” From that discussion began a Bible study with some of the other players. Speaking up opened a real door for the gospel. And then there’s the secretary who, after attending an author’s lecture on Christian courage at a bookstore, returned to work the next day and told her boss that she was ashamed that she had never once mentioned she was a Christian, even though she had worked in that office for several years. The boss, not a believer himself, was delighted and told a colleague who happened to be an elder in a local evangelical church. And how can I forget the parent who, with trembling knees, went to the head teacher of her local school to ask why a form of sex education that went against the Creator’s instructions was being indoctrinated into the children. Rather than being laughed at or ignored (as she feared), the head teacher listened and sought to make some programmatic changes. And how about the social worker who worked with mostly atheist colleagues. Her patient witness, hard work, cheerful disposition, and refusal to live by the standards of the culture resulted many years later in a couple of her colleagues coming to church, and one of them becoming a believer. Break the Silence Patience is needed. Speaking up is not easy. We speak up because we love Jesus and we want to see him glorified. We speak up, not to defend ourselves, but because we love those we are speaking to and want them to share in the greatest gift of all: Christ. Here is the great promise for every Christian: when we speak up in faithfulness to God’s word, it is not we who are speaking, but the Holy Spirit who is speaking through us (Mark 13:11; 2 Corinthians 5:20). And his word will never return to him empty (Isaiah 55:11). For any who know and experience the beauty and glory of Christ, the question is not whether we should speak up, but rather how on earth can we keep silent? Article by David Robertson
