Mme. Jeanne Guyon
France, 1648 - 1717
She was twice imprisoned in the Bastille for her beliefs. Born into a wealthy family, she was also very beautiful. She had an unhappy marriage to an older man but during this time, she found a fresh faith in God. She became a quietist, writing books on prayer. She provoked the wrath of the Catholic Church as she promoted the thought that prayer could be personal. She accepted any fate as the "providence of God", including the disfiguring of her beauty through small-pox. Her writings showed an unswerving devotion to personal faith in Jesus.
Elizabeth Fry
England, 1780 - 1945
A Quaker, social reformer and Prison reformer. She battled personal depression yet was successful in changing much of the prison system of the time. She bettered the lives of people living in inhumane prisons along with those being transported to Australia. Her influence and reforms were copied in Europe and led to greater justice. She also founded refuges for the homeless and was tireless in her determination to change her age, with the power of the word of God.
Maria Woodworth-Etter
America, 1844 - 1924
She preached for 40 years even into her 70's. After first denying a call to preach, arguing with God that she was a woman, she lost five of her six children. She finally obeyed and went out as a healing evangelist. She demonstrated the kingdom of God through hundreds of miracles and healings and had one of the most powerful healing ministries ever recorded and thousands came to know Jesus and be filled with the Holy Spirit though her ministry.
Isobel Kuhn
Canada/China, 1901 - 1957
She worked with the Lisu people in China and Thailand and was an author. She documented wonderful accounts of Christian faith amongst these peoples.
Gladys Aylward
(The Little Woman)
England/China, 1904 - 1970
She was a little maid who felt a call to go from England to China as a missionary. No mission would take her as she was uneducated, so she saved enough to travel to China one way and simply went, travelling overland as this was cheaper. She had written to a missionary, Mrs Jeannie Lawson who was 73 and wanting to pass on her work to someone younger. Jeannie had said that if she could get to China, she would take her on in the remote area of Shansi. She adopted China as her homeland and gave her life to reaching people there.
The two women set up an Inn as the town they were in was a stopping point for travellers. The locals rejected them as foreigners but they were able to begin to reach out to travellers. Mrs Lawson died and Gladys went on with the work alone. The Mandarin took her into China's service to become an inspector in the area to stop the practice of foot binding. This gave her great opportunities to travel, protected by the government to reach many people.
She took on the compassionate work of looking after orphans. When the Japanese invaded China she escaped her region with 100 orphans, walking for 12 days through the mountains to safety.
Fanny Crosby
America, 1820 - 1915
A blind hymn writer who wrote some of the most beautiful hymns. Among the many hymns she wrote were "Blessed Assurance" and "To God be the Glory". She said of her blindness: “It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me.”
She also said, "when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior!"
Mary Slessor
Scotland/Nigeria, 1848 - 1915
Known amongst the locals as "Ma". As a young woman Mary heard of cannibals in Africa. She felt a compassion for them and wanted to take them the good news of Christ. She reached thousands in Nigeria and changed many of the practices such as infanticide of twin babies, and worked hard to combat many oppressive ways in the nation at the time such as ritual rape and oppression of women. Her work was recognised and she was honoured in Nigeria with a state funeral.
Kate Booth
England/France, 1858 - 1955
Also known as the "Maréchale" - She was fearless preacher. She went to France and Switzerland with two other young women and preached in the open air. She was attacked with mud and stones and locals even tried to strangle the girls with their Salvation Army bonnet hat strings! She continued on, winning many to faith in Jesus. When asked what her secret was to the success of her ministry she answered: “First, love; second, love; third, love. And if you ask how to get it, I answer: first, by sacrifice; second by sacrifice; third, by sacrifice.”
Corrie Ten Boom
Holland, 1892 - 1983
She, her father and her sister hid many Jews during the Second World War. They were caught and sent to prison. Her father died and Corrie and her sister Betsy were sent on eventually to Ravensbrück in Germany. Her sister died there but Corrie was released at the end of the war and wrote their story in "The Hiding Place.
Jackie Pullinger
England/Hong Kong, Present
A gentle but strong woman called from a country church to the walled city of Hong Kong. At the age of 22, she simply followed the call of God, got on a boat and went to Hong Kong. Rejected by local missionaries, Jackie began working in a forgotten part of the city that was lawless and home to hopeless drug addicts. Her story is written in the book "Chasing the Dragon'. She saw God move and change lives in miraculous ways.
