Mary Slessor: Forward into Calabar (Janet and Geoff Benge)

Mary Slessor grew up in the slums of Dundee in the 1800’s. Industry was booming but housing was sub- standard and life expectancy was low. Illness, disease and malnutrition killed many children before they reached the age of five. And Mary’s own family was both poor and abusive! What hope did she have of being “used by God”?

But in the plan of God, the slums of Dundee were Mary’s training ground for a much fiercer battle. Only about 25 years old, Mary traveled to West Africa to devote her life reaching the lost tribes of Calibar. And what a culture it was! Among the peoples of Calibar, superstition demanded that families kill twin babies and murder slaves and women at funerals.

But the Lord Jesus Christ used Mary’s labors to set many free from all that – and from their own sins! Her life in the slums of Dundee was the key ingredient to her success as a missionary – that, and her constant trust in her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To this day, Calibar remembers Mary Slessor, affectionately known as “Ma”; her influence on that region of Africa was astounding.