Amy Carmichael: Selfless Servant of India

Title: Amy Carmichael: Selfless Servant of India
Author: Sam Wellman
Series: Heroes of the Faith series and included in Inspiring Women of the Faith
Major Themes: Amy Carmichael, Missionaries, India, Dohnavur Fellowship
Synopsis: Amy Carmichael’s entire life, from working with poor people in the slums of Belfast Ireland to rescuing little girls from the temples in India, was lived for God.

I have read a number of books about Amy Carmichael. Her life is quite a challenge to anyone who wants to live for God. Amy held nothing back; she gave God all she had and was.

Amy Carmichael: Selfless Servant of India chronicles a life that began in Northern Ireland, along the Irish Sea. Her father and uncle ran mills that ground wheat into flour. As she grew older, Amy began working with the Belfast City Mission, reaching out to the poor people in the slums. Several years later, she attended some of the Keswick Conventions, where she heard the call of God to go to the unsaved heathens as a missionary. In 1893, Amy sailed for the Orient.

After spending a short time in Japan and then Ceylon, Amy went to India, where she spent the rest of her life. She started her work there by reaching out to women, but when a little girl who was to be “married to the gods” ran away to Amy for refuge, she began taking in other orphans. Eventually, she founded the Dohnavur Fellowship. Several homes were built for little girls and boys, and Amy was always working hard to take care of everything that had to be done. Then, one day in 1931, Amy fell into a deep pit in the dark and was never able to work physically again. She had always had a fear of being helpless and having to be cared for by others, and now her fear became reality. Until her death in 1951, she was bedridden and in pain, but she still used her time to work for the Lord she loved. She never stopped writing books to encourage other people to love and live for God.

This is the third Heroes of the Faith book I’ve read lately. The other two, about Sojourner Truth and Florence Nightingale, kept my attention all the way through. While this one, about Amy Carmichael, was very good also, it just didn’t strike me the way the others did.

No warnings!