My Grandma Unwanted's Bible
Pictured above: Mary reading a passage of scripture in Matthew 28 about the Great Commission in her Grandmother’s Bible.
Dear Friends,
My Grandma’s name was “Unwanted.” In the 1900s, infant mortality was high. Because of this, my grandmother's parents named her "Unwanted." They named her this so that the “jealous gods” would not steal her life. She grew up with no education or schooling. She could not read. She never learned to speak the national Chinese Mandarin dialect which all educated people use. Instead, she spoke a local dialect.
When my Grandma Unwanted became a Christian, she desperately desired one thing more than anything else. She wanted to read God’s Word, the Bible, but there was no one to teach her. There were no schools helping adult women to read. However, she heard that the foreign missionaries who came had invented a Romanization phonetic script called the Missionary Romanization System to teach people to read in her dialect. So, Grandma Unwanted (on her own) began to slowly teach herself to read the Chinese Bible using the missionary's script.
As a girl, I remember regularly visiting my grandma in Taiwan when I was growing up in Swaziland and New Zealand. The thick black Bible that she finally learned to read always sat like a centerpiece on her dresser. Unlike most Chinese/Taiwanese grandparents, she never inquired about my grades or career aspirations. Instead, she would always ask, “Are you going to church?”
Last month when I went back to Taiwan, I asked for Grandma Unwanted’s Bible as my keepsake. Inscribed in her Bible was the date 1955 and my grandpa’s name. The ink is now faded and the cover tattered. For me it represents the legacy of missions. You see, where missions has gone, the Gospel has brought about societal transformation, including literacy and empowerment -- especially for girls and women.
The pioneer efforts of Taiwan's first missionary James Maxwell have made a lasting impact in my country: the first church planted is now sending missionaries; the first clinic has become a large hospital serving hundreds of patients a day; the first school is still graduating generations of students; and the first Bible translated in the local dialect is still being used by the Presbyterian churches today.
That is why we do missions. Wherever the Gospel has gone, it has brought about Kingdom transformation. Missions in the past has made mistakes, especially in the Colonial era, but the greater truth is that wherever the Gospel has gone, God’s servants have made disciples, planted churches, and brought about Kingdom transformation in the nations at great cost to their lives. The unwanted are adopted into Christ’s family -- that's the legacy of reaching the unreached.
Blessings,
Mary
Dr. Mary Ho, DSL
All Nations International, Inc. | International Executive Leader
Staying Connected or Learning More
Help share this and other blogs with your friends and ministry leaders! It would also be a huge help if you could please follow us on social media via the links below! Thank you!
If you would like to receive leadership updates, link here to stay current on All Nations International’s news and prayer efforts! To learn more about All Nations today, visit: www.allnations.international!
Are you wondering if you are wired to go? This area on our web site will help you!
We have plenty other resources (devotion, book club, events) and a monthly global prayer for the neglected! You are welcome to join us.
Give today to see the neglected globally reached — the least, the last, and the lost!
www.allnations.international
Reaching the neglected globally — the least, the last, and the lost since 1993.
