Amy Carmichael (1867 – 1951) is best known for her work with at-risk Indian children, founding the Dohnavur Fellowship, and a host of influential writings.
Amy, born into a Christian family, came to know the Lord early on. As a teenager young Amy developed a burden for the Shawlies, a group of poor Irish mill girls. She shared the gospel with them and held Bible studies that grew so big that a building had to be purchased to hold the up to 500 people who attended the classes.
One day Amy heard the famed missionary Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission, speak and knew that God was calling her to the foreign mission field. In 1887 Amy traveled to Japan but had to return home one year later due to illness. But this didn’t stop her from her life goal of being a foreign missionary. Once she was well again she applied to a new mission board and in 1895 found herself in Bangalore, India. And for the next 56 years she faithfully served in her beloved adopted country of India.
Amy soon developed a deep love for the young Indian women and girls that came seeking sanctuary from the temples where they served as prostitutes. And so began her new life’s work seeking to save the many unwanted and abandoned girls serving and born into prostitution in the Indian temples. Soon Amy settled in Dohnavur, a city near the southern tip of India. Thus began the Dohnavur Fellowship, which still is active today. Originally home to just girls, the fellowship expanded in 1918 to include a home for young boys, most of whom were born to temple prostitutes. During Amy’s lifetime it is estimated that she and he Fellowship helped over 2,000 children. She also was a strong believer in not putting out pleas for finances, instead relying on prayer to have the children’s needs met – and the Lord always provided!
According to the website inspirationalchristians.org: “She wore the traditional sari, dyed her skin with coffee or tea bags, and endured the hot and dry Indian atmosphere, all in the name of God’s precious children. In 1931 however, her race for Him was jolted by a fall in 1931. Her hip and back were badly damaged and she was unable to fully walk again. The last twenty years of her mission at Dohnavur Fellowship were directed from her bedroom. Amy’s movements were limited, but her ministry was not. In twenty years, she wrote sixteen additional books of the missionary work in India.”1
For this amazing woman love and sacrifice for Christ guided her every decision in life. Once she stepped foot in India she never left the children she loved so much except on her promotion day to glory at age 83. Below are a few quotes by Amy that show the deepness of her devotion to Jesus:2
“When I consider the cross of Christ, how can anything that I do be called sacrifice?”
“We have all eternity to celebrate the victories but only a few hours before sunset to win them.”
“Our loving Lord is not just present, but nearer than the thought can imagine – so near that a whisper can reach Him.”
“All along, let us remember we are not asked to understand, but simply to obey.”
“Prayer is the core of the day. Take prayer out, and the day would collapse.”
“I would rather burn out than rust out.”
“Satan is so much more in earnest than we are–he buys up the opportunity while we are wondering how much it will cost.”
“A cup brimful of sweetness cannot spill even one drop of bitter water, no matter how suddenly jarred.”
“If monotony tries me, and I cannot stand drudgery; if stupid people fret me and little ruffles set me on edge; if I make much of the trifles of life, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”
“Love accepts the trying things of life without asking for explanations. It trusts and is at rest.”
1 Amy Carmichael Biography | Inspirational Christians
2 All of these quotes are from the following website:
TOP 25 QUOTES BY AMY CARMICHAEL (of 118) | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)