Jul 6, 2023

Amy Carmichael

Seven-year-old Preena went to draw water from a well. She overheard Amy Carmichael (1867-1951) telling women at the well about her God who loved everyone the same. This God did not assign people to different classes as did the Indian caste system. Preena’s mother had sold her to a Hindu temple. A girl sold to the temple, called a devadasi, was married to the temple’s god. Today, we call it sex trafficking.
Preena resolved to live with this woman who spoke of God’s love. She planned her escape in the middle of the night when her guardians were sleeping. She tiptoed quietly through an unlocked door and pushed open the heavy gate. Preena knocked at Amy’s door and begged to come live with her. When Amy investigated the dark underworld of girls sold to the temple, she was horrified. There was no way Amy would hand Preena back over to that life. The temple priests came looking for Preena and accused Amy of kidnapping. Amy held her ground and adopted Preena. Suddenly, this single woman missionary from Ireland with no children of her own became amma (mother) to a seven-year-old.

Word spread and more children showed up at Amy’s doorstep. By 1904, three years later, Amy had become amma to seventeen more children.

Amy’s mission to the children of India lasted fifty-five years. The Dohnavur Fellowship, led by Amy and assisted by Preena, rescued a thousand children from similar bondage. Amy’s prayer for children reflects her singular passion:

Father, hear us, we are praying, Hear the words our hearts are saying,
We are praying for our children.
Keep them from the powers of evil,
From secret, hidden peril,
From the whirlpool that would suck them,
From the treacherous quicksand, pluck them.
From the worldling’s hollow gladness,
From the sting of faithless sadness,
Holy Father, save our children.
Through life’s troubled waters steer them,
Through life’s bitter battle cheer them.
Father, Father, be Thou near them.
Read the language of our longing,
Read the wordless pleadings thronging,
Holy, Father, for our children.
And whenever they may bide,
Lead them home at eventide.

Rev. Dr. Peter James served 42 years as the senior of Vienna Presbyterian Church in Vienna, VA — 21 years in the 20th century and 21 years in the 21st century. He retired in 2021 and now serves as Pastor-in-Residence at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Even as a pastor, prayer came slowly to Pete. Read Pete’s story.