Amy Carmichael (1867-1951): Missionary to India

Early on in her time in India, Amy received a letter from a lady in England who was seriously considering giving herself to missionary work. In her letter she asked Amy what missionary work was like. Amy replied, “Missionary life is simply a chance to die.” When I first read this, I immediately thought of our Lord’s words in John:12:24-25 [24] Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. [25] He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
See All...: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” 

Amy Carmichael understood well, not simply what every potential missionary needs to grasp, but what every Christian needs to understand—death works life (read 2 Cor:4:10-12 [10] Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. [11] For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. [12] So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
See All...). A missionary’s life is completely unglamorous. It requires dedication, devotion, resolve, and a readiness to die. That was Jesus’ basic requirement for every would-be disciple. When he said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me,” Jesus was not saying that following him meant that life would be punctuated with inconveniences. Using the most dramatic of language, Jesus was saying, “Unless you are willing to die, you cannot follow me.” This is why the first question that any potential missionary should be asked is, “Share with us how highly you value and cherish the Lord Jesus Christ.” It is the value we place on God’s Son that will, more than anything else, enable us to bear the cost, the often sore cost, of serving him in this dark and hostile world.

Amy Carmichael was an Ulster-Scot, born in 1867 in Northern Ireland to relatively wealthy Christian parents. At the age of 12 she was sent to boarding school in England and three years later wrote, “In his great mercy, the Good Shepherd answered the prayers of my mother and father and many other loving ones, and drew me, even me“. From this moment on, Amy devoted herself to living for Christ and serving the cause of the gospel.

Amy’s call to sacrificial missionary service began with a very ordinary incident. One Sunday heading for church, she saw an old woman carrying a heavy burden. Amy decided to stop and help. As she did, the words of 1 Corinthians:3:12-13 [12] Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; [13] Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
See All... came forcibly to her mind. One biographer wrote,“From this period her life would be shaped by the thought that ‘Nothing is important but that which is eternal.’” Sometimes, perhaps even most often, the Lord forwards the work of his kingdom quietly and unspectacularly. Who knows what seemingly insignificant incident God will use in your life today to bring you to give yourself unreservedly to him and his holy passion, the salvation and sanctification of the lost.

In 1887, she heard Hudson Taylor speak at the Keswick Convention and became persuaded that God was calling her to “Go and make disciples.”... Amy applied to and was accepted by the Anglican Church Missionary Society. In 1893, Amy travelled to Japan and then briefly to Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Her delicate health (she battled with poor health all her days) forced her to go to Bangalore in India to recuperate. In the sovereign providence of God, it was there that Amy became convinced of her life’s calling. Until her death in 1951, Amy devoted herself to bringing the gospel of God’s saving grace in Christ especially to young girls who had been sold into temple prostitution and servile slavery.

The Dohnavur Fellowship’s ministry among the female outcasts in Indian society became known far and wide. She gradually began to take in hundreds of unwanted children having smuggled them out of the temples when no-one was looking. On at least one occasion it seemed certain that she would be arrested, but she received a letter informing her that all charges had been dropped with no explanation!

By the mid-1930s Amy had become crippled and permanently bedridden following a nasty fall. However, her physical infirmity did not blunt her gospel usefulness. God continued to use her through the written word and her many books and poems that were published around the world, inspiring many Christians “to give up their small ambitions and go and preach the gospel of Christ.”

Amy Carmichael’s life was a striking witness to all who encountered her.Her love and devotion to the children of India was such that they referred to her as “Amma” or “mother.” One of her best-known sayings sums up her life: “One can give without loving, but one cannot love without giving.”

As we bring this brief overview of Amy’s life to a close, the words of one of her prayers surely echo in every Christian life that longs to glorify God: “God, harden me against myself, the coward with pathetic voice who craves for ease, and rest, and joy. Myself, arch traitor to myself, my hollowest friend, my deadliest foe, my clog whatever road I go.”

It is little wonder that the word of God commands us to “put to death what is earthly in us” (Rom:8:13For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
See All...). The Lord has not yet delivered us from sin’s presence; it remains to trouble us in any number of ways. But “if by the Spirit” we put to death what is earthly in us (and it is only with the Spirit’s help we can do this), we will “live”—live to be useful to God and the cause of his kingdom in this world.

https://www.radiusinternational.org/amy-carmichael-1867-1951-scottish-missionary-to-india/