Amy Carmichael was born in Ireland in 1867. From the get-go she didn't fit the mold.  Her unconventional outlook made problems for those who were dedicated to maintaining tradition than to reaching the lost world.  During her early missionary years, a "Get-Amy Carmichael-out-of- India" movement was started by those who didn't understand her unwavering obedience to what she believed to be God's will for her life.  In her book Roots, she writes: "It's not that we think...ours is the only way of living, but we are sure....it's the way meant for us."  Amy ministered in Japan, China, and Ceylon before being called to India where she spent her time working with children, especially young girls forced into temple prostitution.  Tenderness marked her life, but not the kind associated with weakness and fragility.  Hers was more of an "iron fist in a velvet glove" approach.  Burning with moral indignation she'd plow through a mob to rescue a little girl, then weep openly about the child's situation.  When she died in 1951 she was buried under a tamarind tree in a grave marked by the Indian word for mother: AMMAI.

Ever noticed how often single women are called to do some of the toughest jobs?  Or that many (though certainly not all) missionaries are women?  The Bible says, "Charm is deceptive, and beauty ...fleeting but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."  Today if God is calling you to be another Amy Carmichael, don't be afraid to say yes, because the safest place in the world-is in the center if His will.

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