Mary Slessor Trials

Thousands of adults and children die every day. Are you going to stand back and watch? Or are you going to be a world-changer and do something about it? Mary Slessor decided to do something about it. However, Mary went through some trials in her life before she became a missionary. She grew up in Scotland with six siblings. Her father worked as a shoemaker and her mother stayed home with the children. After the death of the eldest child, dark days came upon the family. Mr. Slessor dropped into habits of drinking and soon lost his job. The family then moved to Dundee and entered more hardships. They lacked in wealth and needed to sell their furniture, but soon the money melted away. Mr. Slessor continued working as a shoemaker but before long
Slessor began working in the mills to help support the family. This left all of the household chores to Mary, but at age eleven she too, began working as a factory girl. Eventually, her job became a necessity to the family’s income. Mr. Slessor continued to drink and would spend every penny he could get his hands on in this way. Unfortunately, Mrs. Slessor sent Mary to the pawnshop behind his back in order to pay the bills. Also, there would be one night of terror in the house every week. Mr. Slessor would come home in an angry rage and would throw his food against the wall, which sometimes forced Mary out of the house, crying. These trials strengthened Mary and deepened her sympathy and pity for others. Although she came from a poverty-stricken home, she changed the world by being bold in her faith, determined in her mind and loving in her
She willingly gave herself for the wellbeing of others. Webster’s dictionary states that loving is, “Expressing love or kindness.” Mary was constantly following the second greatest commandment of the Bible, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Throughout her life she always let the love of God shine through her. By doing this she touched lives with the love God gave her. Mary was selfless. She would be at a tribe’s beck and call day and night. She taught school, preached, doctored, and willingly gave up anything of hers for the sake of others. Tribes gradually began to know what love was because of Mary’s selfless love and they respected her for it. Once, Mary found a pair of twins murdered by their grandmother and the mother of the children weeping in a hut close by. Normally, the penalty for having twins would be the death of the mother and the children, but because of Mary, this was not so. Instead, she sent a pillow and bed to the woman and told her husband to be kind to her. The man took his wife back into their house. Such a thing never happened in the dangerous tribes, but the love of God made a difference in their lives. Another loving action was going into Africa, because she risked her life for people she never even met. When she did meet the tribes of Nigeria, she didn’t turn them away because of their man-made beliefs and actions. Instead, she chose to care for them and changed their lives for the better. No