”IANCU DE HUNEDOARA” NATIONAL COLLEGE

STUDENT:
COORDONATING TEACHER: IUNIA-GABRIELA BORDEA
0
IRMA KISS 11th A GRADE
 TABLE OF CONTENTS – AMY CARMICHAEL

ARGUMENT...................................................................................................................................2

PRÉCIS............................................................................................................................................3

INTRODUCTION: Who was Amy

Carmichael?.............................................................................4

CHAPTER 1: AMY CARMICHAEL’S LIFE IN EUROPE

 1.1 Amy Carmichael’s early

life.............................................................5
 1.2 The hardships Amy Carmichael
faced..............................................6
 1.3 The beginning of Amy’s
mission......................................................7

CHAPTER 2: AMY CARMICHAEL’S MISSION IN INDIA

 2.1 Starry
Cluster...................................................................................8
 2.2 Preena’s
story...................................................................................9
 2.3 Dohnavur
Fellowship.....................................................................10

CHAPTER 3: THE END OF AMY CARMICHAEL’S MISSION

 3.1 Amy Carmichael’s

writings...........................................................11
 3.2 Amy Carmichael’s death................................................................12
 3.3 Books and movies about Amy Carmichael....................................13

CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14

1
WEBOGRAPHY...........................................................................................................................15

ARGUMENT

I have chosen to write about the Christian missionary, Amy Carmichael, because I have
watched the Torchlighters series, ”Heroes of Faith: Amy Carmichael’s story” that determined me
to find out more about her.

In my opinion, Amy Carmichael

is to this day, a true example of personal
sacrifice for the good of others. When I
think of her, the first thing that crosses
my mind is the fact that she served with
love in India for 55 years without
furlough, as she herself said: “We will
have all eternity to celebrate our
victories, but only a few short hours to
win them.” She was ready to give it all
for the good of the Indians.

Another impressive thing about

Amy Carmichael is that even though she
had to face a lot of hurdles in India and

2
her health was not so good, she continued to carry forward the Good News of the Gospel with
great passion and dedication

What I admire most about Amy Carmichael is her love for God and for people, her
selfless service and her modesty. I strongly believe that her story can inspire many and she can
be a role model!

PRÉCIS

My paper, entitled ”Amy Carmichael: the Selfless Servant of India”, is a presentation

about the life of the Irish missionary, Amy Carmichael, and the work done by her for the benefit
of the Indian community. The following chapters are each one divided in three subchapters.

The first chapter is entitled ”Amy Carmichael’s life in Europe” and presents her life as a
child, the difficulties she had to overcome and how she became a missionary.

The second chapter, which is called ”Amy Carmichael’s mission in India”, talks about
her vision for India, her evangelization team and about the organization she established.

The final chapter, entitled ”The end of Amy’s mission”, presents details about her books,
her death and the tributes brought in her honor.

3
 INTRODUCTION
WHO WAS AMY CARMICHAEL?

Amy Beatrice Carmichael was an Irish Christian missionary in India who opened an
orphanage and founded a mission in Dohnavur. She served in India for 55 years without furlough
and wrote 35 books about missionary work there.

Amy Carmichael was born in Millisle, Northern Ireland, on the 16 of December 1867.
She was the oldest of seven siblings and her parents were David Carmichael and his wife
Catherine, both devout Christians. As expected, Amy attended Harrogate Ladies College for four
years in her youth.

Even though her father died when she was 16, so she had to take over his responsabilities
and started working at a mill. There Amy started a Sunday-morning class with the girls
(”Shawlies”) and soon after she found out about missionary life, at the Keswick Convention, she
became convinced of her calling to missionary work.

4
 Amy Carmichael traveled to Japan, but mainly due to her poor health condition (she
suffered from neuralgia) she returned home. Amy did not gave up and at the age of 28 she went
to India, finding her lifelong vocation. Even though she had a hard life in India, Amy was always
happy to help the people there and tell them about God. She especially dealt with girls given to
gods in Hindu temples, thus Amy founded the Dohnavur Fellowship. She helped many and even
after her death, that happened on the 18 of January 1951, many were inspired by her.

CHAPTER 1 - AMY CARMICHAEL’S LIFE IN EUROPE

1.1 AMY CARMICHAEL’S EARLY LIFE

Amy Carmichael was born on the December 16, 1867, in the small village of Millisle,
Northern Ireland. She was theoldest of seven siblings and her parents, David and Catherine
Carmichael, were sincere Christians who taught Amy about the love of God.

While at a girls’ boarding school in Harrogate in Yorkshire, Amy put her trust in Jesus,
during a special mission to explain Christianity to children. Despite her relative prosperity, even
at an early age, Amy had a heart for the poor and down-trodden.

When she was around ten years old, she and her mother enjoyed tea at a tearoom. While
they were eating, a dirty beggar girl stood outside the window looking at the rich people eating
their plates of food while she went hungry. That scene deeply moved Amy and when she went
home she wrote this little poem:

5
 “When I grow up and have money
I know what I will do.
I’ll build a great big lovely place,
For little girls like you.”

Little did Amy know that she would spend the majority of her life slowly building a big lovely
place for poor and opressed girls.

She started ministry in her teens when she would go to town and invite children’s Bible
club. We might call it a ”Backyard Bible Club” but what made this club so special was Amy’s
love for the children and her love for the Scriptures. She loved the children so much that she
wanted them to know the Scriptures and the God of the Scriptures.

Local girls who worked in the nearby mills were called ‘shawlies’, they worked in poor
conditions, 14 hours a day, for very little money. Amy brought them to church services, but they
were not welcomed by everyone, so she decided to purchase a tin building (‘The Tin
Tabernacle’).

CHAPTER 1 - AMY CARMICHAEL’S LIFE IN EUROPE

1.2 THE HARDSHIPS AMY CARMICHAEL FACED

Her childhood of relative ease ended with the death of her father as she
approached her eighteenth birthday. His death plunged the family into financial insecurity
and Amy was now faced with the responsibility of raising her brothers and sisters.

6
However Amy did not give up the ”Shawlies” and continued to work hard in ministry,
knowing the fact that God would help her. And she was right, God did help her and the
”Tin Tabernacle” did not fall apart. (Her work was not in vain and the ”Welcome
Evangelical Church” has been meeting weekly for over 120 years to this day.)

Not long after this, a second great

hardship entered her life. The money that Amy’s
deceased father had provided for the family ran
out. Amy and her mother moved to Manchester,
but, again, Amy worked among the people of the

slum areas. Like her ministry in Belfast, her new

ministry in the slums began to grow as she

invited more and more women to Bible

studies.

At the time when the ministry was

flourishing, she became very sick and almost

died. The conditions where she worked were

terrible and soon Amy became desperately ill. She was so sick that she had to leave the city to
recuperate.

Her father died, she had to leave behind her ministry in Belfast when her money ran out and
now she had to leave behind this new, vibrant ministry due to her sickness. Amy could have
gotten very depressed and disappointed, but she showed no sign of despair. She knew God was
beside her all along.

CHAPTER 1 - AMY CARMICHAEL’S LIFE IN EUROPE

1.3 THE BEGINNING OF AMY’S MISSION

7
 In order to recover from her illness, Amy Carmichael went to live with an older man
named Robert Wilson. Wilson was co-founder of the Keswick Convention which was an
evangelical organization which held tent meetings all over the United Kingdom. While serving
so faithfully there, she heard a nearly audible voice from the Lord saying, “Go”. Amy knew that
the Lord was speaking to her through the words of Matthew 28: “Go into all the world and
preach the gospel”.

Amy felt a call to go to China. But all of her hopes and dreams came crashing down just
before she sailed for China. While having a routine physical exam, the doctor decided that she
was far too weak to be able to endure the harsh life of living as a missionary in China. Later Amy
wrote, "It is a safe thing to trust Him to fulfill the desires which He creates.”. She was confident
that God had called her to the mission field and she would trust him to show the way.

About four months later Amy felt the call to go to Japan and she was quickly approved
for service. She had a fruitful ministry in Japan. In one small village where she ministered, the
Christian population tripled in a matter of a few weeks. Amy became the first missionary to get
rid of her western clothes and adopt Japanese clothing in order to better reach the people. After
fifteen months in Japan, Amy, again, became desperately ill. The doctors diagnosed her with
“Japanese head” which had the symptoms of headache, weakness and dizziness. She went to live
with Robert Wilson again, who himself was recovering from a stroke. Her sickness and
weakness had once again led her out of the mission field where she had been so fruitful.

But she would not let this deter her. A friend invited her to India, to a  place near the
mountains where there was a more temperate climate. She thought that perhaps Amy would be
able to tolerate it better. In 1895, when she was 28 years old, Amy sailed for India, not knowing
that she would spend the next 55 years in India and never again return to England or Ireland

CHAPTER 2: AMY
CARMICHAEL’S MISSION IN INDIA
2.1 STARRY CLUSTER
8
 Amy Carmichael settled in southern India where she served for a time with a missionary,
Thomas Walker, and his wife. She became involved herself in learning the Tamil language, the
Indian customs and caste system.

From the beginning, Amy bucked traditional missionary protocol by choosing instead to
wear saris and sleep on a mat on the ground, like the Indian village women and lived amongst
Indian women who had been persecuted after being converted to Christ from Hinduism. (Amy
refused to have many pictures taken of her).

They (Amy and the converts who wanted to follow her) were
called ‘The Starry Cluster’. They travelled and shared the good news in the open air, preaching
that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. They wanted their hearers to understand
that it is not through religious ritual that a person can come to know God, but through trusting in
Jesus and finding forgiveness, so that one can come into an everlasting relationship with God.
However, when children became Christians, they were often bitterly persecuted, even by their
own family.

When she was little, Amy prayed that God would chang e her eye color, wanting them to
be blue. It wasn't until she arrived in India that she understood that God created her with a darker
complexion (brown hair and brown eyes) to better intergrate in with the Indians!

CHAPTER 2: AMY CARMICHAEL’S MISSION IN INDIA

9
 2.2 PREENA’S STORY

Religious tradition in India said that those who wanted to enter the graces of the deities
had to bring a very valuable offering, usually little girls (or children). They were
worshiped to the gods so that their families would be blessed.

Amy met Preena during the girl’s second attempt to escape the Hindu temple. The first
time, she made it all the way home to her mother without capture. Her mother was
afraid that the gods would punish her if she didn’t return Preena, so she took the
terrified, screaming child back to the temple women.

The temple authorities branded Preena’s hands with hot irons as punishment for
running away. Still, when the child found another chance to escape, she seized it and
ran to a church in the village. Preena was found by a local woman named “Servant of
Jesus” who took her to Amy. Preena immediately climbed into Amy’s lap saying
“Amma”, which means “mother”, and they both fell in love.

Amy could not return Preena to the temple; that was

unthinkable. But she was torn. The Tamil had a saying -
”Children tie the mother’s feet.” Amy could see how true
this could be in her own situation.

Amy was forced to choose between her planned career and

almost full-time motherhood. Amy prayed for clear
direction. Amy, who had given up motherhood for the cause
of Christ, was now required to embrace it for that same
cause. This incident led to the founding of the Dohnavur Fellowship.

CHAPTER 2: AMY CARMICHAEL’S MISSION IN INDIA

1.3 DOHNAVUR FELLOWSHIP

10
 Preena talked freely as she played with a doll. She told Amy things that they did to her in
the temple, demonstrating them using the doll. The date was March 7, 1901. Amy never forgot
that day nor the child’s story. It was terrible beyond imagination. This was the beginning of her
rescuing these children who had been dedicted to the temple gods.

With other Indian women, Amy not only

created a large hostel, but also a hospital for children.
She prayed to God for all the money and medication
that was needed. Amy faced great opposition to all
she was doing, but eventually her efforts and tireless
labours led to the law in India being changed
(protecting children from the abuse).

Amy Carmichael loved and respected Indian

culture, insofar as it did not conflict with biblical
principles. All members of the Dohnavur Fellowship
wore Indian clothes, and the children were given
Indian names. Amy often traveled long distances to
rescue even one child from suffering. In 1904, Amma
(Amy) had 17 girls under her care. By 1913, the
Dohnavur Fellowship was home to 130. In 1918, the
family expanded even more, adding a home for
young boys, most of whom were children of temple prostitutes.

From the small beginning of one obedient woman and one small child came a ‘model
village’, complete with its own simple Indian facilities and even a hospital to serve the sick and
in which to preach the Gospel to the thousands from the villages who flocked to it for help. In
Amy Carmichael’s lifetime, the Dohnavur Fellowship helped approximately 2,000 children. The
orphanage and school called Dohnavur Fellowship that she started, still exists today.

CHAPTER 3: THE END OF AMY CARMICHAEL’S MISSION

3.1 AMY CARMICHAEL’S WRITINGS

11
 In 1932, after an accident in which she broke her leg and ankle, Amy spent the last 20
years of her life confined to bed as an invalid. From her room, Amma (Amy) ontinued to
minister to the Dohnavur family, writing copiously and receiving many visitors. Occasionally
someone would wheel her in a type of wheelchair out onto a veranda where her children would
gather outside to greet her and sing to her.

Amy, during this period, continued her inspirational writing, publishing 16 additional
books, including: ”His Thoughts Said...His Father Said” (1951), ”If” (1953), ”Edges of His
Ways” (1955) and ”God's Missionary” ( 1957), as well as revision of others she had previously
published. Biographers differ on the number of her published works, which may have been as
high as 35 or as many as six dozen, although only a few remain in print today.

Once Amy sent a book home for publication that was denied publication
and returned with the request for a rosier picture of mission work. The
publisher was worried many would feel disdain at the harsh reality of the
mission field she had portrayed. Amy sent the manuscript back without any
changes except for title, renaming it “Things as they Are.”

Amy Carmichael wrote 35 books, including

histories, biographies, and books of poetry. She was as eloquent as she
was prolific. Besides ”Things As They Are”, her books include ”Gold
Cord”, ”Raj: Brigand Chief”, ”Lotus Buds”, ”Toward Jerusalem” and
others. Amy’s writings are full of the themes of commitment, surrender,
love, and the deeper spiritual life.

Here are some quotes from Amy Carmichael:

“One can give without loving, but one cannot love without giving”

“A cup brimful of sweetness cannot spill even one drop of bitter water,
no matter how suddenly jarred.”

CHAPTER 3: THE END OF AMY CARMICHAEL’S MISSION

3.2 AMY CARMICHAEL’S DEATH
12
 Amy Carmichael died due to her ilness, in 1951, at the age of 83. Surrounding Amy’s
house are lovely gardens. She was also quite and admirer of birds, and a number of birds baths
and feeders are found in the garden around her cottage.

Somewhere in the garden, a bird bath under a tree

commemorates her. Amy did not like attention and that is one
of the reasons there are so very few pictures of her and she
didn’t want a marker placed over her grave. She wanted just to
remain a part of the Dohnavur Fellowship’s garden where
many of her children were buried. On the bird bath, the Indian
children inscribed the simple word ‘Amma’ (meaning
‘Mother’).

However, Amy Carmichael’s legacy lives on. the

Dohnavur Fellowship continues caring for Indian children
rescued from situations of danger; and the Welcome
Evangelical Church in Cambrai Street, Belfast is thriving.

In her memory, on the 16 of December, 2017, a

sculpture of her was unveiled by Margaret Bingham,
Presbyterian Church, Hamilton Street, Bangor, Northern
Ireland. The artist, Ross Wilson explains:

“In the sculpture Amy is holding her diary where she

recorded her dreams, her hopes, her future. Because of Amy
Carmichael’s vision countless children were given the hope of
a new beginning, were given a future.”

CHAPTER 3: THE END OF AMY CARMICHAEL’S MISSION

13
 3.3 BOOKS AND MOVIES ABOUT AMY CARMICHAEL

The story of Amy Carmichael gained popularity over the years and many books, movies
and documentaries were made about her or in her honor.

The most famous film about Amy Carmichael is the Torchlighters series, ”Heroes of
Faith: Amy Carmichael’s story”. This is an animated movie about the beginning of her mission
in India, about Preena’s story and about Dohnavur Fellowship. It is especially loved by children,
thanks to the colorful animations and entertainingly presented situations, but no adult or young
person would be bored, as it presents real facts and good things that anyone can learn from.

Some of the other books and documentaries are:

- ”The story of Amy Carmichael and the Dohnavur Fellowship” – documentary

- ”Amy Carmichael: Mother to the Motherless” – documentary

- ”Amy Carmichael: Rescuing the children” by Renee Taft

- ”Rescuer by night – Amy Carmichael” by Kay Walsh

- ”Amy Carmichael: a life abandoned to God” by Sam Wellman

CONCLUSION
14
 In conclusion, Amy Carmichael was truly a servant of God, dedicating her enitre life
serving others. She was very selfless, loving God and peple the most!

From her story we can learn that humility, love and passion can win an entire nation; and
a single person can change the law (a small seed can give birth to a huge tree). Amy Carmichael
fought against abuse, poverty and prostitution, and in the end her efforts were not in vain as the
law in India ended up being changed.

Although Amy spent the last years of her life in bed, her example proves to us that you
don't have to be perfectly healthy to be able to continue doing good and valuable things.

Besides all the wonderful things that Amy Carmichael managed to do in her life, the most
precious thing that she did was to love God and she did all the things for Him. Taking the Good
News of the Gospel to those in India, she truly demonstrated her love for God and the Indians.

For me Amy is a role-model and the world would be a better place if we all managed to
be like Amy, some selfless servants for others!

WEBOGRAPHY

15
1. https://www.gotquestions.org/Amy-Carmichael.html
2. https://www.thetravelingteam.org/articles/amy-carmichael
3. https://www.evangelical-times.org/the-life-and-legacy-of-amy-carmichael/
4. https://gfamissions.org/amy-carmichael/
5. Amy Carmicahel (worthyofpraise.org)
6. New sculpture of Amy Carmichael | Worldwide Mission

16