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Among the Women of India

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Jan 14, 1904

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 81, No. 2.

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Among the Women of India

By Georgia Burrus Burgess

GEORGIA BURRUS BURGESS
A short time ago I met an elderly Hindu woman, who was visiting at the house of a relative of hers with whom I was acquainted. Thus came the opportunity of telling her for the first time the “old, old story,” which was so new to her. As she listened, her eyes filled with tears, and she said, “O, I wish I could remain here longer, so that I could learn more! It seems to me there is something in this religion that I have never found before—something that can cleanse my heart.”
One Hindu woman, a widow, whom I had visited but a few times, and whose relatives were trying to get to discontinue studying with me, said to me, “Memsahib, when I hear about your Jesus, my heart seems to melt, and I want to learn more of him. Come as often as you can, and teach me.”
Hari, a Brahman woman, has recently accepted the Saviour, and is rejoicing in him. Her friends and relatives are very much stirred, and she is meeting with much opposition, but she stands firm. A short time ago a mob attacked her home at night, and told her they would give her just so much time to leave the place, as they would have no Christians there. But their threats did not move her. In telling me of these things, she said, “What does it matter if I lose all these? I have found the Saviour, and that is enough.”
A number of years ago a little Hindu girl was attending a mission school in Calcutta. Here she first heard of the Saviour, and learned to love him. One day she went to her teacher, and said, “Memsahib, I love Jesus, and want to be a Christian. Won’t you take me away from my home, and let me live with you, so I can be a Christian?” The teacher explained to her that that would not be pleasing God, but told her if she would pray God in faith, he would open the way for her at the right time.
Shortly after this the child was married, and of course taken out of school. But she did not forget her early teaching. Within a few years her husband died, and the sad lot of a child widow became hers. Soon after this her father also died, and she was left to the care of an older brother. In this added grief her heart turned again toward the Saviour of whom she had learned in the mission school, and she began to pray that God would open the way for her to become a Christian. She prayed definitely that in some way her brother with whom she was living might be converted; and within a year from the time she began to pray, her brother became a Christian. She, too, was baptized, and after continuing her studies for some time, became a teacher in the London Missionary Society’s Hindu Girls’ School, where she has been working ever since.
About a year ago the attention of this young woman was called to the Sabbath, and she became convinced that it was her duty to keep it. At once the question arose in her mind, How could she go on teaching school on the Sabbath? She felt assured if she refused to teach on that day, she would lose her position. Her anxiety was not so much for herself as for her brother, who had become a helpless invalid, and was entirely dependent upon her. But remembering how God in answer to her prayers had opened the way for her to come out from Hinduism, she believed that he would by some means open the way for her to take this advance step. So going to her pastor, she told him of her conviction, and that she could no longer teach on the Sabbath. Of course he tried to convince her that it was not necessary for her to keep the Sabbath. But, finding it impossible to turn her, at last, rather than lose her from the school where she had taught so faithfully, he arranged to have another take her work on the Sabbath, and she teach only the Bible class. This she has been doing for about three months. So we now have a Sabbath-keeper teaching in the London Missionary Society.
This young lady is very anxious to learn more of the truth and fit herself to carry the message of the Saviour’s soon coming to her shut-in Indian sisters, and we trust that the way may soon open for her to engage in this work.