Women rise to a new mission
During his visit to Canada, A. V. Timpany spoke passionately about the lives of women in India. Their struggles weighed heavily on his heart, and he challenged the women of Canadian Baptist churches to respond.
“What can I say to the Christian women of my native land,” he asked, “that will move them to greater interest for the salvation of their Hindu sisters—unwelcomed at their birth, enslaved as wives, accursed as widows, and unlamented when they die?”
Then came his challenge:
“Will you not organize? Can you not give one short hour each month… to talk and plan and pray together for your Telugu sisters?”
The response was immediate.
“We will at once arise and organize!” Baptist women declared.
Women across Ontario began forming mission circles, gathering monthly to pray, learn about the work in India, and support missionaries. Each woman was asked to contribute two cents a week—a small but sacrificial gift in a time when many women had little income of their own.
Within a year, mission circles had formed in 30 Ontario churches, raising more than $1,000 for the work in India. Soon similar circles appeared across Eastern Ontario and Quebec.
In the years that followed, these women:
- sent missionaries such as Mary Jane Frith and Isobel Hatch to India
- supported Indian Biblewomen who shared the gospel with other women
- opened schools for girls
- and launched a magazine, The Canadian Missionary Link, to connect supporters with the work.
What began with a challenge became a movement—women praying, giving, and working together for mission around the world.