A young man’s prayer that would bear fruit around the world
As a boy growing up in Elgin County, Ontario, A. V. Timpany planted a small apple tree and claimed it as his “missionary tree.” He believed that one day his life would belong to God’s work in the world.
That simple act became a quiet symbol of the calling that would shape his life.
As a young man, Timpany wrestled deeply with surrendering himself to God’s service. Eventually he and his wife, Jane, left Canada to join American Baptist missionaries working in India. There they helped establish new mission work among communities that had little access to education or the Christian message.
During his only furlough to Canada, Timpany travelled across Ontario and Quebec sharing what he had witnessed. One burden weighed heavily on his heart: the situation of women and girls in India.
At the time, many people believed educating girls was unnecessary—or even dangerous. When missionaries invited fathers to send their daughters to school, some responded with disbelief: “Teach girls to read? Better go and teach the donkeys to read.”
Yet change was already beginning. A small school started by missionary Mary McLaurin on her verandah grew from just three students to more than 250.
Moved by these stories, Timpany gathered influential Baptist women in meetings in Toronto and Montreal. He challenged them to support mission work among women in India.
They responded.
From those early gatherings grew a movement of Baptist women committed to prayer, generosity, and global mission—fruit from seeds planted long before.