The Family Disciple Me Podcast // Discipleship Starts With a Conversation

March MISSION Madness: Embracing Selflessness Through Mary Slessor's Journey

• Tosha Williams for FDM • Season 5 • Episode 26

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In this episode, we explore the extraordinary life of Mary Slessor, a woman whose faith may have seemed like madness yet remains a powerful testament to selfless love and service. Born into hardship but driven by an unwavering faith, Mary left her homeland of Scotland in the 1800s to serve as a missionary in dangerous Nigeria. There she faced challenges many of us could only imagine. From her fierce opposition against the killing of twins to her leading during conflicts in Nigeria, Mary lived a life focused on eternal impact rather than temporary comfort.

Join the two of us - Wendy Hickox and Tosha Williams - in reflecting on Mary's incredible story of selflessness. As we share Mary’s experiences during our March MISSION Madness series, we invite you to consider how her legacy inspires you to embrace selflessness in Jesus' Name. 

Don’t miss out on this insightful conversation—then dive into the accompanying devotion-driven-discipleship conversation guide based on this theme verse for Mary's life: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." Philippians 2:3-4 NIV 

May Mary's story ignite a passion in all of us to make a meaningful difference for the Kingdom of God in the lives of others. Subscribe to our podcast and join our mission to "Seek Him Speak Him" into the next generation!

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The Family Disciple Me ministry exists to catalyze devotion driven discipleship in our homes and around the world. We believe that discipleship starts with a conversation, and FDM provides free, easily-accessible, biblical resources to encourage these meaningful conversations along life's way. Sign up through our website to be "the first to know" about upcoming releases and resources (including the FDM App - coming soon!!!) You can also follow Family Disciple Me on social media.

Family Disciple Me is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit ministry, and all donations are tax deductible. More information, blogs, statement of faith and contact info can be found at familydiscipleme.org

Speaker 1:

Welcome back to the Family Disciple Me podcast and to our collection of conversations about March Mission Madness. I know, I know March Madness is usually about basketball and, well, my family's in the thick of it right now. However, this month, with Family Disciple Me, we're using March Madness as an opportunity to focus on March Mission Madness. So, welcome and, wendy, thanks for joining me here.

Speaker 2:

Thank you for having me again. I just can't wait to dig in and see what's next. We know that we've been exploring the lives of extraordinary women whose faith may have looked like madness to the world, but in reality it was the power of extraordinary women whose faith may have looked like madness to the world, but in reality it was the power of God at work. Our series verse is 1 Corinthians 1, 18. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

Speaker 1:

That's right, wendy. And today we're talking about a woman named Mary Slessor. She was someone who gave up everything. She gave up her home, her safety, her comfort in order to serve God in Nigeria. She lived with such radical humility and love and well, the more I thought about her life, I thought that she would be a perfect example for us in the March Mission Madness series. The perfect example of selflessness.

Speaker 2:

That fits perfectly into our key verse for today, philippians 2, 3 through 4,. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourself. And, wendy, let me tell you, mary Slessor is the perfect example for that.

Speaker 1:

But I had no idea who she even was until last year. I got to visit the William Wallace Monument in Scotland and there, alongside warriors like William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, I saw Mary's name in the Hall of Heroes and I thought who is Mary Slessor? That moment led me on a deep dive into her life and well, today we're going to talk about her incredible story.

Speaker 2:

That sounds great. I just can't wait to see how her life ties in with our March Mission. Madness, let's cue the intro and come right back to talk about her life.

Speaker 3:

Welcome to the Family Disciple Me podcast. If you have a real relationship with Jesus, then you're in the right place to be encouraged, challenged and blessed as you seek Him, speak Him. The mission of the Family Disciple Me ministry is to inspire devotion-driven discipleship, which is something we believe every Christ follower can do. Discipleship starts with a conversation, so let's get going with that right now.

Speaker 1:

So to create the setting for how I found out about Mary Slessor to start with, I was at the William Wallace Monument in Stirling, scotland. It was a beautiful town. I loved it. There's so many stories I have from Stirling, wendy, but we'll stick with this one for today. We're in the William Wallace Monument and it's almost like a lighthouse. It's really tall, it's really high and when you get to the top of it you can look out and see forever. But about halfway up they give you a breather from the very confined steps that it takes to get up there, and in that mid-level section they have a Hall of Heroes Wow, and in it there's William Wallace's sword and there's all sorts of history. It's fascinating. You can watch a sword and there's all sorts of history. It's fascinating. You can watch a movie and there's all these things. But then you go a little ways more up and there is an area where they memorialize different heroes from Scotland Many men and well, a few women, and one of those women was Mary Slessor.

Speaker 2:

That's such an amazing way to discover her story when you were standing there in Scotland, which. I can't even imagine, as you're in Scotland, what started to stand out to you as you were reading about her story.

Speaker 1:

Well, wendy, I loved Scotland. It was such a privilege to be there, and one of my husbands and my favorite heroes has always been William Wallace. So it was totally unexpected, in this beautiful memorial to him, to see this memorial to this woman. And well, as I stood there and started reading, I was quite honestly awestruck that Scotland took the effort to honor a missionary woman. She gave up everything to leave her homeland of Scotland to suffer for Christ in order to serve others selflessly. To me, she completely embodies Philippians 2, verses 3 and 4 that you read earlier in the introduction. Mary didn't just live for herself, she lived selflessly in order to serve others.

Speaker 2:

And it sounds like Mary's ability to lay down her life for others. It didn't just start in Nigeria. It sounds like it started way before that in Nigeria. It sounds like it started way before that. She was born in 1848, from what. I understand in Scotland, where you were in extreme poverty and she had to work in a textile mill at age 11 just to help her family survive, which really, Wendy, makes me think about all the parents right now that have children with them.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely Little 11-year-old Mary is having to work really hard to help her family. It was a survival situation and yet, even in that hardship, God was shaping her heart. Her mom, I've read, was a very strong believer and she would read her children missionary stories, especially stories about the famous missionary named David Livingston. She would tell Mary and her siblings all about these amazing people who loved and sacrificed for Jesus. And well, those stories planted seeds for Mary's faith and for her calling.

Speaker 2:

So, as her mother was sowing into her, those seeds started to take root and by the age of 28, she knew God was calling her to missions herself, and my understanding is is she went to serve in Calabar, nigeria.

Speaker 1:

That decision. For her to go, as a 28-year-old woman, to Calabar, it surely looks like madness to the world A single woman going to one of the most dangerous places on earth, a place where, well, she may never be able to come back from. But she wasn't going for herself.

Speaker 2:

She was going because God called her to serve others as you said, might look like foolishness to all of us. I can't personally imagine what she was going through, but it seems like she was prepared from the age of 11 to be serving others.

Speaker 1:

That brings us back to our key verse, the message of the cross, the mission of living for Jesus. It does look like foolishness, it doesn't make sense if you're looking at it through the world's eyes, but the Bible says to us who are being saved, living a life of sacrifice and selflessness on mission for Jesus. Well, that's the power of God and that is what Mary's life exemplifies.

Speaker 2:

And I'm so excited that we're having the opportunity to share about her life and this extraordinary experience she had. But I have to tell you sometimes it feels a little intimidating as a woman sitting here in Colorado, like that's not my life. But I know, learning about somebody with such great faith to serve it applies to my life.

Speaker 1:

It does apply, wendy, because well, mary lived this extraordinary life of selflessness and for me it just sets almost like a North Star in my heart as I think about what selflessness I can't even say selflessness could look like in my life.

Speaker 1:

I'm not called to Africa, at least not right now, but there are so many ways that God wants me to live selflessly. So, as we have these conversations about March Mission Madness and we hold up these examples, in no way are we saying live exactly like this person, but we are holding them up as an example to say in what way can we live like them and emulate those godly mission traits that they have in their life, Absolutely.

Speaker 2:

That sacrificial love that she demonstrated.

Speaker 1:

She demonstrated it in so many ways when she arrived in Nigeria. One way that she lived out the love of Christ is that well, she was horrified to learn about some of the local traditions. One of those traditions that really jabs me in the heart is that in Nigeria, they killed twins. What they killed twins. And that strikes me especially deeply because my family has a new set of twins. They're about seven months old now, and that was something that we celebrate, but it was not celebrated in Calabar. The tribes believed that one of the two twins was a demon child, but obviously with newborn babies, which is which. So they would abandon or they would kill both of them. So here's what Mary did she rescued those abandoned babies, she took them into her home and she fought against those cultural superstitions that led to their deaths. And she would just. She just kept filling up her household with these, these twins. She would go looking for them and when she would find them, she would bring them home.

Speaker 2:

The people of Calabar they thought she was crazy for that. 3 through 4 in action. That's the epitome of what this verse is about. She humbled herself enough, she didn't live for her own comfort and she gave herself completely to those children.

Speaker 1:

And thing is, it wasn't just twins that Mary lived selflessly for. She became a peacemaker between warring tribes and eventually, believe it or not, she was named the first female magistrate in that country. All the way from Scotland to Calabar, that country, all the way from Scotland to Calabar. She became their first female magistrate and she earned their trust, so much trust that they saw her sacrificial love and they wanted her influence in their lives.

Speaker 2:

After reading through all of this material and learning more about her life, I realized that she had so many hardships, malaria, loneliness. She could have left, but I'm noticing she didn't leave.

Speaker 1:

She didn't leave, she stayed. I think she went back to Scotland for one visit, but then she was right back to Calabar. She once said, quote heaven is not here, it is there. If we really want to love him, we must serve him where he needs us most. And so she endured all those hardships, that loneliness, that malaria, that danger. She put herself on the line because she believed with all her heart that Jesus needed her there in Calabar.

Speaker 2:

That's such a powerful reminder. She wasn't focused on the temporary comfort. She was focused on eternal impact.

Speaker 1:

She was, and when she died in 1915, she was given a state funeral in Nigeria.

Speaker 1:

She had become known as quote Ma Slessor she was also known as a mother to all, and you know, wendy, we're moms and I know there's a lot of moms listening to this podcast, and I have my five, you have your three, and it could be really easy for us to just focus on our own children that God has given us, and certainly that is our primary calling, right, absolutely. But an inspiration from Mary's selfless life is that she was known as a mother to all.

Speaker 1:

Like you said, what if we open our hearts up and we mother others that God sends our way? I know you do that as a teacher. You care about so many kids.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. It looks like giving to others, putting others first and loving whoever God has sent into my life in addition to my own family. You know, when I think about Mary's life, I think there's some really powerful lessons. Suffering isn't wasted. God uses hardships to prepare us.

Speaker 1:

He uses hardships to well use us in other people's lives. Mary's a great reminder of that.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. I think also a lesson is that love means sacrifice. Real faith isn't about self, it's about others.

Speaker 1:

That's right. And it's not just about others, but as Christ self, it's about others. That's right. And it's not just about others, but as Christ followers. It's about others in Jesus name and we should live for eternity.

Speaker 2:

The world may call it madness, as we've been focusing on this month, but heaven is our true home.

Speaker 1:

And I love that, as Mary is there. She's been there over 100 years now, departed from this world and in the presence of Christ. There are so many people with her there because she lived selflessly to go tell them about the truth of the gospel. I love that. She lived not just as a missionary but on mission, and well, that's what we're all about this month, with Family Disciple Me Passing on this faith, this mindset about sacrifice, about selflessness, about love, about prayer, about freedom, about an eternal mindset.

Speaker 2:

I'm so thankful for the opportunity to talk about this extraordinary woman's life during our March Mission, madness month. Mary Slessor's life is a reminder that true faith. Well, it isn't about what we gain, it's about what we give.

Speaker 1:

Isn't Mary such a great inspiration for that? Yes, I am so encouraged by her life and, well, I hope that you listener are encouraged as well. We challenge you to spend some time thinking about Mary's story and then take it a step further. Seek the Lord about this. What does this look like in your life? In the show notes, we have included a discipleship conversation guide about Philippians, chapter 2, verses 3 and 4. And we encourage you to spend a few moments doing what we call Seek Him, speak Him. Don't take our word for it about what the Bible says. Go, spend time in that scripture yourself. Listen to what God wants to say to you about that scripture. Maybe mull over Mary's story, think about her example and what God wants to show you through that and then, as you spend time seeking him in his word and hearing his voice, then turn around and speak him into the next generation. Dig into the story, dig into the scriptures, dig into what God wants to teach you and what he wants to teach, through you, to those entrusted to you. It is such an amazing opportunity that we have during March, mission Madness and Always.

Speaker 1:

As we close, I want to say a prayer for us. Lord, god, thank you for this amazing woman who now sits at your throne. I am sure that she is interceding as part of the great cloud of witnesses, and we are so inspired by her example. Lord, help us to live selfless lives that glorify you and bless those who are entrusted to us. We give you our lives for your glory, for our good and for the good of all of those that you've placed in our life. Amen, amen, yes, amen, yes. Go with God, friend. Until next time, be encouraged.

Speaker 3:

Thanks for joining us in this podcast episode. You can find the matching conversation guide in the show notes To get the latest updates about the Family Disciple Me ministry, as well as word about our soon-to-be-released app, sign up to be the first to know at familydisciplemeorg. Also, if you enjoyed this podcast, help us get the word out by leaving us a review on your favorite podcast platform. God bless you, friend. Now go seek Him, speak Him, speak Him.