Translating the Word: Georgia Burrus Burgess in India
In the marketplace, on boats and on streets in late 1890s India, male missionaries found open doors: men interested in hearing their message or reading their material. But when it came to entering people's homes and evangelizing women, doors were shut in the male missionaries’ faces. In some countries, including India, it was against cultural customs and norms to allow foreign men to talk to their daughters and wives.
These closed doors for male missionaries provided open doors for female ones. And one such woman, Georgia Burrus Burgess, was able to open these doors through a special gift: language.
Guest: Dr. Edward Allen, retired professor of religion at Union College.
Explore More
Article | “Georgia Burrus Burgess” by Gordon E. Christo - Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists - https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=AHXD&highlight=burgess
Article | “Zenana Missions” by Gordon E. Christo - Adventist Review - https://adventistreview.org/magazine-article/zenana-missions/
--------
29:20
--------
29:20
The "Bible Women" of China
Few 19th century Protestant missionaries arriving in China realized that Christianity had first come to China over a thousand years before they had. Even fewer realized how much they had to learn. Not just the language-and that would prove hard enough-but thousands of years of culture. They wanted to change the world.
Most missionaries arrived with a racial bias and assumed that Western culture was superior to Chinese. But they had a lot to learn and would find that if they would succeed in their conversion mission, they needed to adapt their methods.
In this episode, we explore the largely unknown legacy of the Bible Women—Chinese Christian women of the 19th and early 20th centuries who served as Bible teachers, caregivers, and evangelists. These women went where foreign male missionaries could not: into the inner lives and homes of Chinese women.
This is Part 2 of a two-part series on Christian Women in China.
Explore More
Article | Olga Oss - Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists (written by our own Heidi Olson Campbell!) - https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=FJEY
Article | Lucy Andrus - Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists - https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=H8A1
--------
34:59
--------
34:59
How Women Brought Christianity to China
Christianity has been present in China since the 7th century—long before the arrival of Jesuit or Seventh-day Adventist missionaries. Yet for much of Chinese history, social norms meant women lived relatively private lives, interacting mostly with one another. “When I was reading Chinese Christian history,” guest Dr. Susangeline Patrick recalls, “I didn't initially see a lot of women's stories.”
And yet today, women are the backbone of China’s Christian movement—serving as pastors, leaders, and patrons. So what changed?
In this two-part series, we explore the surprising origins and growth of Christianity the 16th and 17th century China and the role women played in it.
This is Part 1 of a two-part series on Christian Women in China.
Guests: Dr. Joseph Lee and Dr. Susangeline Patrick.
Explore More
Article | “The Remarkable Story of China’s ‘Bible Women’” - Christianity Today - https://www.christianitytoday.com/2018/03/christian-china-bible-women/
Book | “A Model for All Christian Women:" Candida Xu, a Chinese Christian Woman of the Seventeenth Century’ by Gail King - https://www.routledge.com/A-Model-for-All-Christian-Women-Candida-Xu-a-Chinese-Christian-Woman-of-the-Seventeenth-Century/King/p/book/9780367682927?srsltid=AfmBOopVRXHImkJNtGAWNLA2ic2VUVREW_46MbDoBkG8ZZ_djwTseZr2
--------
27:36
--------
27:36
Dying to Serve: Petra Tunheim's Life Across Languages and Continents
Petra Tunheim could have lived an ordinary life. She died on a ship to Singapore, traveling back to the island that she loved - Java - but she was born far from Java in Norway.
Her childhood was far from extraordinary. She was born to an ordinary couple with already a large family in an ordinary town in Norway, raising sheep and keeping up with her nine brothers and sisters.
But at 17, her life took one of the many turns that would make it extraordinary and lead to her living on four continents and learning seven languages.
Guest: Dr. Donny Chrissutianto, Assistant Professor of Historical Studies; Master of Divinity Program Director - Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies
Show Notes
Article | "Petra Tunheim," ESDA - https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=BAWT
Article | "Women conference presidents: a forgotten history," Adventist Record https://record.adventistchurch.com/2020/12/17/women-conference-presidents-a-forgotten-history/
--------
30:19
--------
30:19
A Family Affair: Pioneering Women in South America
Missionaries in the late 19th and early 20th century often didn't speak the language and didn't know anyone in the new country they were going to, at least at first. Missionary boards typically sent couples like Joseph and Jennie Westphal into the field together so that they would not have to go it alone.
But this didn’t stop single women missionaries in South America like Lucy Post and Olive Westphal from carrying out their calling of service. They found ways to build support networks of community, friends and other family members so their work was impactful and long-lasting, laying the foundation for medical clinics, hospitals, churches and universities that are still present today.
Thank you to our guests, Dr. Silvia Sholtus & Pastor Kayla Goodman.
Special thanks to Ashlee Chisholm from the General Conference Archives for helping us find photos of Jennie Westphal and Lucy Post.
Explore More
Article | Lucy Belinda Post (1845–1937) - Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists
Article | Jennie Westphal - “Parents Par Excellence” - Review and Herald Vol 145 No. 31, 1968
Book | “Women in leadership in the beginnings of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South America“ by Silvia Sholtus, Margarita Biaggi (Translator)
This episode mentions Lucy Post, Luisa Post, Frank and Mary Westphal, Joseph and Jennie Westphal, Olive Westphal, River Plate University, Argentina, Brazil and South America.
About They Also Served: Stories of Adventist Women
Join historian Dr. Heidi Olson Campbell as she uncovers the untold stories and ”unvisited tombs” of women who impacted Christianity in America and around the world, and who made the Seventh-day Adventist church what it is today.
South Africa