In Monrovia

To find peace in the midst of turmoil…
a furnace thrown or Daniel’s Den…
What kind of peace is this, Lucinda cried!
Will my trial ever end?  
But then Naomi, as true to Ruth – as Ruth to her –
God sent His spirit, strong… 
Preparing Lucinda for the day…
that God designed… all along. 

Indeed, indeed…  As Naomi and Ruth, we have now a story of Naomi and Lucinda. How often we find great truths in the Bible that explain the what’s, the how’s, and the who’s… it’s the faith of men and women that God graciously transports us, as Philip to the eunuch, and then spirited away – as Lucinda from Connecticut to Monrovia. Oh, the beauty of the simplicity of the Gospel as we are challenged to live it out! While we may be reluctant to go deeply into the weeds, how we must wade into the rushes to find God’s people cradled there, such as Moses who fell into the arms of Pharoah’s daughter. I wonder what Lucinda waded into as she traveled abroad. No doubt, God cradled her as she was thrust into whatever role he designed for her: Sunday school teacher? House maid? Does it matter if she knew what she did pleased God? No, I don’t think it did.    

Indeed, indeed… We know that Lucinda had relocated to Monrovia, Liberia, Africa as of September 7, 1859. At that time, Bishop Francis Burns—the first Black bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church – ministered to freed slaves who returned to Africa from America. It’s curious that Bishop Burns’ wife, named Louisa (maiden name, Hazard) was possibly related to Lucinda. Sadly, we have no firm evidence they were related, but still. We do know that Louisa was a white woman, Irish… and if knowing God’s use of the temperaments that he endows in those he’d call to serve in difficult situations, Irish women are known to possess fiery natures and firm, if not obstinate resolve in what they set their hearts to do, and no doubt, God had Louisa’s and Lucinda’s heart. 

Indeed, indeed… it is in deed we serve and worship our great God! No doubt, Bishop Burns, Louisa, and Lucinda faced a furnace of their own. According to the records, half of the missionaries died as the result of tropical fevers…  the indigenous tribes clashed with those physically freed from one land to enter a new but different form of bondage… poverty, which tested every hope of that land being their promised land. What did the missionaries hope? That the truly freed would learn that the hunger and thirst Christ promised involved a meat and drink they knew not of. Indeed, indeed… Monrovia, was a muddy outpost of wooden chapels, thatched schools, which tested the most hearty of souls daily. 

Indeed, indeed… but what of their peace? What of ours?