The Life and Witness of Maria Fearing

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
February 26th 2006
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“The Life and Witness of Maria Fearing”
Matthew 28:16-20

Maria Fearing was born in 1838 on a plantation just outside of Gainesville, Alabama. For the first thirty-three years of her life she was a slave. Maria was responsible for raising the child and other domestic work. Since it was illegal to teach slaves to read or write, Maria could do neither. However, she did memorize parts of the bible and the Presbyterian catechism alongside the children of which she was responsible.
When the institution of slavery was brought to an end, Maria Fearing was thirty-three years old. Her first priority seemed to be tending to her own education. Using the skills she learned serving as a house slave she obtained a job to pay for her education. When Maria enrolled in Talladega College she was the oldest student in the school. As providence would have it Maria ended up rooming with the youngest two students at Talladega.
Maria was a diligent student who learned quickly. Upon her graduation she returned to the rural environment of which she was most familiar. It seems that she hoped to give back to her community by sharing her education with others. A short while after she begin her life as a teacher Maria purchased her own home in Anniston, Alabama. For over fifteen years Maria was a successful professional woman. However, her life was about to take a dramatic turn.
In 1891, Maria went back to Talladega College to hear William Sheppard speak. Sheppard was a black Presbyterian Missionary on leave from his work in the Congo. During Sheppard’s rather dramatic speech, he ended his talk with an invitation to join him in this work. Maria, feeling God’s call, knew she was to join Sheppard. So, at the age of fifty-six, Maria Fearing turned in her application to serve as a missionary for the Presbyterian Church in the Congo.
At first, Maria’s application was denied. She was told that she was simply too old. After all, she was told, this work killed men half her age. This was the sort of work where one in three people died. Because of this, the Presbyterian Church did not want to pay for someone they assumed was more likely to die before reaching her destination.
This rejection did not stop Maria. Sensing that God had called her to this work she was undeterred by the churches rejection. When Maria reapplied her application was accepted. However, there was one stipulation. If Maria wanted to serve as a missionary in the Congo with the Presbyterian Church, she would pay her own way.
Maria, convinced of her calling, did what she had to do in order to follow God’s call. First she sold her home and then received a pledge of support from a Congregational Church in Talladega. With money in hand, Maria Fearing was prepared to become a Presbyterian Missionary in the Congo. However, this was only her first challenge on the journey.
The journey from New York City would take over two months. However, it was the final leg of the journey which would prove most difficult. The last leg was a rough river trip in a steam ship. The ship was less than pleasant and the crew less than honest. The captain kept the rations of food for himself while serving rotting meat to the passengers. If one of the passenger dared venture onto the ship’s they would find it covered with a fence to keep arrows which were launched from the jungle upon unsuspecting targets. Despite a trying journey Maria took to her work with great vigor.
The entire group of Presbyterian missionaries was distinctly different from others. Not only were they black but their approach was rather unique. Instead of seeing the Congolese, with whom they worked, as ignorant and needing of their help, these missionaries had an obvious respect for the culture, traditions and languages. This posture made their work exponentially easier.
Upon arrival Maria became a student of the local customs and language. She had a real ability for this work. Maria was active in helping to translate the gospel into the local languages. Two years after beginning this work Maria was finally given the recognition she deserved from the Presbyterian Church. She was now a fully compensated missionary.
Maria Fearing’s greatest work was the founding of Pantops Home for Girls. The home was designed for girls who had been orphaned or had run away from slavery. Maria even sought to purchase the freedom of other slaves as she was able. Once at the Pantops Home, the girls were educated in traditional learning as well as life skills. They learned; reading, writing, arithmetic, homemaking, gardening, and the tenets of the Christian faith. It was clear that her work went far beyond that of conveying information. The young girls were so fond of Maria she was lovingly referred to as their “Mother from far away.”
This work was Maria’s life’s calling. In an environment where one in three people, half her age, died, Maria thrived. When Maria turned seventy-one she was encouraged by the Church to retire. It should come as no surprise that she told them no. However, six years later, in 1915, Maria Fearing did leave the Congo and returned to Alabama. In her retirement, Maria continued to teach church school until she died at the age of ninety-nine. Just over sixty years after her death, Maria Fearing was inducted into the Alabama Woman’s Hall of Fame.
It would be hard to measure the full impact of her life and witness. At a time in her life when many people would be beginning to think about settling down, she went to school, and become a teacher. After having reached a professional status and buying a home Maria appeared to have reached the ‘American Dream.’ However, Maria left it behind to follow her heart. After being told she was too old to serve she sold everything she had to serve God. And at an age when many people are preparing for retirement Maria Fearing was busy serving God’s children.
The passage we read this morning from Matthew’s gospel is often called the great commission. In the gospel, Jesus meets the disciples on the Mountain and leaves them with this message: Go and make disciples of all people, baptizing and teaching them to follow what I have taught you. The life and witness of Maria Fearing is one which understood this call. Despite being unable to read, despite being told no, despite being told she was too old to serve, Maria Fearing followed God’s leading in her life.
I am humbled by her witness. Her life ought to lead each one of us to ask; “What excuse or excuses am I letting stand in the way of living out God’s call in my life?” I believe her witness is one which demands us to reexamine our lives. It is a call to confront the obstacles in our way and then ask “Am I willing to follow God’s call for my life despite the obstacles that stand in the way?” Amen.