Christian Heroes: Amanda Smith: From Slave to Evangelist

Issue 5

Amanda Smith

From Slave to Evangelist Amanda Berry Smith thought she would have to die because of a promise she made to God, but He sent deliverance and she became his faithful worker.

“A

manda Berry! Eat what you are given!”

“No! I want my toast buttered and sugared on both sides.”

Amanda’s mother seized a switch and started toward the girl.

Little Amanda ran. She wrapped herself in the apron of an old white woman and peeped out. Amanda was a slave in Maryland. The old woman owned her, but she was her favorite and knew she was safe in her apron.

“That girl is strong-willed and spoiled rotten,” muttered Amanda’s grandmother who was watching.

Amanda was not a slave long. Her father, Samuel Berry, was a hard worker and bought his freedom and then purchased his family one by one.

Later Amanda said sadly that many slaves would work hard to buy their freedom from human masters, or even risk their lives to escape from them, but would do nothing to escape their slavery to sin.

Her father was not like that. Even while he was a slave, Samuel used to read the Bible to his family every Sunday. He

always asked a blessing on his food, no matter how little there was. Amanda’s mother made her say her prayers before going to bed, too.

Life in a free state

Soon after the Berrys got their freedom, they moved to Pennsylvania, a state that did not allow slavery. Amanda’s dad and mom helped runaway slaves escape to Canada. Their house was a stop on the Underground Railroad. Amanda’s mother was clever at hiding the runaways. Only

as The gospel of Jesus w l, and so full and practica sense with good, common y it seemed to cover m need.

Amanda Smith ( 1837-1915)

not open the door or even call for help.

Fortunately another boy arrived late and let her in. Other school girls unwrapped Amanda, rubbed her hands and feet, and helped her recover.

Altogether, Amanda got only about thirteen weeks of schooling. In spite of this she became a good reader and writer.

The wrong book

Samuel Berry, Amanda’s father. He bought his own freedom and hers, too. one slave was ever captured at their house.

Amanda and her siblings learned to act as if they knew nothing about what was going on.

Amanda desperately wanted to go to school. With her mother’s help she had learned to read a little. Now she found a place in a school five miles from home and walked there every day. One freezing winter day, her mother said it was too cold for her to go out.

Amanda begged to be allowed to go. She did not want to miss a single lesson. Finally her mother agreed and bundled her up in extra clothes. Amanda set off. After a mile, she was so cold she almost turned back. But she was afraid her mother would not let her come out again on cold days so she kept going. She was too proud to admit defeat. By the time she reached the school house, she was so frozen she could

After reading a bad book that claimed there is no God, Amanda began to think there really isn’t. She said so to an aunt.

Her aunt turned to her with a look that cut clear through her, stamped her foot, and said, “Don’t you ever speak to me again.

Anybody that had as good a Christian mother as you had and was raised as you have been to speak to me so! I don’t want to talk to you.”

The aunt’s anger was better than any argument. Amanda was ashamed and dropped her sham atheism at once.

Sick in body and soul

A few years later, Amanda married. Her marriage proved miserable, because, although her husband said he was a Christian, he was an alcoholic and behaved badly when drunk. He left to fight in the Civil War and never came home.

During these years, Amanda became sick and almost died. Her father begged her to pray, but she only wanted to sleep.

In her sleep she had a vision of herself preaching. However, this seemed unlikely.

She was not a follower of Jesus at the time.

Copyright © 2015 by Dan Graves.

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The truth was, Amanda was too proud to go to the altar in the church because that would be a public confession that she was a sinner. However, she knew she had sins in her life and was miserable.

After a while her conscience troubled her so much that she went to the altar even though she had said she never would.

No one explained to her how to trust in Jesus and she left as hopeless as when she went.

A promise is rewarded

One day Amanda could not bear her shame any longer. She promised God that she would either become his child that day or die. Scared by her promise, she went to the cellar and began to pray. She thought God would kill her because her prayers were so empty. She seemed to hear Satan say, “It’s no use. You prayed all these things before, and they didn’t help you then, and they won’t help you now.” In despair, she cried out, “Lord, if you will help me, I will believe you.” Peace flooded over her.

In spite of her failures, Amanda became a Christian leader. She would walk many miles to tell others about Jesus. She had a beautiful voice and often sang hymns at camp meetings.

Another bad marriage She married again. This man was a deacon and she thought this meant he was a good person. He turned out to be even worse than her first husband. He soon ditched Amanda and she had to work long hours cleaning houses and ironing to feed her children. Often she went hungry herself so they could eat. She realized she had not checked with the Lord before getting married and was now paying a steep price. When her son died, she sent word to her husband, but he would not help her with the funeral arrangements. Her daughter Mazie was too young to be much use. Amanda cried out to Jesus and a kind stranger paid some of the expenses.

Amanda goes to the fair One day Amanda thought the Lord was telling her to go to the fair. She questioned this, because she believed fairs were not proper places for Christians to visit. The more she prayed, the more certain she was that the Holy Spirit was telling her to go.

Feeling completely out of place she stood at the top of the stairs where the people were coming up. Two young white men came up full of empty laughter. The Holy Spirit told her to speak to one of them about Jesus. She did, but he respectfully brushed her aside. All that night she felt the burden to pray for him.

The next day, someone asked her, “Did you hear that Charlie S. is dead? He was

Amanda’s daughter Mazie Smith.

found dead in his bed this morning; he was at the fair the other night well and hearty.”

Curiosity prompted Amanda to go see the dead man. “There he was, dead, no sign of sickness, and the very young man that God had sent me to speak to.”

Amanda in India and Africa Amanda did mission work in India and Africa and spoke to Christians in England.

In India, God used her to stop a riot. As Indians rushed at her, she dropped to her knees, raised her face to heaven and prayed. Everyone became calm.

In Liberia, Amanda was at the center of a revival. However, she became ill with

malaria and other diseases and could no longer work.

She returned to America. By then she was almost sixty years old. Friends urged her to write the story of her life, so she did. It is often read by people who want to know what it was like to be an AfricanAmerican woman in the nineteenth century.

After finishing her life story, although she was very poor, Amanda opened an orphanage for black children in Chicago. She worked for the Lord until she dropped dead at the age of seventy-eight. |

Amanda holds Sunday school under a spreading tree in Africa.

Ask Yourself 1. What interests you the most about Amanda Smith?

2. How do you think Amanda’s strong will helped her? How did it hurt her?

3. What have you learned in school about the Underground Railroad?

4. Amanda almost lost her soul because of pride. Has pride sometimes held you back from obeying Christ?

5. Have you ever felt God’s Spirit directing you to do a work for his kingdom the way Amanda felt she had to go to the fair?