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Our first missionary to India
BY JULIA GILCHRIST
MARY THOMPSON WAS 30 WHEN SHE CAUGHT THE STEAMER MASSILIA TO BOMBAY TO BECOME AUSTRALIA’S FIRST CHURCHES OF CHRIST MISSIONARY. AFTER RECEIVING ‘THE CALL’ AT THE 1891 INTER-COLONIAL CONFERENCE, MARY MADE A 40-YEAR COMMITMENT TO ZENANA MISSION – SERVING WOMEN LIVING IN HARDA AND DHONA, 419 MILES NORTH-EAST OF THE INDIA CAPITAL.
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Located in the Central Provinces of India, the province of Harda was and is still accessible by train via the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. Acting as the mission ‘hub’ for Churches of Christ, Harda offered a small church serving Europeans and Eurasians. The province had a population of 15,000 when Mary arrived, the people spread among 409 villages situated within a 10-mile radius. However, to Mary’s great surprise, the small church congregation had only 35 members. For the locals, expulsion from their family following conversion was a very real threat, but despite this obstacle the town seeded much gospel work. In 1893, the first Bible training school for ministers opened in Harda for male students.
With India’s deeply segregated society, women were rarely permitted to enter places that men inhabited, but they retained freedom to participate in ‘zenana’ activities carried out in ‘private areas of houses for women’. This is why Mary’s work was referred to as ‘Zenana Mission’ and through her four decades of service, Mary’s work came to emulate and inform the idea of successful mission work. Her female converts were known as ‘Bible women’ in town, and they worked with Mary to bridge the vast cultural differences between English missionaries and the villagers. Observing her work during a three month stay in 191920, Bert Wilson, mission secretary for the Foreign Christian Mission Society reflected: “Having been a teacher in Australia, Mary Thompson began her career in India in the school room. But in addition to that work, she felt that the mothers in the homes must be taught also. So, she began a systematic program of visiting in the homes of the people. Many of the women were not friendly at first, especially the Mohammedan women. They were prejudiced, and their husbands did not want their wives to learn from foreign women. But gradually the simple life of faith opened up the doors and the hearts of the Harda women.”
Mary came to be known to the Indian community as ‘Beloved Mary’ and to Australians as ‘Our Pioneering Missionary’. During Mary’s leadership of the girls school in Harda, which had the largest enrolment of non-Christian girls in the province, Mary facilitated the opening of girls schools, establishing and supporting women’s hospitals, and encouraged the building of women’s wards in hospitals. Well known in Australia, Mary’s inbound and outbound travel, speaking engagements and social activities were regularly reported in many Australian newspapers, including The West Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and syndicated regional newspapers around the country. In the last five years of her mission, Mary continued alone in her work after the United Society pulled out of India, and she was sustained by donations and prayers from her Australian network.
Mary returned to Australia on furlough several times between 1891 to 1934, her last visit triggered by ill health. Returning to her hometown of Melbourne to rest, she died in March 1936.
In recognition of her contribution in India, the ‘Mary Thompson Memorial Bungalow’ was built, funded by donations from the brotherhood and opened in 1937 as a nurse compound attached to the Ashwood Hospital Compound in Dhona.
OBITUARY – BILL HARRISON 1941-2021
BY DENNIS NUTT
WILLIAM JOSEPH (‘BILL’) HARRISON WAS BORN ON 23 MARCH 1941 IN ULVERSTON IN THE LAKES DISTRICT OF NORTHERN ENGLAND. HE WAS THE ELDEST OF THREE CHILDREN, HAVING TWO YOUNGER SISTERS – JUNE AND MARILYN.
His early schooling years were memorable for his regular absences from class, with Bill preferring to skylark in the local graveyard with his friends. He was 10 when the family migrated to Australia as ‘10-pound Poms’. Upon arrival in Sydney, the family travelled by steam train to Bathurst, where they lived for two weeks while waiting for their accommodation in Sydney’s East Hills Migrant Camp to be readied. At the camp, Bill found a few mates and they enjoyed using the streetlights as piñatas. He is also remembered for taking pity on a young boy in the camp who was hiding from his stepfather. Bill hid the boy in his wardrobe in the garage where he slept, while Bill’s father joined the search party and his mother cooked for the search teams.
The Harrison family finally moved into their very own Australian home in Canley Vale – a house built by his father. Bill and his father had collected the materials for construction of the house in the evenings; however, Bill was quite mortified years later to learn that they liberated most of the materials from storage yards. When he was 12, Bill contracted rheumatic fever. Around this time, his parents joined a local church where Bill went to Christian Endeavour, and then to other youth events with his sisters at the local Church of Christ. This marked the beginning of his faith journey and introduction to leadership roles. Bill went to Fairfield Boys High School from 1954 to 1956, before leaving to work at Wunderlich’s, a building materials manufacturer, where he completed a Building Construction Certificate. He wanted to study at Bible college; however, the Leaving Certificate was a prerequisite, so he enrolled at Parramatta Evening College. He entered Woolwich Bible College in 1963 and became the college handyman – there’s even a poem about it. He also had a reputation for practical jokes – such as pretending that dried PVA glue on his hands was a terrible skin condition, and playing car-crash sound effects through the window late at night, prompting worried neighbours to come out of their homes to see what had happened. When he entered Bible college, he had a ‘rent-a-wreck’ of a car, which his fellow students claimed was held together by “faith, rope and charity”. Bill met Ruth in 1965 and they were engaged six weeks later, but due to college rules were not able to be married until 1967, after graduation. Bill and Ruth had two children – Catherine and Trevor. Bill had full-time ministries at Wyoming (Central Coast), and in Sydney at Carramar, Hurstville and Seven Hills over a period of 20 years. There’s no way we can do justice here to his time in these churches, suffice to say he has helped countless people in their spiritual and earthly journeys. In the early 1970s, Bill studied and began working as a part-time relationship counsellor with what is now “Relationships Australia”, in addition to his work with the Church. He transitioned to a full-time counselling role around 1983, and then spent 21 years as manager of The Salvation Army Counselling Service in Penrith. He gave countless people the tools to cope with difficulties in their lives and improve their relationships. Reflecting on his ministries, he wrote: “The experiences in these roles have been amazing – from working with ordinary everyday people who show courage and commitment that’s anything but ordinary, to others in high-flying positions who at heart are hurting and just as confused in life situations as any of us and have the courage to acknowledge it.” He was a truly humble, gentle man. In the mid 1980s, he discovered and fostered his artistic talents, beginning with pencil and moving through to pastels and oil painting. With Ruth, he was involved
with Emmaus Australia for more than 25 years, helping people explore and renew their Christian faith, serving on more than 40 teams for the Western Sydney and Central West areas.
Bill ‘allegedly’ retired in 2014. He continued to serve in part-time ministry at Pathways church, supported the work at the local outreach Cafe at Lalor Park, continued with Emmaus, became involved with the Kids and Aboriginal programs, alongside being a devoted husband, father, grandfather and friend to many. He devoted his life to serving God, others and equipping them for good, and to understand that when all seems dark, sometimes we just need to open our eyes. He modelled what it means to be a loving spouse. He was always supportive of Ruth through health challenges, career changes, financial pressures and all the ups and downs of life. The quote, “To me, the sun rises and sets with her”, authentically describes his love for Ruth. As a father, he taught by example through his compassion, truthfulness and in many practical ways. He taught respect for others – including those with different views – hard work and fun. He taught how to use tools – and that what is broken can often be fixed or improved. Most importantly, he taught what it is to truly live in a Christlike way. The Christian values he taught were clearly evident in his life. He was a man of God; his faith and encouragement were an inspiration to those he encountered.
He is the first of the 1966 graduating class to fall asleep in Jesus. Ruskin wrote: “Live so as to be missed.” Bill lived that way, and he will be missed. As the ancients used to say “Ave! et Vale!” – “Hail! and Farewell!” to which we add “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Level 1, 3 Rider Boulevard PO Box 3561 Rhodes NSW 2138 T: (02) 8719 2600 E: admin@freshhope.org.au W: www.freshhope.org.au
