Hannah More

Bill Knott, editor of the Review (previously Advent Review and Sabbath Herald) did his doctoral dissertation on the life of this remarkable woman. I happened to be watching Christian television (3ABN)* and was captivated by the story.
Hannah More lived her early years with her family in Connecticut and attended the Congregationalist Church. All the More children were known for their ability to memorize and retain Scripture. In fact, Hanna memorized the entire New Testament and many parts of the Old Testament.
In those days women were not sent as missionaries unless married to a man in whose shadow she might stand. But Hannah wrote the Congregationalist Missionary Board so many times that they finally relented and sent her off to a post on an Indian reservation in the South. Of course, she learned the language.
But she kept pestering the mission board and was sent to Central Africa where she labored for years. If I remember the story correctly, it was there that she came in contact with Adventists and converted. In fact, she converted a fellow missionary who later left central Africa and returned to Australia as the first Adventist missionary to that country.
Exhausted, she returned to America for rest and recuperation. She longed to be with fellow Adventists and so, towards the end of her life, wearied, impoverished, she journeyed to Battle Creek, Michigan where this very experienced missionary expected to be accepted by fellow Christians. Sadly, she was not. Not a soul offered her employment nor a place to live. (This is not a happy ending nor a bright spot in the history of those that peopled that city.
From Battle Creek she went to live with Congregationalist friends of hers who were living in northern Michigan. They allowed her to live in their attic. She wrote that the chimney leaked smoke so badly into the attic that it was hard to breathe. She died that winter and was "temporarily buried" as the folks there thought that surely the Adventists would come to claim her and give her a decent burial site. It never happened.
James and Ellen White were away when Hannah tried to find a place to live. When they returned and discovered how she had been treated the usually-gentle diminutive Ellen White stood up full height and invited her to live with them. Hannah answered: 
Note: Portions of the letter have been omitted (indicated by ...) for the sake of clarity and brevity. e.c.

"LELAND, LEELENAW COUNTY, MICHIGAN,
FEBRUARY 20, 1868.

"MY DEAR BROTHER WHITE: YOURS OF FEBRUARY 3 IS RECEIVED. IT FOUND ME IN POOR HEALTH, NOT BEING ACCUSTOMED TO THESE COLD NORTHERN WINTERS, WITH THE SNOW THREE OR FOUR FEET DEEP ON A LEVEL. OUR MAILS ARE BROUGHT ON SNOWSHOES. {1T 671.2}
"IT DOES NOT SEEM POSSIBLE FOR ME TO GET TO YOU TILL SPRING OPENS. THE ROADS ARE BAD ENOUGH WITHOUT SNOW. THEY TELL ME MY BEST WAY IS TO WAIT TILL NAVIGATION OPENS, THEN GO TO MILWAUKEE, AND THENCE TO GRAND HAVEN, TO TAKE THE RAILROAD TO THE POINT NEAREST YOUR PLACE. I HAD HOPED TO GET AMONG OUR DEAR PEOPLE LAST FALL, BUT WAS NOT PERMITTED THE PRIVILEGE. {1T 671.3}
"THE TRUTHS WHICH WE BELIEVE SEEM MORE AND MORE IMPORTANT, AND OUR WORK OF MAKING READY A PEOPLE PREPARED FOR THE LORD'S COMING IS NOT TO BE DELAYED. WE MUST NOT ONLY HAVE ON THE WEDDING GARMENT OURSELVES, BUT BE FAITHFUL IN RECOMMENDING THE PREPARATION TO OTHERS. I WISH I COULD GET TO YOU, BUT IT SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE, OR AT LEAST IMPRACTICABLE, IN MY DELICATE STATE OF HEALTH TO SET OUT ALONE ON SUCH A JOURNEY IN THE DEPTH OF WINTER... 
"I HAVE HAD A DIFFICULTY IN BREATHING, SO THAT I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO SLEEP FOR MORE THAN A WEEK, OCCASIONED, I SUPPOSE, BY THE STOVEPIPE'S PARTING AND COMPLETELY FILLING MY ROOM WITH SMOKE AND GAS AT BEDTIME, AND MY SLEEPING THERE WITHOUT PROPER VENTILATION. I DID NOT, AT THE TIME, SUPPOSE SMOKE WAS SO UNWHOLESOME, NOR CONSIDER THAT THE IMPURE GAS WHICH GENERATED FROM THE WOOD AND COAL WAS MINGLED WITH IT. I AWOKE WITH SUCH A SENSE OF SUFFOCATION THAT I COULD NOT BREATHE LYING DOWN, AND SPENT THE REMAINDER OF THE NIGHT SITTING UP...   
"I HAD SAID TO SISTER THOMPSON THE DAY PREVIOUS, 'WERE I AT BROTHER WHITE'S, I MIGHT BE PRAYED FOR, AND HEALED.' SHE INQUIRED IF WE COULD SEND FOR YOU AND BROTHER ANDREWS; BUT THAT SEEMED IMPRACTICABLE, AS I COULD NOT, IN ALL PROBABILITY, LIVE TILL YOU ARRIVED. I KNEW THAT THE LORD BY HIS MIGHTY POWER AND WITH HIS POTENT ARM COULD HEAL ME HERE, WERE IT BEST... 
NOW I CAN SAY WITH THE POET:
LORD, IT BELONGS NOT TO MY CARE,
WHETHER I DIE OR LIVE.
IF LIFE BE LONG, I WILL BE GLAD
CHRIST LEADS ME THROUGH NO DARKER ROOMS,
THAN HE WENT THROUGH BEFORE.
WHOE'ER INTO HIS KINGDOM COMES,
MUST ENTER BY HIS DOOR.
COME, LORD, WHEN GRACE HAS MADE ME MEET
THY BLESSED FACE TO SEE;
FOR, IF THY WORK ON EARTH BE SWEET,
WHAT MUST THY GLORY BE?
I'LL GLADLY END MY SAD COMPLAINTS,
AND WEARY, SINFUL DAYS,
TO JOIN WITH THE TRIUMPHANT SAINTS
THAT SING JEHOVAH'S PRAISE.
MY KNOWLEDGE OF THAT STATE IS SMALL,
MY EYE OF FAITH IS DIM;
BUT 'TIS ENOUGH THAT CHRIST KNOWS ALL,
AND I SHALL BE WITH HIM.

--BAXTER. {1T 673.3}

"I HAD ANOTHER WAKEFUL SEASON LAST NIGHT, AND FEEL POORLY TODAY. PRAY THAT WHATEVER IS GOD'S WILL MAY BE ACCOMPLISHED IN AND THROUGH ME, WHETHER IT BE BY MY LIFE OR DEATH.

"YOURS IN HOPE OF ETERNAL LIFE,

"HANNAH MORE. 
"IF YOU KNOW OF ANY WAY BY WHICH I CAN REACH YOU SOONER, PLEASE INFORM ME.
H. M." {1T 674.2}
Following news of Hannah's death Ellen White wrote:
"Sister Hannah More is dead, and died a martyr to the selfishness of a people who profess to be seeking for glory, honor, immortality, and eternal life. Exiled from believers during the past cold winter, this self-sacrificing missionary died because no heart was bountiful enough to receive her. I blame no one. I am not judge. But when the Judge of all the earth shall make investigation, somebody will be found to blame. We are all narrowed up and consumed in our own selfishness. May God tear away this cursed covering and give us bowels of mercy, hearts of flesh, tenderness and compassion, is my prayer, offered from an oppressed, anguished soul. I am sure that a work must be done for us or we shall be found wanting in the day of God."

But there is more; a deeper lesson from the story of Hannah More: There always has been, and always will be, failures on the part of the church...my church, and all who profess to love Jesus Christ. We humans, residents of whatever church, are very good at self absorption.  But we need to be strong enough to ask ourselves the hard questions ... frequently ... "Who among us is in need?" "What do they need?" "What can I do to help?" "What do I have that I can give to the Lord in the person(s) of His children?"
"In as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto Me" [Matthew 25:40].(paraphrased).
"Not a pretty story" you say, and that is correct; but it is one that needs to be told for admonition, instruction, and in remembrance of the gift God gave the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the person of Hannah More; a gift gone unappreciated. Hopefully, never again!
*3ABN can be watched online at 3ABN.org and is also available via subscription TV on the DISH network, channel 9393.
Note: By invitation, Pastor Bill Knott spoke to the Congregationalist church in the town where Hannah was born and raised; telling them the story of their sister in Christ.
Blessings, remembering devotion to duty shown by Hannah More.e.c.