Amy Carmichael-Monsoons, Forests, and Lazy Workers

By Mary Vee

Year: January, 1919 

Amy Carmichael: 49 years old

From Amy's Journal

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My name is Amy Carmichael. I am a missionary in India.

With the long days and the care of the one hundred and fifty children who are protected and cared for at the mission, there are times when I need to rest. A two-week rest.

I'd never fully recovered from a reoccurring physical problem that started back when I served as a missionary in Japan. 

The heat and humidity here in India aggravate pain, fever, and weaken my system. Mr. Walker, the leader of our mission, used to take us to a retreat in the mountains during the hottest days of summer. The forests and altitude made for cool and dry temperatures. I used the two weeks every year to catch up on letters, write a book, and rest.

When Mr. Walker died, leaving me in charge, I didn't have the funds to go to the retreat anymore. Without the rest, I would end up bedridden. There simply was too much work to do to care for all the precious jewels God had put in our care. We needed to find a retreat that was closer and affordable.

One day I took one of the lady workers with me for a walk into the woods. We walked up the mountain a ways, searching for a place to rest. After several attempts, we found a small retreat which worked for us--a short time. I enjoyed taking some of the children with me.The littlest ones would stay at the mission, but the older ones were able to go.

We used that retreat for two years or so then decided we needed something bigger. I took the children for a walk to search for property where we could build a retreat of our own. 

We found the perfect land, raised the money to purchase it, and hired a construction crew to build our retreat.

This was an exciting time. Everyday children hiked with me to the new property wanting to see the progress. Everyday we found the workers napping or standing around talking. The rainy season was due to come soon.

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The rainy season brings strong rains that we call monsoons. These forceful rains come everyday from July to September. Yea, that long!! The land floods. 

We are use to this flooding, though. We've learned to plant the right crops that need this kind of rain.

But, if our retreat building isn't finished by the start of the monsoons, it will be destroyed by the rains, and the construction workers will have to start over.  That will cost money we don't have.

No matter what I said, the workers wouldn't work to get the job done.

I didn't know what to do.

Finally, I asked the other missionaries. They were Indian and understood the culture much better than I did.

How would you get the men to finish the work? 

I'll tell you the amazing idea that worked...next week. Come back to read the rest of this story.


Resources used for this series:. 
Benge, Janet, and Geoff Benge. Amy Carmichael: Rescuer of Precious Gems. Seattle, WA: YWAM Pub., 1998. Print.
Davis, Rebecca Henry. With Daring Faith: A Biography of Amy Carmichael. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones UP, 1987. Print.
Dick, Lois Hoadley. Amy Carmichael: Let the Children Come. Chicago: Moody, 1984. Print.
Meloche, Renee Taft., and Bryan Pollard. Amy Carmichael: Rescuing the Children. Seattle, WA: YWAM Pub., 2002. Print.
Wellman, Sam. Amy Carmichael: A Life Abandoned to God. Uhrichville, OH: Barbour Pub., 1998. Print.

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