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Amy Carmichael
Amy Beatrice Carmichael (December 16, 1867 – January 18, 1951) was an Irish preacher, missionary, and author whose 55-year ministry in India transformed lives through gospel proclamation and rescue work. Born in Millisle, County Down, Ireland, to David Carmichael, a flour mill owner, and Catherine Jane Gresley, she was the eldest of seven in a devout Presbyterian family. Raised in Belfast after the family’s 1876 move, she attended girls’ schools until financial ruin forced her to leave at 16, later experiencing a profound conversion at 17 during a holiness meeting that shaped her lifelong call. Carmichael’s preaching career began in Belfast’s slums, where she founded the Welcome Church for mill girls, preaching salvation with a fiery zeal that drew crowds. In 1892, she joined the Church Missionary Society, serving briefly in Japan (1893–1894) before health issues led her to India in 1895 under the Zenana Missionary Society. Settling in Dohnavur, Tamil Nadu, by 1901, she founded the Dohnavur Fellowship, rescuing over 1,000 girls from temple prostitution while preaching Christ’s love through action and words. Author of 35 books, including Things as They Are (1903) and Gold Cord (1932), her writings doubled as sermons on surrender and service. Never married, she died at age 83 in Dohnavur, India, leaving a legacy as a tireless evangelist and “Amma” (mother) to her adopted children.
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Amy Carmichael shares a powerful story of a devoted Hindu mother who pleaded with Christians to stop praying because her prayers to her god were being hindered by the Christians' prayers. Despite her initial resistance, the mother's heart softened as she witnessed the impact of Christian prayers on her daughter's life, leading her to eventually allow her daughter to follow the Christian God. This moving testimony reveals the spiritual battle and the transformative power of persistent prayer in the face of opposition and hindrances.
The Weapon of Prayer
"Oh, Amma! Amma! Do not pray! Your prayers are, troubling me!" We all looked up in astonishment. We had just had our Band Prayer Meeting, when a woman came rushing into the room and began to exclaim like this. She was the mother of one of our girls, of whom I told you once before. She is still in the Terrible's den. Now the mother (A devote Hindu) was all excitement and poured out a curious story. "When you went away last year I prayed. I prayed and prayed, and prayed again to my god to dispel your work. My daughter's heart was impressed with your words. I cried to my god to wash the words out. Has he washed them out? Oh no! And I prayed for a bridegroom for my daughter, and one came; and the cart was ready to take her away, and a hindrance occurred; the marriage fell through. And I wept till my eyes well-nigh dissolved. And again another bridegroom came, and again an obstacle occurred. And yet again did a bridegroom come, and yet again an obstacle; and I cannot get my daughter married, and the neighbors mock, and my Caste is disgraced" - and the poor old mother cried, just sobbed in her shame and confusion of face. "Then I went to my god again and said, 'What more can I offer you? Have I not given you all I have? And you reject my prayer!' Then in a dream my (demon) god appeared, and he said, 'Tell the Christians not to pray, I can do nothing against their prayers. Their prayers are hindering me!' And so, I beseech you, stop your prayers for fourteen days - only fourteen days - till I get my daughter married !" "And after she is married?" We asked. "Oh, then she may freely follow your God! I will hinder her no more!" Poor old mother! All lies are allowed where such things are concerned. We knew the proposed bridegroom came from a place three hundred miles away, and the idea was to carry the poor girl off by force as soon as she was married. We have been praying night and day to God to hinder this. And He is hindering!
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Amy Beatrice Carmichael (December 16, 1867 – January 18, 1951) was an Irish preacher, missionary, and author whose 55-year ministry in India transformed lives through gospel proclamation and rescue work. Born in Millisle, County Down, Ireland, to David Carmichael, a flour mill owner, and Catherine Jane Gresley, she was the eldest of seven in a devout Presbyterian family. Raised in Belfast after the family’s 1876 move, she attended girls’ schools until financial ruin forced her to leave at 16, later experiencing a profound conversion at 17 during a holiness meeting that shaped her lifelong call. Carmichael’s preaching career began in Belfast’s slums, where she founded the Welcome Church for mill girls, preaching salvation with a fiery zeal that drew crowds. In 1892, she joined the Church Missionary Society, serving briefly in Japan (1893–1894) before health issues led her to India in 1895 under the Zenana Missionary Society. Settling in Dohnavur, Tamil Nadu, by 1901, she founded the Dohnavur Fellowship, rescuing over 1,000 girls from temple prostitution while preaching Christ’s love through action and words. Author of 35 books, including Things as They Are (1903) and Gold Cord (1932), her writings doubled as sermons on surrender and service. Never married, she died at age 83 in Dohnavur, India, leaving a legacy as a tireless evangelist and “Amma” (mother) to her adopted children.