“And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered,
and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan;
and into the land of Canaan they came” (Genesis 12:5).
Only God would have selected an old idolater and his barren 65-year-old wife to begin a new people group. But isn’t that just like Him to take up most unusual instruments to accomplish His purposes?
In December 1894, four adults and four children gathered in New York harbor to board a ship bound for Morocco. If they had nothing else, they had missionary spirit.
Henry A. Hammer, a one-armed preacher, had been teaching school and preaching in Oklahoma. While he was supposed to be one of several men to blaze the trail, the others lost their inspiration. How easy to excuse himself, but there he stood, ready to board the boat. As they got underway, he said: “Lift up your eyes, Morocco, for a gleam of light is coming to you!”
Joining him were Mr. and Mrs. Albert Nathan and their four children, the youngest only a few months old. The son of a wealthy orthodox Jew who had “great influence in the synagogue,” 19-year-old Albert had visited New York City and heard singing coming from a hall. He entered, heard fervent prayer, and was struck by the mercy of God. The soloist invited him home, witnessed to him, and the young man gave his heart to Jesus.
Albert informed his parents of his conversion in a letter. His father responded, “You are no longer my son.” His mother said, “I would you had died.” His brothers and sisters disowned him. This rejection made him even more determined to share Christ “where it is needed most.”
Albert’s wife had gumption to match her husband’s. With her four little ones, two of whom were sick as they stood on the dock, she thought making sacrifices for the Lord was the norm. She found encouragement in Romans 12:2, concluding that “taking her children to dark Africa fell into the category of ’reasonable service.’”
Accompanying the Nathans was their maid, 23-year-old Hettie Fernbaugh. Born in Indiana and poorly educated, she had Baptist roots, and her maternal grandparents served as missionaries in Kansas. Somewhere along the line, she joined up with the ultra-conservative Brethren in Christ.
Her Sunday School class, believing she had potential, passed the plate to send her out. Their $80.28 offering launched her missionary career. In Morocco, she continued to wear plain clothing and a head covering.
Africa proved challenging. Tangier had “no system of drainage,” and the people made “no effort at cleanliness.” Opposition abounded. Difficult hardly describes the situations they faced. From here and there, we learn that none of these missionaries stayed very long. The Nathans wound up ministering to Jews in Spain. Hettie the maid developed jaundice in 1900 and returned to the States. “In faith” she refused medicine and died in Oregon at age 36 years and 11 days.
Henry Hammer married while in Africa and returned to America in 1900. At a conference in Hastings, Nebraska, he met Maude Cary, a young woman aspiring to missionary service. She eventually made her way to Morocco and served 54 years.
About the Columnist: Paul V. Harrison has pastored Madison FWB Church in Madison, Alabama since 2015. Previously, he pastored Cross Timbers FWB church in Nashville, Tennessee, for 22 years. He was an adjunct professor at Welch College for 17 years, teaching church history and Greek. Paul is the creator of Classic Sermon Index, a subscription-based online index of over 66,000 sermons, with clients including Harvard, Baylor, and Vanderbilt, among others: classicsermonindex.com.
