Day was dawning for Mary, God's eternal day. She slipped away from the earth to be with her Saviour in Heaven.
"Our Mother is dead, and we shall be slaves now that our Mother is dead," cried the natives. The news that the white Ma was dead spread rapidly. Natives came from all over the country to see the woman they loved.
Mary's body was taken to Itu where services were held. Then it was taken to Duke Town. Here another service was held. Then the coffin was carried to the beautiful cemetery on Mission Hill. From this place could be seen a large part of the city where Mary had begun her faithful missionary work in Africa. Around her grave the grateful natives gathered and wept for her who had wept and prayed over them.
"Do not cry, do not cry," said old Ma Fuller, Mary's native friend through the years. "Praise God for His blessings. Ma was a great blessing."
First the Africans called her "the white Ma who lives alone." Then they called her "the Ma who loves babies." But lastly they called her "#eka kpukpru owo#," "everybody's Mother."
THE END
Books on Women Missionaries
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WHITE QUEEN OF THE CANNIBALS
The Story of Mary Slessor
By A.J. Bueltmann