Love Gives: Amy Carmichael (1867-1951)

This Valentine’s week we are going to be looking at heroes of the faith who showed God’s love in amazing ways. Today we’ll learn about Amy Carmichael, a missionary to India.

Amy Carmichael with children in India

Amy was born in Ireland to a wealthy family. After her father’s death, they lost their fortune and Amy found herself ministering to and working alongside the poor. But it was in India where Amy found her calling, to help abandoned children who were given as slaves to the Hindu temples.

Amy rescued many, many children from the temples, often causing trouble for herself. They would say that she was kidnapping children, but she would never give them up even though it was dangerous. 

Instead, she gave the children an education, taught them about Jesus and adopted them as her own. Even though Amy never married, she was “Amma” or “Mother” to hundreds of children rescued from a life of slavery.

While in India, Amy did her best to fit in and was one of the first missionaries to wear Indian clothing. It’s been said she even put coffee on her skin to darken it so she wouldn’t be noticed or stand out. Her goal was to rescue and show God’s love to the temple children, no matter the cost.

The last 20 years of Amy’s life were spent in bed after a bad accident. She took that time to write many books. But still, she focused her children whom she would visit with as much as she could. Her mission, called “Dohnavur Fellowship”, is still operating today.