Ten Days Mission Experience

				April 10, 2010




	Mary Slessor 1848-1915 Missionary to Nigeria		Erika Lee 1982-present Missionary to Cape Town, South Africa

Mary Slessor was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1848 to an alcoholic father and devout mother with a strong interest in Missions. She knew from early childhood that she was called to be a missionary in West Africa, and that missionary zeal was evident early on. When a local gang tormented her by swinging a metal weight on a chain closer and closer to her face, she made a deal with them that if she could endure their torture without flinching, they would all come to Sunday School with her. She stood her ground, won the bet, and they all came with her to church. Mary accepted a teaching position at a new mission in Calabar, Nigeria, in 1875. The average survival rate for Westerners in Nigeria was around two years. When Mary arrived at 28 with her red hair, blue eyes, and slight frame, most thought she would be lucky to make it through the year. She arrived in Nigeria during one of its most turbulent times. Witchcraft and superstition abounded in a country decimated by the slave trade. Human sacrifice and ritual murder were common events. Women were considered less valuable than cattle. Mary thoroughly identified with the people she was called to reach, becoming fluent in their language, culture, and customs. She was so successful in integrating into Nigerian society that the Governor asked her to fill an administrative position as a Member of the Itu Court. She was constantly urging the Foreign Mission Board in Edinburgh to finance extensions of her work in the interior. Gradually the money was forthcoming and, as new missionaries took over responsibility for the posts vacated by Mary, she was able to move ever further into the heartland. Her courage in braving the hostility provoked by these incursions is legendary. Mary Slessor’s influence in Nigeria went far beyond the thousands she led to Christ. She attracted foreign markets to trade with local Nigerians. She raised funds for roads into the interior. She set up medical clinics and mission hospitals that provided the first vaccination against small pox in West Africa. She changed the face of a nation in a few well-lived years of love and dedication. Often ill with malaria, she finally succumbed to a long battle with fever in 1915. The finest tribute was from those of her own who knew her best. To them she was “Mother of All the Peoples.”		What began as a ten day mission trip to Cape Town, South Africa, ended as a three week journey that acted as a catalyst to Erika Lee’s calling. Erika went on the 2008 Ten Days South Africa experience. She felt a calling to serve aids orphans in Africa for several years and was actively seeking opportunities to bring that dream to fruition when the Ten Days trip opened up a chance for her to visit for the first time. "When I arrived in Cape Town, I said, "Lord, I want to know what righteous anger is." When He answered this prayer during my time with the students at the School of Hope camp, I was confronted with the reality of ‘Now what are you going to do about it?’ You can't just carry on with your life like it was before after that!" She realized at the School for Hope, that she wasn’t ready to leave and decided to extend her to stay in order to serve longer with the children who touched her heart. Before returning home to NewYork City, the Lord began to open Erika’s eyes and heart to the possibility of doing more for the orphans of South Africa. The rest of 2008 and 2009 were dedicated to beginning a non–profit organization called Active Compassion Transforms (ACT). Through this nonprofit which Erika founded and leads, she is able to mentor inner city teens in New York as well as connect at risk youth in South Africa to mentors in the US. ACT, whose mission is to create opportunities to inspire and empower others to pursue passionate and productive lives that impact the world around them, has led multiple missions trips back to South Africa with NYC teens and professionals. Erika is exponentially reaching people both in NYC and South Africa. Her vision is to impact the world one person at a time by expanding their horizons. "Knowing it was a ‘God thing’ gave me the boldness and courage because I had absolutely no experience in starting a non-profit or a mentoring program so I had to start by just asking people and doing research. But having my small group here helped me persevere and take larger leaps of faith with great expectation for God to come through. And He did! It took 4 months for me to be trained/certified in creating a mentoring program and incorporated in NY state. It took most of 2009 to build a team, receive our tax exempt status from the IRS, while we simultaneously launched and completed 1 year of our mentoring and 2 trips to South Africa." In just two short years since that inaugural and impactful trip with Ten Days, Erika has started a non-profit, reached out to kids in her own community, and led several missions trips of her own back to South Africa. All this came from the spark of a single ten day commitment. What could the Lord do with yours?