Mary Slessor grew up in Scotland and sailed for Calabar in West Africa in 1876. In that region twins were often feared and killed, and Slessor became a champion baby-saver. One of the first twins she rescued, Jane, lived with her for more than thirty years. She once said, “I am ready to go anywhere, provided it be forward.” She then moved inland to the Okoyong, a region where missionaries had found no welcome. She admitted that she often had a lump in her throat and that her courage threatened to fly away. She went anyway. Courage is not the absence of fear. It is going forward with God while your knees are shaking.
