Eliza Davis was born in Texas in 1879. She was an African-American Christian woman whose parents had been slaves. After hearing a preacher that had just returned from an evangelistic trip to the west African country of Liberia, she determined that she would spend her life as a missionary in Liberia. In 1914, at the age of thirty-five, she finally stepped foot on Liberian soil. Immediately she went to work founding a school for tribal children in the interior of Liberia. Just three years later, however, the National Baptist Association replaced her with a married couple. Seeing that in order to get much support from the mission board or from churches back home she was going to need to get married, she accepted a proposal from G. Thompson George in 1918. The newly married Mr. and Mrs. George stayed in Liberia and founded the Kelton Mission, which cared for hundreds of children. They also started numerous tribal schools, a maternity clinic, and a seminary to train pastors. Perhaps no one has ever lived who was as committed and as persistent in their service to God and to others as Eliza Davis George.
Her ministries were constantly in desperate need of financial support, barely scraping by. One time while her husband was in the United States speaking at one church after another in an attempt to raise funds, Mrs. George did something that showed her commitment, persistence, and her desperation. When she received word that a mail ship had arrived, she and two boys walked the twenty miles to the town where the post office was. That was not unusual for her. When she got there, there was a letter for her saying that a $200 money order was being held in the city of Monrovia. They would hold it for thirty days. The letter had been written 28 days earlier. She had to get to Monrovia and quick! The problem, however, (and it was a BIG problem) was that Monrovia was 200 miles away! She and the two boys walked to the beach and started walking in the direction of Monrovia, sleeping only a couple of hours a night. Six days later, on tattered and bloody feet, they walked into the post office in Monrovia, hoping that the money order was still there. They really needed that $200. They were devastated when the postmaster told them that when no one showed up after 30 days, it was sent back to America. And you think you've worked hard with no measurable results! I would have totally lost it. Not Mrs. George, though. She had a good cry and then started the long journey home. Nothing was going to stop her from spreading the Gospel! This prayer that she wrote captures the essence of her struggle and determination:
"O heavenly Father, you have taught us to pray for our daily bread. Lord, you know that I do not have one penny to buy food and pay the workers here at the mission. Father, send us something to meet our needs as you have promised. Help me to keep trusting you so that the children will know you are caring for them."
Mrs. George's husband, Charles died in 1939. Thirty-two years later, she was still at it. More evidence of her perseverance is given by a missionary doctor who describes his meeting with her in 1971 by saying, "I met 'Mother' George at the Evangelical Negro Industrial Mission deep in the bush. She was 91. Her ministry was vast. She was almost blind. She walked with a walking stick. She had a large cancer on her leg and she was still pressing the claims of Christ." The next year she returned to the United States, living in Tyler, Texas until her death in 1980 at the age of 100. Hundreds upon hundreds of Liberian people had Mrs. George to thank for giving them the gospel of Jesus Christ, an education, healthcare, hope, and purpose. This causes me to ask myself: what am I doing for the gospel and for others today?
