Henrietta Gardener

A little girl sat at the back of the church listening. The minister was talking about her brother who had just been killed in an accident. A worker for God - he had been a student for the ministry - had gone. Who would take his place? The little girl thought, “I can’t be a minister but maybe I could be a missionary.” That was all. I was that little girl.

Years passed and it was the time year when young people were joining the church. There was a heart searching and I realised that the one thing that was needful was a personal commitment to Jesus Christ.

More years passed and I had started teaching though I had never really wanted to teach. Then there appeared in “The Covenanter” an appeal for a teacher for Alexandretta. I felt most adequate but I had to offer and in due course the letter came from Prof. Russell saying that my offer had been accepted. So in January, 1938, a very raw recruit joined Mrs. Lytle on her way back to Syria.

At that time in Alexandretta were Dr. and Mrs Kennedy with Muriel Russell and Archie Guthrie who had just become engaged. After their wedding in June I went to a short Arabic course in Jerusalem. When I returned Dr. and Mrs. Kennedy had gone home and Mr. and Mrs. Guthrie were in charge. There were other changes Turkey had taken over the northern part of Syria. and many Christians had left. So our school numbers were down. and there were many restrictions. The outbreak of war in 1939 increased the difficulties of carrying on. Mrs. Cunningham had left Antioch and gone to Jerusalem and she wrote telling of the need there for teachers. Some had gone home to England for the summer and because of the war couldn’t get back. So I went there and taught for two years in the Girls’ College where Jewish and Arabic studied and played together harmoniously. In Europe there was war but in Palestine there was peace at that time.

During the next two years I had the privilege of living in Jerusalem as the Board had given me permission to do full time Arabic study at the Language School in preparation for returning to Syria. When I read now about ‘Holy Land Tours’ I realise what a wonderful privilege was mine in those days when we could move freely throughout the land.

Idlib, our remaining station in Syria, was a Muslim town with a very small group of Christians, Orthodox and Protestant. Mr. and Mrs. Lytle moved there from Antioch and I went there from Jerusalem in August 1944. It was good to be back with our Mission and we had seven of interesting and rewarding work with day school and boarding school. I had much to learn and there were ups and downs, success and failure, trial and error. Then on Christmas Eve, 1951 we received a letter from the Syrian Government saying that our school was to be closed and that we had to leave the country. It was a big blow but we had to obey.

During the following months I had a variety of duties: helping in an Old People’s Home in Jordan looking after our boarders in Damascus and finally helping at a summer course for refugee teachers in Jordan. Then in August, 1952, we all went to Lebanon where Mr. Lytle had not been idle. with his customary zeal and enthusiasm, he had found a place where we could minister. Zahleh had an evangelical church and school which deserved encouragement and the surrounding plain of Bekaa gave opportunity for outreach.

Map of Mission Locations in the Middle East

Jerusalem is approximately 230km south of Zahlé (Source: Google Maps)

At first there was work in the girls’ boarding school and in the day and Sabbath schools and then Bible lessons in other schools in Zahleh and nearby villages. Eleven years passed and there came a letter from the Board asking me to go to Ethiopia. I had been a member of the delegation which went there first but I had no thought of service there. The new field was for new missionaries. It would involve many new things and I wasn’t young. But there was the challenge of a fresh start and the promise which has meant much to so many,

“I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go” Genesis 28 : 15

So in September, 1963, I pulled up roots once again and went to Ethiopia. I went once again to the Language School and eventually to Makalle and then to Sheket where most of my time was spent. Over the years God had given me a love for teaching and the adult classes there were a great joy to me. The opportunities these classes afforded of giving the Gospel to Muslim and Christian alike was a precious one. The decision to pull out of Ethiopia was a bitter blow but I was very conscious of the prayers of God’s people during those days as indeed I have been over all the years and praise God for His loving kindness. As I look back and think of my senior and junior fellow workers I thank God upon every remembrance of them. Surely goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life.

Want to read more about the work of Henrietta and her fellow missionaires in Ethiopia? Follow the link below to hear the Parable of the Spider Plant!