Mary Webb
Born in 1779 in Boston, Mary Webb contracted a disease at age 5 which paralyzed her from the waist down – confining her to a wheel chair for the rest of her life. At age 13, her father died and her mother provided by running a school from their home. Despite her condition, she was the focus of attention and became ‘the life of the party’ wherever she was.
Seeing the family’s need, a neighbor, pastor Thomas Baldwin of Second Baptist Church in Boston, ministered to the family. Mary started attending church and began studying the Bible. She made a profession of faith and was baptized at age 19.
The following year, she was deeply moved after hearing a visiting preacher speak from the text of 1 Chronicles 15:7, “Be ye strong, therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.” She spoke to her pastor about supporting missionaries and he encouraged her in this work. A year later, at age 21, in a day when women did not form formal groups like this, she founded the Boston Female Society for Missionary Purposes with a small group of 13 women. She served as the Secretary and Treasurer of this group for the next 56 years – a group which was the forerunner of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Women’s Missionary Union.
An able organizer, she coordinated the efforts of Baptist and Congregational churches across the country. Unable to travel, she became a prolific letter-writer, writing literally thousands of letters pleading for support, advising like-minded groups that sprung up after her example, and encouraging cooperation among churches, denominations, and individuals in the effort of missions. Following her example, over 200 other missionary societies around the young United States sprung up – most of which she had a hand in helping get started.
In 1803 she established the Female Cent Society, with the goal of each member donating a penny per week for missions, and an additional two dollars per year. This money went to the support of missionaries in the field, both internationally and at home, and toward the translation and publication of Bibles. In 1811, she established the like-minded Children’s Cent Society.
Second Baptist Church started a Sunday School in 1816. She served many years as its superintendent.
In addition to this work, she was involved in efforts to raise money to educate young ministers, provide clothing for needy children, provide a day care for working mothers, start a Sunday School for impoverished children, and even got involved in work to rescue and rehabilitate prostitutes from the street.
Mary died in 1861 of breast cancer. She was 82 years old. Buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Everett, Massachusetts, there is a marker next to her grave placed there in 1988 by the Southern Baptist Convention Women’s Missionary Union and the American Baptist Women.
https://thealabamabaptist.org/heroes-of-the-faith-mary-webb-pioneer-for-female-missionaries/
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