Women of Valor: A Tough and Tender Warrior

by Marilynn Chadwick

One of the most inspiring “real life” women of valor I have ever known was Barbara Brewton Cameron. This vibrant and joyful woman with an easy laugh and a giant heart was a powerful leader in her community. She became a dear friend, mentor, and role model. During our fifteen-year friendship, Barbara opened my eyes to the powerful impact that one ordinary woman can have on her family, her community, and an entire city.

Years before I met Barbara, her husband had been gunned down in a drive-by shooting while walking home from work, leaving her with three small children to raise on her own. “He was a wonderful man—a good husband and father—and I was devastated,” she said. “I didn’t even want to go on living.” The community in Charlotte where Barbara lived was described by The New York Times as one of the most violent neighborhoods in America. An “an open-air drug market of heroin and cocaine,” gunfire was common around the small, graffiti-marked houses. It had one of the highest murder rates in the country.

After her husband’s murder, Barbara fled to a safer neighborhood to raise her three children. But God began to pursue her, and several years later, she accepted Christ into her life. “I began to hear his voice,” she said. “I knew there was a far greater plan that God had for me.”

“God told me to go back to the old neighborhood and rescue the children. And so, I did.” Barbara said the Lord spoke to her through Matthew 25:35-36: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me” (ESV).

She sensed God’s unmistakable call through the words of Scripture: “If you've done it to the least of these, you've done it to me” (v. 41).

Barbara was affectionately known throughout her community as “Pastor Cameron.” She understood firsthand the hopeless despair faced by her community. “I thought of the single moms who were being used and abused by drug dealers...and I thought about the babies.” To Barbara, all children were “babies.” It was those children that Barbara was going back to rescue. She found a small, dilapidated house to rent in the neighborhood and turned it into a mission home to care for children each afternoon. “I gave the little ones baths and helped the older ones with homework. I fed them, too, since they were always hungry.

In time, Barbara’s ministry grew, and she became known as the woman who defied drugs and gangs. The drug dealers who controlled the neighborhood began issuing threats. Years later, a former hit man told Barbara that he had been hired by a drug dealer to kill her because she was hurting business. He would sit outside the open window listening to her preach the gospel. He told her that something inside would not let him carry out the hit. Later, the man accepted Jesus.

Barbara opened Community Outreach, a church that continued to expand the impact of the gospel.  She received national acclaim for the work she did fighting crime. City officials renamed the area Genesis Park, symbolic of its new beginning. When Barbara died in 2008, the church was filled to overflowing. Pastor Cameron is remembered as the Mother Teresa of Genesis Park. The once forgotten community is an example of how God can do mighty things through one ordinary woman of valor.

Women of Valor: The Ragpicker’s Wife

by Marilynn Chadwick

Men, women, and children of all ages squeezed into the patchwork tent that was both home and church for Pastor Raju and his family. David and I were traveling through this remote slum village in India to see the work of church planters like Raju.

Raju was a ragpicker by trade. Daily, he sifted through the nearby garbage dump to find rags, plastic, bits of this-and-that to sell. It looked as if Raju had used some of “this-and-that” to construct his tent which, though humble, was very clean and well organized inside.

Raju was also a Dalit, a member of the “untouchable” caste, as were most of his neighbors. Courageous pastors like Raju were why the gospel was spreading rapidly in this region that was hostile to Christians.

Raju was small and wiry with a firm grip and a wide grin. He was fiery and passionate that morning as he reminded his people that they were the “head and not the tail” in God’s eyes. No longer did they have to be terrified of displeasing the cruel gods or being rejected by higher castes. For now, their identity was secure as dearly loved children of their heavenly Father, adopted into Christ’s church.

Warmth and singing filled the tent. Traditional orange marigold leis had been draped over our shoulders. Plastic chairs were brought in for the “honored guests.” David was asked to preach the message to Raju’s church of about fifty congregants.

Raju had endured much persecution. But this gaunt little warrior deeply loved his people and continued to boldly preach the gospel. Once, he went on a hunger strike until village authorities finally brought electricity into his slum neighborhood. I noticed the haphazard electrical rigging outside his tent.

But it was Raju’s wife who captured my heart. Somehow, she had worked her magic and turned the patchwork tent into an inviting home. Her kitchen was just one shelf, a few staples, and a one-burner hot plate in a corner of the room that was also bedroom, living room, and church.

After the service, she prepared tea along with a single roll of Ritz crackers, served to us by their children. Raju beamed as he introduced his family. A handful of boys and girls, from around eight to sixteen years of age, greeted us with shining faces and firm handshakes. They had been well-nurtured there in that little one-room tent beside the garbage dump. How was this possible?

I noticed Raju’s wife, though lovely in her colorful sari, looked very thin and worn. I was told that Indian mothers and fathers sometimes go without food to make sure their children have enough to eat. This tiny woman had found a way to nurture these smiling children who were adored by their dad. She and her husband had given them physical, emotional, and spiritual nourishment. Looking into their faces, I sensed they would somehow find their way in this harsh and difficult environment.

Raju’s wife was both nurturer and warrior for her little family. She’s living proof that a woman of valor doesn’t just live in a palace, but could just as well be found in a tent. Her children were a testimony that it doesn’t take money or education to nurture a child—just love, self-sacrifice and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This was the legacy of the ragpicker’s wife. This was her kingdom. Her husband and children were her crown.

Women of Valor: The Real Princess Diaries

by Marilynn Chadwick

I believe every woman has a little bit of princess in her. And deep down inside, she believes she can change the world. A long time ago there lived a real princess who actually did change the world. Her name was Margaret. She married a Scottish King and thus became Queen Margaret, one of the most beloved nobles in the history of Scotland.

I became captivated by her story years ago when traveling with our family through the Scottish Highlands. I was mesmerized by the land of castles, kings, kilts, and battlefields. Margaret embodied much of what we have been learning about the biblical woman of valor. Her story takes us back to the Middle Ages.

Margaret was an English princess born in 1045. Her parents fled to Hungary after the Danes took over England. When Margaret was ten years old, she and her family returned to England, where her father suddenly died before he could assume the throne. A few years later, Margaret and her mother, along with her two siblings, were forced to flee for their lives, once again, when William the Conqueror stormed his way through England. While sailing north, Margaret and her family were caught in a storm and shipwrecked on the coast of Scotland. They were aided by King Malcolm and put under his protection. Before long, Malcolm fell deeply in love with the beautiful and kind princess. Margaret and Malcolm married in 1070 at the castle in Edinburgh.

Margaret was a deeply committed Christian whose faith influenced the rather uncouth Malcolm. He turned his heart to God, largely because of his wife. They couple had six sons and two daughters and raised all to become strong followers of Christ. So respected was Margaret for her wisdom that Malcolm placed her in charge of all of Scotland’s domestic affairs. She was often consulted on other state matters as well. Malcolm couldn’t read or write, so Margaret often read him stories from the Bible. Her example also had an impact on the quality of Malcolm's reign, helping him become what was known as the “just ruler.” Together they prayed, fed the hungry, and served the needy.

Margaret had a heart for Scotland’s poor, showing special kindness to orphans. She fed the hungry every morning in the castle, even before she had her own breakfast. She was also known for her deep life of prayer, rising early for prayer and reading the Bible. She even encouraged the ordinary Scottish people to live as faithful Christians, emphasizing prayer and a holy lifestyle.

When learning about Margaret’s vast areas of service to Scotland, I couldn’t help but notice the quieter, but even more important impact she had on her eight children. Besides educating them at home, she instilled a strength of faith and character that set the foundation for three of her six sons to become Scottish kings during what was known as Scotland’s “Golden Era.”  As she had done with King Malcolm, she is said to have influenced her sons to become just and holy rulers.

Margaret was born into royalty—not what you would call an ordinary woman. But she shows what can happen when a woman of great influence chooses to use her position to accomplish God’s purposes. No wonder she has been called, “The Pearl of Scotland.” Who can measure the full impact, not just on Scottish history, but on the history of Christendom, because of this one life?