Lessons from Constance Padwick

Mission biographies have always gripped my heart. Many were poured out as a drink offering for the sake of God’s glory among the nations. As a result, a great deal of lessons can be gleaned from their lives.

One life in particular has stood out to me over the past year: Constance Padwick. As I began to engage with her more seriously, reading more of her writing, I saw yet another example of a life lived for Christ’s glory. She offers us a method of mission that is uniquely Christophormic and challenges us with her zeal for the mission of God. Here are some lessons from her life that we can reflect on as we pursue Christ and his mission together.

1. Obey when it doesn’t make sense.

Born in 1886, Constance Padwick grew up in Sussex, England, in the afterglow of the Keswick Convention meetings. She engaged with the Student Volunteer Movement, but her dedication to international missions work was really stirred after a trip to Palestine in 1910. [1] Though she zealously desired to serve overseas, the Christian Missionary Society (CMS) in London denied her on account of her physical health. In spite of this, Constance made her way to Egypt by working for the Nile Mission Press. [2]

At the beginning of the story, Constance has lessons for us. We must obey God even when it does not look like what we imagined. At times, his leading might take the form of a human organization saying “no.” However, we must petition our highest authority for direction. Constance did just this. Though her pathway to the field did not take the form she might have imagined, God still got her there.

It wasn’t that she went in spite of the decision of the CMS but, looking back, that was not the way in which God orchestrated her going. It might have been that she would not have worked so closely with the Nile Mission Press or that she would not have shared the gospel with a particular person if she had been sent by the CMS. God calls us to trust him and to obey even when it doesn’t make sense. This is what we can glean from Constance’s example.

2. Use your gifting for his glory among the nations.

It was in Cairo, as she worked alongside Temple Gairdner, that her interest in higher studies on Islam heightened. While on leave in Britain after working with the Nile Mission Press, Constance studied Arabic and Arab folklore at the University of London. After completing her two years of study, she went back to Egypt with the CMS.

Not only was Constance Padwick a bright student, but she was also a gifted writer. She would come to be known as a “literature missionary,” as much of her influence and legacy can be found in her writings. [3] She authored several books, namely biographies of other missionaries, as well as articles that continue to impact the missions world today. Throughout her writing, Constance’s tender heart for the lost, particularly Muslims, shines forth.

The biographies she wrote of Henry Martyn, Temple Gairdner, Lilas Trotter, and Lyman MacCallum are all like two-sided mirrors for Constance Padwick. She looked through the windows of the lives of those she admired and then looked at her own. With inspiration grasped in the depths of her heart, she lived out these themes of devotion, self-denial, and sacrifice with great joy until her time came. She eventually produced a resource on Muslim prayer manuals that continues to be of great value in the field of Islamic studies.

We see in Constance a gift that she did not use for her own personal gain. She used her mind and her skill as a writer to impact the world for the sake of Christ’s glory. In the same way, we too can use what God has gifted us with to bring glory to his name. How has God designed you? What talents and gifts has he endowed you with for the purpose of wise stewardship for his glory?

3. Endurance, consistency, and steadfastness

For more than four decades, Constance Padwick would go on to serve with the CMS in various parts of the Muslim world, such as Egypt, Palestine, Turkey, and Sudan. Those of her time considered the Muslim world a place where no one would come to faith in Christ. Truly, the work was arduous and the soil hard, but God remained faithful to her.

Constance’s example of zealous, steadfast devotion to Jesus is one for us today. Though the work may seem impossible, we are not called to produce results but to remain faithful. The history of global missions repeatedly demonstrates this to us. Oftentimes, missionaries do go to difficult contexts and work for years without seeing anyone come to faith. They also face ridicule from those in their home nation and from others around them. Yet, we see in Constance’s life how she delighted in following after her King. May we too, by God’s grace, be counted faithful and fulfill our ministry.

4. Mission strategy fueled by love.

One of Constance Padwick’s most influential articles is called “North African Reverie.” Her love for God and for the lost is on full display. Padwick rebukes the Church for her ignorance of and neglect in toiling for the salvation of Muslims.

“This North African coast (like most of the Muslim world) had to wait until the nineteenth century for her Christian missionaries,” she writes. “It was twelve centuries from the Muslim conquest before she heard the authentic Christian reply of irresistible love.” [4]

She contends that disciples of Jesus are called to love, and that this love should be demonstrated through faithful, compassionate sharing of the truth of the gospel. Padwick makes clear the Church’s neglect of this responsibility and calls her to action. Her skillful writing stirs the heart of the reader to recognize disobedience in themselves. Not only does she correct, but she also spurs on the Church to long for the experiential joy of sharing the love of Christ—the gospel—with Muslims.

Really, her strategy was not complicated. She identifies the biblical principles of success: faithfulness and dependence on God. In the same article, Constance says, “for the motive of missions is not their successful issue but the surrender of love to God as revealed in Jesus Christ.” [5]

Like Constance Padwick, let us also be compelled by Christ’s love to go and make disciples of all nations. We rest in the truths of His Word and in the confidence we have in our Father’s sovereignty. Yet, we work with endurance, toiling because we know the end: that peoples from every nation, tribe, and tongue will worship Christ forever.

Sources for further study on Constance Padwick:

• Guardians of the Great Commission by Ruth A. Tucker, Chapter 13.
• From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya by Ruth A. Tucker, pages 245-248.
• Henry Martyn: Confessor of the Faith and Temple Gairdner of Cairo by Constance Padwick
• Article “North African Reverie” by Constance Padwick