Footprints in History, continued But very few women have managed to be both unknown and famous at the same time. I know of only one-a lady who for years was known only by the initials, B. C. Whether she freely chose anonymity or her quiet walk in the shadows was forced by the times in which she lived, no one may ever be certain, but the woman who went by the nickname "Biddy" literally impacted all of Christendom and her work remains popular to this day.
My Utmost for His Highest is a classic daily devotional used by millions of Christians for almost one hundred years. It is also only one of more than thirty books that bear the name, "Oswald Chambers." Yet, technically, Oswald Chambers never wrote anything. He was a fine preacher and dedicated scholar and leader in the Holiness Movement that swept England. He traveled the world encouraging others to Holy living and total dedication to Christ. But was he a writer? No. That task fell to someone who never sought the limelight and who is not easily traced.
When Oswald Chambers died at forty-three, he left behind a wife-ten years his junior-whom he had met at the home of her parents when they offered hospitality to the itinerant preacher. Later, he was delighted to discover he and Miss Gertrude Hobbs would be traveling together on a ship bound for America. The long hours on shipboard gave them time to know each other. Soon they left the formal addresses that were customary for the times and were on a first name basis.
Finally, one sunrise at the ships rail he asked, "May I call you B. D.? It stands for Beloved Disciple." She smiled and as the romance blossomed over the next two years Oswald always referred this godly woman he loved by those initials. But when the letters repeated over and over again they came out sounding like "Biddy," so for the rest of their lives together he and "Biddy" sought the Lord together.
When Oswald and Gertrude married, the foundation that joined them was love for each other and absolute faith in God's leadership. Her parents worried how a man without a consistent income would support their daughter, neither the bride nor the groom seemed to have a doubt. God would provide. At one point early in their marriage Oswald informed his wife that he had just given away their last half crown and rather sheepishly asked what she thought of that. Unperturbed, his new wife responded, "Well, then, we shall just have to trust God for another."
God did, indeed provide. Bountifully! It wasn't long before a grand home was donated to his ministry so the Chambers could begin Bible Training College in London. The home was so large twenty-five students could be in residence at the same time. Two large parlors connected forming a downstairs lecture hall with huge mirrors framed in gold-leaf anchoring each end of the room above marble fireplaces. The home was a place of peace and plenty. It was somewhere hearts could be renewed and young minds sharpened for the service of the Master.
At the Bible Training College, Gertrude served as hostess, teacher and an example of godly womanhood. Along with a few students who helped keep the mansion running as part of their tuition, she scrubbed, cooked and organized while giving birth to their first child and never lowering her standards. Gertrude felt that gracious hospitality was part of a Christian's calling. Each evening the meal consisted of nutritious, well cooked food served on white table cloths complete with fresh flowers and china.
In addition, every time her husband took the platform to lecture, she was in the back of the room keeping notes. Excellent notes. Page after page of notes. Because she was trained as a stenographer Gertrude could follow dictation at the rate of 250 words a minute and had no trouble recording her husband's sermons word for word.
Note taking was still being consistently followed when after five years of operation, God took the couple in a totally different direction. The mansion was traded for a dirt floor, peace for war, and eager Bible students for hardened soldiers facing death. World War I was sweeping the globe and after much prayer Oswald felt called to close the school for the duration of the war and join the YMCA serving troops in Egypt. It was there-seven miles from Cairo-that a "hut" had been set up to provide spiritual support and physical food to Australian, New Zealand, English and Scottish soldiers.
Even though she had been advised that life in Egypt would seem close to mere survival Gertrude was unprepared for the suffocating heat, relentless wind, and blowing sand. Flies, misquotes and gnats hung in the air like a low cloud. When it did rain, it poured, drenching beds and tables and chairs and depositing an accumulation mud that stuck like molasses to everything. In these conditions, and with her three year old daughter beside her, she and one helper served afternoon tea and food on white table cloths to as many as one hundred men. It was a touch of home that reminded the soldiers of what they were struggling to defend and every time her husband rose to offer spiritual strength, she was in the back of the room taking notes.
They had only been in Egypt a year when Oswald suddenly sickened and died leaving her alone in a foreign land. The shock and grief were intense but with rare sensitivity she could see that the soldiers around her were grieving, too and needed her strength. Only a week after the funeral a young soldier asked, "Will you be talking to us tonight, Mrs. O.C?"
It was a natural question. From the moment Oswald named her "Beloved Disciple" he had recognized the rare talent and spiritual maturity his wife possessed and for as long as he lived they were in every sense a team. In both the Bible Training School and in Egypt he frequently gave her opportunity to teach. In an age when women were expected to have no opinions of their own, he trusted her skill as a public speaker and saw how battle-weary men responded to her soft ways and gentle voice. So, when they asked, she wiped her own tears and replied, "Oh, yes. Yes, I will."
The new widow not only spoke that evening (after preparing tea for a hundred men),her vision reached beyond those in front of her to all the soldiers, half of whom would be dead before the war ended. Requests began to come in for Oswald's instruction and comfort, so she expanded the ministry and arranged for the printing of his words. Six months after her husband died, she transcribed her notes from one of the sermons he had preached and ten thousand copies were distributed among camps in Palestine, Egypt and France. Gertrude always signed these sermons, "Oswald Chambers" and on those rare occasions when referring to herself was necessary she used only the initials B.C (Biddy Chambers).
By July of 1919, the last of the troops were returning home and among them were Gertrude Chambers and her daughter, Kathleen. She arrived back in England almost two years after Oswald's death, yet requests for materials kept coming from all quarters.
Although more than glad to fill the request, the task was daunting. Providing material loomed bigger each day. Years of notes had been transcribed on a huge variety of papers and stored away in dozens of places. Some notes were duplicates of sermons he preached more than once. Others were continuations of a series that were interspersed with other messages. Often, he preached on a topic one year then developed the theme more fully in a manuscript recorded years later.
Since she was an excellent Bible scholar and speaker in her own right, as books continued to be produced some questioned how much of the work was Oswald's original and how much her own?
It was an unfair and cruel question for a woman whose gentle spirit and unassuming ways never sought to promote herself. The thousands of pages so laboriously preserved were bricks and like a master builder she wove them into beautiful, useful shelters for millions of souls. She had signed the manuscripts "Oswald Chambers" and it was an insult to suspect she lied.
But if we could ask that question today, I think Biddy, the "Beloved Disciple," would gently smile and answer, "If people are helped and God is glorified, does it really matter who gets the credit?"
One Reader's Journey, continued How nice," I thought, "If only God would operate that way when folks owed money to the Lord's work!"
Our Christian school is a ministry of our church. We've been open for twenty-five years offering a quality education that incorporates solid Christian values in every subject. We are not trying to make a profit, but when people walk out and leave a heavy bill, I find resentment building. They don't usually refuse to pay; they just don't pay and I couldn't help thinking how nice it would be if God turned them around before they ever reached their cars, marched them back inside and lovingly said, "Pay your bill!"
As I considered, I could feel hurt growing. Why were ministries always the last obligation people took seriously? Feelings of inferiority followed the hurt. Were we not an honorable debt? Did they think our service and labors were worthless?
I reflected on the financially hard times our ministry has gone through. How often had we gone without things other school took for granted? How often had we stretched pennies and volunteered hours? There had even been times when we could not meet payroll.
Then, I remembered the answered prayers and the truth that even when people were faithless, God never was. We have never shut down because of lack of funds and-although sometimes delayed-our teachers have never gone without a pay check.
But, God didn't let it go at that. He pushed me further as He pointed to the resentment and inferiority building inside. When the administration could make payroll and asked for volunteers to wait on funds, God had put me in a position to raise my hand. Wasn't that a privilege? I was one of the few who didn't depend on the weekly check for survival. My family might need to cut a few corners, but I could wait. God had provided beyond immediate needs and honored me with the freedom to make a choice and give to others. I was humbled.
As for those who didn't pay their bills, who can perfectly know the mind of God? Perhaps He is using our grace to them as an example of His beautiful mercy. Or, maybe His convicting Spirit waits a more opportune time. Maybe He is building our reward in heaven. But, this is one thing I do know: God is intricately weaving a tapestry in the lives of everyone who attends and works in our little Christian ministry. Even when His "work" is to remind one teacher that no one is inferior who serves the living Lord.
