March is women’s history month. I can think of no better way to honor that than to learn about women missionaries who gave their lives, love, and dedication to serving God. These women left home, gave up dreams, sacrificed comfort, and put themselves in danger to see the gospel spread and lives changed.

Their stories inspire, encourage, challenge, and lead us to praise God. If you enjoy learning about them as much I did, I hope that you will share this post and use the resources at the end to further your knowledge of them.

5 Female Missionaries Biographies and Life Lessons

There are many women missionaries who are worthy of our time and inspiration. Their dedicated service to God and His people is encouraging and humbling. These 5 women are among my favorites because of their devotion, sacrifice, and humility before the Lord.

1. Gladys May Aylward–A little woman with a big heart!

Let me start with the reason I think everyone should know about Gladys Aylward: This tiny woman was 4’10” tall, but she had the courage and heart of a giant! She left home in 1932 with no support from the mission board, only enough money for travel in her pocket, and landed right in the middle of a war!

None of this would deter Gladys, a young single woman on her own, because she was on a mission from God. She felt compelled to share the gospel among the people of China. When she finally arrived to work with seasoned missionary, Jeannie Lawson, she found a warn out older woman who did not have time to train her but put her in charge of taking care of mules.

Some would have given up by this point, but not Gladys. She had been told by the mission board that she would never master the Chinese language, but she slowly picked up the dialect from those she came in contact with and began sharing stories from the Bible.

During her ministry, Gladys saw many Chinese people come to salvation in Christ, including government officials, lepers, children, Buddhist monks, and more. She also rescued 100s of children from slavery and poverty.

Three amazing stories about Gladys that show her giant sized faith in her God:

First, my favorite story about Gladys. The local prison had a riot that was out of control and people were severly injured. None of the prison guards or officials would enter. Gladys was so respected for her faith and demenor that she was asked by a government official to go in and stop the riot. WHAT!? A tiny, English woman against those angry prisoners. But, with God’s help, she not only stopped the riot but made major prison reforms and got to share the hope of the gospel with the prisoners!

Second, Gladys was given the job of “foot inspector” by a local Chinese official. It had been a practice in China to bind young girls feet so that they would appear smaller but it was outlawed because of the permanent damage. Many people in rural villages were still practicing and Gladys was hired to enforce the law. She used this opportunity to spread the gospel all over China!

Third, during the war, Gladys served as a spy for the Chinese She would deliver food to prisoners of war and bring back intelligence. She was such an important agent that the Japanese offered a reward to anyone who would kill her.

2. Mary Slessor–White Queen of Okoyong

“Christ sent me to preach the gospel and he will look after the results.”

Mary Slessor

Mary was born into poverty in Scotland. Her mother was a Christian influence, but her father was an abusive alcoholic. At age 11, she left home to work in a mill. Due to the influence of an older Christian woman, Mary turned her life around and was saved. She became obsessed with following the life of famed Christian missionary, David Livingstone.

While still young, Mary joined a local mission to the poor. There is a famous story of her not backing down to a gang of young boys even as they swung a piece of metal at her face. On a dare, she convinced them to visit Sunday School.

When Mary was in her mid-twenties, she sought her mother’s permission to go to Africa as a missionary. She applied to the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland hoping to go to Calabar, Nigeria. She was accepted on the condition that she take a few training classes before hand. On August 5, 1876, she sailed for Africa.

“Her work was that of a pioneer among the most savage tribes of the Calabar hinterland. Practically singlehanded she tamed and transformed three pagan communities in succession. It is a question if the career of any other woman missionary has been marked by so many strange adventures, daring feats, signal providences, and wonderful achievements.” (Dr. Robert H. Glover, The Progress of World-Wide Missions)

Despite illness and constant danger, Mary lived with the tribes, as a single, white woman, learned their language, and traditions, and earned their respect. Witchcraft and barbaric tribal customs were up hill battles. One tradition that Mary decided to fight against was ‘twin-murder’. Some tribes believed twins were cursed by an evil spirit who was the father to one of the babies. Both babies were savagely killed and the mother was shunned.

Mary was bold in Christ as she went village to village to rescue hundreds of twin babies abandoned by fearful mothers. She relied on the wisdom and power of God to prevent wars between the tribes, stop dangerous heathen practices such as cannibalism, heal the sick, and share the gospel of Jesus.

Living alongside the native people, Mary became vice-consul of Okoyong, ruling over the local court, and became known as the “white queen of Okoyong”. However those who loved her and knew her best called her, “Eka Kpukpru Owo,” which means “Mother of all the People.”

3. Betty Greene–Pioneer Pilot

This amazing woman had a dream to be a pilot and when God turned her dream into a reality, she used it for His glory. She was a pioneer in the field of missionary pilots and extremely heroic to try new and dangerous missions to see people come to Jesus. A young woman in a career dominated by men, Betty flew dangerous missions and relied on God’s protection and provision.

Betty had always wanted to be a pilot. She saw Charles Lindbergh fly at a young age and had an older brother, whom she looked up to, that was a pilot. By 1942 Betty had her pilot’s license, next, she joined the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program. God allowed her this time to master important skills and feats that would serve her well in the coming years.

Titled “A Gal, A Plane, and A Dream,” Betty’s article for a Christian magazine was seen by three men who had been planning to use planes for missionary work. With God’s grace, those four pilots started Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF).

“MAF would provide air transportation, ambulance and medical service, and supply lines to remote frontier stations. The mission also surveyed possible sites for new mission endeavors and maintained a series of airstrips around the world. Additionally, MAF operated a radio communications network and worked in cooperation with independent sister organizations in Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Netherlands, Finland, Surinam, Mexico, Brazil, and South Africa. More recently, MAF has provided search and rescue services during political uprisings, and delivered humanitarian aid for populations suffering from famine, floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes.” – ( “A Gal, A Plane, and A Dream”)

4. Lillian Trasher– The Nile Mother

Lillian Trasher served 50 years to the orphans and disenfranchised of Egypt through epidemics of cholera and polio, fires, riots, two world wars, and persecution by Muslims. She was a woman living in a man’s world, but her faith in God protected and proved her.

In her early 20s, Lillian worked at an orphanage in South Carolina which sealed her heart for uncared for and often unloved children. Having called off an engagement to a pastor who did not share her heart for foreign missions just 10 days before the wedding and with the disapproval of her parents, Lillian left for Egypt in 1910 as an independent missionary.

Lillian, with the help of her sister, Jennie, began to care for abandoned babies and children in Assiut, Egypt, and eventually founded an orphanage that saw over 20,000 children served. She was a woman devoted to prayer and saw many instances which their needs were supplied miraculously.

“Perhaps the most remarkable answer to her prayers happened during the Second World War. Amid nationwide shortages, Lillian called for twenty-four hours of prayer and fasting. During this time, she had an urgent message to visit the American ambassador in Cairo. He explained that, with the fall of Greece to the Nazis, a Red Cross supply ship had returned to Alexandria where it had offloaded its cargo of food, blankets and children’s clothes. Did she want them?” (Heroes of the Faith: Lillian Trasher)

Today the orphanage lives on as the Lillian Trasher Memorial Orphanage and is home to 400 orphans, 40 widows and 50 staff members with their families. Children are offered an education, training, and physical activity, as well as complete healthcare coverage. Most importantly, they are brought up with a sense of belonging and taught faith in God. Find more here: https://ltokids.tripod.com/

5. Amy Carmichael-“Amma” to the Children of India

He said “Love…as I have loved you.” We cannot love too much.

Amy Carmichael

Amy Carmichael is last on my list because she is the only one of these women missionaries that I have yet to read her biography. From what I’ve learned about her preparing for this post, I can’t wait to dive in.

Amy left home in Ireland to be a missionary first in Japan for a few years and then later to India at the age of 28. She opened an orphanage in Dohnavur, India where she lived the rest of her life devoted to rescuing the children who were prostituted out at the Hindu temple.

“It was March 1901. A seven-year-old Indian girl named Preena escaped a Hindu temple where she had been abandoned by her mother as a “devotion to the gods.” (She was to serve as a temple prostitute for life.) It wasn’t the first time she had fled the temple. The first time, Preena had hoped her mother would rescue her. Sadly, her mother renounced her again and the temple women punished Preena’s desertion with hot irons to the hands. Perhaps that would move her mother to see her desperation and keep her. Her second time on the run, Preena wandered across a large body of water and came in the dark upon a church in the village of Pannaivilai—hopefully this church was different than the “church” she had been living in.” (Who Was Amy Carmichael?)

Amy’s diving meeting with Preena sealed her mission in India. She worked tirelessly, along with other missionaries, to defend and preserved trafficked girls and boys. Over the years, thousands of temple children were saved and the Dohnavur Fellowship in Southern India was established. 

Amy had a fall that led to serious injuries that left her bed ridden for the last 20 years of her life. She wrote in abundance, publishing nearly 40 books. She wrote many poems and songs about the Lord from her own personal time spent with Him during her suffering.  Amy died in Dohnavur on January 18, 1951 at aged 83. She asked for no grave marker but was buried in the place she loved. The children marked her grave with a birdbath, because of her loved for birds and nature, inscribed “Amma” which means mother in Tamil.

Her example as a humble servant of God has inspired countless others (including Jim Elliot and his wife Elisabeth Elliot) to be career missionaries and care for the less fortunate.

Resources to Learn about Women Missionaries

A simple web search will bring up many biographies and resources about these women. Some are short and some are a bit inaccurate, but you can find some great information. However, I would recommend the following books to dive in to these women’s lives, in addition to the resources I have cited within the post itself.

• Christian Heroes: Then & Now by YWAM Publishing
• Gladys Aylward: The Little Woman
• Mary Slessor of Calabar: Biography of a Christian Woman
• Betty Greene: Courage Has Wings
• The Life of Lillian Trasher: Nile Mother
• A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael 
• List of Books written by Amy Carmichael