Audrey Featherstone, I Presume? - The Amazing Story of a Congo Missionary (Shenton)

In God's dealings with Audrey Featherstone, an ordinary lady, we see how he can take a ‘nobody' and use her for his glory and the extension of his kingdom. Gordon M. Guinness in his foreword to Elizabeth Pritchard's work For such a time, speaking of the Regions Beyond Missionary Union (RBMU), Audrey's mission, says, ‘Although there are great figures in the story, like Henry Grattan Guinness and F. B. Meyer, for the most part it is the account of what God had done with "ordinary" people, who dared to take Christ at his word and to follow him faithfully, whatever the consequences, in the power of his Spirit.' Audrey is the first to admit that she is one of those ‘ordinary people'.

We need stories today of modern missionaries who are prepared to turn their backs on home, family, security, wealth and all that they count dear, in order to win lost souls for Christ - men and women who are ready to travel to the darkest parts of the earth to live with a people they love and, if necessary, to die among them. Audrey is a modern missionary whose heart is Congolese.

Her story is a gripping narrative. Her dramatic conversion, her experiences during the Second World War at the time of the London bombings, her adventures on the way to Congo and her twenty-five years' service in that nation, which included the perils of Independence and the Simba rebellion, make captivating reading. We all love an adventure story and that is what we have in Audrey's life - danger, excitement, romance, fear, heartbreak and so much more.

'A well told story of a very ordinary young girl who embarked on an extraordinary journey with the conviction that God was calling her to be a missionary in Africa. In the face of many odds she sets out for the Congo to serve wherever her Missionary bosses send her, and to meet up with her fiancée, an older more senior and experienced missionary who she had met between her application and starting at Redcliffe Missionary Training College. In answer to questioning at her original interview she had truthfully stated that she had no intention of ever getting married - but how quickly things changed. Unusually for those times it was agreed by her superiors that the two could marry and work together, and the rest of the book tells of the forty plus years that they did just that.

These were troubled and dangerous years in the Congo, life was never dull! When they were on furlough it was not restful, they travelled constantly giving talks about their work to raise support, with very little time for a real break. These were changing years for overseas missionary work, and Audrey Featherstone's story spans many of those changes. An inspiring read about one of the Christians who gave their utmost for their people.' - From the Foreword 

Author 

Tim Shenton is the Headmaster of St Martin's School, Bournemouth

Endorsement

“In the annals of mission, the name of Audrey Featherstone may not necessarily be visible alongside Carey, Judson and Taylor, but her story needs telling, in praise of the grace of God, in tribute to a life selflessly lived for the gospel and because Audrey stands as one of the countless faithful missionaries down through the years who are unknown by most, but famous to God. My prayer is that her example of life-long commitment to the cause will inspire more Careys, Judsons, Taylors and Featherstones.” – John Brand