A couple of days ago, I ran across Lives Given, Not Taken: 21st Century Southern Baptist Martyrs on my bookshelf, and remembered an encounter I experienced a few weeks ago when I was at the annual Pastor's School hosted by Beeson Divinity School of Samford University. They are always wonderful hosts, and the university's facilities are open to participants. I took advantage of their hospitality, and slipped into the library about an hour before lunch one day. Sunday is always coming, even when you are away at a conference. I needed some study time, so I walked up to the second floor of the library to find a quiet place to gather my thoughts and review my notes for the coming Sunday. Then, I noticed a statue. Curious, I walked up to it and saw the likeness of Martha Myers. Her name and story were familiar to me, but I had not realized that she was a Samford graduate. The statue honoring one of our Southern Baptist martyrs took me totally by surprise.
Most Southern Baptists do not realize that we have modern-day Southern Baptist martyrs for the faith. Martha Myers, M. D., served at Baptist Hospital in Jibla, Yemen as a medical missionary for years. She was shot, along with other missionaries, in 2002 by a Muslim who was angry over their Christian influence. She touched countless thousands of lives in her decades of missionary service in Yemen. She had even treated the wife of the man who murdered her. Her story continues to be inspirational today. Martha Myers knew that she could suffer horribly or even die for the faith because of her service in Yemen, but she just kept going anyway. The story of her life is a memorial to true Christianity.
You may read more about Myers and the statue by following this link.
