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| Johanna Veenstra |
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| Johanna Veenstra and fellow female missionaries serving in Nigeria |
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| Veenstra Seminary where Zach and Sharon taught in 2003-04 |
This fall, Resonate Global Mission is recognizing Johanna
Veenstra, the CRC’s first female missionary and first overseas missionary. One
hundred years ago in October, she began her long voyage to Nigeria from New
Jersey. She faced incredible physical and emotional challenges, including the
fact that the CRC did not recognize her as a missionary or the importance of
mission work in Africa. Nevertheless, Johanna remained faithful to her call,
sharing her faith and showing mercy to the Nigerian people she met. She
continually called CRC members to support the mission work in Nigeria through
magazine articles, letters and visits to churches. Veenstra died of
appendicitis only 13 years after she first arrived in Nigeria. But her work, as
human and flawed as it was, contributed to the growth of Nigerian churches
whose membership far outnumber the CRC today. Veenstra took the message of
Deut. 31:7-8 to heart, “Be strong and courageous…the Lord himself goes before
you and will be with you, he will never leave you or forsake you.” Johanna
Veenstra was strong and courageous in her mission to share Christ with the
Nigerian people because she knew God was with her.
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