Faithful Unto Death

This Day in Baptist History Past



April 02, 1881 – Mrs. Martha Craig, the wife of Rev. John Craig, missionary to India, passed away at the young age of twenty-eight years. They had only been in India since Jan. of 1878 and at their station at Akidu since Nov. of 1881. He has been depicted as a persevering and conscientious missionary. Martha Craig has been described as “A quiet…Christian woman, who did what she could in the sphere to which God called her. “…Her sweet face and affectionate heart endeared her to all who knew her.” The couple had first resided in Cocanada, where they had studied the language before being assigned to Akidu. After about five weeks after the birth of their first child, a daughter, the Craig’s left to return to Akidu by boat, on a Friday from Cocanada. They had gone there for medical assistance for Martha. They arrived back at their home on Monday. It became apparent that Martha had problems so John sent a messenger for the services of a doctor. It was Saturday morning before he arrived, his trip was in vain; Martha went home to be with Jesus that afternoon. A saddened group of believers gathered on the Lord’s Day, and a service was conducted by a native believer. There was no cemetery at Akidu, so it was a sad procession that moved on various conveyances the thirty miles to Narapur, where Martha’s body was lovingly laid to rest in the local cemetery near the Godavari River. John Craig, though grief stricken, stayed at his post for Christ until a furlough in 1885 when the Lord gave him a second wife to help bear his burdens. Little Mary Alice was well cared for by other missionaries and relatives until the time they could be together. Condensed by Greg J. Dixon from: This Day in Baptist History II: Cummins and Thompson, BJU Press: pp. 180-82. [C.F: Thomas S. Shenston Teloogoo Mission Scrap Book (Brantford, Canada: expositor Book and Job Office, 1888), p. 179.]