Free Agent - Rebecca Protten

1718–80

A slave girl of mixed race on a tiny island in the Caribbean—how could young Rebecca ever hope to change the world? But she did. She learned Christianity from her master, a Dutch planter on the island of St. Thomas. Shortly after he died, Rebecca gained her freedom, but she didn’t give up her faith.

In 1732, a group of missionaries arrived from Europe and began preaching the gospel to slaves. (This effort, led by Leonard Dober and David Nitschmann, was the first foreign outreach launched from the Moravian community of Herrnhut. Moravians would become famous for their missions work around the world.)

Still a teenager and already a Christian, Rebecca joined their cause, actively sharing her faith with slaves on her island. This was downright dangerous. White planters feared a slave revolt, and they didn’t appreciate a former slave—and a girl, no less—speaking out so publicly. Yet Rebecca persisted, helping to establish a local church whose traditions would later impact the African American church in the United States.

After more than a decade of ministry on the island, Rebecca went to Europe with some of the missionaries, and there she married David Protten, who later evangelized the Gold Coast region of Africa.

If someone had told twelve-year-old Rebecca that she would speak out for Jesus in two hemispheres, changing lives and establishing a rich religious tradition that would remain strong for centuries to come, she’d probably have laughed. Or maybe, with a childlike faith already taking root in her heart, she might have said, “Good. Let’s make it happen.”

You may have all sorts of reasons why you can’t do anything of great importance for God. You lack the talent or discipline. You’re not as strong a Christian as you ought to be. There are so many others who would do better. You have responsibilities to your community, your family, your job. You’re not the right race or age or gender. So of course you can’t be expected to do anything great.

But then consider Rebecca—or about a hundred other women described in this book. Like them, you can be an agent of God’s redemption—in big ways or small, it doesn’t matter. Don’t let your circumstances convince you otherwise.

Moses again pleaded, “Lord, please! Send anyone else.”

Exodus 4:13