Great Dane - Karen Jeppe

1876–1935

Some Christians are known by their words, others by their deeds. Karen Jeppe, the Danish schoolteacher-turned-relief-worker, was one of the latter. Hearing about the needs of Armenian Christians in Turkey, she traveled to the town of Urfa in 1903 and began to teach Armenian children. Reportedly, she was quite good at this, but she also helped organize businesses—carpentry, weaving, shoemaking, etc.

It was the middle of what some historians call the Armenian Genocide. The Turks were systematically impoverishing, oppressing, and killing off the Armenians. The people of Urfa spoke of a massacre there in 1895, years before Karen arrived, but she saw continuing havoc in the years leading up to World War I. In some cases, Armenian men were slaughtered and women and children forced to march across the desert to “death camps.” Karen worked tirelessly to provide relief to those in need and to rebuild Armenian society. Often she hid children in her home for their safety.

As conditions grew worse for the Armenians, so did Karen’s health. She went back to Denmark to recuperate, but soon she returned to Turkey, helping however she could. When she learned that captured Armenian girls were being sold into prostitution, she jumped to action again, mobilizing an effort to rescue those girls and house them safely.

While dying of malaria in 1935, she spoke of being ready to go “home.” She who had provided a home to so many was now headed for her eternal shelter. She who had brought light into this dark corner of the world was memorialized at the Church of Gregory the Light Bringer. One Armenian mourned, “A messenger from God has left us.”

Karen Jeppe did not start a church, preach to multitudes, or write inspirational verses. She just used her God-given gifts of teaching and organization to make her mark on the world. She stood up against an overwhelming tide of oppression, and while she didn’t stop it, she brought the love of Christ to suffering Christians.

We hope that you will never have to face such atrocities, but you may still have opportunity to care for someone in need, to comfort a sufferer, or to stand up against an oppressor. You can be a “messenger from God” in any situation you encounter today.

Unless it produces good deeds, [faith] is dead and useless. . . . I will show you my faith by my good deeds.

James 2:17-18