Let Your Actions Do The Talking - Clara Swain

1834–1910

Clara Swain was known as a helpful child. A cousin once said that, at seven, Clara was “always eager to help someone.” By the age of twelve she was helping to take care of another family’s baby. In her midteens she helped nurse an aunt who had broken her ankle.

Clara taught for several years, but it wasn’t what she wanted to do forever. She moved from teaching to medicine, accepting a job at a sanatorium and training under Dr. Cordelia A. Greene. With a female doctor as a teacher, Clara gained experience, and eventually she entered the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. There she learned about women who served as medical missionaries in India.

After Clara completed her studies, God called her to India. She was thirty-five when she left for India to become a medical missionary, and she dedicated her life until retirement to caring for the physical and spiritual needs of that country’s people. She’s recognized as the first female missionary doctor to be sent to a non-Christian nation. For thirty years, she trained Indian women in Western medical practices.

Because of Clara’s pioneering medical intervention in India, lives were changed. Women, who often were not given the same care as men in the country, learned to care for each other and for children. They learned how basic hygiene could improve their health. Clara created places to train women to give medical care and pass that information on to others. Later, she became the personal physician to the wife of a raja, and out of gratitude for Clara helping his wife, the raja allowed Clara to open a dispensary for women.

Throughout her time in India, Clara also dispensed Bibles and taught those around her about Jesus. That was part of her job as a missionary. Maybe you’re not a missionary, but no matter what your job, you, too, can teach people about Jesus, even if it’s just by your behavior. Hmmm . . . that’s something to think about. What are people learning about Jesus by watching you?

Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.

Ephesians 5:1