Stories Behind Women of Extraordinary Faith by Ace Collins

Author:Ace Collins
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Array
Publisher: Zondervan

11

MOTHER TERESA

Faith Filled with Compassion

The path of life was rocky for this humble nun. For so much of her life, no one predicted great things for this woman, yet the fact that she lived most of her life as an overlooked outsider in a strange land forged the monumental faith that would inspire the world.

We have all known people who seem bent on living impossible goals. Many of these idealistic dreamers embrace causes that leave them forever swimming upstream. They ignore the pleas of friends and family to take the practical route and to stay on the proven road. Nothing can discourage them even though it seems obvious they are bound for ridicule and failure. It spite of the odds, there is something in them that pushes them onward. Eventually, most give up, defeated, discouraged, and disheartened. Only a very few hold on to their dream and keep pushing forward. They are the ones who know that even though it may appear they are struggling alone, God is always with them.

A tiny woman, born into a cultural mixing bowl in Yugoslavia, would certainly fit into the parameters of those defined as impossible dreamers. Yet what separated this woman from millions of others who embraced goals that seemed unreachable was that she knew why she was doing it; she understood from where her call came, and she made the impossible in her life possible. Ultimately, millions were dramatically changed by her fortitude, conviction, and faith.

Gonxha Bojaxhiu was born in Skopje, Yugoslavia, on August 27, 1910. From her first breath, she was considered a minority. Her roots labeled her an Albanian, her family raised her as a Catholic. She was one of the few of her kind living among the Slavs, Muslims, and Orthodox Christians who populated the region.

Gonxha, or Agnes as she was called by most of her friends, was the youngest of three children of Nikola and Dronda Bojaxhiu. Her father owned a construction company and the family was prosperous enough that they had not one, but two homes. They essentially lacked for nothing. They had clothing, food, and funds for entertainment and education. They were well-read, engaged in the local community, and respected in their church. In a world filled with abject poverty and social unrest, this family was middle-class and stable. Yet if there was a sticking point in their lives, it centered on Nikola’s fascination with politics. He loved to debate issues and often took positions that placed him at odds with those in power. His courageous and unbending stands on local social issues probably were his undoing. In 1917, after meeting with men who opposed his views, he grew suddenly ill and died. The Bojaxhiu family was sure he had been poisoned, but local officials failed to take action. Still, even without their breadwinner, the family, led by their mother, continued to live at a level few in Skopje could manage.

Agnes was a small, shy girl who nevertheless had a deep curiosity about everything around her.

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