Section One

“As unknown” (2 Cor. 6:9)

M.E. Barber is little known, not only in the world in general, but also among most Christians. Some may realize that her name appears in Streams in the Desert, but that is about all. She was British, but we cannot find her name in The Dictionary of National Biography. She was a missionary, but she was not like David Livingston or Hudson Taylor, who accomplished great things. Her sphere of work was not large; it was mostly limited to an obscure village in a corner of China. She was not like John Wesley, who could say, “The whole world is my parish.” She wrote hymns, but not like the hymns written by Charles Wesley or Isaac Watts, which can be found in most Christian hymnals. She loved the Lord and matured in the spiritual life, but she was not like Madame Guyon or Andrew Murray, who left many writings that remain to the present.

It seems that she was a lonely traveler who quietly appeared on the earth. She was born in 1866 in Peasenhall, County Suffolk, England, the daughter of Louis (a wheelwright) and Martha (nee Gibbs) Barber. At 63 years of age, M.E. Barber was taken by the Lord. Within her short lifetime, she was twice called by the Lord to go to China. She gave up her home and traveled in a lonely way thousands of miles to a backward country.

She lived in a village close to Foochow where she quietly gave her best years to work for the Lord, continuing faithfully unto her death on March 1, 1930. At her burial a brother said, “‘She has done what she could’— like Mary” (Mark 14:8). Watchman Nee, who received much help from her, was not present at her burial, but he wrote later of his appreciation for her in his well-known book, The Normal Christian Life. In the last chapter, “The Goal of the Gospel” (printed separately under the title, Why This Waste?), he quoted her words: “Lord, I am willing to break my heart in order that I may satisfy Thy heart!“ Once someone asked her, “What are the requirements to work for the Lord?” She replied, “The requirement to work for the Lord is not to work.” Some of the Chinese young people who received help from her were worried about her. They wondered, “Why doesn’t she go out and establish meetings and work in a bigger city?” Instead, she lived in a small village where it seemed nothing was happening. It seemed that it was a waste for her to be there. One brother almost shouted at her, “No one knows the Lord as you do. You know the Bible in a most living way. Don’t you see the need around? Why don’t you go out and accomplish something? You just sit here seemingly doing nothing. You are wasting your time, energy, and money; you are wasting everything!”

Was there waste? After all these years, it is clear. She was a seed of life sown by God in China. This seed surely went through loneliness, humiliation, and seclusion. But thank God, He made her blossom and bear fruit. Only God knows how many people received spiritual help from her directly and indirectly. The marvelous thing is this: God caused her to bear fruit abundantly. While she was alive, God did not let her know this. “O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and untraceable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has become His counselor?” (Rom. 11:33-34).