April 11, 1861 - Sarah Platt Doremus Founds the WMUS

Sarah Doremus portrait, 19th century. Public Domain. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

 Sarah Platt Doremus was a passionate and wealthy Christian who lived in New York City during the 19th century. She committed much of her time to charity and church work, and she fostered a growing interest in missions after hearing from missionaries in Myanmar about the hardships faced by the women there. She realized that most missionary organizations were led by men and that they believed the mission field was too dangerous or inappropriate for women, thus refusing to send unmarried women into the field. Doremus believed that women were better equipped to reach some groups, such as women and children in cultures where men and women live separately, than men. As a result, Doremus founded The Women’s Union Missionary Society of America for Heathen Lands on April 11, 1861. The Women’s Union Missionary Society supported women missionaries in several Asian countries whose work often included opening schools for girls, opening orphanages, providing medical care, and sharing the Gospel with those more difficult for male missionaries to reach.

The WMUS demonstrated that women could play a major role in global missions, and over time, mission boards began sending more women to mission fields across the world, making women a crucial part of Christian mission work worldwide. The work of Doremus led to opportunities for generations of women missionaries. Her story also encourages modern Christians who live in a self-centered world to allow compassion to spur action in their lives. Doremus did not hear about suffering and remain idle. Instead, she chose to make a difference, changing innumerable lives. She is also an example to modern Christians that God does not only use active missionaries but all Christians as long as they are willing to respond to his prompting.