Women On The Frontlines: A Call To The Secret PlaceIhe Atụ

Gwen Shaw: A Passion for Nations

God called Gwen Shaw to China. However, somewhat ignorantly, Gwen had married a young man who was not as fervent about God’s purposes. Desiring to still pursue God, Gwen prayed and prayed for a change. Eventually, the Lord moved on his heart, and in obedience they went off as faith missionaries to China.

In December 1947, they landed in Shanghai. Having responded in obedience to the call of God upon her life, she received a passionate burden from the Lord for the Chinese people.

Gwen loved the Chinese, and she considered them her people. She shared, “I belonged to them, and their need was my need; their pain, my pain.”

Eventually, though, she and her husband grew apart in vision and calling, and this had resulted in a painful separation of ways. The Lord used this pain as the redemptive part of a breaking process in which He took Gwen into a deeper place where He alone became her husband, shelter, and refuge.

At times, Gwen’s loneliness became so acute that it pierced into her heart like a knife. Only God knew her tears, pain, loneliness, and longing.

At one point, she started to make excuses to try to escape God’s call, and she nearly lost all three of her boys. Danny almost drowned in the South China Sea; David slipped right in front of a fast oncoming car; and Tommy was miraculously rescued out of a sewage-filled river. Still, the Lord promised His fatherly protection if she would only keep following Him.

Gwen knew that God was speaking loud and clear, warning her of how costly it could be to put anything before Him—even her children. The price might be more costly than the one she was already paying. So again, she counted the cost and said “yes” to her Lord. That’s when she received her next assignment—India.

India became Gwen’s great love. She often would say, “China was my first love, and India was my great love.” She couldn’t find words to describe what it meant to feel God’s heartbeat of love for a nation.

May we join Gwen in praying: Lord, I give myself to You. I give my life to You. I feel Your call. I believe I was sent to do the will of my Father. I will take orders from You.