I have long known that the story of missionaries wives, largely unknown or unheard, is one of huge personal sacrifice, often unto to death in far away places.  The romantic tales of derring-do (however that is meant to be spelled) of Dr Livingstone, Mr Carey and others overshadow the often tragic reality faced by the wives they took with them and the children they fathered.

This morning, digging a little deeper into the story of the first BMS missionary to Sri Lanka, James Chater, whose wife, Anne gets passing mention in BMS's necessarily brief history on their website, I came across two obituaries to her.  She ran a school on Sri Lanka and had already given birth to ten children and was again pregnant at the time physicians ordered her to return to the UK for the sake of her health.  Two of her sons had already died on their journey to the UK to be educated at boarding school, and seven children travelled with her towards the UK (I don't know what happened to the tenth child).  During the journey it became clear she would give birith imminently, so she was landed, with her two youngest children, gave birth to twins and died a dew days later.  Her surviving children ranged from nine years old downwards - the poor woman must have permanently pregant, no wonder she died from exhaustion.

I haven't found an obituary for Rev Chalmers, all I know is that when he left Sri Lanka to return to the UK a few years alter, he too died en route.  Of their children I know nothing.

In 2013 there is an established Baptist work in Sri Lanka, and the one remaining Baptist school appears to be highly regarded - this is the 'good treasure' handed on to our generation by those who went to take the Good news to Sri Lanka.

I am glad that there are extended obituaries for Anne Chater (here and here) which give us just the tiniest glimspe into the reality of what it meant to be a missionary wife.  Having just last week remidned ourselves of the call to sacrificial living, there stories are epseically challenging to our lives of middle class ease.

Among my favourite hymns is Frances Ridley Havergal's 'Take my life', which is simultaneously holistic, referring to the whole of life, and challenging – I can never sing it and feel comfortable afterwards!

The lines "take my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt choose" resonate with the theme 'mission of the mind' – God gave us minds, intellects, brains for one good reason – to employ them!  In my experience, all too often Christians downplay the role of the mind in favour of a skewed understanding of the Spirit, confusing emotional response with authenticity, and being suspicious of inquiry or questioning.  In my twenties, in order to 'belong', I stopped questioning and suppressed views that did not seem to fit with the version of Christianity I was experiencing.  It was only after God's call to ordained ministry that I discovered the liberating potential of theological thinking – and that my questions and ideas were valid within the spread of orthodoxy (rats, I always liked being a heretic!).

I remain grateful to Scripture Union Bible reading notes for a little (maybe slightly trite) rhyme that has stayed with me through the years:

If we are all mind, we dry up,

If we are all spirit, we blow up,

If we are mind and spirit, we grow up.

It is not an 'either/or' but a 'both/and'.  To mature as Christians we need to employ our intellects properly, to engage with topics that discomfit us, to ponder possibilities that seem alien to the comfortable version of Christianity we experience week in, week out (whatever label we choose to use for ourselves).  The prospect of 'Catalyst Live' really excites me and I booked my ticket months ago!  The chance to feast on the ideas of some great theologians, the opportunity to stretch my intellect and wrestle with ideas, the gift of listening for God's still small voice amidst the clamour of church life…. Yes please!

One day, a few years back, one of my church folk commented on my continued study, "surely you know all there is to know by now".  The quest for understanding, the desire to learn and grow, the need to stretch my mind, is part of my discipleship, my spirituality, my call – "take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee."  Holistic discipleship, heart and mind, body and spirit – I want to be part of that.

‘Mission of the Mind’ is the theme of Catalyst Live, a day of engaging speakers from the worlds of apologetics, theology, science and culture, organised by BMS World Mission. To book tickets for Manchester (27 November) or Reading (28 November) go to http://www.bmscatalystlive.com/