Helen Roseveare

Helen Joan Roseveare was born on October 14, 1925, in Haileybury, England. Her father was a schoolmaster, and she grew up in a home of cultured and quiet faith. She was a clever girl who loved books and sports. At Cambridge University she studied medicine, and in the course of her studies she came to a personal trust in Christ through the Christian Union. She was drawn to missions after hearing a speaker, and she offered herself to the Worldwide Evangelization Crusade, the mission that C. T. Studd had founded.

She sailed for the Belgian Congo in 1953, as a young doctor. She was assigned to the northeast of the country, to a place called Ibambi, and later to Nebobongo. She found there a land with few doctors and a people who suffered from disease and poverty. She worked in a simple clinic and soon found herself the only doctor for a vast area. She began to build a hospital and a training school for nurses. She taught African women to be midwives and nurses, and she gave herself without limit to the work. She also preached and shared the gospel.

In 1960, the Congo gained its independence from Belgium, and the country fell into turmoil. In 1964, rebels known as the Simbas swept through the northeast, and the missionaries were in great danger. Helen was captured in October 1964. She was held for five months, during which she was beaten and cruelly mistreated. She was brutally assaulted by the soldiers, and she faced threats of death. She wrote later that in the worst hours she felt that God had asked a price from her, and she learned that He was with her in the suffering. She was freed in January 1965 when the rebels were driven out of the area.

She returned to England for a time to recover. In 1966, she went back to the Congo, though many urged her to stay home. She said that she could not leave the people she had come to serve. She helped to rebuild the hospital and the school. She remained in the Congo until 1973, when she left because of the political situation and her own health. In those years, she trained hundreds of African nurses and doctors, and she saw many people come to faith.

She told her story in several books. Doctor Among Congo Rebels, published in 1965, recounts her captivity. Give Me This Mountain, published in 1966, tells of her life and work. Another, Living Sacrifice, was written to help believers think about the cost of faith. She was a strong speaker and traveled widely to tell of her experiences. She was known for her honesty. She said that she did not understand why God had allowed her suffering, but that she had found Him to be enough.

Her life had its difficulties. She was a woman who held her convictions firmly and could be demanding of herself and of others. She was also lonely at times and never married. After her return, she spent years speaking to churches and Christian groups, and she carried the weight of her memories. She spoke openly of the struggle to forgive those who had hurt her.

She died on December 7, 2016, in Northern Ireland, at the age of ninety-one. Her life shows the courage of a woman who gave up a career and comfort for the sake of the sick of Africa, and who returned to them after she had been wounded.