Catherine Walker

Just six weeks after arriving in China, she received a letter from the American consul advising all Americans to leave the Communist-threatened area.

DECADES OF SERVICE
1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s

MINISTRY EMPHASIS
Theological Education, Writing

Just six weeks after arriving in China, she received a letter from the American consul advising all Americans to leave the Communist-threatened area.

Catherine wrote in the December 1956 The Commission magazine about her missionary calling as a young girl to China. The calling was true, but just six weeks after she arrived in China as a young single missionary, she was faced with leaving. Her first impulse when she received the evacuation letter was to sign up for the next evacuation ship. “Later, when praying, I realized that I was making my own decision without any consideration of God’s will,” she wrote. After much prayer, Catherine chose to stay in China and relocate to Shanghai. She recalled her time in that city as “the most valuable mission experiences I had in China.”

Though she was known to have loved her life in China, she initially struggled with the Chinese language, which left her feeling defeated. And later, after she moved to Indonesia, she faced discouragement that overwhelmed her at times. When she was teaching in the Indonesian Baptist Theological Seminary, she faced criticism from students that left her “overwhelmed with a sense of failure and despair.” She was grateful for the deep conviction that she was chosen for her role and her knowledge that God could restore joy in her life. While at the seminary, Catherine wrote seven seminary textbooks. Her Bible Workbooks, Volumes 1 and 2, are still being used.

Catherine stayed on the mission field 35 years. She then served four more years as special assistant to the president for intercessory prayer at the Foreign Mission Board.