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STIRRETT OF
THE SUDAN
BATURE MAI MAGANI (The White Doctor)
(1865-1948)
Very little
is known of the early life of Dr. Andrew P. Stirrett, other than that he was
born into a Scottish Presbyterian family in Canada on September 30, 1865, and
at a very early age came to know Jesus Christ as his own personal Savior. Very little is given of his life up until the
year 1901, but sometime prior to that he had studied to become a pharmacist and
had owned two drugstores in the city of Toronto with apartments over these places of business. He apparently was a very successful
businessman.
During this time, he also began to study medicine. In the year 1900, he came across a little
pamphlet entitled The Burden of the Sudan
by R. V. Bingham, the founder and director of the Sudan Interior Mission. Dr. Stirrett
had considered yielding himself to the cause of missions, but this little
pamphlet was the capstone that spoke to his heart. He made an appointment to meet with Dr.
Bingham, and through that meeting began the life story of this great man of
God.
He met with the committee of Sudan Interior Mission in Canada but was not thought to be an appropriate candidate
for missionary service in West Africa. Since he was already in his late 30s, the
committee believed he was too old to go to the mission field; but this did not
deter this determined man of God. He
sold his businesses, put the money in trust under the name of the mission, and
proceeded to England. He had nothing in the way of
cash since he had given it all to the mission; but in the spirit of Mueller, he
set out by faith.
He had a friend who was in the business of exporting cattle to England and procured a post with a ship that was taking
cattle to Liverpool. He was hired
on as a crewmember and took a very rough voyage across the Atlantic while tending cattle. He eventually
ended up being the cook for the other roustabouts on board. In Liverpool he met with
the English council of SIM. They, likewise, had grave doubts as to
whether this man, because of his age and stature, was a suitable candidate. He was a very short man (barely over five
feet tall) and was balding, but he had a heavy beard. Again, this devoted man who had felt the hand
of God upon him was not deterred.
In Liverpool he took a course in tropical medicine and then
proceeded on to West
Africa, arriving
in November of 1902. He labored there
for the next 46 years with only infrequent and brief furloughs back to Canada. During his
first furlough, he completed his studies to be a medical doctor. He felt a tremendous burden to reach the
Muslim Hausa-speaking people in the northern part of Nigeria, and he could very well be called the "Apostle to the
Hausa of West
Africa." He learned their language exceptionally well
and was one of the main translators of the Bible into the language. He was a man of indomitable spirit and a
tremendous burden to reach the Hausa-speaking people with the Gospel of Jesus
Christ.
He never missed an opportunity to give out the Gospel. For many years at his headquarters in Jos,
Nigeria, he would daily go to the large market place, stand upon a rock so that
he could better be seen, hold up a large picture of Jesus, and preach Christ to
those who would give him audience.
One day as he was preaching, an angry Muslim picked up a rock and threw
it, knocking his helmet off; but the doctor never missed a beat and kept on
preaching. However, an African from a
different tribe followed the angry Muslim and argued with him saying, "Why did
you do that? If you don't want to listen
to the Bature Mai Magani, the market is large.
Go some place else." Seeing there
was about to be an altercation, the doctor stopped preaching, walked over and
spoke to the man saying, "Son, don't bother talking to this man. You are only speaking to a corpse-one dead in
trespasses and in sin. Don't speak to a
corpse. Why don't you come and speak to
the Lord of Life, the Lord Jesus Christ?"
The Muslim turned and slunk away.
It was learned that he died three days later without any previous warning
or sickness. The doctor's words, "You
are speaking to a corpse," were prophetic words indeed.
Stirrett also traveled extensively over northern Nigeria, usually by foot
or by bicycle. Many stories are related
of how he outdistanced many missionaries half his age in his long treks through
the savannas of Nigeria. He walked with a short,
stiff-legged, choppy gait-a run that exhausted many of his companions. One of
those contemporaries was Mr. Stanley. He was a young Canadian gentleman who
arrived on the field of Nigeria during the "winter months." He had left a very cold Canada, had had a very rough ocean voyage to Nigeria, and was still wearing the heavy winter clothing he
had worn when he left frigid Canada. He had met Dr. Stirrett, and they were beginning a
long trek to the location where Mr. Stanley was to be stationed. Stanley, still
wearing his winter clothing including his long winter underwear, became very
hot in the African heat. He was very much awed by this little man who could
out-walk him even though he was much more than twice his age. Being extremely
warm in these heavy clothes, he very timidly asked Dr. Stirrett whether he
could take off his winter underwear. Dr. Stirrett replied, "Yes son, but take
them off slowly." Stanley told this story on the fiftieth anniversary of his ministry in Nigeria. He spoke with great admiration of the Bature Mai
Magani, the White Doctor. Stanley also related Dr. Stirrett's dietary habits. He often would eat only one
food for a while, and then another at a later date. When Mr. Stanley first met
him, the diet was yam cooked in palm oil. Stirrett was a very strict
Presbyterian and would not build a fire on the Lord's day, so he would have
cold yam and cold palm oil on Sundays. This became very unpalatable to Mr.
Stanley, but there was no way Dr. Stirrett would alter his routine. Stanley told the story of that first trek in Nigeria. He was soon worn out and could not keep up the very
quick pace of the short Dr. Stirrett. Finally he asked whether he could please
rest. Dr. Stirrett gave him leave to rest in the shade of a large tree. During
the time Stanley was recuperating, Stirrett was pacing back and forth
in an impatient manner. All Stanley could do was get up and push himself on throughout
the remainder of that day. There is hardly a place in the northern part of that
country where Stirrett is not still referred to as the Bature Mai Magani, the
White Doctor. His influence was
tremendous.
He never married but said on one occasion that he was engaged to a woman named
Button who became an invalid and had to go home. Jokingly, he would say that he had a "button"
missing ever since. As is the case with
many single men, he did have his eccentricities, and many a humorous story has
been told about him. One of the oldest stations of the SIM in Nigeria is at a place called Wushishi. For many years there
were three single ladies on the station. At one time, Dr. Stirrett thought
there ought to be a man on the station, so he built himself a simple house.
Then he thought it was improper for him to be so close to these single ladies,
so he had a wall built between the two houses. When my wife and I were visiting
the station, we saw the wall. Dr. Stirrett had long since gone to his reward.
We asked what the purpose of that wall was, and these rather elderly ladies
smiled and said, "Dr. Stirrett had that wall built so that he could not see us
nor we see him." They went on to say, "Any fool could tell that it would take only
a few additional steps to walk around the end of the wall." But they thought it
was a great joke that he had had that wall built for privacy between the two
houses. My wife and I never personally met Dr. Stirrett. He died July 9,
1948-about
three weeks after our arrival in Nigeria. He served his Lord and Nigeria very well.
Dr. Stirrett was a man of great devotion to his God. He arose every morning at 3:45 for his time of communion with the Lord. He said he
never wanted to see the sunrise until he had had two hours with his
Master. One missionary who was sharing a
room with him, hearing the alarm go off and Dr. Stirrett getting up at 3:45 for
his devotion, mumbled under his breath, "What an unearthly hour." It is an apt expression, for it is a heavenly
hour; and he spent it thus on his knees before God to receive his orders for
the day.
As mentioned earlier, he was one of the main translators of the Hausa
Bible. The greatest joy of his life was
when he was able to hold a complete Hausa Bible in his hand and then give it
out to the people he loved so dearly. Up
until the time of his death, he continued to produce Hausa literature that
would be of aid to the Hausa church. He
also wrote a number of Hausa hymns. A
few days before his death, he had to allow someone to drive him to the Jos
market; but he never stopped his preaching and continued his translation work
until his last day. On July 8 his
houseboy came at the regular time and found the door still shut, which was most
unusual. Upon entering, he found the
doctor unconscious, kneeling beside his bed, and summoned help. The 82-year-old Stirrett was carried to the
mission hospital. He revived briefly and
then slipped into a sleep of death. He
was soon in the presence of the Lord he had served so faithfully for almost 47
years. The date was July 9,
1948.
My wife and I arrived in Nigeria about two weeks prior to Dr. Stirrett's death and
never met him, but we felt the impact of his life in our early years of
ministry in Nigeria. His stature was short, but his
shadow of influence over the work of the Lord in all of Nigeria is profound.
There is no monument to his life, but his great legacy is that of the
Hausa Bible.
Would to God that we had more men and women of the spiritual stature of
Dr. Andrew P. Stirrett.
JAD
5/17/99
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