Hattie Gardner was an exceptional follower of Jesus Christ.
I preached a series of “revival” services at Gum Branch Baptist Church, Hartsville, in the fall of 1981. During that week, I got to meet and spend some time with Miss Hattie. She became a missionary in 1935 and retired at the age of 70 after serving 38 years in Nigeria.
She invited the pastor at that time, Bill James, and me to lunch at her home. He tried to prepare me for what to expect, but I was touched deeply by what I saw. She lived in a tiny mobile home with just the basic necessities. I was struck that the dinnerware and glasses did not match and assumed this faithful servant of God was now living in poverty. She was kind and caring as we talked, and her love for missions was clearly at the core of her being. I left that lunch with sorrow in my heart that one of God’s choice servants had to live this way. I did not know the rest of the story.
During her years in retirement, she served God as WMU director and children’s Sunday school teacher at Gum Branch. She also gave generously and sacrificially to missions with the money she received from her pension and speaking engagements in churches. She said of those gifts, “You need not be praising me. I’m trying to do what every Christian should do — putting God first.” At five feet tall, she was not an imposing figure, but carried an unforgettable personality coupled with a passionate commitment to Jesus Christ.
She grew up in McBee and became somewhat of a legend in Nigeria as a missionary known for her determination to do what others thought was impossible for her to do. When she was being interviewed by the Foreign Mission Board (now International Mission Board) as a potential missionary, she was told she was too small for the rigorous life in Africa. Her reply was classic: “God made me, and He knew my size when He called me to be a missionary.” She received her appointment as a missionary. This type of spiritual spunk and unrelenting devotion to missions led her to a remote part of Africa — where she pulled her mobile home with a Land Rover from village to village, serving God and reaching people.
In 1982, the Sunday School Board (now LifeWay) published a book in their “Meet The Missionary Series” titled, “Hattie Gardner: Determined Adventurer.” I bought a copy but must have given it to someone along my own spiritual journey.
She died Sept. 18, 1985, and left in her will money to be used for missions causes. Charitable trusts were established with the following amounts: $18,996 for foreign missions and the same amount for home missions; Gum Branch Baptist Church, Bethea Baptist Home, and Baptist Hospital of Columbia were each given $6,331.99.
At Gum Branch, the amount of the fund grew over the years, managed by the Baptist Foundation of South Carolina, to over $35,000. This past December, the church gave $20,000 from that fund to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering during a special service honoring the legacy of Hattie Gardner. Ken Owens, SCBC missions mobilization team leader, Laurie Register, South Carolina WMU director, and Joe Willard, Welsh Neck Baptist associational mission strategist, all took part in the service.
Hattie Gardner was a spiritual giant in a small physical body. She sacrificed so she could help others reach people for Christ. What a legacy. What an example. What a challenge! Hopefully, who she was and what she did will cause us to pause and ask ourselves, “What am I doing?”