Edna Ratzliff: No Turning Back
Edna Ratzliff (102 years old at the time of filming) has the same passion for Jesus that she did at age 19. That is the year she and her friend Mae travelled throughout Saskatchewan, sharing the good news of Jesus with children in rural communities.
The friends were two of the earliest missionaries serving with Canadian Sunday School Mission (now One Hope Canada). One of the questions on their application forms might make human resources managers of today take pause: How far can you walk?
Mae and Edna, carrying their suitcases on a stick, walked from town to town sharing the good news of Jesus in the early 1930s.
The question seems strange to modern audiences, but in those days, it was common for missionaries to walk from town-to-town. They would stop in at schoolhouses along the way to conduct Bible classes, and in the summer hold Vacation Bible Schools.
Following her time with CSSM, Edna Ratzliff went on to serve as a missionary in Africa, along with her husband, Ed.
“If I’ve learned anything over the years,” Edna says, “it’s not what we do, it’s what we let God do. There are no limits to what God can do! … He delights to work in us, which is amazing to me!”
This story was first posted on November 25, 2019.
