"Who Was Sojourner Truth?" - by Rev. Weldon Bares

Have you ever heard of Sojourner Truth? She escaped from slavery in 1826 with her baby daughter.

She was a member of the Methodist Church. On Pentecost Sunday in 1843, God’s Holy Spirit really touched her life. She changed her name from Isabella Baumfree to Sojourner Truth, and she became a powerful spokesperson for the abolitionist movement and women’s rights for several years. She was amazing.

Her faith in God inspired her courage and determination. She told her friends, “The Spirit calls me, and I must go.”

Many years before, her mother, Betsy, taught her to trust God with everything in her life. She talked about her mother saying: “My children, there is a God who hears and sees you, and if you were beaten or falling to any trouble, you must ask help of him, and God will always hear and help you.“

When she died in 1883, Frederick Douglass said: "Venerable for age, distinguished for insight into human nature, remarkable for independence and courageous self-assertion, devoted to the welfare of her race, she has been for the last forty years an object of respect and admiration to social reformers everywhere."

What an amazing person! The impact of her life is still being felt today.

But let’s not forget the influence of her godly mother. And let’s not forget Sojourner’s determination that cried out, “The Spirit calls me, and I must go.”