With your Vision, How Far can you See?

One of my all-time favorite authors is Lettie Cowman (1870-1960). She often wrote under the name Mrs. Charles Cowman, and she is best known for her book Streams in the Desert. Her daily devotionals appear as a PDF, an app, and in print. They continue to be read by thousands each day. Altogether, she wrote eleven books, but Streams in the Desert continues to be the best-known.

Lettie and Charles, her husband, left the USA in 1901 as missionaries to Japan, and together with two fellow-workers, began the OMS, Oriental Missionary Society. Juji Nakada gained local prominence for his preaching, and a small Bible school opened its doors in 1903. This group of Christians flourished. Soon, Lettie started speaking about reaching every village in a large area of Japan. Ten years after founding the Bible School, Charles organized hundreds of laymen and women to go to every town in their surrounding areas. Teams were trained, and literature was left in the homes of millions of people. Five years later, the OMS considered the task complete, but Charles was now ill and back at his home in Chicago.

Communication took place through letter writing, and Lettie initiated a writing spree in 1902 that lasted until her death in 1960 at the age of 90. She had an unusual ability to describe the deep valleys and dark moments of life and interpret them in light of God's favor and abundant blessing. She loved to follow the lives of others, and frequently, her writing included stories of how people turned a potential calamity into an unforgettable moment of joy. 

As president of OMS, following Charles's death in 1924, Lettie initiated a new movement: to take the gospel to every person in India, Africa, and Europe. Her enthusiasm had already inspired thousands to visit remote villages in China and Korea. 

In Europe, individuals in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Finland followed her vision as spelled out by OMS. War War II was looming when she encouraged outreach in Egypt and Cuba. Eventually, Spanish speaking individuals in Columbia took her work and writings to South America. 

After World War II, she stepped down from OMS, and in 1949 she encouraged the formation of two new corporations. Cowman Publications was to distribute her writings, and World Gospel Crusades would carry on the proclamation of the gospel around the world. 

In Lettie Cowman, a humble servant of God born in Afton, Iowa, we see how God's power can be extended literally to the ends of the earth. She never shied away from the trials, tribulations, temptations, and disappointments of life, but her gaze every day still takes her writers to the Lord, who was her sufficiency.