Theology 1.0: Who is Sophia Blackmore?

Sophia Blackmore

Despite Singaporean, I realised I often do not post about the Christians would contributed to Singapore. So let me give a brief description of the life of one Christian-- Sophia Blackmore. She is more famously known as the founder of Fairfield Methodist School (Primary) and Methodist Girls' School.

In the beginning...
Born 18th October 1857 in Australia to devout Methodist parents, Sophia had a calling to be a missionary after meeting American missionary Isabella Leonard.

However the Australian church did not dispatch unmarried woman as missionaries, so Sophia had to rely on the American church (and thus the help of Miss Leonard) to sponsor her instead. She was then sent to Singapore.

Welcome to Singapore
Arriving in Singapore on 16th July 1887, Sophia started the Tamil Girls' School (later known as the Methodist Girls' School) within a month with a cohort of nine students. She then set up a mission to spread the gospel in Chinatown, making 800 visits to 90 homes a year.

In August 1888, she set up a Chinese girls' school (now Fairfield Methodist) with a cohort of eight students. Still not done, she also established a shelter for homeless girls, calling it Nind home, in honour of a friend (Mary Nind) who supported her.

Church planting
In 1894, she planted a church in Singapore catering to those who worshiped in the Baba Malay language. This was affectionately called the "Baba Church", and now is known as Kampong Kapor Methodist Church today.

In 1928, Sophia returned to Australia. She passed away on 3rd July 1945.

Personally
I admire Ms Blackmore for her dedication to the Christian faith, and her aid to teenage girls. This is despite her initially setback with the Australian church and her struggles in a foreign land.