Mena Gilpin (13 Mar 1924 - 22 Jul 2024)

When I met Mena she was already living at The Almshouses and had retired from her formal missionary work. Mena invited me to join her for a weekly bible study in her little studio flat. Others were invited too and over the years an ever-changing group of three, four or five us would meet for a chat, a cup of tea and a look into God's Word. We used materials produced by WEC and I remember studying James, Romans, Ruth and Elijah, among others. After studying Elijah, Mena and I plus one other went to Dorking Halls to hear one of the local choral societies perform Mendelssohn's Elijah. I'm sure it was excellent, but it went over our heads somewhat.
I continued to meet with Mena one to one for tea and a chat for many years. She was always good company. Conversation always flowed and she was a good listener. She seemed to be genuinely interested in me and my family and always asked after people by name.
I was proud and privileged to be able to call her my friend. She was humble, straight-talking, knowledgeable, hospitable; one of a kind who will be greatly missed by all who knew her.

Thank you mena for your support and wisdom the last 5yrs and 6 months. You introduced me to jesus again and welcomed me literally with open arms. I am forever grateful to you and miss you v much. But I know you are now with our father Amen x

Soon after arriving in Senegal in 1979, I went to live with Mena in the village of Siganar, just outside Oussouye in the Casamance Region.
Mena was running a dispensary for several villages in the area and was due to go on home leave. As I was also a nurse, I was asked to take over the clinic while Mena was away! This meant a crash course for me in the language, culture and tropical medicine. No easy undertaking! However, Mena was gentle and taught me enough to carry out the task. The house we were living in had no running water or electricity. The water had to be drawn from a well outside and the toilet was in a little hut in the garden. Mena assigned me serval jobs which I carried out daily. Jobs such as cleaning the oil lamps in the morning ready to light again when dusk came and cooking the mid-day meal, as she worked in the clinic all morning. Cooking the mid-day meal was for me a task that I did not enjoy. Often the rice was too soggy, too dry, under cooked, or over cooked, but when we sat down for dinner Mena never once commented or complained about the food, but simply ate it as though it was cooked well.
One day I decided to make come cookies but unfortunately, they turned out rather hard. Mena however was very happy to try one, but her first bite into the cookie broke a tooth, while I looked on horrified. She very graciously laughed and continued to eat the cookie.
Despite Mena being a ‘mature missionary’ and I the ‘new arrival’, we laughed together and enjoyed fellowship. At times she would share about her early days in Senegal, describing how she would go out evangelising from village to village. I can remember on one occasion we clashed over an incident, but we were able to talk about it and agreed to disagree.
Some years later Philip and I had to tell Mena that the Senegal fellowship felt it was time for her to retire from Senegal and return to England. It was not an easy thing to say but again she graciously accepted the decision. However, a few years later we met up again and she told us that although at the time she was upset that we had told her to stay in England, she thanked us, as she realised it enabled her to settle, make friends, join a church where she had a ministry and found a little job close by, all of which could have been difficult had she left it too long before returning to England.
We continued to correspond with Mena over the years and her smile always was a blessing and encouragement. We were not surprised that she lived to be a 100 as her brother also lived a long life. Her Irish roots were also a bond with us and she loved to receive our annual letters updating her on our ministry and family.
We were blessed by knowing and working with Mena, who taught us much through her life, illustrated by her faith as she worked for Jesus in Senegal.

Dear Christine

Although I didn't know your Aunt, Mena, I have been very moved by your obituary of her. I am married to Paul Harvey so I am also aware of the fine example and Testimony she bore within her WEC service. What a lady! May the Lord comfort and fortify you at this time. I know from experience that grief for loved ones is difficult. When my dear Aunty passed away at 99, I felt that a part of me was also gone.

The Lord bless you and keep you, Rose Harvey