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Maud Sisley Boyd[br]was the first woman missionary

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sent by the Seventh-day Adventist[br]Church’s Foreign Mission Board.

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Maud Sisley was born in 1851,[br]in Kent, England.

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After her father died,

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her family went to the United States

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where they learned about[br]the Adventist message.

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A visit by James and Ellen White[br]convinced them

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to relocate to church headquarters[br]at Battle Creek, Michigan.

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Maud was an Adventist member[br]for 10 years

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when she was called to serve[br]as a missionary.

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In 1877, she left for Europe

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where she eventually served[br]in Switzerland and England.

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After several years in Europe,

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Maud returned to the United States

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in time to attend

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the second annual session[br]of the General Sabbath School Association

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held in Battle Creek, Michigan.

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Here she met another participant,[br]the widower Charles L. Boyd.

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The couple wed in 1879[br]and had two daughters.

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The Boyds went as part of the first group[br]of Adventist missionaries

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to Cape Town, South Africa.

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Tragically, their youngest daughter, Ethel,[br]died at age three and a half in Africa.

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The family remained in Africa[br]for about four years

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before returning to the United States.

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They reached Battle Creek[br]in time to attend

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the 1891 General Conference Session.

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At this General Conference Session,

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Charles was asked to become president[br]of the Tennessee River Conference,

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located in Nashville, Tennessee.

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The Boyds were early workers[br]in the American South,

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striving to break down racial barriers

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in response to Ellen White’s call[br]to do so.

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They created a church that allowed[br]both black and white members

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to worship together.

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In 1898 she and Charles were in Asheville,[br]North Carolina, when Charles died.

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After his death, Ellen White invited[br]Maud and her family to Australia

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to assist with the newly formed[br]Avondale School.

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Maud was “highly respected as a teacher.”

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She spent nine years there.

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Her daughter, Ella,[br]went as a missionary to Tonga.

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When her sister fell ill,[br]Maud returned to Massachusetts

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to be closer to her[br]while continuing to conduct Bible work.

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During the last 17 years of her life,

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she served as a Bible teacher[br]at the Loma Linda and Glendale Sanitariums

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in California.

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She spent one school year teaching[br]at Oakwood Junior College in Alabama.

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After her sister died,[br]she returned to Australia

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to live with her daughter, Ella.

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Here she died in 1937

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and was buried next to her mother

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in the Avondale Adventist Cemetery[br]in Cooranbong, New South Wales.

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Maud Sisley Boyd spent her life[br]in service to others,

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and her legacy lives on to this day.

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For more stories about[br]pioneer missionaries,

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visit: encyclopedia.adventist.org.