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Maud Sisley Boyd
was the first woman missionary

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

NOTE Paragraph

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Maud Sisley was born in 1851,
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
the Adventist message.

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A visit by James and Ellen White
convinced them

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to relocate to church headquarters
at Battle Creek, Michigan.

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Maud was an Adventist member
for 10 years

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when she was called to serve
as a missionary.

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In 1877, she left for Europe

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where she eventually served
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
of the General Sabbath School Association

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held in Battle Creek, Michigan.

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

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The couple wed in 1879
and had two daughters.

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The Boyds went as part of the first group
of Adventist missionaries

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to Cape Town, South Africa.

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Tragically, their youngest daughter,
Ethel,

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died at age three and a half in Africa.

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The family remained in Africa
for about four years

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before returning to the United States.

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They reached Battle Creek
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
of the Tennessee River Conference,

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located in Nashville, Tennessee.

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The Boyds were early workers
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
to do so.

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They created a church that allowed
both black and white members

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to worship together.

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

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

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to assist with the newly formed
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,
went as a missionary to Tonga.

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When her sister fell ill,
Maud returned to Massachusetts

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to be closer to her
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
at the Loma Linda

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and Glendale Sanitariums in California.

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

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After her sister died,
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
in Cooranbong, New South Wales.

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Maud Sisley Boyd spent her life
in service to others,

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and her legacy lives on to this day.

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For more stories about
pioneer missionaries,

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visit: <i>encyclopedia.adventist.org</i>