Birth:10-10-1856
Home Calling: 28-05-1940
Birth Place: Motueka
Country: New Zealand
Vision: Solomon islanders
Florence Selina Harriet Young was born in Motueka, New Zealand. Her father was an Englishman and a farmer. She was educated at home and studied in a boarding school in England for two years. When she was 18, God spoke to her through Isaiah 43:25 at a prayer meeting and she experienced God’s power of forgiveness.
After the death of her parents, Florence moved to Fairymead in Queensland in 1882 where her brothers owned a sugar plantation. There she started to conduct prayer meetings for the families of planters, which later became Young People’s Scriptural Union. Gradually her focus shifted to Solomon islanders working in the plantations. They were called Kanakas. She was told that they cannot be taught or changed. However, she started to conduct classes for them in pidgin English and used pictures and natural illustrations to teach the Bible truths. In 1886, Florence established the Queensland Kanaka Mission (Q.K.M.) at Fairymead which was an evangelical, non-denominational church. The mission stressed on ‘salvation before education or civilization.’ In 1904-1905 the Q.K.M. had 19 missionaries and 118 native teachers and more than 2,000 conversions.
For six years between 1891 and 1900 Florence worked with China Inland Mission. This experience helped her to plan the missionary work with the islanders. One of her converts Peter Ambuofa and others sought help in teaching their own congregations in their native places. As a response to their plea, the South Sea Evangelical Mission (S.S.E.M.) was established in 1904 in Malaita in the Solomon Islands as a branch of the Q.K.M. That year Florence led a group of missionaries to the Solomon Islands to nurture the newly established churches. She continued to pay long annual visits to the islands till 1926. By the time of her death in 1940, the S.S.E.M. had recorded over 7900 conversions.
As a young girl, Florence started to conduct prayer meetings with timidity. She loved God and His Word. She experienced hurdles, suffered mental illness, and ventured difficult and dangerous journeys. Yet, never turned back and brought light into the lives of thousands.
