Excerpt taken from: Woman’s Work in the Mission Field—or, The Special Ministry of Christian Women to the Heathen
But the victories of the Gospel more than made up for the times of sorrow and discouragement. One by one, the cruel customs of heathen life were abandoned—among them, the terrible practice of infanticide.
This was once common throughout Raiatea. Mrs. Williams employed a servant whose former role in society had been to kill infants. After her conversion to Christ, she became a new person—devoted, honest, faithful, and kind. She served Mrs. Williams and her children loyally for fifteen years.
At times, with tears in her eyes, she would tell Mrs. Williams how she had once carried out these awful acts. Sometimes she would smother a newborn with a wet cloth. Other times she would pinch the infant’s throat until it died. In some cases, she would bury the baby alive under earth and stones deep in the forest.
One of the most brutal methods she described was breaking the joints of the child—first the fingers and toes, then, if the baby lived, the ankles and wrists, then elbows and knees—and if it still lived, she would end its suffering by strangling it.
She spoke of these past deeds with deep sorrow and repentance, as did many mothers who had taken the lives of their children before they came to know the truth.
One woman admitted to killing sixteen children—all her own. Another confessed to nine, another to seven, and another to five. But after the Gospel came to Raiatea, this terrible sin was mourned with great grief.
At one school celebration, where six hundred children stood before the king, something deeply moving happened. An elderly chief stood up, overcome with emotion, and cried out:
“I must speak. Oh, if only I had known the Gospel was coming! If I had known these blessings were on their way, I would have saved my children. They would have been among this joyful group, repeating these precious words. But I destroyed them all. I have no children left. I was the father of nineteen, and every one of them is gone.”
Then, turning to the king—his relative—he said with deep sorrow:
“You, my brother, saw me kill child after child. But you never stopped me, never said, ‘Wait, brother! God is about to bless us; the Gospel is coming to our land.’”
During Mr. and Mrs. Williams’ time in Raiatea, a young woman who served as a teacher in one of the missionary schools had an extraordinary story of being rescued from death years earlier.
Her mother and father were of different social ranks in Raiatean society, and tradition required that all their children be put to death at birth. The first child was born and killed, and the second met the same fate—even though the father pleaded for its life.
He clearly felt love for his children, and when their third child, a healthy baby girl, was born, he once again begged that she be allowed to live. But the mother and her relatives refused. While the father was away in the mountains, they buried the newborn alive.
When he returned and learned what had happened, he rushed to the burial site, dug up the child, and found her still alive. He rescued her and gave her into the care of his brother and sister, who took the baby to Eimeo, an island about seventy miles away, where infanticide was not practiced.
The father soon died and had never told the mother that their child had been saved.
Some time later, Christianity reached Raiatea, and the mother became a believer. As her heart was awakened by the Gospel, she deeply mourned the children she had lost.
Then one day, a woman revealed to her that one of her children had been spared. The mother immediately traveled to Eimeo—and there, to her overwhelming joy, she found her daughter alive and well.
The girl had grown into a fine young woman, and she became her mother’s support and joy. She also became a sincere Christian and faithfully served as a teacher in the women’s school.