Mena Gilpin (13 Mar 1924 - 22 Jul 2024)

Funeral Director

Location
Crossways Community Baptist Church Junction Road Dorking RH4 3HB
Date
30th Aug 2024
Time
12.30pm
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In loving memory of Mena Gilpin who sadly passed away on 22nd July 2024, aged 100 years old.

Loved and missed by all her family and friends.

Donations in memory of Mena are being collected towards WEC (Worldwide Evangelisation for Christ). Should you wish to make a donation in Mena's memory please pass them onto Sherlock Funeral Service, Trellis House, Dorking RH4 2ES.

Auntie Mena – now in the arms of Jesus.

My aunt was a late arrival into a family in which my father was 10 years older. I am told he took good care of his sister and that blossomed into a very close relationship which lasted until he passed away at age 96, when Mena had taken over the role of being his carer in the Alms houses.

Mena wasn’t allowed to stay long at school because her parents wanted her to do the housework at home, but she made up for this by firstly completing a secretarial training, then going on to train for 6 years as a nurse.

Having felt called to be a missionary she did a further 2 years training in Theology at Mt. Hermon Bible College. This was followed by her application to WEC (Worldwide evangelisation for Christ) and another 2-year candidate’s course of ‘Integration into Mission.’ Then, after planning to go to Senegal, she spent a further 8 months in France, learning the language. Later she was to add to her linguistic talents by mastering Jola the native language. So Mena certainly made up for her shortened school career!

Senegal, in West Africa, was a Muslim country but the area she was sent to was largely animist in belief. She preached the Gospel and shared her faith with all who came for medical treatment and there are still people today who regard her as their ‘spiritual mother.’ She used to tell me that she was so happy that, although spreading the Gospel was hard work, today it boasts a vibrant church. She pioneered work in a medical clinic where she initiated a system of preventative treatment for malaria in the villages.

My aunt has always had a profound faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, exemplified by her willingness to live by faith financially. After she returned to England she has continued to help and inspire people with her knowledge of the Bible and her unwavering faith and sound counselling.

I have always been impressed with Mena’s clear intellect. After my father passed away, I started visiting my aunt in the Alms Houses every Friday and we would play about 3 games of scrabble on each occasion. I can testify to the fact that I always found this challenging. In fact, despite her illness towards the end, she remained mentally alert.

Towards the end she would constantly say ‘I want the Lord to take me home’ and the day before he answered this request, she told me The Lord had given her the 23rd psalm which she recited to me. This psalm truly sums up what my aunt believed at the end of her life: ‘Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.’

We will miss you Auntie Mena but rejoice that, having served him faithfully throughout your life, you are now home with your Lord where you always wanted to be.

Written by Christine Ginsbury.

Roger Farlow posted a picture
This picture of Auntie Mena and myself was taken in my mother’s garden in Belfast.

This picture of Auntie Mena and myself was taken in my mother’s garden in Belfast.

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  • Although the picture was taken on the day of my mother’s funeral we are both smiling and enjoying the summer sunshine. She told me not to wear a black tie but I felt I had to do it anyway. When she saw the tie she shrugged her shoulders and laughed. Then she said in a voice full of joy “your mother has gone to be with the Lord”. Mena would not want any of us to be sad now. She has gone to be with her Lord. In loving memory, Roger

    Posted by Roger on 22/08/2024 Report abuse
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Wendy Crozier is attending the funeral
Wendy Crozier wrote

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.

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Penny Potter lit a candle
Penny Potter wrote

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

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Jean Crooks wrote

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.

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jane harvey wrote

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

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Belinda Hartley is attending the funeral
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