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Margaret
Clayton
1909-2008
Served
in the great Lakes regions of Africa from 1938 to 1977
Margaret
Clayton, a long serving former mission partner serving in Burundi, died
aged 99 on 3 December 2008. She worked in
fellowship with the Ruanda Mission (CMS) which became the mid-Africa
Ministry and in recent years has reunified with CMS, the parent
body.
Born
in
Uganda
, one of the five children of CMS pioneer missionaries the Rev and Mrs
Herbert Clayton, Margaret joined the Ruanda Mission in 1938 and was
located to
Matana
,
Burundi
. She was appointed head of
the girls school. Her
missionary colleagues included the Stanley-Smiths, the Sharps and
Elizabeth Guillebaud, prior to her marriage.
During the Second World War, Margaret was transferred to
Uganda
and taught at Gayaza, Budo, Ndejje, Hoima
and Mbarara. She was deeply
blessed by the Revival movement and its leaders including Simeon Nsibambi
and William Nagenda. It was a
time of great Revival conventions and Florence Njangali with Margaret at
Hoima found new life in Christ and remained close friends for the rest of
their lives.
After
a first tour of nine years Margaret came to
England
on leave in 1947, returning to
Kabale
Girls
School
. She and Lilian Clarke shared
a house and made many rural visits to the homes of their pupils and
student teachers. Then
after further leave in 1958 Margaret was allocated to the work she had
waited for - 20 years -
women’s work. She was
appointed MU worker for Ankole-Kigezi Diocese under Bishop Kosiya Shalita
with
Florence
as her co-worker. With the
formation of Christian Rural Service, the work of MU widened with teams of
husbands and wives travelling, teaching and training.
In
1968 Margaret returned to
Burundi
as MU worker at Buye and Buhiga. It
was a very fruitful time which work was brought to halt, temporarily,
by the uprisings of 1972. Margaret
retired from the
Mission
but was almost immediately asked to return to
Burundi
to take over the Mission Accounts, based again at Buye, which work she
combined with continued rural women’s work.
In 1975 Margaret came full circle back to Matana and for two years
worked alongside the new MU worker for the southern diocese.
Margaret left very many friends in
E. Africa
. She was a loving and loyal
colleague and a person of deep faith and prayer.
The
Clayton family home was in Kendal, where her father Herbert Clayton was
Vicar of St Thomas’ Church. It
was the church which sent Margaret out and which received her home and her
membership at
St Thomas
’ spanned more than 80 years. Her
funeral will be held there on Monday 15 December at 12 noon.
Rosemary
Carey (niece) and Christopher Carey
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