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Essay about Jarena Lee's Story

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Jarena Lee was born on February the 11th 1783, in Cape May, New Jersey. She was born into freedom, but Cape May was entangled by just enough commerce and culture, with Maryland’s Eastern Shore and Virginia’s northern borders, that she probably was exposed at an early age, to the inhumanities that characterized southern enslavement. At the age of seven, Lee was separated from her parents and sent to live as a servant maid for a Caucasian family sixty miles away from her home. The names and occupations of her parents are unknown, but what is about them is that they were entirely ignorant of the knowledge of God and because of that had not instructed her in any way regarding the matter of God or religion. Lee’s lack of the knowledge of …show more content…

In 1821 at a church service, Lee became so overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit that she sermonized extemporaneously, without the elders’ permission. This happened when a visiting Reverend was to preach. He began to give his text which was from Jonah; he began with saying “Salvation is of the Lord”. But he must have lost the Spirit or something because he suddenly became silent and in that same moment Mrs. Lee was prompted by the Spirit of God, jumped to her feet and gave an exhortation on the very text that the Reverend had began to preach from! Lee describes this experience as God’s way of showing the world that she was truly called. But she also describes herself as being incredibly frightened of the repercussions that she would face because of what she had done. She thought that she might be expelled from the church. But to her surprise the Bishop announced to the congregation that she had come to him eight years prior asking to be permitted to preach and that he had denied her, but now believed that she was indeed called to the work. This and subsequent sermons established her as an evangelist whose words could heal hopeless penitents and encourage dying backsliders of any denomination.
In 1822 Lee again approached Allen for ordination, she wanted to be ordained as part of the larger system. Allen refused her again worried of what might be said

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