August 23 Today in OPC History

Martha Wright, an Orthodox Presbyterian missionary, was born on this day in a nominally Christian home. When her brother died of leukemia when she was 13, her family left the church. As a young adult, Martha became interested in Ireland and learned its Gaelic language so fluently that she earned awards for speaking, writing, and singing in the language in Ireland and the United States. While she was earning a PhD in educational linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania, she met Bob Wright for the first time. They became reacquainted years later when both played in a band for a St. Patrick’s Day celebration. Martha, an unbeliever at the time, marveled at how Bob credited the Lord with helping him to cope with setbacks in his life. She began to read the Bible and met weekly with then-OP Pastor David Cummings. In God’s timing, she came to faith.

Martha married Bob on June 23, 1990. Five years later, the Wrights served as missionary associates in Eritrea. A deacon and building contractor, Bob spent two years rebuilding the former bombed-out OP mission hospital in Ghinda from 1995 to 1997. Their love for serving others in a needy land grew. In 2000, the Wrights were appointed OP missionaries to Nakaale, Uganda. Bob used his skills to build homes and a medical center, drill wells, and repair vehicles for the missionaries who worked among the Karamojong. Martha’s linguistic skills came in handy as she analyzed and learned the Karimojong language. She also developed materials to teach in the school and was instrumental in developing KEO, the Karamoja Education Outreach, which helps to prepare Karimojong children for school. Over those years, Martha also homeschooled their five children, Rachel, Bobby, Anna, Mary, and Christiana (Kipsy).

After serving seventeen years in Karamoja, the Wrights have moved down to Mbale where Bob now is overseeing the construction of LivingStone International University, a new Christian university in Uganda. Using her many gifts, Martha will teach part time at LIU.

Retired missionary Dorothy Wingard wrote more about Martha in the newly published book, Choosing the Good Portion: Women of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, which is available on OPC.ORG here.