Forty-some years in the making, Janice Shull has finally realized her dream. She has published a book about her grandmother’s experience working as a missionary and teacher in India in the early 1900s.
Shull, 79, a resident of Heritage Pointe of Fort Wayne senior living community, wrote much of the book titled “Only One Alice: The Teaching Life of Alice King Ebey” in an extra room that she converted into a writer’s studio in her independent living villa.
Shull’s idea to write the story, which is based on her grandmother’s diaries, letters and articles in a church magazine, first took hold when Shull was a young mother.
“I was a stay-at-home, and I needed a project,” says Shull, who retrieved the diaries from her mother’s home and set to work.
“I read all of the diaries, but the ink was fading, and the handwriting was hard to decipher,” she says. “But I knew it was a story that I wanted to write.”
Shull took a class in documentary editing that helped her learn how to research and discover more about her grandmother’s life.
“It took me ten years to transcribe all the diaries,” she notes.
Shull, a wife and busy mother of two who also eventually worked as a law librarian, couldn’t devote all her time to writing her grandmother’s story. But she never lost sight of her goal of producing a book about Alice King Ebey, who was just 19 when she married her husband, Adam Ebey. Two weeks after their wedding, the couple left for India, where they worked as missionaries for the Church of the Brethren.
They were filled with hope when they sailed from New York, saying, “‘Our life’s work lays ahead of us in India,’” Shull says.
They were just the seventh and eighth missionaries to be sponsored by the church and were based in a village north of Bombay.
“It took them two days to get there by ox cart,” Shull says.
The couple met when Alice was teaching at a Bible School at Manchester College (now Manchester University) in Indiana, where Adam was a student.
Upon arriving in India, they committed their lives to working with people who were impoverished and deprived of the basic necessities.
“They worked closely with members of the lower caste and out-of-caste who were denied care in hospitals,” Shull says.
In addition to dispensing medicine to those in need, they distributed food and other necessities during a famine.
Alice also taught women and children how to read.
“She did this through teaching Bible stories and, when she got older, she developed a school to train native preachers,” Shull says.
The couple’s story is filled with romance, mystery, twists, and turns but comes with some tragedy. Alice bore eight children, but only four survived their first year, and two more died before adulthood.
“It was kind of hard for me to get through that part of writing the book,” Shull says.
Despite such heartbreaks, Shull says her grandmother’s Christian faith was the anchor that enabled her to continue to live her life without bitterness and with the continuing goal of helping others.
“It [the loss of her children] shaped how she lived her life, but she never blamed anyone or got angry with God,” Shull says.
After Adam Ebey passed away, Alice went back to the U.S. but returned to India for a time during the 1940s.
Although women were not allowed to be preachers, Shull says Alice began to spread her wings.
“She began to take responsibility for preaching. It’s interesting to see how she evolved in that way,” Shull says.
Preserving her grandmother’s story—especially her spiritual journey— in print wasn’t easy, but it was worth it.
“It takes probing and real thought to discover how another person’s story connects to our own lives,” says Shull, who continues to be inspired by her grandmother’s courage and faithfulness throughout her life.
Having a dedicated writing space in her villa at Heritage Pointe of Fort Wayne was crucial to Shull realizing her long-held dream of telling her grandmother’s story.
“When I saw that bonus room, I said, ‘I want that room for my writer’s retreat,’” she says. “That’s where I really got serious about writing this book.”
Daily walks on Heritage Pointe’s spacious campus, filled with greenery and places for peaceful contemplation, also helped spur her creativity.
“It’s a very pleasant place to live and go out for walks or meditate,” she says.
Shull also takes part in a book club at Heritage Pointe. She credits the other members with helping her complete the book.
“I don’t know if I would’ve finished the book without the support and encouragement of my friends here,” she says. “They’ve been very interested and supportive of my progress.”
Just as any newly published author dreams of doing, Shull held a book launch party at Heritage Pointe on Nov. 3.
“It feels like a milestone in my life, so I thought, I’m going to throw a party,” she says. Surely, her grandmother would approve.
Shull’s book is available for purchase on Amazon:
Heritage Pointe of Fort Wayne
Heritage Pointe of Fort Wayne is conveniently located just off Interstate 469. The senior living community is on a beautiful campus featuring scenic trails, a community garden, four lakes, a community clubhouse, a state-of-the-art fitness center, and more. Heritage Pointe of Fort Wayne offers vibrant independent living in freestanding villas and apartments. Assisted living, memory care, short-term rehabilitation, outpatient therapy, and long-term skilled care are provided on the same campus, thus offering a complete continuum of care, also known as Life Plan. Heritage Pointe of Fort Wayne is owned and operated by The United Methodist Memorial Home, an Indiana non-profit founded in 1907. To learn more about Heritage Pointe of Fort Wayne, visit www.LifeAtHeritage.org.
