A Life of Obedient Service: The Colorado Missions Offering in Honor of Nicy Murphy
Nicy Murphy, born May 16, 1911, offered a life of selfless service, influencing thousands through WMU leadership, teaching English, and writing. The Colorado Missions Offering in Honor of Nicy Murphy continues her legacy of equipping believers to take the gospel to their neighbors and the world.
Preparation
“Miss Nicy,” as she is still called in her adopted state of Colorado, decided at age 16 to go wherever God led her. She had read many books on missions and missionaries and the missions magazines Home and Foreign Fields for adults and World Comrades for children. Those readings and her mother’s high esteem for missionaries prepared her to serve where God called.
Despite the financial woes of the Depression era, Nicy earned a bachelor of arts degree from Oklahoma Baptist University and a master’s degree in religious education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1937. While no positions opened for her, she wasn’t idle. Nicy entered a government program that allowed her to earn a master of arts degree in 1939.
After teaching for a few years, Nicy took a leap of faith when she turned down another teaching contract to be available for religious education jobs. Young men who were serving in the armed forces had left church positions vacant. Nicy served two churches before working as assistant to Oklahoma WMU’s executive secretary.
Calls to Serve
In 1955, the Colorado Baptist General Convention organized to serve new Southern Baptist churches in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, and the western half of Nebraska. A state WMU was also established. Women were elected to serve as officers, and they earnestly prayed for an executive director. God led them to Nicy.
Nicy arrived in October 1956. Decades later, she recalled, “I had the unique opportunity of laying some foundations in leadership training, strengthening organizational structures in local churches and associations and establishing basic principles and procedures for [Girls in Action] and Acteens camping.” Though distance presented many challenges, Nicy prioritized mentoring young women who had relocated from states with established WMU organizations. She helped them grow into effective leaders.
Nicy bought a house in Littleton, Colorado, and fixed it up just right. Reflecting back on this time, she wrote, “All the while I was making the improvements, I was hoping the Lord would let me stay. I felt deep in my heart, however, that I would soon leave it behind.” She was right.
By November 1967, churches north of Colorado grew to a self-sustaining number. Four states left the Colorado Convention to form the Northern Plains Baptist Convention. Nicy was asked to be the WMU executive secretary (now executive director) there. She reluctantly resigned her position in Colorado and left for Rapid City, South Dakota. She later wrote, “As I look back, I think how foolish I was to be so reluctant to accept the known will of God. I spent 9 happy and fulfilling years in the Northern Plains…. Only mandatory retirement forced me to give up the position at the end of 1976.”
Retirement: Another Avenue to Serve
By the time Nicy returned to Colorado in 1976, Sydney Portis, who would serve as director of Colorado WMU for 32 years, had served Colorado WMU for 5 years. Sydney said Nicy “was a real influence on my mission-mindedness. She’s been a blessing to me in all the things she did for me. She was willing to help in any way she could. She is a good example, I think, of what a person should be in this work as they retire.”
Nicy wasted no time getting to work when she returned to her home in Littleton. “My first ministry when I returned to Colorado from the Northern Plains Baptist Convention was with the Vietnamese and Cambodians. With other teachers, I helped in teaching basic English to these people who had escaped from their war-torn countries with the barest necessities.” She later taught English to Chinese immigrants and others of Asian descent, and she also served each Saturday in a nursing home ministry.
Lasting Legacy
Given Nicy’s heart for taking the gospel to the nations and across the street, it is no wonder that, in 1974, Colorado Southern Baptists chose to name the state missions offering the Nicy Murphy State Missions Offering. Some years later, the title of the offering changed slightly: The Colorado Missions Offering in Honor of Nicy Murphy. Each gift to the offering is a nod to the legacy of intentionality and service “Miss Nicy” left.
Nicy Murphy passed away at age 101. In one of her final interviews, she said, “My prayer is that future generations will never lose their excitement and enthusiasm for seeing lives changed, new churches started, and older churches reaching out to plant new ones. At the same, time we must keep our minds and hearts open to the necessity of reaching the millions in other countries who have never heard the name of Jesus.”
Claudean Boatman was once tasked with “taking care of Miss Nicy” while taking her and Sydney Portis to a WMU retreat. Instead, Miss Nicy nursed a sick Claudean during the 8-hour drive home.
