Tarnished Gold Thread: Memoir of Life, Mission, and the Call to Love
Sometimes the path of following God’s call can be dotted with tedious, and even treacherous, twists and turns. In Tarnished Gold Thread, author Barbara Dowdy reflects on her soul’s journey, from her ancestral roots as the descendant of slave owners, to the struggles of growing up dirt poor in rural Texas during the Great Depression, to the joys and challenges of being a mid-century housewife, mother, and savvy businesswoman ahead of her time, to at last following her lifelong call to Mission work in rural Africa.
Enduring the trials of a mixed-bag marriage, Dowdy found a strength she never knew she had, a hard-won grit that taught her to dance with peril (sometimes daily), and a resourcefulness that led to co-founding Capital City Baptist Church in Lilongwe, Malawi, one of the largest and most successful Baptist church starts in Malawi history.
Drawing from letters, journals, and her own indelible memories, Dowdy’s Tarnished Gold Thread is an insightful series of compelling vignettes and observations told in a narrative voice that pulls you in and holds you tight for the whole ride. Readers experience Dowdy’s journey of unflinching vulnerability through the excitement, wonder, heartbreak, laughter, disappointment, and unflagging determination that line her jagged path to following God’s call to mission ministry. It’s a story of a life well lived—and a love without measure.
Dowdy’s one unique perspective offers readers a history lesson (her own lineage and what life was like for struggling families in rural Texas during the Great Depression), a ministry lesson (what kind of determination it takes to become a foreign missionary. Hint: It’s a lot!), a psychology and self-awareness lesson (how understanding the deeper truth and purpose of your life can lead to perseverance and tolerance you didn’t know you had), and a wide-eyed and accepting cross-cultural exploration (the unspoken trials of mid-century American life, the stark realities of Malawian culture, and day-to-day living in war-ravaged Somalia).
This “private family memoir” is a must-read for anyone interested in mission, ministry, and the nuances of following God’s call—wherever and however it may take you. In the pages of Tarnished Gold Thread, you’ll find a take-it-in- stride roller-coaster ride of a life well lived through laughter, heartbreak, and hard-won wisdom about love that redeems the grittiest of realities.
BARBARA DOWDY grew up in rural north Texas, graduated from high school, and, like so many women of her era, she got married, went to work, kept a tidy home, and raised two beautiful and exceptional children as she supported her husband, Jerry, in his business endeavors.
Revisiting together the call to mission ministry that Barbara had received (and tucked away) when she was only sixteen years old, Barbara and Jerry determined that their success in the office equipment business would allow them to retire early and follow the path to Southern Baptist mission work in Malawi, Africa. Serving in Malawi for ten years, they tended to the basic needs of the people, ran a bustling printing and publications office, built homes, repaired and maintained vehicles—and founded and nurtured Capital City Baptist Church, which still thrives today.
After a brief but treacherous year-long mission stint in Somalia, the Dowdys returned to live their later years in north central Texas, enjoying time with their family, including their two grown children, Peggy (and husband, Bruce) Ken (and wife, Suzanne) and four beautiful grandchildren.
