by Francis Neil G. Jalando-on

A woman of faith and prayer – Jennie Clare Adams has devoted her life by serving God as a missionary nurse in Capiz Emmanuel Hospital.

Last December 20, 1943, 11 American Baptist missionaries and a little boy became martyrs of the Christian faith when they were killed by the soldiers of the Japanese Imperial Army in the hills of Tapaz, Capiz. One of these Hopevale Martyrs was Jennie Claire Adams, a missionary nurse who was assigned to the Capiz Emmanuel Hospital.

Jennie Claire Adams was fond of writing in her diary. She was also very poetic. Her record of wartime events, culled from her diary, is now known as The Hopevale Booklet. In one of the poems that survived World War II, Miss Adams wrote about the commitment of missionaries even in the face of death. Here is her poem published in the Centralite 1946:

“Let me live bravely;
For life has many battlefields, Where valor must be shown,
Many darkened corners, Where pain and fear are known,
Life calls for sacrifice, To share the highest good,
To serve courageously, Sometimes to give life’s blood.
As others lived and gave, Let me be brave.

Let me serve faithfully;
Content with work to do, Whatsoever life may bring,
I’m serving others well, Thus do I serve my King.
May I not weary grow, When tasks seem burdensome,
Nor turn aside distraught, Before life’s work is done.
As others served, proved true, Let me be faithful too.

Let me die heroically;
Steadfast in faith and calm, When that great day is near
Knowing no hour of dread, Feeling no anxious fear,
For death is but a door, Closed tight on pain and strife,
A door that opens up That we may enter Life.
As heroes die, Still brave and true, Let me die, too.”

Jennie C. Adams attended the Western Reserve University School of Nursing, Bailey Training School for Nurses and the Nebraska Wesleyan University for her nursing care education. As a missionary nurse she became the superintendent of the Capiz Emmanuel Hospital from 1923 to 1943. She also became the head of the hospital’s Training School for Nurses in 1923. She worked together with Dr. Frederick W. Meyer at Capiz Emmanuel Hospital and stayed in Capiz for twenty years up until she died in Hopevale.

It can be recalled that during the World War II, the United States Army moved the mission hospital from Roxas to a schoolhouse in Dumalag. But Miss Adams and several nurses chose to remain in Capiz the Emmanuel Hospital building to attend to patients.

On December 17-20, 2018, the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches will spearhead the Hopevale Diamond Commemoration to be held at Central Philippine University, Filamer Christian University and in Hopevale, Tapaz, Capiz.