
God has called each of us to something significant, simply because He lives and dwells in us. But we can often tend to think that only people who have overcome large obstacles or accomplished big and mighty things are “heroes.” In reality, these people are ordinary human beings — just like you and me — who God used in extraordinary ways. The odds might be stacked against them but, with God’s help, mountains are moved and He turns unlikely people into heroes.
Florence (Florrie) Hansen and Eunice Pike are two such people. They were the first team of single women to begin translation work with SIL.* And through their efforts, they opened the door for many single women to participate in Bible translation in the years to come.
Against the Odds
![/><figcaption>Eunice Pike (left) and Florence (Florrie) Hansen (right)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Florrie and Eunice attended Camp Wycliffe, a linguistic training program, in the summer of 1936 — the third session of this new program. (Camp Wycliffe began several years before Wycliffe Bible Translators USA was even founded as an organization!)</p>
<p>After the women completed the training program, William Cameron Townsend, Wycliffe’s founder, was excited to learn that they wanted to work on a translation project in Mexico. But his friend and counterpart, L.L. Legters, was reluctant when Cam told him this.</p>
<p>“Think of the criticism we’d get for sending two young girls ... where not even male missionaries have ever gone.” But Cam disagreed, pleading their case until Legters finally conceded. “Oh, all right. Go ahead, Townsend, and do what you think best. But I don’t like it.”</p>
<p>Legters wasn’t the only one who disagreed with sending two women into the field on their own. The decision was unprecedented for the time, and stretched people’s perceptions of what was acceptable for women — particularly single women — to do. Others also warned against sending the women, saying that the area was dangerous, or even that they were “too good-looking to be [missionaries].”</p>
<p>But when Cam passed on the warning to the women, they both looked at him in surprise. “Why, don’t you believe God can take care of us?”</p>
<h3>Stepping Out in Faith</h3>
<figure class= Eunice Pike and Florrie Hansen](https://staging.wycliffe.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/EuniceandFlorie.jpg)

Florrie and Eunice were pioneers, and — more importantly — they were unlikely heroes. They not only helped open the door for women to serve in Bible translation, but they also were successful in their translation for the Mazatec community. By 1941, Florrie and Eunice had completed the rough draft of the Mazatec New Testament — a first in the history of Mexico’s indigenous languages, and just six years after they began work in the village.
God’s ability to work through us is not dependent on who we are or what we’re capable of; it’s about whose we are and what He’s capable of doing through us. All we need to do is step out in faith and be willing to let God use us for His glory. And that’s exactly what Florrie and Eunice did.