Anita Roper was born and raised in Clarkesville, Georgia, and it’s here she returned after spending 37 years as a missionary in Nigeria. She believes that her life can be best understood with what she heard through the Holy Spirit: “Anita, I have something more for you to do.”
Anita trained to be a teacher at Piedmont College, and she had a heart for those she taught. She spent her first years teaching at the local high school. She shared her faith with her students. She was emotionally invested. But, in 1945, after World War II was over, in her early years of teaching, young men returned to the school to earn their high school certificates. The young men came back with arrogance developed during their service and ready to cause trouble at the school. They gave Anita, a young adult herself, so much trouble that she gave up her position.
Yet, Anita recognized that God had something more, not something else, for her to do.
The call to missions in Nigeria
Anita’s call to missions developed over time. After hearing God’s voice that He had something more for her to do, she reached out to the Georgia Baptist Convention, looking for a place to serve. The only opening was in the area of Vacation Bible School. Anita took it and moved to the North Georgia mountains to serve. She was miserable and moved back home, returning to teaching, this time in the elementary school. In her memoirs, Anita wrote, “I liked teaching school, but I was not happy because I knew I was not doing the Lord’s will for my life.”
At a Southern Baptist Woman’s Mission Union (WMU) associational meeting, Anita heard about the need for workers in Nigeria. Again, Anita heard God’s voice: “Anita, this is My plan for you.” When Anita finally gathered up the courage to tell her parents about this new calling, they responded that they had suspected God was calling her to do something special for Him. Anita says that when she finally surrendered her “whole life” to God, “there came into my heart the most wonderful feeling of joy which I had never before known.”
It took Anita several years to fulfill that call. After attending seminary, she took time to serve locally to get experience on the field and then spent time caring for her parents. Two years after graduating from seminary — on July 31, 1954 — Anita packed up her things and sailed to Nigeria, a journey that took over a month.
Serving in Nigeria
Anita served at the Regan Memorial School in Lagos on the West African coast for 37 years. When she first arrived, she was told that the people there would know whether she loved them by what they saw her do.
Anita was tall and blonde and, by her appearance alone, stuck out in this country of Nigerians. She worked to learn the language and took on the customary dress of the people. She was described as “a woman with an elegant composure, brisk and business-like, one with serenity and pleasant disposition.”
Nee Philips, a former student, described Anita as “slim and elegantly tall, blonde and bright-eyed, always with the twinkle of constant amusement in those eyes – she wore a broad, dimpled smile almost all the time. She struck me as someone youthful and totally free of any cares or worries.”
Mama Roper built a tribe of noble Christian women. She had the ability to bend the rules in a way that helped us learn.
Anita had clearly arrived at her mission field.
Over the years, Anita taught and mentored the students. Anita made sure to learn the names of all her students and grew to love them all. At times, she provided funding so a student would be able to continue school. She constantly worked as an evangelist, sharing the message of Christ with her students. Through love, care, and how she lived her life, that message resonated with many coming to know the Lord. The students even began to call her Mama.
Anita’s responsibilities grew over time. Besides teaching as many as six classes a day at Reagan Memorial School, she accepted the responsibility of leading the Girls’ Auxiliary, an educational program of the WMU for girls ages 6-18. Before long, she became the GA Director of the West/Lagos Conference of the WMU of Nigeria. Nine years later, Anita agreed to take on the directorship of the Girls’ Auxiliary for the entire country and even became editor of Nigeria’s GA magazine, The Messenger.
Living under God’s protection
Anita’s experiences in Nigeria were not easy, but she was keenly aware of God’s protection over her life. She faced multiple bouts of malaria and struggled to learn the language. Teaching materials, both in the school and for the GAs, were difficult to find. Much of what Anita used had to be handmade, requiring many hours of work. She learned to create, adapt, and improvise to provide what her girls needed.
At home, Anita faced security issues. Multiple times, people tried to break into her house in the middle of the night. Each time, the thieves were unsuccessful.
Anita was called on to host the many people who came to visit Reagan Memorial in her small home. She also hosted missionaries on furlough who needed a break. Often, Anita slept on the floor while her guests slept in the two beds in the house.
Her new position required more travel around the country. Some of the travel was done in a used Volkswagen over roads filled with potholes. The cost of car maintenance was a struggle, and the rough roads caused problems. The rainy season often flooded the roads.
Anita also spent time traveling the waterways by boats and even canoes. Every trip had its own hazards and dangers, yet determination and dedication to her work carried her on.
The number of girls who passed through Mama’s life and their daughters – generations of Reagan girls – were impacted by her and their lives will never be the same.
Anita tells the story of getting into the Volkswagen for a trip and finding the headlights and the tires had been stolen. There were times she felt her life was at risk, especially when the car had problems on back roads and she was alone. When civil war broke out in the country, she had to negotiate blockades and checkpoints to get around, facing armed and unhappy soldiers at each point. Many missionaries were targeted by the government and forced to leave the country. Soldiers routinely raped women. On one occasion, Anita was forced to take a drunken soldier back to Lagos with her. He kept a loaded gun in his lap for the entire trip. Despite the dangers on the road and the difficulties created by the civil war, Anita’s intrepid spirit kept her going.
Through it all, Anita thrived under God’s protection. Other missionaries in the country saw His protection on her as well. They used to say that God protected Anita more than anyone else. Some said that when Anita drove by in the Volkswagen, they could see God’s angel on her shoulder.
Missions after retirement
After 37 years spent serving as a missionary in Nigeria, Anita retired in 1991 and returned to her hometown of Clarkesville. She had received numerous awards and citations for her work in Nigeria, including having a building and library named for her. She could have easily returned home and rested on her laurels. But, once again, God had something more for her to do.
Anita has stayed busy since retirement. She moved into her parents’ home that they left for her. Her brother and his wife lived across the street. One of her sisters moved into the family’s neighborhood, and the other lived in Atlanta. They remained close until her siblings’ deaths.
Anita’s home frequently hosted friends from Nigeria who came to visit. Some now live in the United States and can visit more often. Others come from London and Nigeria to visit.
For the first year of retirement, Anita traveled, speaking about her work in Nigeria and all that the Lord did there. She then became the associational director of GAs, the girls she spent so much time working with in Nigeria. She took on other responsibilities at her church, Bethlehem Baptist, including in the area of Missions. Anita was a force to be reckoned with — both respected and revered. As one church member tells it, “When Anita Roper asked you to do something, you couldn’t say no.”
Often, Anita has responded to the needs she sees in her community. When she found out the residents of the Habersham Terrace Assisted Living Home had no access to Bible study, she began teaching a weekly Bible study there. Shortly after, she started teaching a weekly Bible study at the Magnolia Hills assisted living facility in Demorest.
Just two years after returning to Clarkesville, Anita volunteered with the American Red Cross blood drives. When the Red Cross provided disaster relief training at Anita’s home church, she enrolled in the course and went on to serve as the captain of the local Disaster Relief Team. About nine years later, Anita became the county coordinator for blood drives.
Anita now lives in Magnolia Hills and continues to care for the other residents. She sends birthday cards to each resident, keeps in touch with many former students, and prays that God will continue to give her something more to do.
Her legacy
Anita Roper has received multiple honors and recognitions for her work in Nigeria. She’s had buildings named for her, both in Nigeria and here in Georgia. Scholarships have been created in her honor. The American Red Cross recognized her for her volunteer work. But her greatest legacy is seen in the lives of her “girls” and their families.
Sade Cole-Fakunle was one of those girls Anita tried to reach for Christ. Sade shares that Anita didn’t succeed with her because she was “a devilish character.” But Anita’s work wasn’t in vain. Sade accepted Christ six years later in London. Through a Christian fellowship at work led by a Southern Baptist pastor, Sade was able to reconnect with Anita by mail. Sade has since married and has children. Anita is a part of her family’s life.
When Sade and her husband came to the US to serve as missionaries in Georgia, she sent a letter to let Anita know she was in the state. Anita responded by showing up at her house. Their friendship has lasted for more than 25 years.
Sade describes that legacy this way: “As long as we live, and our children and our children’s children live, she will be a part of their lives. The number of girls who passed through Mama’s life and their daughters – generations of Reagan girls – were impacted by her, and their lives will never be the same.”
Another student, Morin Desalu, explains, “Mama Roper built a tribe of noble Christian women. She had the ability to bend the rules in a way that helped us learn. She knew what we could accomplish, and, in my case, she would not let my ‘I can’t’ stop me. I fell in love with her right away.”
Anita never married and has no regrets about not having children of her own. According to Morin, “Instead of children of her own, God gave her a tribe of girls.” Anita reached, taught, and loved more than 2,000 girls through her work at Regan Memorial and the WMU Girls’ Auxiliary in Nigeria.
Alumni from Reagan Memorial formed ROGAs (Reagan Old Girls Associations) to foster sisterhood. The associations credit the influence of Anita on their lives as one of their core foundations. Associations have been formed in the US, Great Britain, Canada, and Nigeria. The members hold reunions yearly on Anita’s birthday. Every five years, the members celebrate Anita’s birthday and legacy. She has attended their celebrations in cities across the U.S. They will celebrate together with Anita next year in Atlanta.
As long as we live, and our children and our children’s children live, she will be a part of their lives.
ROGA USA has also founded a scholarship in her honor. The reason for the scholarship is given on its website: “Miss Anita Roper, Mama as she is fondly called by all Reaganites all over the world, has been an embodiment of sacrificial giving, and she continues to inspire us to be what God has called each of us to be.”
That is Anita Roper’s enduring gift and legacy — all because she heeded God’s call to do something more.
