Madonna Burget Spratt
Madonna Burget Spratt passed away on Friday, May 19, 2017 in Honduras. She was born on December 15, 1933 to Dale and Mary Wheatley Burget.
She graduated from Prairie High School in 1951 and from Ball State University and Ball Memorial in 1954. Madonna worked at Tipton County Memorial Hospital as a surgery nurse for a year and then enrolled at Johnson Bible College, graduating in 1959 Magna Cum Laude.
While attending Johnson she became involved with the Africa for Christ mission group. She became interested in going to Africa and had learned she would need midwife training. After JBC she went to work at the Frontier School of Midwifery in Hyden, Kentucky and worked in the hospital there until there was an opening for her Midwife training. She began her training in December of 1959, completing it in May of 1960. On August 1, 1960 she left for Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, Africa.
Madonna was in Africa for 10 years and then went to Kulpahar, India to work with a Children’s Orphanage and opened a hospital for women. In August of 1984 she felt led to go to Honduras. She served first in the Merendon Mountains. While there she had a clinic built with the help of her supporters here in the States.
In November of 1986 she started corresponding with John Spratt and the result of this was their marriage in October of 1987 at Johnson Bible College. They later moved from the mountains to Las Brisas where they built a house, clinic and Church. John passed away in January of 2016 and Madonna also had health problems so she turned the Mission work over to the Disciple Makers in January of 2017.
Survivors include a sister, Marilyn B. Nash of Tipton County, niece Shari Smith, nephew Doug Atchley, great niece Abbie Smith (Nate) Stout and children Matilda and Jack of Kokomo, great niece Madison (Joshua) DePew and children Raylee and Asher of Lafayette, Walker Mehl of Charlotte, NC, Kaleigh Atchley of Bunker Hill, step niece Lisa (Rick) Miller and children Colton, Cody and Caitlyn of Peru, step niece Melissa (Steve) Solomon and children Kellen and Kacy of Xenia, Ohio and step nephew Gary (Suzy) of Rossville.
She was preceded in death by her husband, John B. Spratt, siblings Gerald and Don Burget, and Marianna Gray (Don), her parents Dale and Mary Burget.
Services are to be held in Honduras. Young-Nichols Funeral Home is in charge of the local arrangements.
Memorial donations may be made to Disciple Makers, 4393 Boron Drive, Latonia, Kentucky, 41015 or Johnson University, 7900 Johnson Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee, 37998.
Aunt Madonna has been an example and beacon to me and to all my family since I met her in 1964 when I was a ten year old at Mashoko, Southern Rhodesia. She served on three continents and did wonderful work on each and mastered the language of each group where she worked. Her life and work were greatly blessed here and she will be sorely missed as she goes on ahead of us all who remain.
I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! send me.” Isaiah 6:8.
Truly, Madonna lived to serve the Lord. We at the Hobbs Christian Church have been richly blessed knowing that our contributions to her work over the years were used to nurture our African and Central American brothers and sisters in Christ.
Marilyn, you are in our prayers. You know probably better than most of us ever will how much good Madonna has done. We should carry her in our hearts as an example of how we, guided by the teachings of Jesus Christ, can touch many lives for the greater glory of God.