Susan Strachan (; 28 April 1874 â 6 December 1950), also known as Susan Beamish Strachan, was an Irish evangelical missionary and co-founder of the Latin American Mission (LAM).
Susan Beamish was born in 28 April 1874 in Dunmanway, County Cork to Richard Beamish, an accountant, and Annie Beamish (née Howe). Beamish was the eldest of two siblings.
Raised in a Church of Ireland household, Strachan converted to Methodism as a teenager. In the late 1890s, Strachan attended the East London Training Institute for Home and Foreign Missions at Harley House and Hulme Cliff College (present-day Cliff College). Planning on serving as a missionary on the Congo-Balolo Mission, Strachan studied either nursing or midwifery. Whilst at the Training Institute, Strachan meet her future husband .
Rejected from the Congo-Balolo Mission for health reasons, in 1901 Strachan was sponsored by the Regions Beyond Missionary Union (RBMU) to carry out missionary work in Argentina. In spring 1902, Henry Strachan began missionary work in Argentina. Initially working in Buenos Aires, the Strachans later relocated to Tandil were they established a church.
In Tandil Strachan co-founded the League of Evangelical Women () and the "GuÃÂa del Hogar" newspaper. In 1911, the Strachans joined the Evangelical Union of South America (EUSA) (present-day Latin Link).
In 1918, the Strachan's travelled to the United States where they attempted to gain financial support for a Latin American-wide mission. Unsuccessful, the Strachan's lived for a time in New York whilst Henry Strachan worked at Hepzibah House. In 1919, the Strachans left the EUSA and the following year carried out a year-long tour of Latin America starting in Guatemala and ending in Argentina. Whilst travelling the Strachan's identified San José, Costa Rica as the optimal headquarters of their future Latin-American wide mission due to San José's Pacific and Atlantic rail network.
On 21 July 1921, the Strachans founded the ecumenist Latin American Evangelization Campaign (LAEC) at the site of the future Stony Brook School. In October 1921, the Strachan's relocated to San José, in order to established the headquarters of the LAEC. The LAEC was later renamed the Latin American Mission (LAM).
Within the early years of LAM, the running of headquarters was largely left to Strachan whilst Henry Strachan conducted missionary work across Latin American. Strachan published the LAM news bulletin "The Evangelist", and later the Spanish-language paper "El Mensajero biblico" (). On 2 October 1922, Strachan founded the School for the Training of Young Women () (present-day Universidad Biblia Latinoamérica). Following the 16 April 1926 San José train crash, in which 178 pilgrims died, Strachan founded the Bible Orphanage (. In 1929, the Strachan's founded the Hospital ClÃÂnica BÃÂblica as a paediatric clinic.
In 1937, the Strachan's co-founded the Association of Evangelical Caribbean Churches ().
Following Henry Strachan's death in 1945, Strachan became joint director of LAM alongside her son Robert Kenneth Strachan in 1946. Strachan remained the joint director until her death in 1950.
On 15 June 1903, Strachan married Henry Strachan, (1872âÂÂ1945) a Canadian-born Scottish Minister and missionary, in Coronel Suárez. The Strachans had three children including the missionary R. Kenneth Strachan.
Strachan was a naturalised US citizen.
On 6 December 1950 Strachan died at Hospital ClÃÂnica BÃÂblica aged 76. Strachan is buried at the General Cemetery of San José ().