Shirley Corder with Buddy, a computer generated friend


Getting to know me . . .


In Summary:

I am a freelance writer, a cancer survivor (10 years), and a retired registered nurse. I live in South Africa, which forced me to become an international writer sooner than I planned.

Shirley Corder lives in Africa

Early Years:

Although I was born in Scotland, I grew up in Gwelo, Rhodesia - a tiny land-locked country in Central Africa, now called Zimbabwe which boasts the dubious distinction of having the fastest-growing inflation rate in the world. (January 29th 2008 it stands at an unbelievable 150,000%)

When I was fourteen, I needed a Christian play and didn't know where to find one, so I wrote it. This kick-started an awareness that if I wanted something original to read or produce, the cheapest and most rewarding way was to write it myself.

A New Life:

Rob and Shirley Corder on their wedding day.At 18, I travelled to Cape Town, South Africa, to study nursing at Groote Schuur Hospital. A few years later, Prof. Chris Barnard made this hospital famous when he performed the world's first heart transplant.

Within a few months of my arrival in Cape Town, I formed two life-changing relationships.

  • I committed my life to Jesus Christ.
  • I met a young man by the name of Rob Corder.

    In 1967, Rob and I married, and two years later, he accepted a call into full-time Presbyterian ministry.

    • Shirley Corder lives in Southern Africa

    Moves and Ministry:

    Over the next 37 years we ministered in six different congregations across Southern Africa. This including Hatfield in Rhodesia, during the "Bush War".

    Our six years in that country commenced in Rhodesia, led by the late Ian Smith. This became Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, led by Bishop Muzorewa, and then Zimbabwe under the infamous dictator, Robert Mugabe.

    We lived in three countries without moving house.

    Family Growth:

    Rob and Shirley Corder with children During these years, we were fruitful in more than ministry. We multipled our family, starting with Debbie in 1968. Stephen followed three years later, and then came David. Just as we thought we knew how to be parents, we started to multiply again, with the addition of a son-in-law, two daughters-in-law, and four grandchildren.

    When we lived in East London in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, I took a correspondence course in creative writing.

    A few years later, we moved to Krugersdorp on the West Rand.There a number of life-changing events happened.

    Life Changes:

  • We bought our first computer
  • We became part of the Internet community
  • Our daughter and family left South Africa to go as missionary teachers to Venezuela
  • I received a diagnosis of cancer with a poor prognosis
  • and I had to stop nursing.


    • During a traumatic year of surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the Lord spoke to me from the words of Psalm 118:17, "I will not die; instead, I will live and proclaim what the LORD has done." (GNB)

    A year later, the words of Habakkuk 2:2 leapt off the page of the Bible at me: "Then the LORD told me: 'I will give you my message in the form of a vision. Write it clearly enough to be read at a glance.'" I knew that I was to share what the Lord had done in my life. I have had over 100 articles published since that time, and I am busy with a devotional book for folk going through cancer treatment.

    Writing for Real:

    In 2004, I was awarded the Cec Murphy scholarship through an online Christian writers' group, and flew to the United States of America to attend the Sandy Cove Christian Writers' Conference.

    Rob and Shirley Corder retire to PE. Nearly two years ago, Rob and I retired from full-time ministry. We now live in the beautiful coastal city of Port Elizabeth, in the Eastern Province of South Africa. Our cottage is only a seven minute walk to the beach, so inspiration is never far away.

    Perhaps that is why I received the Marjorie Ball Trophy for Writer of the Year at the Eastern Province Writers' Group.

    Into the Future:

    The experience of cancer is one I would never wish on anyone, yet I am grateful. I praise the Lord for bringing me through. I give thanks for my health and energy. And amazingly, I can say "Thank you" for the lessons I learned through the experience of that dreaded disease. It is my prayer that through my writing, others will be encouraged and motivated to keep riding the cancer rollercoaster to recovery.

    Truly, "in everything" (and that includes cancer) "we have won more than a victory because of Christ who loves us". Romans 8:37 CEV

    ©Shirley M. Corder

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