26 missionaries Biography

Kairos Fellowship A place where

The word of God is taught Jesus Christ is exalted Holiness is emphasized & Lost souls are reached http://www.Kairos http://www.Kairos-Fellowship.org info@Kairos-Fellowship.org Old Airport Bangalore 560043

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org

0

Ministry Of Grace EE-Book Resources

Dear Reader

Thanks for downloading this Missionaries Biography. It has been always blessing and motivating the lives of these Missionaries of God who took the Gospel of Jesus to their neighbors and across the world.

They became a could of witness to us with wonderful testimony to see the bigger picture of God worked through their lives.

What God could accomplish through them perhaps they might not had a clear picture or even thought of it but one thing they just followed in His Steps and rest of things it was God who directed them to do.

He is still able to use and make you to move into His great plan that He has to accomplish through you if you are willing to come with honesty and allow Him to Work in your life .

God Bless you as you go through these stories of these great men and women of God. In His Glory Alone Sabir Ali

www.Ministry−of−Grace.Org Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org

1

1 ANNIE ARMSTRONG

By Alicia Addison Annie Armstrong always found herself in the middle of things. She was born in 1850, the midpoint of the nineteenth century, in Baltimore, MD which was caught between North and South in the Civil War. Her wealthy family had connections to leaders in the newly formed Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). She once said she could be a Presbyterian, or perhaps an Episcopalian, but never a Baptist! Ironically, around the age of 20, Annie joined an SBC church. From then on, her drive and leadership abilities drew her to the heart of Baptist women's missionary work.

At a young age, Annie accompanied her mother to the missionary meetings of Woman's Mission to Woman where she learned the importance of giving and praying for missions. Though Annie heard a lot about the adventures of Lottie Moon and other overseas missionaries, she did not feel called to international missions. Instead, her heart for home missions grew as she worked with Indians, immigrants, blacks, and children. The year 1880 marked a turning point in her life. In response to a speaker who told of destitute conditions and needs of Indians, Annie and some other women sent clothes to Indian children enrolled in a mission school. Without the 240 sets of clothes these

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org

2

women sent, the school would have had to close. From there she began a pilgrimage of leadership in missions and missions support.

In 1882, at the age of 32, she helped organize the Woman's Baptist Home Mission Society of Maryland (which was later renamed Woman's Missionary Union - WMU) and became the society's first president. The society's objective was to involve women in support of the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Annie believed in Christ with all her heart, but it was her hands that expressed that belief in tangible ways. In 1888, Annie was elected corresponding secretary of WMU. As the first corresponding secretary, it was obvious that Annie took very seriously the word "corresponding." She spent a great amount of time typing and handwriting letters in support of missions (sometimes writing until her fingers could no longer hold a pen). Many of these letters were quite lengthy and all were filled with conviction that more could and should be done in our mission efforts. In 1893 alone, she wrote almost 18,000 letters! In 1889 Annie discovered that Lottie Moon had been serving in China for 11 years without a break because there was no one to replace her if she left. Annie thought it was a disgrace that Lottie had been left there alone, so she helped organize a Christmas offering to pay for more missionaries to China. This offering became an annual tradition and today is known widely among the SBC as the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.

Armstrong always refused a salary for the work she did through WMU to further the gospel. In 1906 Annie stepped down from her role at the WMU. In her time serving with WMU, she wrote thousands of letters, launched dozens of fund-raising campaigns, and helped organize women's mission societies in every Southern state.

Annie rallied churches to give more, pray more, and do more for reaching people for Christ. In 1934, in recognition of Annie's pioneering efforts to raise support for missionaries as well as her lifelong passion for God's work in America, the SBC started the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for Home missions, which today has been renamed the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions. This offering has supported thousands of missionaries who evangelized the lost, ministered to the needs of millions of people, and started thousands of Southern Baptist churches in the U.S. and Canada.

Annie Armstrong died on December 20, 1938, the year of WMU's 50th anniversary. Her tombstone reads, "She hath done what she could."

Sources: History of Annie Armstrong. Neiswander Baptist Church. Annie Armstrong. Go! Online.

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org

3

2 GLADYS AYLWARD

By Felicity Tinker Gladys Aylward was born short in size and short in worldly status but what was lacking in height and social standing she made up for in determination and spirit. Born in London, in 1902, to a working-class family Gladys became a wealthy family's parlor maid at the age of 14. She trudged through this life of routine until one day after attending a church service a stranger confronted her with the message of salvation.

Gladys, newly reconciled with God, began attending Young Life services and reading about the far-away land of China from books in the vast library of her employer. This birthed an unstoppable desire to go to China herself. Gladys applied with CIM as a candidate for China. After reviewing her advanced age and test results it was determined that she was too old and unfit to learn the difficult Chinese language. At the age of 28, Gladys dreams were momentarily crushed; she decided if she couldn't go with CIM she would go on her own.

Every month, Gladys would save all the money she could from the small paycheck she received to buy a one-way train ticket to China.

On Oct. 15, 1932, Gladys left Liverpool Street Station by train to travel across Russia and eventually into Northern China. She carried two suitcases, a bedroll and wore a bright orange jacket. At one point on her journey she was asked to get off the train as it was being used to carry only Russian soldiers.

She insisted on staying and was dropped off later in the middle of nowhere to eventually retrace her steps on foot and take another train through Siberia.

After a brief journey to Japan to confirm with the British counsel, Gladys finally set foot in her beloved China.

Gladys begin her missionary career in Yangcheng working with veteran missionary Jeannie Lawson. She helped operate an inn for mule drivers where she learned Chinese from daily interaction with these travelers. After Jeannie's death, Gladys was unable to financially sustain the Inn. The local officials approached her and asked if she would be willing to be a "foot inspector." The tradition of binding Chinese women's feet had recently been outlawed, but due to cultural perceptions of beauty it was still being practiced in many places. Gladys began traveling around inspecting the bones in women's feet. As she traveled she would tell stories from the Bible and many looked forward to the days they could hear these strange new stories.

The people's esteem and respect for Gladys also continued to grow throughout the region. What was even more remarkable was the ability she

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org

4

had to take on Chinese culture and language. By 1937, when the Japanese begin bombing nearby mountain villages, Gladys had so identified herself with the Chinese people that she refused to leave even as artillery shells begin to fall. She even became a spy for the Chinese army using her foreign appearance to travel across battle lines and also bring food to trapped villagers. She was so effective that the Japanese even put a price on her head.

During this time Gladys also adopted war orphans and eventually had over 100 children in her care. In 1940, the war had escalated and she was forced to leave Northern China and head south to Sian through the thickening battle, over mountains and across the Yellow River. This experience left her mentally and emotionally drained. After recovery in 1943 she moved to Chengdu to begin work in a local Church as a Bible woman. This work was usually reserved for only Chinese women and involved travel, evangelism and Bible teaching. Gladys had taken on so much of the Chinese culture that it was unquestioned whether she would fit in the role.

After 20 years in China, Gladys returned to England in 1940. She was embarrassed to find that she quickly became a celebrity. A book, movie and TV documentary were all made about her life. To many Gladys became known by many as "The Small Women," the title of her biography. She continued to travel and speak about her beloved China, returning to Taiwan in 1957.

Humble in spirit, Gladys once made this comment to a friend, "I wasn't God's first choice for what I've done for China. There was somebody else. I don't know who it was --- God's first choice. It must have been a man --- a wonderful man, a well-educated man. I don't know what happened. Perhaps he died. Perhaps he wasn't willing. And God looked down and saw Gladys Aylward."

Sources: Tucker, Ruth. From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1983.

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org

5

3 AMY CARMICHAEL

By Felicity Tinker Single women missionaries have always been a dominant factor in the great history of global mission. Amy Wilson Carmichael was one of these women.

Born in Ireland on December 16, 1867 to a wealthy family, Amy was the oldest of seven children. Her childhood of relative ease ended with the death of her father as she approached her eighteenth birthday. His death plunged the family into financial insecurity and Amy was now faced with the responsibility of raising her brothers and sisters.

During this time Amy was spiritually influenced by the Keswick conventions sweeping through Europe. An emphasis during the conventions included a focus on missions and the needs of the world. During one of these meetings Hudson Taylor spoke of the four thousand who die ever hour without Christ.

Amy later wrote in her journal, "Does it not stir up our hearts, to go forth and help them, does it not make us long to leave our luxury, our exceeding abundant light, and go to them that sit in darkness?"

At the age of 24, Amy first set out into that darkness. Her destination was Japan where she served for fifteen months before suffering severe health issues. Although Amy's time in Japan was short, it was a time of much growth and training that would continue to profoundly impact her ministry. It was here she begin wearing the traditional Japanese dress, an innovation that would continue later in her ministry in India. All the workers and children in Amy's ministry wore Indian clothing and had Indian names.

A year later, after receiving medical attention, working briefly in China and a brief furlough at home, Amy set sail for India. At first Amy rejected the idea of India as "much too easy," possibly due to the British presence there at the time. Her first several years were spent as part of an evangelistic team. By 1901, Amy's focus had shifted from traveling evangelism to the rescue of orphans who were dedicated at Hindu Temples to the worship of the gods.

This was the beginning of the Dohnavur Fellowship; a group of women dedicated to the rescue and upbringing of these orphans who were used as sexual servants in the temples. Amy's missionary career in India lasted over 55 years without a furlough.

A spirit of service and a love for those who others considered "unlovable" always dominated Amy's ministry even in Europe before she begin ministry cross-culturally. In her early twenties, she worked with a group of young ladies called "shawlies" because of the shawls they wore on their heads. The proper

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org

6

members of Amy's church were shocked that someone would reduce them self to teaching the Bible to these low members of society.

Again in India much of the missionary community shunned Amy's ministry to orphans. Some believed the temple children did not exist while others looked down on the acts of service and emphasis at Dohnavur to the education, physical care and character building of each child. On one occasion Amy asked a visiting missionary to help her carry a bucket, the missionary replied he would rather "carry his Bible." Amy felt that service was an essential part of missionary work, although she did not always readily embrace the sacrifices it took to have this spirit of service.

Once back in Ireland, as Amy and her family were returning from church they chanced upon an old woman carrying a heavy bundle of rags. Amy and her brothers took the bundle and helped the old woman to her destination. To Amy, this act of sacrifice and kindness was "hated." As they turned and walked along, they passed by the other Churchgoers and worried what these "respectable people" would think. Before bringing the woman to her destination Amy and her brothers passed by an elaborate Victorian fountain.

A voice impressed upon Amy's heart the words from 1 Corinthians 3:12-14.

"Gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble. If any man's work abide."

That afternoon Amy sought God privately in her room anguishing over the idea of what would last in eternity from her own life. The lessons of obedience and sacrifice from that day would echo through the rest of her life.

Apart from the sacrificial love Amy gave so many she is also remembered for her writing. Amy wrote over 35 books from the field, many being written after and accident in 1931 that left her bedridden until her death at the age of 83.

Once Amy sent a book home for publication that was denied publication and returned with the request for a rosier picture of mission work. The publisher was worried many would feel disdain at the harsh reality of the mission field she had portrayed. Amy sent the manuscript back without any changes except for title, renaming it "Things as they Are." On writing to missionary candidates she's been quoted as saying, "bring to India a strong sense of humor and no sense of smell." To another candidate she Amy wrote the poignant truth that above all mission work offers one thing and one thing only, "A chance to die."

Sources: Elliot, Elisabeth. A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael. Grand Rapids: Revell, 1987. Tucker, Ruth. From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1983.

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org

7

4 WILLIAM CAREY

By Claude Hickman William Carey was born in Paulers Pury, England, August 17, 1761. When William was 17 he began a shoemaking apprenticeship with Clarke Nichols, who allowed Carey to work for his support while learning this trade. It was during this time that he attended a prayer meeting and gave his life to Christ on Feb. 10, 1779. Carey met Dorothy Plackett and married June 10, 1781.

Dorothy was a loving wife, but never gained a heart for the world and a vision for missions as Carey did. William Carey began a spiritual journey for himself, to seek the truths of scripture. He joined the Baptists and was baptized by Mr. J.C. Ryland on Oct. 5th, 1783. While Carey continued to work on shoes, this 'uneducated' man of God began to learn Greek and Hebrew in order to study the Bible in its original languages. He was an aggressive student of the word of God. His knowledge of Scripture soon led to a Baptist church asking him to be their pastor, even though he was supported through his shoe cobbling and working as a school teacher. In 1789 he began to serve as pastor of the Harvey Lane Baptist Church. The more Carey exhausted himself in scripture the more he developed his own personal convictions, some of which were very different that of his denomination, especially about the topic of world missions. His interest in the world led him to even make a large leather globe of the world. While reading Andrew Fuller's book, "The Gospel Worthy of All

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org

8

Acceptation." God used one line specifically to end any doubts in his mind as to God's leading. "If it is the duty of all men to believe whenever the Gospel is presented to them, it must be the duty of all who have received the Gospel to endeavor to make it universally known." With this, his convictions were concrete.

Once a month the other Baptist ministers in this area would meet for fellowship and prayer. Carey, excited about what the Lord has impressed on his heart about reaching the nations, shared that he believed the command given to the apostles in the Great Commission (Matt 28:19-20) was in no way exclusively for them alone, but was to be obeyed by all successive disciples as a part of the very command "teach them to obey everything" that Jesus commanded. This includes the command in verse 19 to "go." He also maintained that if we believe (as the Baptists they were) that the command to be baptized is still applicable to all believers, we must also attribute the responsibility to "go and make disciples of all nations" to all believers.

Mr. Ryland, the very man that had baptized Carey, quickly interrupted him and said, "Sit down, young man, sit down and be still. When God wants to convert the heathen, He will do it without consulting either you or me." This temporary defeat only served to fuel William Carey's passion to prove himself true to God's word. He embarked on sermon and study to demonstrate the undeniable responsibility of the Church to finish the promise of God to "bless all the nations" (Gen. 12:1-3). Over the next eight years he put together a finished work of his study of the unreached world, statistics, and biblical theology of mission, under the published title of "An Enquiry into the obligation of Christians to use means for the conversion of the heathen." It became widely published and a topic of controversy in the Church at the time. Carey held closely to a passage that fueled his desire for the nations. It was Isaiah 54:5, "Thy Redeemer ... The God of the whole earth shall He be called."

Through the invitation of a missionary on furlough, Dr. Thomas, William decided he would follow God's plan for his life by taking the gospel to India.

Before leaving Carey preached a sermon known for his exhortation to "expect great things from God, attempt great things for God." Carey had expected God to do great things, now he was moving forward in obedience to allow God to use his attempts. William's wife refused to go with him up until the day he left, and then she came along at the last hour only because her sister agreed to join them. It took five months to sail to India, so Carey embarked on language learning again, this time tackling Bengali. They reached Calcutta on November 11, 1793. Carey was to face many trials in his time in India. He was appalled at the practice of widow burning and made a vow to see the practice ended. Most of his trials came from within his family. His wife lost her sanity after the death of their five-year-old son, Peter. Carey however lost her in 1807 to disease, and his next wife Charlotte Rumohr passed away in 1821.

He then married Grace Hughes in 1823 and she labored alongside him in India faithfully. His perseverance also allowed him to press in for seven years before seeing his first convert from Hinduism. His work in translating the scripture was completely lost in a fire one night when it was very near

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org

9

completion, but Carey didn't give up. He just started over the next day. He persevered.

Carey founded the Christian Church in India, the school system, the postal system and ended the practice of widow burning as he had vowed to. This 'uneducated' man, at the end of his life had seen the Scriptures translated into forty languages, and printed 213,000 Bibles.

Just before he died at age 73 (June 9, 1834), Carey said out to a missionary friend, "Dr. Duff! You have been speaking about Dr. Carey; when I am gone, say nothing about Dr. Carey -- speak about Dr. Carey's God." William Carey's tombstone in Serampore Christian burial grounds has only these words inscribed about the life of the father of modern missions.

William Carey Born August 17, 1761 Died June 9, 1834 "A wretched, poor, and helpless worm, On Thy kind arms I fall."

"Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace."

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 10

5 ELISABETH ELLIOT AND RACHEL SAINT

By Megan Grober "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation." - II Corinthians 5:18-19 Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Peter Fleming and Ed McCully were five men that understood God's message of reconciliation for all peoples. The story of their lives is one of determination and sacrifice as they took Christ's message of reconciliation to the tribal people of Ecuador.

Their legacy began in 1955; Jim, Nate, Peter, and Ed, all missionaries from the United States, set out to bring the gospel to the hostile Auca tribe near the Andes Mountains in Ecuador. The four had quite the task set before them.

The Auca Indians were known as a violent and murderous tribe that had virtually no contact with the outside world. Surrounding tribes labeled them "savages." So, the endeavor of reaching the Aucas with the love of Christ was a brave one.

While working in a nearby tribe, Jim, Peter, and Ed, heard about the Auca Indians and their need for Christ. The men decided that they wanted to move into the Auca region in an attempt to learn the Auca language, translate the Bible, and share the gospel. Jim, Peter, and Ed teamed up with Nate Saint, a missionary pilot for Missions Aviation Fellowship, to begin gaining friendly relations with the Indians. For the next three months the four men made flights over the Auca's village. They dropped supplies and gifts in pursuit of friendship and trust. On Tuesday, January 3, 1956 the men decided to make their first ground contact. Upon that decision they also enlisted Roger Youderian a missionary to the Jivaro tribe, who had mastered life and survival in the jungle, to join them in the effort. The men chose to make their first land at a beach about 4 miles outside of the tribe. They quickly set up camp, and then made a flight over the village to invite the Aucas to visit their camp. The Aucas seemed to be hostile to the men, but their countenance changed as the men exchanged more gifts offering their peace and friendship. By Friday, the men had their first visitors. A couple and a teenage girl would prove to be their first and last encounter with the Indians. By Saturday morning all contact with Jim, Peter, Ed, Nate, and Roger had been lost. They were later found speared to death by the very people that they were trying to reach.

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 11

The effort to reach the Auca Indians was not abandoned. Spurred on by the death of their husband and brother, Elisabeth Elliot and Rachel Saint, quickly established a home among the Auca Indians. Rachel Saint, who worked for Wycliffe Bible Translators, was the older sister of Nate. She was passionate about taking the gospel to an unreached tribe, especially the Aucas, and translating the scriptures into their own language. The tragic event of her brother's death didn't deter her but rather intensified her passion to go to them.

The year before Nate's death, she began working with an Auca woman, Dayuma, who had fled the tribe during an intertribal war. Rachel formed a strong relationship with her and brought her to the states to publicize the missionary work in Ecuador. The trip extended to a year due to an illness Dayuma developed. Elisabeth Elliot, who had returned to a nearby tribe with her young daughter Valerie, made contact with two Auca women in Ecuador.

In 1958, Rachel and Dayuma were able to return to the Auca tribe. This marked the beginning of communications since the deaths of the missionaries in 1956. Rachel and Elisabeth were invited to live with the tribe for 2 months.

They experienced first hand the Auca lifestyle and perfected their language skills. At that point the evangelization to the Aucas began and nine years after the tragic event, the Gospel of Mark was published in the Auca language. The pastor of the tribe, Kimo, who was also one of the killers, had the opportunity to baptize Steve & Kathy Saint, Nate's children. God had used these women, a wife and sister of the slain missionaries, to reconcile with the Aucas and bring them ultimate reconciliation of Christ's salvation.

In 1956, Elisabeth Elliot returned home to write her first book on the amazing story of the Auca tribe, the men who gave their lives to reach them, and her journey back. The book, Shadow of the Almighty, has become a well known story of commitment, determination, and faith in God's sovereignty and grace.

Later in life she writes of loss, "The growth of all living green things wonderfully represents the process of receiving and relinquishing, gaining and losing, living and dying‌The truth is that it is ours to thank Him for and ours to offer back to Him, ours to relinquish, ours to lose, ours to let go of-if we want to find our true selves, if we want real life, if our hearts are set on glory."

Elisabeth Elliot has become one of Christendom's most beloved and wellknown lecturers and writers. She has been an encouragement and challenge to woman in godliness, faithfulness and God's purpose in world missions. She wrote challenging one young woman, "If indeed He is directing you toward missions, BE GLAD! He will show you His way in His own time."

The legacy left behind by the 5 slain missionaries and their families still lives on today. The Auca Indians quickly realized their mistake in killing the very men that loved them enough to bring Christ's message of reconciliation to them. The Auca Indians were able to accept the message spoken of Christ's death because they were able to see the message lived.

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 12

6 FRANCIS OF ASSISI

By Jessica Ahrend Francis of Assisi was born to the wealthy merchant family of Pietro and Pica Bernardone in 1181 or 1182 at Assisi in Umbria. Though trained by priests and also trained in the skill of his father, he spent his youth in pleasure and hedonistic pursuits. He became enamored with the idea of being a knight and enjoying military glory. Beginning at the age of twenty though, because of alternations between lengthy bouts with sickness and being led by dreams, Francis' way and attitude began to be sobered. It was the beginnings of the life of poverty and monasticism for which he is now heralded.

On one occasion, Francis was preparing to go off into battle and so achieve his dream of knightly greatness when he had two dreams. The first showed him a palace full of arms and soldiers and in one room of the palace stood a beautiful bride waiting for her bridegroom. A voice revealed to Francis that these were all awaiting him. He interpreted this dream to be affirmation of the glory he expected to attain as a knight. He was wrong. He traveled all of that day toward his destination for battle and that night had another dream. In this one the voice spoke to him again.

"Francis, where are you going like this?"

He replied, "I am going to Apulia."

"Tell me," the voice continued, "from whom can you expect most, the master or the servant?"

"From the master, of course!" he replied.

"Then why follow the servant instead of the master on whom he depends?"

"Lord, what would you have me do?"

"Return to your own country. There it shall be revealed to you what you are to do and you will come to know the meaning of this vision."

The next day, a humbled, changed Francis returned home. He was twentyfive. His friends wondered why he would not join them in their revelries anymore; was he planning on marrying? He answered them that yes, in fact he did intend on marrying. Who she was Francis did not know, but he remained faithful to the bride in his heart. Over a short course of time as he

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 13

wrestled in prayer with God, Francis surrendered himself to His Lord. His joy was so great that people couldn't help but notice. Francis came to understand the "peerless princess" to which he would be wed. She was "Lady Poverty."

Thus began Francis' course of renouncing material comforts until he reached the point of surrendering every possession, every privilege. This commitment reached its fullness in 1208 when Francis attended Mass and the subject of the day was the command of Christ to His disciples to "take nothing for [their] journey, neither a staff, nor a bag, nor bread nor money; and do not even have two tunics apiece." "And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:2-3) Francis left Mass and got rid of his shoes, his cloak, his staff, and found a course woolen tunic, what the poorest of peasants wore, to clothe himself with and he went forth to preach the kingdom. Francis acquired a few followers who were willing to follow his lead of giving all to the poor and pursuing a life of poverty. The small band erected huts of straw and mud, the central settlement of what would soon formally become the Franciscan Order, and would wander two by two to surrounding areas exhorting and evangelizing. His influence grew and soon the Second Franciscan Order of Poor Ladies was established for women who desired to devote their lives to poverty and penance.

From the beginning, the Franciscans were devoted to missionary work. The propagation of the gospel and repentance of the lost was always a burden on their hearts. Francis himself attempted to travel to Central Italy, Morocco and France on missionary endeavors but was kept from each of these by either sickness, shipwreck or the council of his authorities. But he organized the Order in such a way that Tuscany, Lombardy, Provence, Spain and Germany were delegated to five of his closest followers. While for a time, he devoted much of his energy toward missionary activity around Italy, he was never relieved of the burden of reaching the heathen in further lands. He enjoyed great success and acceptance with the crowds of people that would gather each time he entered a new town; such great success in fact that he formed a Third Order for those who could not leave home to commit to the strict, rigorous lifestyle of the friars, but who desired to be set apart from the world.

One of the outstanding qualities of the ministry Francis and his followers was their treatment of the poor and afflicted. It was Francis' conviction that if a poor man was to ever join in a meal with them, he ought not feel out of place, unequal, or blush at his impoverished state. In fact, Francis was willing to eat with lepers, and even to share their dish. It was this sympathy and simplicity that won many people to the love of this man. He once said "Should there be a brother anywhere in the world who has sinned, no matter how great soever his fault may be, let him not go away after he has once seen thy face without showing pity towards him; and if he seek not mercy, ask him if he does not desire it. And by this I will know if you love God and me."

Francis spent the end of his years writing a "Second Rule" which he meant to instruct and guide the Order, which had by this time grown to considerable size. The three vows, which serve as the foundation of the rule, are vows to:

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 14

poverty, obedience and chastity. Francis of Assisi revolutionized his day with his radical teachings about repentance and he validated his message with the radical lifestyle that he gladly accepted. He attempted in every area of his life to imitate the life of His Lord and this man of God died on October 4, 1226, in the forty-fifth year of his life.

"The Love of Christ and Him crucified permeated the whole life and character of Francis, and he placed the chief hope of redemption and redress for suffering humanity in the literal imitation of his Divine Master."

Most of this information taken from: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06221a.htm Other related sites: http://www.academiclibrary.com/view/Religion/3575.HTM http://members.aol.com/JAMIETAMPA/Francis/biography2.htm

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 15

7 ADONIRAM JUDSON By: Alicia Addison Adoniram Judson was born August 9, 1788 in Malden, Massachusetts.

Despite his father being a Congregational minister, Judson was not saved until he was 20 years old. While studying at Brown University, he was greatly influenced by the Deistic beliefs of Jacob Eames, a close friend. Incredibly, the friend to swayed him away from Jesus also played a large role in Judson's conversion to Christ. He had announced to his parents that he had rejected Christianity and was leaving for New York to become a playwright. One night he was staying at an inn and was adjacent to the room of a dying man. All night he found himself plagued with wondering if the man was prepared to die or where he would spend eternity. The next morning Judson asked about the identity of the man who died that night. Judson was taken aback in realizing that the man was Jacob Eames, his unbelieving friend who had destroyed Judson's faith. With the realization that he was as lost as his now dead friend, Judson overcame his reservations and dedicated his life to the Lord.

In 1808, Judson started attending Andover Theological Seminar, where he became burdened to become a missionary. In 1810, he helped form the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and then two years later, he and his new bride of seven days, Ann, sailed for India. When the Indian government refused to allow the Judson's to enter the country, they

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 16

went to Rangoon, Burma. There was not one known Christian among the millions of Burmese people.

After six years, the Judson's saw their first convert baptized. Judson wrote in his journal, "Oh, may it prove to be the beginning of a series of baptisms in the Burman empire which shall continue in uninterrupted success to the end of the age." In the first six years, Judson published tracts, translated the gospel of Matthew and the book of Ephesians, preached publicly, and labored among the Burmese people. Judson decided to contextualize the gospel when he decided to build a Zayat, a Buddhist-style meditation room, on the main street where he could hold meetings and teach passers by in a way that was not foreign to the people. This helped break down barriers between he and his hearers. This is what eventually led to their first convert.

In 1824, the Judson's moved to Ava. When the war between the English and the Burmese started, Judson was imprisoned for two years at Ava for being a British spy. While in prison, Judson continued his Bible translation by hiding the manuscripts in a pillow his wife smuggled into him. His perseverance is recorded in his prayer while imprisoned, "Lord, let me finish my work. Spare me long enough to put Thy saving Word into the hands of a perishing people."

It was the faithfulness and persistence of his wife that kept him from starvation. Bribing the jailer, she would creep to the door of Judson's cell, bringing food and whispering words of hope and consolation. Not long after he was released from prison, Ann died from spotted fever. She was just shy of 37 years of age. In his marriage to Ann, they had three children die. The third one died three months after Ann. After recovering from Ann's death, Judson continued to translate the Burmese Bible. In 1828, he moved to Maulmain where he and his colleague George Boardman were instrumental in the conversion of a member of the Karen People, Ko Tha Byu, who is the virtual founder of Karen Christianity. Ko Tha Byu's ministry resulted in the conversion of thousands. Within 25 years, there were 11,878 baptized Karen believers.

On April 12, 1850, Judson died. Judson had spent thirty-eight years in Burma (minus a few months when he returned to America after thirty-four years in Burma). Adoniram Judson will be remembered for his role in the establishment of U.S. missions, the translation of the complete Burman Bible, and his pioneering work among the Burmese people. As a young man he had cried out, "I will not leave Burma until the cross is planted here forever." Thirty years after his death, Burma had sixty-three Christian churches, one hundred and sixty-three missionaries, and over seven thousand baptized converts.

One hundred years later, on the anniversary of his death, there were more than 200,000 Burma Christians.

Sources: Barlow, Fred.Profiles in Evangelism.Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1976. Bradshaw, Robert I. The Life and Work of Adonarim Judson, Missionary to Buma., 1992. Unknown author. Adoniram Judson, 1788-1850, Missionary to Burma., 2003.

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 17

8 ERIC LIDDELL

By Hatley Hambrice Eric Liddell, a boy of Scottish descent, was born in 1902 in north China in the city of Tientsin. Eric was raised, during a dangerous time in China, when foreigners and missionaries were being sought out and killed throughout the country. James and Mary Liddell, Eric’s parents were sent to China by the London Missionary Society. Eric also had an older brother named Rob and a sister Jenny.

Eric’s father loved to read the Scottish newspaper aloud to his family when it was mailed to him in China. In one edition, James read to the whole family the exciting news about Wyndaham Halswelle. Halswelle, a great runner in Scotland, was the first Scot to ever win a medal at the Olympic Games. At that time, he had just won the silver for Great Britain in the 400m race.

Seeing Eric’s expression and excitement his father quickly responded by communicating that winning was not everything and that what mattered most was how you ran the race of life. Quoting the Apostle Paul he said “Run in such a way to get the prize….”

In 1907 at the age of five Eric and his brother Rob entered an elementary boarding school called the Sons of Missionaries, later to be named Eltham College in London. It was at this school during his high school years that Eric discovered his God given athletic ability in rugby, cricket, and track. Eltham College voted and named Eric as the best overall athlete in 1918. At a track event the following year Eric set a school record for the 100 yard dash of 10.2 seconds that would not be broken for eighty years. Eric was also known to be very friendly and outgoing to his classmates, especially to those not as gifted.

Although not required by his school, Eric began to attend Bible Studies and visited the sick at a nearby medical mission.

After completing high school, Eric enrolled in Edinburgh University to study science for the specific purpose of teaching in the Anglo-Chinese College back in China. The university rugby team chose Eric to represent Scotland in multiple international meets and just a few months after Eric decided to join the track team, he began winning races. In 1921 at the Scottish Amateur Athletics Association Championship, Eric won and set championship records in both the 100 yard and 220 yard races. When Eric returned to campus, they immediately assigned him to an athletic trainer.

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 18

When the athletic trainer approached Eric about coaching him, Eric was not sure that he wanted a trainer or that he even needed to pursue running. He had entered college to pursue his plan to join his father and teach in China.

Eric was at a crossroad of faith and decided to talk to his mother who happened to be in London at the time. Eric asked, “Mother, does God really want me to run?” “You know my plans. You know that I have always wanted to work with father in China. How will running…and now all of this training help me get there?” She replied, “God has given you a tremendous gift, Eric, of that I am sure…You won’t go to China for a few years…perhaps this is God’s plan….to run now, and to give God all the glory for your gift.”

Eric decided that he would pursue running and agreed to be coached by his new athletic trainer. In the movie “Chariots of Fire”, Eric has a heartfelt discussion with his sister Jenny, communicating the reason for his decision.

Eric explains, “I was made for a purpose, and that was for China, but God has also made me fast. When I run I can feel His pleasure, and to run and win is to honor Him. To not run, would be to hold him in contempt.”

Eric’s brother Rob and a few other students began to travel to many cities in Scotland to talk about Jesus. After the group noticed that they needed a well known speaker to draw in a larger crowd they decided to ask Eric to speak at the next crusade.

At the university, Eric spent all of his time speaking about his faith, studying for his classes, and training for upcoming races. After winning every race he entered in Scotland and beating Harold Abrams of Cambridge University, England’s best hope for the upcoming Olympics, Eric was named the fastest man in Scotland. Eric was on his way to the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris.

When Eric’s trainer received the Olympics schedule in the mail, he was stunned. Eric was to enter the 100m race and compete to become the fastest man in the world, but the first qualifying races were set to be held on Sunday.

The trainer knew that Eric had a strong conviction about not running on Sunday. Eric had never run on Sunday, because he believed that running on the Sabbath would bring honor to himself over remembering God’s day of rest. After much discussion and negative press throughout Great Britain about Eric unwillingness to run, it was decided that Eric would run in the 200m and 400m races of they Olympics. Both of these races were being held later in the week, but were not his strength.

Just before Eric would race in the 400m, a friend of the British team walked up to him. The friend said few words to Eric and handed him a small piece of paper, which Eric put in his pocket. Eric knew in just a few hours, he would run the most important race of his life. He reached and pulled out the piece paper which read “In the old book it says: He who honors me, I will honor.” (I Samuel 2:30) Eric ran the 400m race, won the gold medal, and set a new world record of 47.6 seconds. He not only won a race he did not usually compete in, but finished five meters ahead of his opponents.

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 19

Eric had surpassed the success of Wyndham Halswelle, and was now being called the next Rob Roy and William Wallace of Scotland. When Eric was asked about his new fame and the secret of his running success he answered, “The secret of my success over the 400m is that I run the first 200m as fast as I can, then for the second 200m, with God’s help, I run harder.”

After the Olympics and graduation from Edinburgh University, Eric returned to China, after being away from the culture for more than fifteen years. He received an appointment to the Anglo-Chinese College, where he taught science, religion and sports to boys in Tientsin. After living in China for less than 20 years, building the first sports arena in Tientsin, meeting his wife Florence, and having two children, Eric died in 1945 at the age of 43 in a Japanese prison camp in Weihsien, China about 100 miles north of Tietsin.

Eric’s legacy is not what God did through him in China, or that Eric won a gold medal. Eric’s legacy is that he made decisions in advance according to his God given convictions to run the race of life in order to get the prize. The prize was the abundant life he discovered by his courageous faith in believing God was in control and experiencing God’s pleasure through his obedience. ______________________________________ Sources: Movie: Chariots of Fire, 1981 Caughey, Ellen; Eric Liddell, Barbour Publishing: Uhrichsville, Ohio, 2000

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 20

9 DAVID LIVINGSTONE

By Kevin Thiemann Besides living in Scotland, David Livingstone was a man on track to successfully accomplish the "American dream", only something went horribly wrong. Born in 1813 and raised in a humble Scottish home, Livingstone set his heart on achieving success by becoming a medical doctor. He supported himself through college and was accepted to medical school in London.

Livingstone graduated with honors but not before his life goals would be rearranged by the words of one Dr. Robert Moffat.

While a student in London, Livingstone had the opportunity to hear a message presented by a missionary doctor from Africa named Moffat. Moffat reported, "I have sometimes seen, in the morning sun, the smoke of a thousand villages, where no missionary has ever been."

These words burned in Livingstone's heart ultimately compelling him to give up his small ambitions in order to join Dr. Moffat as a missionary in Africa.

David Livingstone lived the next 30 years of his life as a missionary and explorer in Africa. He traveled over 29,000 miles preaching the gospel, providing medical services, building churches, and mapping the vast African continent.

Livingstone is best known for his accomplishments as an explorer as he was the first man to map Africa and the first European to discover many areas of Africa. What is less known of Livingstone is the immense suffering he endured in order to reach Africa with the gospel of Christ. He was once attacked by a lion on the mission field crushing his shoulder to the point that its mobility would be hindered for the rest of his life. Livingstone married and deeply loved Mary Moffat (the daughter of Dr. Moffat), but because of the difficulty of travel and various sicknesses he would spend more than half of his 18 years of marriage separate from his wife. The couple lost a child to sickness on the mission field, and later Livingstone also lost his beloved wife to sickness on the mission field as well. During his time in Africa Livingstone once went 3 years with no correspondence from his family because the letters were unable to get to him.

After all of this here is what Livingston had to say about the price he paid to live as a missionary in Africa.

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 21

"People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much time in Africa.

Can that be called a sacrifice which is simply paying back a small part of a great debt owing to our God which we can never repay? Away with the word in such a view and with such a thought. It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege." (written in David's journal late in life) David Livingston lost his wife, a child, his health, and gave up a comfortable future living out what we know as the "American dream." Instead he eeked out an existence in the bush of Africa for 30 years. After all that suffering Livingstone says it was a privilege, not a sacrifice. Why? By the grace of God David Livingstone bought into a dream far bigger than himself and a comfortable life. Livingstone lived to participate with God in the greatest of possible adventures. He gave his life for the glory of God among the people of Africa.

10 DONALD MCGAVRAN

By Alicia Addison Donald McGavran was born December 15, 1897, in Domah, India and became a third generation missionary. In 1910 his family returned to the U.S. and when he was 14, he was saved and baptized in the First Christian Church of Tulsa, Oklahoma. In the same year he attended the Edinburgh Missionary Conference with his father. McGavran attended Butler University from 19151920, and two years of this time he served with the U.S. Army during World War I. From 1920-1922, he went to Yale Divinity School, and then spent another year getting his masters from the College of Mission in Indianapolis.

During a YMCA conference at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, he dedicated his life to going where God sent and carrying out His will.

Through the influence of the Student Volunteer Movement, McGavran returned to India as a missionary of the United Christian Missionary Society (the missions branch of the Disciples of Christ) in 1923, along with his wife Mary whom he had wed one year earlier. While in Harda, India, he was placed in charge of the mission school system in Harda and in 1927 he was appointed director of religious education for the India field. This involved standardizing curriculum and instruction. After eight years in India, the McGavran family came to the U.S. on furlough. Donald attended classes at Columbia University in New York and received his Ph.D. in Education. His dissertation was on Hinduism and Christianity. When his family returned to

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 22

India, McGavran served as executive secretary of mission, in which he worked with 80 missionaries, 5 hospitals, high schools, primary schools, and he became the superintendent of a leprosy home and hospital. McGavran became an expert on Hindi language and translated the gospels into the Chattisgarhi dialect.

In 1954, after more than thirty years of service in India, the McGavran family returned to the U.S. on furlough. Although it was their intention to go back to India, the mission ended up sending Donald to do further research into the growth of churches planted by the mission and related Christian groups around the world. During this time, McGavran started teach and write significantly about the theories he had developed during his time in India about the factors that influence and shape the development of congregations.

When evaluating church growth, he asked three questions: When a church is growing, why is it growing? What barriers, obstructions or sicknesses prevent the natural life, vitality and growth of churches? What reproducible principles operative in growing churches can be used elsewhere? What McGavran had discovered in India was the theory of "homogeneous units" in church growth, which today are more known as "people groups." A homogeneous unit often means a group which shares a common language, culture or other characteristic which makes it individually unique from other groups. This theory earned McGavran as the Father of Church Growth. He promoted returning to traditional mission stressing evangelism and church planting. In 1957 he established the Institute of church Growth in Eugene, Oregon. In 1965 he established the School of World Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary. From 1971-1981, he was senior professor of missions at Fuller and when he retired he continued to speak and write.

On July 10, 1990, Donald McGavran died at age 93 of cancer. Two of his most influential books were The Bridges of God and Understanding Church Growth. McGavran will forever be known as the "father" of the modern Church Growth movement.

Sources: Culbertson, Howard. The Modern Church Growth Movement.

Southern Nazarene University, 2001. Papers of Donald Anderson and Mary Elizabeth (Howard) McGavran - Collection 178. Billy Graham Center archives.

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 23

11 SAMUEL J. MILLS, JR.

By Alicia Addison Historically, student movements have been started out of prayer. One of the most influential prayer meetings can be traced back to the impact of one student, Samuel J. Mills, Jr. Samuel was born on April 21, 1783 in Torringford, Connecticut. His father was a congregational minister and it is reported that his mother prayed that Samuel would become a foreign missionary. What was amazing about that prayer is that at that time there were no missionary societies! At age 17, Mills became a Christian during part of the Great Awakening that started in 1798 in his father's church.

In 1806, he headed off to Williams College in Massachusetts. Faithfully, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, Mills attended a prayer meeting with other students on the banks of the Hoosack River or in a valley near the college.

One Saturday afternoon when returning from their prayer meeting, they were caught in a thunderstorm. Seeking shelter under a haystack, these 5 men continued praying that the Lord would send out missionaries from their college and other colleges in the area to Asia (they had been studying about Asia in their geography classes). Mills, the leader of the group, asked if the other four men to commit themselves to missionary service, which he saw as the primary duty of all Christians. Mills then famously said, "We can do this if we will." Thus was birthed the Haystack Prayer Meeting. These five men became the first American student volunteers to take the gospel to the nations. They devoted themselves to serve wherever God needed them. This group became established as the 'Society of Brethren', a group whose objective was to promote the idea of establishing missions outside of the U.S. Following the footsteps of Mills, many mission societies were started on campuses across the U.S. After graduating from Williams College, Mills enrolled in Andover Theological Seminary in 1810. That same year he was instrumental in establishing the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. This was the very first mission-sending organization in the U.S. and in 1812 the first American Board missionaries sailed for India, Adoniram Judson being one of the first five sent.

While many of his friends were going overseas, Mills was asked to stay home to fuel further missionary interest among the churches in America and to help survey missionary possibilities in the Western frontier of the U.S. Mills spent much of his life doing missions in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, in the Southwest United States, and in New Orleans. In early 1915, while in New

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 24

Orleans, no Bibles were available to purchase, so Mills acquired a supply in both French and English and distributed them. Upon learning that seventy to eighty thousand families in the south were without a Bible, Mills became a main contender of establishing the American Bible Society. Mills also helped in creating many other mission agencies and works such as The United Foreign Missionary Society and The American Baptist Missionary Union.

Before he died at 35, Mills finally got to see his dream come true and traveled overseas. He had a vision of free slaves and send them as missionaries to evangelize Africa, and in 1817 he went to Africa to look for possible places to start his work. On June 16, 1818, just 12 years after the haystack prayer meeting, Samuel J. Mills, Jr. became ill at sea on his way back from Africa and died. As a result of Samuel Mill's work, thousands of missionaries volunteered to proclaim the good news to the coasts of Africa, India, and Asia.

Mills was called the "Father of foreign mission work in Christian America". And isn't it amazing that the whole missionary movement of North America can trace its roots back to that haystack prayer meeting, which was started all by one student who just wanted to obey the commands of God! Sources: Hickman, Claude. Haystack Prayer Meeting. Howard, David M. Student Power in World Missions. Intervarsity Christian Press, 1979.

12 LOTTIE MOON

By Felicity Tinker Charlotte 'Lottie' Moon was born on a wealthy, Virginia plantation in the year 1840. She was one of seven children would be found fatherless in 1852. Yet Lottie and her brothers and sisters would be profoundly influenced by the faith of their mother. All were well educated, many fought in the civil war and some along with Lottie, made their way to the mission field.

During college Lottie rebelled against her strict religious upbringing until a campus revival that brought her to her knees in prayer. She became a teacher, and during this time she heard a message preached on the scripture "Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest." Lottie left her career as a teacher and sailed to China in 1873 as a missionary appointee with the Southern Baptist Convention.

Lottie begin her missionary career teaching Chinese children in the city of Tengchow. She soon became bored with the work of teaching children and longed to be involved in evangelistic work. This was radical for single, female

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 25

missionaries at the time and Lottie begin to speak up for the role of women in missions in missionary magazines and letters home to the Southern Baptist Convention. "What women want who come to China," she wrote, "is free opportunity to do the largest possible work..."

Lottie begin to travel to villages and in 1885 begin full-time evangelistic work in the village of Ping-tu. By 1889 the first Church and Baptisms had begun in the area and in the next twenty years over 1,000 converts would be baptized.

Beginning in 1890, Lottie divided her time between evangelistic work in Pingtu and training new missionaries in Tengchow. One of Lottie's largest contributions to global evangelism would continue to be her writing. She would write home appealing to the Baptist convention for more funds and more missionaries for the field. "It is odd," she wrote, "that a million Baptists of the South can furnish only three men for all China. I wonder how these things look in heaven. They certainly look very queer in China."

She wrote to the women of the Southern Baptist Convention calling for a special week of prayer and a Christmas offering that would be given exclusively to foreign missions. To Lottie's delight, as a result of this first offering, three new female missionaries were sent to the field. The success of this first week of giving and prayer led to the creation of a permanent offering that would be called The Lottie Moon Christmas offering following her death in 1912. Millions of dollars continue to be given each year to this offering for the cause of global mission.

The turn of the century brought widespread poverty, disease and devastation in China. Lottie drained her personal bank account, giving food and money to those around her in need. After she had given away all of personal savings, depression overwhelmed her and it was discovered that she was starving to death. She was rushed aboard a ship to be taken back to America for emergency health care, but died on ship in the port of Kobe, Japan on Christmas Eve in 1912. Lottie Moon was a wealthy, Southern Belle who became poor, giving all that she could for the sake of the lost. She once wrote, "Surely there can be no deeper joy than that of saving souls."

Sources: Tucker, Ruth. From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1983. Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 26

13 JOHN R. MOTT

By Bryan Padgett John Raleigh Mott was born May 25, 1865 in Livingston Manor, NY. He was the third child, and only son, of four children born to John and Elmira Mott.

While still in his youth, his parents moved from New York to Postville, Iowa.

Mott became a believer at a young age, and was active in the local Methodist Episcopal Church. At age 16, he enrolled at Upper Iowa University, which was a small Methodist preparatory school and college in Fayette, Iowa. He was very enthusiastic about history and literature, and was even a prize winning debater and orator. He became a charter member of the YMCA, which at the time was an international organization committed to Christian evangelism. In 1885, he transferred to Cornell University, and studied political science and history. In his eyes, he had two options to pursue, law or his father's business.

It was there at Cornell University that Mott's life would be changed forever.

J.K. Studd, brother of C.T. Studd, was invited to come to America by D.L. Moody and leaders of the YMCA to speak at college campuses and share with them a missionary message. On January 14, 1886, he spoke at Cornell University. Mott was late getting to the meeting, and when we arrived he heard J.K. Studd say from the pulpit, "Seekest thou great things for thyself?

Seek them not. Seek ye first the kingdom of God." That night Mott could not sleep as he pondered in his mind and heart those words. Later he found Studd for a private conversation. As one writer observed, "That encounter changed his life – and the world."

Though missions was heavily emphasized, Mott did commit himself to missions until that summer. In the summer of 1886, Mott represented Cornell University's YMCA at the first interdenominational, international Christian student conference ever held. The conference was host to 251 college-aged men from 89 colleges and universities. This conference was in Mount Hermon, Massachusetts on the Northfield College conference grounds. It was a four week conference held by D.L Moody. On the final day of the conference, Robert Wilder, a mission's enthusiast from Princeton, gave a missionary challenge and an aggressive appeal for personal commitment.

That day 100 men signed the "Princeton Pledge" which read, "We hold ourselves willing and desirous to do the Lord's work wherever He may call us, even if it be in the foreign lands." These men became known as the "Mount Hermon Hundred." Among the 100 men was none other that John R. Mott.

That meeting was the beginning of the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions, which was not officially organized until 1888. Mott lead the SVM for more than thirty years.

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 27

The rallying cry of this movement was "The evangelization of the world in this generation." As leader and organizer of the SVM, Mott had a huge task before him if they were to see there motto fulfilled. He felt that the best way to fulfill this motto was to mobilize thousands of college students to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. He attempted to do what organized religion had not been able to do, and that was to join students from all different denominational backgrounds to one joint purpose: taking the gospel to the ends of the earth. He never lived overseas as a long-term missionary, but he traveled the world in an effort to connect with missionaries and national students in each country he visited. He sought to develop a world-wide network of unified missionary activity. This being his goal, he helped organize the World Student Christian Federation, an international organization that grew under his leadership to include societies in some 3,000 schools.

In 1900, he published a book entitled The Evangelization of the World in this Generation, which served as challenge to many young men and women of his day. In 1910, he organized the Edinburgh Missionary Conference. This was perhaps the highlight of Mott's career as a missionary statesmen. At this ten day conference were 1,355 delegates representing 160 mission agencies and societies. This was the first interdenominational missionary conference of its kind. He was instrumental in forming the World Council of Churches, which he believed could strengthen the influence of Christianity in the world.

Mott was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946. The biographical sketch about him said this of his accomplishments: "The sum of Mott's work makes an impressive record: he wrote sixteen books in his chosen field; crossed the Atlantic over one hundred times and the Pacific fourteen times, averaging thirty-four days on the ocean per year for fifty years; delivered thousands of speeches; chaired innumerable conferences. Among the honorary awards which he received are: decorations from China, Czechoslovakia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Jerusalem, Poland, Portugal, Siam, Sweden, and the United States; six honorary degrees from the universities of Brown, Edinburgh, Princeton, Toronto, Yale, and Upper Iowa; and an honorary degree from the Russian Orthodox Church of Paris."

Dr. Mott married Leila Ada White in 1891, and together they had two daughters and two sons. He died at his home in Orlando, FL January 31, 1955 at the age of 89. A great way to sum up his life would be to say that John R. Mott did not seeketh great things for himself. He sought first the kingdom of God. Church historian Kenneth Latourette described John as one of the outstanding leaders in the entire history of Christianity.

References: http://www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/1946/mott-bio.html http://www.gospelcom.net/chi/DAILYF/2003/01/daily-01-31-2003.shtml Tucker, Ruth. From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1983

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 28

14 HELEN ROSEVEARE

By Rebecca Hickman "If Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him." That was her mission's motto. In 1953, Helen sailed for the Congo with hopes of serve Christ as a medical missionary with WEC (Worldwide Evangelization Crusade). For so many years she'd dreamed of being a missionary. As a young girl, she'd hear stories of her aunt and uncle's experiences on the mission field, and now she was eager to have her own stories to tell.

In 1925, Helen Roseveare was born in England. Because education was a high priority for her father, Helen was sent to a prestigious all girls school when she was 12. After that, she went to Cambridge. It was during her time in college that she became a Christian, truly understanding the gospel for the first time. She left her Anglo-Catholic background and became an evangelical.

Her focus was to finish her medical degree and prepare herself for the mission field.

After she became a doctor, Helen sailed to minister in the Congo. She was highly intelligent and efficient, but her role as a woman created struggles with her fellow missionaries and nationals. In that time period, single missionaries were seen as second-class citizens of the mission station. In the Congo, the medical needs were overwhelming. She couldn't just stand by and watch all the suffering around her. She was determined to make a difference. She dreamed of establishing a training center where nurses would be taught the Bible and basic medicine and then sent back to their villages to handle routine cases, teach preventive medicine, and serve as lay evangelists. She didn't have approval from her colleagues, who believed that medical training for nationals was not a valid use of time, evangelism and discipleship were more important.

Despite the conflict with them, after only two years after arriving in the Congo, she had build a combination hospital/ training center in Ibambi, and her first four students had passed their government medical exams. Her colleagues weren't as excited about her progress as she was. They felt that she was wasting time, so they decided that she would better serve the Congo by relocating in Nebobongo, living in an old leprosy camp that had become overgrown by the jungle. Helen argued that she must stay and continue the nursing training in Ibambi, but they insisted that she move. It was a major setback, but she went. Starting from scratch again, she built another hospital there and continued training African nurses. Still, she was strong-willed and

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 29

seemed to be a threat to many of her male colleagues. In 1957, they decided to relocate John Harris, a young British doctor, and his wife to Nebobongo to make him Helen's superior. Dr. Harris even took charge of leading the Bible class that she'd taught. She was devastated. She'd been her own boss for too long, and although she tried to let go of control, she just couldn't. Everything that had been hers was now his. This resulted in tension between them, of course. Her independence was her greatest strength, but also a definite weakness. She did not know how to submit to imperfect leadership. In 1958, after over a year of struggling with who was in control in Nebobongo, Helen left for England for a furlough. She was disillusioned with missionary work and felt like she might not ever go back to the Congo.

Back in England, she really struggled with why she had all these issues between herself and the male leaders in the Congo. She began to convince herself that her problem was her singleness. What she needed was a doctorhusband to work with her and be on her side during the power struggles! She didn't think that was too much to ask. So, she asked God for a husband, and told Him that she wouldn't go back as a missionary until she was married. She met a young doctor and decided he would be the one. (She wasn't very patient in waiting on the Lord's timing.) She bought new clothes, permed her hair, and resigned from the mission, all to try and win his love. He did care for her, but not enough to marry her. Helen was heartbroken, mostly because she'd wasted so much time and money trying to force her plan into reality without God. Still single, Helen returned to the mission and left for Congo in 1960. It was a tense time for that country. They had been seeking independence for a long time, so a huge civil war was on the verge of beginning. Many missionaries left because the risk was so high. Helen had no plans of going home. She believed that God had truly called her back to Congo and that He would protect her if she stayed. She was joined by a few other single women, who made it difficult for the men, they didn't want to look like sissies. She was given charge of the medical base in Nebobongo because John Harris and his wife left on furlough. She had so many opportunities to minister in the midst of the turmoil. She was sure that God had her right where He wanted her to be.

She continued to learn to see God in the details of her life, to trust him more fully. She had been coming closer to total trust in God all of her life, between bouts of depression, sometimes feeling that she was not really a Christian because she was capable of spells of anger and bitterness and other sins. "I was unable to reach the standard I myself had set, let alone God's. Try as I would, I met only frustration in this longing to achieve, to be worthy." She came to recognize that hatred of sin is a gift of the Holy Spirit.

Rebels were gaining strength, and there were reports of missionaries being attacked. Helen endured a burglary and an attempted poisoning, but always in her mind the situation was improving. She felt that she had to stay, because there was so much need and so many people depending on her. On August 15, the rebels took control of Nebobongo, and Helen was in captivity for the next 5 months. On the night of October 29, Helen was overpowered by black

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 30

rebel soldiers in her little bungalow. She tried to escape, but they found her and dragged her to her feet, struck her over the head and shoulders, flung her to the ground, kicked her, struck her over and over again. She was pushed back into her house and raped brutally without mercy. Helen suffered more sexual brutality before her release. God used this in her life to minister to other single women missionaries who feared that they'd lost their purity due to a rape and thus their salvation. Helen knew that her relationship with God had not been damaged. She had not failed God in any way because of the rapes.

Finally, on December 31, 1964 she was rescued. Helen had a sense of joy and relief, but also a sense of deep sorrow as she heard of many of her friends' martyrdom.

Helen returned to Africa for the third time in March of 1966. She served for 7 more years, but it was full of turmoil and disappointment. The Congo had changed since the war. There was a new spirit of independence and nationalism. They no longer respected the doctor who'd sacrificed so much for them. Helen left Africa in 1973 with a broken spirit. Her 20 years of service in Africa ended in defeat and discouragement.

When she got home, she went through a very, very lonely period in her life.

She turned to God. He was all she had. Instead of bitterness there was a new spirit of humility and a new appreciation for what Jesus had done for her on the cross. God was molding her for her next ministry. She became an internationally acclaimed spokes-woman for Christian missions. Her candid honesty was refreshing in a profession known as one of supersainthood.

Helen mobilized people by showing them that God used imperfect people with real struggles to be his ambassadors to the unreached world.

Books by Helen Roseveare: Give Me This Mountain, written in 1966, and He Gave Us a Valley, written in 1976. (Info taken from: From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya, by Ruth A. Tucker, and a few websites. Some quotes taken from Give Me This Mountain.)

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 31

15 JOANNE SHETLER

By Amanda Hendrix Joanne was a typical young farm girl, full of fanciful thoughts, always dreaming about what the future had in store. She said, "I'd dream about the house I'd have some day: a big, beautiful farmhouse with a white fence.

Cows would graze on the rolling hills surrounding it. Bets of all, my house would be crowded with happy people. Occasionally in my dream, I'd leave my house and friends and go to the hospital where I worked as a nurse, like my mom. To me, it was the perfect life."

At such a young age she had already dreamed up such a beautiful plan for her life, but she didn't yet have sight of what God had in store for her. Joanne gave her life to Jesus at the age of 11 during a Bible club meeting. She says that the Gospel "was the best news [she'd] ever heard of, it was like discovering gold." Soon she came to understand the mandate to go into the world to make disciples of nations. A missionary visited her church one Sunday, sharing "that 90 percent of the 'goers', 'tellers,' and 'makers-ofdisciples' were concentrating on only 10 percent of the world's population."

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 32

She knew that she had to be part of the 10 percent that reach the 90. After significant struggle, Joanne surrendered her perfect life dream to Jesus and told him she'd go anywhere, having no idea what that really meant. Joanne began to pray that God would prepare a people group to hear the Good News that she would take to them.

Joanne graduated high school and headed to Biola to get a Bible degree. She decided to take a linguistics class that would help her learn languages, a necessary skill for any missionary. While studying at the Summer Institute of Linguistics she began to see the necessity of translating scripture, while not yet understanding what missionaries really do. Translation seemed to be very definable and even very attractive to a girl who cold so easily be carried away by daydreaming. She didn't know what she had to give to any people group, but she knew that she could translate and watch to see what God's word could do.

Part of Joanne's training involved jungle camp, a training course in the jungles of Mexico in which participants must hike in with few supplies and set up shelter, cook their meals by fire and learn what it takes to survive on the land.

She was assigned a partner named Anne. They had a quick rapport and were like-minded, however it seemed that they were headed in different directions.

After jungle camp Joanne left to visit the highlands of Guatemala and shadow a couple translating the scriptures there. It was at that time that Joanne began to dream again about living in a nearby people group in this beautiful mountainous region. However, her jungle partner Anne wrote to ask Joanne to be her partner, a partner to a people group in the Philippines. The decision was tough for Joanne, but finally she realized that like-mindedness was much more important than location. Once again she surrendered her dream to God. Despite the perils of inaccessibility, Anne & Joanne were allocated into a very remote village called Balangao, two days hike from the furthest road. After trekking for two days, carrying their gear with guides, they arrived in Balangao. The Balangao people desired translators to come and write their scriptures, but they never imagined that two towering white women would come. Despite the surprise and dismay, one elder from the village came forward and offered to feed them dinner, which was a pledge that he would protect his guests. That night he offered to adopt them as his own children, knowing that it was the only way to provide for and protect these single women. Soon they began to learn the language. As they were able to hold conversations, the Balagaos continued to ask them why they had come.

Joanne and Anne always answered, "We've come to translate God's Word into your language, and teach you to read it, so that you can know God." The Balangaos always responded by asking "Yes, but why have you come?" The Balangaos were under the impression that they came to take the language back to America to sell it or to find husbands.

This people group had a terribly high infant mortality rate. During childbirth women would deliver with no help from anyone, often killing both the woman and child. The people also depended on appeasing evil spirits. Anything could

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 33

trigger the wrath of these spirits. They had to make blood sacrifices of pigs and other animals to ward off their anger. Spiritists in the village were possessed by these spirits and would communicate to the people how to appease them. Anne and Joanne could see how much these people needed the one true God to liberate them. Soon, their new friend in the village, Tekla, told them that she wished she could know God. Tekla had always known that she shouldn't sacrifice to the spirits and she was waiting for the news of God. Anne & Joanne began to share the Gospel with her, but the village people began to harass Tekla because of it. Despite the opposition, Tekla continued to meet with them and soon became a believer. She even helped them to start translating the scriptures. Anne & Joanne also began to assist the women of the village in childbirth and trained Tekla to help. Slowly people came into contact with God's word and began to be saved. God was transforming this people group.

Soon Anne received a marriage proposal from and old friend in the US. Despite the disapproval of the mission agency, Joanne knew that she had to stay in the village to translate the scriptures for these people who were beginning to so desperately crave God's truth. Soon, several spiritists who were tormented by the evil spirits became desperate for life change. They came to Joanne and asked for help. She led them in prayers asking for forgiveness and asking Jesus to be their God, pledging to give up their spirit appeasement. They spirits tormented them to the edge of life, but the spirits were defeated. The power of the one true God had been displayed before all of the Balangao people, showing them that God was supreme over these hateful spirits. Many more came to faith. After a long village stay, Joanne went home on furlough with some hesitation. The people didn't understand how to pray, when to pray, or why to pray. She asked her home church and supporters to pray for a breakthrough among the believing Balangao, no matter the cost. On Joanne's trip back into the Balangao territory, carrying supplies in to build a hospital, the aircraft crashed just before landing. The people rallied around as she gave them instruction on how to treat her injuries and begged them to pray. This was the breakthrough she had prayed for. The Balangaos learned what it meant to pray without ceasing and how to ask God and trust Him for everything.

The Balangaos were experiencing new freedom in Christ. Joanne's village father was raised up as a teacher, learning first from Joanne and then teaching the scriptures to the people. They were so hungry for God's word and urged her not to stop translating because they were waiting. In the meantime the people began to travel to neighboring enemy villages, to take the Gospel to them. They even began to host Balango-style Bible conferences in their village to teach people from many different areas about the God who was supreme.

Now the New Testament and has been completed in Balangao and the first edition sold out. Translators from Balangao have been raised up from the village to take God's Word to neighboring people groups. God answered her prayer by preparing a people group for her coming so that she could take

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 34

God's word to them. Joanne concludes her book in this way: "I've never quite figured out how to bring God glory. But I have learned to surrender my dreams to Him. And he has made the reality of living according to His plan even better than my greatest dreams."

A biography short based on And the Word Came With Power: How God met & Changed a People Forever by Joanne Shetler with Patricia Purvis, Š1992 Wycliffe Bible Translators, Multnomah Press, Portland, OR.

16 MARY SLESSOR

By Rebecca Hickman Born in 1848 in Scotland, Mary Mitchell Slessor was the second of seven children. She attributed much of her godly character to her upbringing. "I owe a great debt of gratitude to my sainted mother," said Mary. Her father was an alcoholic, which resulted in a family life of poverty and strife. When she was eleven years old, Mary started working to help provide for her family. Her wages were soon the primary source of income, working 10 hour days to make ends meet. Her life was one long act of self-denial. All her own interests were laid aside for the sake of the family. She was content with bare necessaries as long as they were provided for. Mary was extremely close to her mother as they prayed continually for God's provision and protection.

Mary became a Christian at a young age. She enjoyed going to church; it was a wonderful outlet from her miserable home life. She was not well-educated, but loved to read, and would stay up late soaking up any book she could find.

She loved reading the Bible most of all, studying Jesus and his life in the gospels. Mary dreamed of doing pioneer work in the remote interior of Africa.

At the time, missions work was mainly for men, so she was encouraged to get involved with home missions. It was her older brother who was planning to go as a missionary, but when Mary was 25 years old, he died. She wondered if maybe she could go in his place. Early in 1874 the news of the death of David Livingstone stirred the church and created a great wave of missionary excitement. Mary was then determined to go!

In 1875, Mary was accepted to go with the Calabar Mission. So, at age 27, she sailed for Calabar (located within present day Nigeria). She was stationed in Duke Town as a school teacher. Her living conditions seemed too nice for a missionary, and she was discouraged at how routine her job was. She learned Efik, the local language, quickly and enjoyed teaching to some degree, but

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 35

her heart was set on doing pioneer work. After three years, she was sent home on furlough because of malaria. When she returned, she was given a new task in Old Town, where she had the freedom to work by herself and live as she pleased. Mary decided to live with the local people as they lived. Her childhood of poverty made this lifestyle seem fairly normal. And, this way, she was able to save part of her missionary salary to send back to her family in Scotland.

Mary began to learn more and more about the culture of the local tribes.

Witchcraft and spiritism and cruel tribal customs were hard to fight against.

One custom that broke her heart was 'twin-murder'. The tribes thought that twins were a result of a curse caused by an evil spirit who fathered one of the children. Both babies were brutally murdered and the mother was shunned from society. Overwhelmed and depressed, she knelt and prayed, "Lord, the task is impossible for me but not for Thee. Lead the way and I will follow."

Rising, she said, "Why should I fear? I am on a Royal Mission. I am in the service of the King of kings. Mary rescued many twins and ministered to their mothers. She was continuously fighting against this evil practice, often risking her life to stop the leaders from killing twins. The Lord gave her favor with the tribesmen, and Mary eventually gained a respect unheard of for a woman.

After only three more years, Mary was sent home on yet another furlough because she was extremely sick. As she returned home, she took Janie, a 6month-old twin girl she'd rescued. She was home for over three years, staying to look after her mother and sister, who were ill. While home, she would speak to churches and share stories from Africa. Everyone loved Janie and the story of her rescue, it was a powerful testimony. She then returned to Africa again, more determined than ever to pioneer into the interior. She was bold in her ministry and fearless as she traveled from village to village. Mary rescued hundreds of twin babies thrown out into the forest, prevented many wars, stopped the practice of trying to determine guilt by making them drink poison, healed the sick, and told the people about the great God of love whose Son came to earth to die on the cross that sinful men might have eternal life.

While in Africa, she received word that her mother and sister had died. Now Mary had no one close to her. She was overcome with loneliness. She wrote, "There is no one to write and tell my stories and troubles and nonsense to."

But she also found a sense of freedom, writing, "Heaven is now nearer to me than Britain, and no one will be anxious about me if I go upcountry." So, in August of 1888, Mary went north to Okoyong the 'up-country' of West Africa. It was an area that had claimed the lives of missionaries in the past, but Mary was sure that pioneer work was best accomplished by women, who were less threatening to unreached tribes than men. For 15 years she stayed with the Okoyongs, teaching them, nursing them and being a peacemaker, they eventually made her a judge for the whole region.

During one of her sick leaves, she met Charles Morrison. He was a young missionary teacher serving in Duke Town. Although he was 18 years younger than her, they soon fell in love. Mary accepted his marriage proposal, but only

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 36

after he assured her that he would work with her in Okoyong. Sadly, the marriage never happened. His health did not even allow him to stay in Duke Town, and, for Mary, missionary service came before personal relationships.

She was destined to live alone with her adopted children. Mary's lifestyle consisted of a mud hut (infested with roaches, rats, and ants), irregular daily schedule (normal in African culture), and simple cotton clothing (instead of the thick petticoats and dresses worn by most European women at the time). The other missionaries were unable to relate to her life. Mary didn't focus on health precautions or cleanliness much. Although she did suffer from malaria occasionally, she outlived most of her missionary coworkers.

She was 55 when she moved on from Okoyong with her seven children to do pioneer work in Itu and other remote areas. She had much fruit with the Ibo people. Janie, her oldest adopted daughter, was a valuable asset in the work.

So, for the last ten years of her life, Mary continued doing pioneer work while others came in behind her. Their ministry was made much easier because of her efforts. In 1915, nearly 40 years after coming to Africa, she died at the age of 66 in her mud hut. Mary Slessor has become an inspiration to all who hear her story. She was not only a pioneer missionary, but also a pioneer for women in missions.

Books about Mary Slessor: Mary Slessor of Calabar: Pioneer Missionary, by W.P. Livingstone. God and One Red Head: Mary Slessor of Calabar, by Carol Christian and Gladys Plummer. (info used from: From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya,

by Ruth A. Tucker, and a few websites)

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 37

17 ROBERT SPEER

By Sarah Sagely Robert Speer is a man that has been described as 'the incarnation of the spirit of the Student Volunteer Movement'. As a student at Princeton University, he signed the Princeton Pledge ("I purpose, God willing, to become a foreign missionary") becoming one of the first volunteers of the SVM. After graduating college, He served as the traveling secretary of the SVM for only a year.

During that short year he signed up over a thousand volunteers for the foreign field. He also served forty-six years as the Secretary of the Board of Foreign Mission in the Presbyterian Church.

He was born in Pennsylvania, in 1867. He was the son of a lawyer and twoterm U.S. Congressman. He was brought up in a strong Presbyterian denomination which he was devoted to his entire life. He went to college at Andover and Princeton University, where he held the office of class president for two terms. During his sophomore year at Princeton, he was challenged by the preaching of Robert Wilder to commit his life to the lost world. He became a powerful presence in the SVM, especially during the year as traveling secretary. He went on to make major contributions to his denomination in their world mission emphasis and vision.

After the year with the SVM, he returned to Princeton for seminary training.

During his time there, the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Mission offered him their highest position. Although he was reluctant at first, he finally accepted.

He was concerned of his telling so many students to suffer hardships in the foreign fields and then he himself stay home. However, he was challenged to stay by the potential influence of his position could hold in moving the church toward more world vision and influence more people to go.

While serving for so many years in the Presbyterian Church, he is most remembered for his stand on evangelization in the shadow of a growing emphasis on social activity overseas. He said that the "supreme and determining aim of missions is religious. I had rather plant one seed of the life of Christ under the crust of heathen life than cover that whole crust over with veneer of our social habits on the vestiture of Western civilization." (A Man Sent from God, Wheeler.)

Speer also wrote many books and pamphlets on missions and issues in the church including The Finality of Jesus Christ, Servants of the King, and Living in Ancient Times. He retired from his position with the Board after 46 years and spent the next decade traveling speaking on college campuses and

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 38

conferences. He never wavered from the emphasis and passion he placed on foreign missions. He spoke, challenging Christians to take seriously Christ's command to "Go ye, making disciples of all nations", until the very end of his life. Three weeks before he died of Leukemia in 1947, he kept a speaking engagement although being unable to stand. Robert Speer has been said to be "one of the great missionary statesmen of this century."

(From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya, Tucker)

18 C.T. STUDD

By Claude Hickman "If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him." - C.T. Studd Charles Thomas Studd ("C.T. Studd") was born in England in 1860, the son of wealthy Edward Studd, who had made a fortune in India. Charles Studd liked sports just like most young men. He had a passion for cricket because it was the most popular sport in England at the time. His older brother Kynaston Studd, was a member of the Cambridge cricket team and well known. C.T., however, wasn't a great athlete but determined to master the sport. He would practice for hours, using a mirror to help him adjust his swing. He kept away from any harmful habits that may diminish his cricket ability. Soon he began to master the sport and became the captain of his high school cricket team. In 1879, when Studd entered Trinity College of Cambridge University, his popularity as a cricket star took off. He became what others have referred to as "the Michael Jordan of cricket," a household name throughout Great Britain. He soon became the captain of the Cambridge cricket team, an idol to students and legend in his time. and he had a particular passion for cricket, the most popular sport in England at the time. Studd was claimed then, and today as the greatest player to have ever played the game. But that is just a footnote compared to what has really marked C.T. Studd's life in history.

C.T. was saved in 1878 at the age of 18 by the confrontation of a pastor, who really questioned him as to his personal relationship with Christ. Both his brothers gave their lives to Christ the same day that he did. His passion for Christ diminished as his cricket career grew in college and soon he was hardened to spiritual things. However, in November 1883, his younger brother George got very sick and was dying. As C.T. watched in horror and grief at the suffering of his brother, he reflected, "Now what is all the popularity of the

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 39

world to George? What is all the fame and flattering? What is it worth to possess the riches of the world, when a man comes to face Eternity?" With a surprising turn, God miraculously healed George and C.T. was so dramatically changed through the event that he consecrated himself to the Lord's work. The things of this world were not worthy of his life, Studd would begin to invest himself in the eternal.

C.T. was part of a small group of Christian men at Cambridge, mostly athletes, who were beginning to devote themselves to prayer and the evangelization of the world. Starting at their campus they began sharing their faith openly and telling all of the salvation found in Jesus Christ. Many were being won because of Studd's influence among other collegians. During this time, an influential missionary Hudson Taylor began to challenge the students of England to join him in reaching the millions of lost in China. His high calling and deep passion for China, captured the hearts of these young men at Cambridge, and there was discussion of joining Hudson's mission agency and pioneering to the unreached parts of China with the gospel.

Despite a promising career in cricket and the life of comfort he had grown up in C.T. determined to follow God's heart for the world and join Him in reaching China. Studd's decision to go to China influenced the other seven men at Cambridge to live for God's glory and devote themselves to China also. From the rowing team at Trinity, Stanley Smith, Montague Beauchamp, and William Cassels joined. Two students, Dixon Hoste and Arthur Polhill-Turner, were officers who also left a promising career in the military to join Studd. And from C.T. Studd's own cricket team came Cecil Polhill-Turner.

Studd faces opposition as well. His father, Edward passed away, causing the family to pressure C.T. not to leave his widowed mother at such a time. His older brother tried to talk him out of going and C.T. simply quoted Micah 7:6, "a man's enemies are the men of his own house."

Before going to China, Hudson organized a tour of the college campuses in England, allowing the "Cambridge Seven," as they came to be known, to share their testimonies, and challenge students to consecrate their lives to the glory of God. Through these months traveling and speaking, God drew people to faith in Christ and awakened the church to His global cause.

In the last meeting of the tour, C.T. Studd urged students saying, "Are you living for the day or are you living for life eternal? Are you going to care for the opinion of men here, or for the opinion of God? The opinion of men won't avail us much when we get before the judgment throne. But the opinion of God will.

Had we not, then, better take His word and implicitly obey it?"

Authenticity marked the power of the message of these seven that were on their way to the unreached. C.T. Studd admitted, "Had I cared for the comments of people, I should never have been a missionary." After calling students to obey the Great Commission, the Cambridge Seven, left for China, arriving in Shanghai on March 18, 1885.

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 40

C.T. Studd had inherited a fortune from the death of his father Edward but gave most of it away, keeping only ÂŁ3400 pounds. Keeping that only until his wife, Priscilla Livingstone Stewart said, "Charlie, what did the Lord tell the rich young man to do?" "Sell all." "Well then, we will start clear with the Lord at our wedding." And they gave the rest away to missions work.

Studd would return to England and America occasionally because of ill health and challenge students to give their lives to the Great Commission. During the beginnings of the Student Volunteer Movement, in 1896 -1897, his brother J.E.K. Studd spoke at Cornell University, having a deep impact on the future point man for the SVM, John R. Mott. Mott walked in late for the meeting and heard J.K. Studd quote, "Young man, are you seeking great things for yourself? Seek them not! Seek first the Kingdom of God!" Mott gathered the courage to meet with him the next day and later said that the meeting with Studd was the "decisive hour of his life". Mott went on to become one of the greatest missions mobilizers in world history.

C.T. Studd's work impacted China, India and Africa. Upon the last days of his life he reflected in his life's work saying, "As I believe I am now nearing my departure from this world, I have but a few things to rejoice in; they are these: 1. That God called me to China and I went in spite of utmost opposition from all my loved ones.

2. That I joyfully acted as Christ told that rich young man to act.

3. That I deliberately at the call of God, when alone on the Bibby liner in 1910, gave up my life for this work, which was to be henceforth not for the Sudan only, but for the whole unevangelized World.

My only joys therefore are that when God has given me a work to do, I have not refused it."

One night in July,1931, C.T. Studd went to be with His Lord. The last word he spoke was "Hallelujah"!

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 41

19 JOHN STOTT

By Sarah Sagely John Stott, a worldwide preacher, evangelist, and teacher, is known as the most influential English Evangelical in the 20th century. In 1921, born in a fluential family, his father was a leading physician and an agnostic. His mother was Lutheran who regularly attended All Souls Church, in the city center of London. In 1939, at the age of 18, John gave his life to Christ after hearing Rev. Eric Nash speak on "What then shall I do with Jesus, who is called the Christ?" Eric Nash later became his most influential mentor.

Stott studied Modern Languages at Cambridge in 1939 and then transferred to Ridley Hall Theological College. He was ordained as an Anglican vicar in 1945. He became a curate at All Souls Church in London from (1945-50) then as Rector (1950-75), and as Rector Emeritus since 1975. During his time at All Souls, he has been involved in many different ministries including urban ministry. He has been known to dress up as a homeless man and walked the streets of London for several days to understand how they lived. From 19591991, he was appointed as Chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. He has remained a spiritual advisor to the Royal family.

Stott played a vital role in the landmark Lausanne Covenant of 1974. Under the leadership of Rev. Billy Graham, an international group of 142 evangelical leaders met developing the International Congress on World Evangelization and making a covenant to further the total Biblical mission of the Church. The covenant specifically targeted the 2.7 Billion of the unreached people of the world. The resolutions from this convention helped to shape evangelical thinking from that time on. He has played a significant role in Christian student organizations such as Inter-Varsity and others in establishing students in the foundations of their faith and challenging them to a world vision.

John Stott is not only of influence in England and the U.S. but extends globally; especially the third world. Since 1970, He has traveled extensively speaking and teaching at seminars and conferences. He played a part in establishing the Evangelical Literature Program and the Langham Scholarship Program which provides books, materials, and scholarships for pastors and seminary students. They were created for helping Christians around the world to have opportunities to be equipped and established in their faith and ministry in Christ. He has a personal conviction and passion to be witness of the Gospel and extend his hand in service to the ends of the earth. He wrote in The Cross of Christ, "It is never enough to have pity on the victims of injustice if we do nothing to change the unjust situation itself."

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 42

One of Stott's most impacting ministries is his writings and lectures. He has written over 40 books, including 'Basic Christianity', and 'The Cross Of Christ.'

He has a gift for taking complex Biblical truths and making them clear for any person to understand and comprehend. Many groups have used his numerous Bible study books and theology books. He remains to make an impact in the lives of American and British college students, Christian intellectuals, and many in the third world. John Stott is a true example of Peter's exhortation in 2 Peter 1:5, "Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love."

20 HUDSON TAYLOR

By Felicity Tinker One of the most beloved and well-remembered missionaries of all time is James Hudson Taylor. Creator of the China Inland Mission, his emphasis on prayer, commitment to China and deep faith that God would provide for all needs was revolutionary to the world of mission. Hudson was born in 1832 in Yorkshire, England to a Methodist minister. He had a sickly childhood and became a Christian in his late teenage years.

After his conversion he soon developed a deep passion for the people and needs of the 400 million in China making it his goal to "to evangelize all China, to preach Christ to all its peoples by any and all means that come to hand."

He joined the Chinese Evangelization Society (CES), beginning medical training and later sailing to Shanghai at the age of 21.

From the beginning he was considered an oddity among the missionary community. He made it a goal to live and dress like the Chinese people, a practice that was unheard of at the time. He even went so far as to shave the front of his head and grow the back long to adopt the pigtail that was popular among Chinese men. After working in Shanghai, he begin making trips to the interior villages and realized that while missionaries had become common in the cities of China, most villages in China's inland remained untouched as far as the gospel was concerned.

After six years in China he sailed again for England, this time married to missionary teacher Maria Dyer. This furlough was designated as a time of medical recovery and also to a new translation of the Chinese New

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 43

Testament. During this time the idea of a new mission society was birthed in Hudson's mind. This new organization would be based in China and run by missionaries in China. All members would wear Chinese dress and work mainly in villages and cities in China that previously did not have any missionary work. The organization would be funded by faith rather then solicitation, all funding would be requested by prayer like George Mueller's orphanages of the time. The organization became known as the China Inland Mission (CIM).

In 1866, the first 16 CIM missionaries joined Hudson, Maria, and their two children on the boat Lammermuir sailing to Shanghai. They were from multiple denominations across England. Many had joined CIM after hearing Hudson's dynamic speaking. In time the CIM grew to over 1,000 missionaries and later over 1,300 at its peak in 1934. The CIM was broken up into mission stations that would be placed strategically throughout China's provinces.

Missionaries would be sent out in teams of twos or threes to the different stations to complete the work of evangelization. After the creation of CIM, Hudson would divide his time between visiting these stations and traveling home to recruit more workers.

CIM's growth was largely due to Hudson's commitment to mobilization.

Although Hudson spent many years in China, losing a wife, three children and later dying there himself, he continued to travel back and forth from China to Europe and North America recruiting more laborers for China. This would remain a key element in Hudson's ministry, he was always burdened to make the needs of China known, his most prevailing book and message would be entitled "The Spiritual Needs of China." Future missionaries like CT Studd and Amy Carmichael would write about hearing Hudson Taylor speak and the course their life would later take. According to Charles Spurgeon a strange phenomena was beginning to sweep across England. "China, China, China is now ringing in our ears in that forcible, unique way in which Mr. Taylor utters it," Spurgeon said. Hudson Taylor died in 1905, leaving the legacy of the CIM behind as well as the vision to make the gospel available to all of China.

Sources: James Hudson Taylor, OMF-US website 138 Years of CIM/OMF, OMF-US website Tucker, Ruth. From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1983.

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 44

21 WILLIAM CAMERON TOWNSEND

By Claude Hickman "The greatest missionary is the Bible in the mother tongue. It needs no furlough and is never considered a foreigner." - William Cameron Townsend William Cameron Townsend was one of the three most influential missions leaders in the last two centuries. This was the statement that Ralph Winter made after hearing that Townsend had passed away in 1982. 'Cameron' was born in California in 1896 into a time of poverty for the country. He was raised in the Presbyterian Church and decided to stay in California, enrolling in Occidental College in Los Angeles.

The influence of the Student Volunteer Movement, though in its early beginnings, had gained enough momentum to reach from the East coast to Cameron in the West. During Townsend's junior year, the movement's lead visionary, John R. Mott, visited Occidental and challenged students to give their lives to the evangelization of the world in this generation. Cameron met with Mott and joined the SVM, committing his life to the Great Commission.

He had joined the National Guard in 1917, and was prepared to serve his country in the war, when he was challenged by a missionary on furlough to obey his SVM commitment and go to the mission field instead of the battlefield. He applied for a discharge in order to become a missionary to Guatemala and was surprised to get it approved by his commanding officer.

Cam left for Guatemala in August 1917, with a Bible association that sold Spanish Bibles there. He was serving a one year commitment in Guatemala, and almost finished when, on one day, something radically changed his perspective and eventually the course of missions history. One afternoon, one of the Cakchiquel Indians that Cameron had been living among last few months, approached his table and looked curiously at the Spanish Bible, asking what it was. Townsend explained to him that it was the words of God, the creator of all mankind. The man replied, sarcastically to Cameron, "If your God is so smart, why doesn't he speak my language?" Cameron was stunned to find that this man, though he lived in Guatemala, was one of the 200,000 Cakchiquel people and spoke zero Spanish.

The cutting remark left Cameron with a scar that he would never get rid of. It began to burden him that there were thousands of individuals, and hundred of other tribes, without one page of scripture in their language. Townsend would not return from his one year missions trip. In fact, he dedicated the next 13 years of his life to Cakchiquel Indians, translating the Bible into their language

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 45

in an incredible 10 years. Cameron allowed the gospel to interrupt the course of his life. He began an organization known as Wycliffe Bible Translators, named after the Reformation hero who first translated the Bible into English.

Concerned about other minority language groups, Townsend opened Camp Wycliffe in Arkansas in the summer of l934. The camp was designed to train young people in basic linguistics and translation methods. Two students enrolled. The following year, after a training session with five men in attendance, Townsend took the five to Mexico to begin field work. From this small beginning has grown the worldwide ministry of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, Wycliffe Bible Translators, and Wycliffe Associates. No cultural group is considered too small, no language too difficult. Pioneering continues as several thousand workers break new ground in many parts of the world.

The highest standards of linguistics and anthropological orientation are upheld. Service is stressed. All field work is done in cooperation with host governments, universities and philanthropic groups. Portions of the Christian Scriptures are translated for people in their mother tongue, the language of their hearts.

"Uncle Cam" as he is known by Wycliffe staff was also credited for beginning the final missions era that we are living in today. It is an era that focuses not on just reaching continents and inland countries, but on every distinct ethnic group, or people group in the world. This people group focus, taken from the original meaning of the word 'nations' (ethnos) as it was used in the New Testament and in the Great Commission, is the commitment to pioneer into every ethno-linguistic group. Cameron truly was one of the greatest missionary pioneers of our time. Today Wycliffe has the goal of translating the Bible into every language on the earth. Currently, there are over 3,000 languages without scripture, but 4,000 have at least portions in their dialect, all because Cameron stumbled on the idea of People Groups.

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 46

22 COUNT ZINZENDORF By: Claude Hickman "I have but one passion - it is He, it is He alone. The world is the field and the field is the world; and henceforth that country shall be my home where I can be most used in winning souls for Christ." - Count Zinzendorf The Moravian Brethren were responsible for some of the most inspiring and sacrificial stories of missions history. Lead by Count Zinzendorf, one of every sixty Moravians went as cross-cultural missionaries, planting mission stations in the Virgin Islands, Greenland, North America, South America, South Africa, and Labrador. Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf was born in 1700 into wealth and a noble family. Raised by grandmother and Aunt, in an atmosphere of evangelical Pietism, and during his study at Halle as a young man, Nicolaus developed a dedication to Jesus Christ and a passion for spreading the gospel. Zinzendorf attended Wittenberg University with the aim of earning a law degree and following in his family's expectations of him as a nobleman. There was a constant dissonance in his heart between the pressure of his family and the responsibility that he felt toward serving the Lord in ministry, and giving his life to the one who gave His life for all. Even though his future as a nobleman and in state service would be full of success and approval, he found no joy in the idea of spending his life as a follower of Jesus in comfort and ease. Then in 1719 Zinzendorf was powerfully impacted by a painting of Christ enduring the crown of thorns. An inscription below the painting read, "All this I did for you, what are you doing for me?" This was a decisive moment in his life, moving him to finally choose against the life as a nobleman and enter Christian ministry.

Several years later, in 1727,during a communion service, the Holy Spirit moved powerfully on all that were there and Zinzendorf lead the others in beginning a prayer meeting. Beginning with a deep conviction for the evangelization of the world, the prayer meeting continued and deepened in passion for the lost both near and far. This prayer movement that began that night of Aug 13th continued through the Moravians around the clock, without interruption, for more than one hundred years. This was undeniably the force behind the great Moravian missions movements that would follow during the 18th century.

The Moravian Brotherhood was a result of the missions mobilization and passion of Zinzendorf. They had a seal that represented and reminded them

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 47

of their devotion to the Lord. It contained a lamb on a crimson ground, with the cross and a banner representing the triumph of the resurrection with the motto; "Our Lamb has conquered, let us follow Him." The Moravians beautifully explain their motivation for missions in the following 1791 evangelical report. "The simple motive of the brethren for sending missionaries to distant nations was and is an ardent desire to promote the salvation of their fellow men, by making known to them the gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ. It grieved them to hear of so many thousands and millions of the human race sitting in darkness and groaning beneath the yoke of sin and the tyranny of Satan; and remembering the glorious promises given in the Word of God, that the heathen also should be the reward of the sufferings and death of Jesus; and considering His commandment to His followers, to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, they were filled with confident hopes that if they went forth in obedience unto, and believing in His word, their labor would not be in vain in the Lord. They were not dismayed in reflecting on the smallness of their means and abilities, and that they hardly knew their way to the heathen whose salvation they so ardently longed for, nor by the prospect of enduring hardships of every kind and even perhaps the loss of their lives in the attempt. Yet their love to their Savior and their fellow sinners for whom He shed His blood, far outweighed all these considerations. They went forth in the strength of their God and He has wrought wonders in their behalf."

The two first Moravian missionaries, on October 8,1732, set sail from Copenhagen for the West Indies. On board were John Leonard Dober, a potter, and David Nitschman, a carpenter. Their purpose was to follow Jesus' command, "As the father has sent me so send I you." Jesus, in incarnating His life into humanity, had left all. Paul said, "For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some (1 Cor. 9:19-22)." The only way to reach the slaves of the West Indies was to become incarnated into their lives. These two men set sail with the objective of selling themselves into slavery to reach the slaves if they must.

What they called out to the shore from the boat would become the rally of all future Moravian missionaries. Taken from Revelation 5:9 they pointed their mission to the worthiness of the glory of God saying, "May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering." Upon arriving at the shores of their destinations, the Moravians would unload their few belongings and then burn the ships. It was a refusal to look back to that country from which they went out. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one (Heb 11:15-16). The Moravian's passion for missions was great, because their passion for God was great.

Taken from article by David Smithers, Count Zinzendorf.

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 48

23 GRACE WILDER

By Jessica Ahrend The Student Volunteer Movement was, perhaps, history's greatest mobilization movement. 100,000 college students were raised up to give themselves to "The Evangelization of The World in This Generation" during the short life of the Movement. It was able to recruit one out of every 35 college students to the foreign field. The story goes something like this: Around 1886 there arose in the hearts of a few Christian leaders the desire to see Christian college students harnessed into a force, discipled in godliness and mobilized to the nations. A man by the name of Luther Wishard was the instigator of the vision and his plan was to host a summer training project.

D.L. Moody was on the docket to speak for four weeks to 251 individually selected college students from 89 colleges. The students, as a rule, were to be men in their freshman or sophomore year. An exception was made to this latter rule in order to have the attendance of Robert Wilder, a senior at Princeton and known missions zealot. During the conference, held in Mount Hermon, Massachusetts, the Holy Spirit began to move on the young men's hearts and soon there was a large group of students committing themselves to a career in missions. Wilder kept track of their numbers by writing this declaration, "We, the undersigned, declare ourselves willing and desirous, God permitting, to go to the unevangelized portions of the world" and allowing men, as God so moved them, to add their name to the list. On the final day of the conference, Wilder, along with each man who'd signed his declaration

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 49

held a prayer of consecration. Wilder counted them. The group had grown to one hundred men devoted to World Evangelization. They came to be known as the Mount Herman 100. The decision was made to try and sustain this move of God by sending delegates back to the campuses to influence other students with a vision for the nations. Robert Wilder was chosen and thus marks the beginning of the Student Volunteer Movement.

The story that is not often heard, however, is that of Robert's sister, Grace Wilder. The reason her story is not often heard is because she was one of those most precious of the Lord's gems whose only contentment was to be hidden that He might receive more praise.

Grace's parents, Rev. Royal G. and Eliza Jane sailed to India as missionaries in 1846. They procrastinated their departure from India for years despite the impending threat of an Indian revolt. Only when Royal came down with cholera did he consent to abandon his missionary purpose and return to America. The mutiny broke out the very next day. The life of Grace Wilder was spared as she was born in 1861, shortly after their arrival in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Grace grew up in an environment where missionary zeal was instilled as part of the normal Christian life. She attended Mt. Holyoke College, an institute for women which was known for its influencing and training young women for the mission field. It has been said by a former student that Mt. Holyoke was a "missionary factory"! It is true that in its beginning years from 1837 to 1887, 178 graduates served in the foreign fields. Grace was one of those. And she certainly played her part in encouraging and training the young women to go.

In fact, Grace held a Bible study on campus and the girls' watchcry was "we hold ourselves willing and desirous to go wherever the Lord may call us, even if it be in the foreign land."

One of her greatest investments of spiritual energy though was in her younger brother, Robert. Her strong conviction about the urgent call of Christ to make disciples among all nations proved time again to be a stronghold for Robert.

And even stronger than her missionary fervor, was her commitment to prayer.

During Robert's college years at Princeton his desire was to awaken in his fellow classmates a spiritual revival and, more specifically, a missions interest.

This led Robert to start a missionary society that met at his parents' home.

Faithfully and humbly in the secret of the next room, Grace labored to bring the men before the Lord in prayer. It was these meetings that would later provide the structure for the Student Volunteer Movement.

Robert was a senior when he received his invitation to attend the Conference at Mt. Hermon. By this time, his father was in very ill health and burdened with the job of publishing a monthly missions magazine known as The Missionary Review. Without Robert's assistance at home the Review and his father's health were sure to fail miserably. It was an incredible pressing need that almost kept Robert from attending the Conference. Were it not for the urging of his sister who saw clearly that Mt. Hermon might be God's answer to their

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 50

prayers for laborers, Robert may have missed his opportunity to be His instrument. In the Addresses and Papers of John R. Mott, Volume I, the author states, "She discerned that conditions were going to be furnished at Mount Hermon that might make possible the generation of a great movement, and she laid upon her brother and upon some of the other Princeton men who were to attend the conference, the burden of prayer and expectation, and charged them before God to persevere in prayer and effort that this Mount Hermon gathering might not close without the inauguration of a missionary movement that in some sense would be worthy of the wonderful situation then confronting the Church on the foreign field."

Grace also stepped in to produce The Missionary Review and care for her ailing father in Robert's stead, freeing him up fully. It is recorded that the year prior to the Conference Robert and Grace met nightly to pray for a stirring of missionary conviction across the campuses of the United States and her specific prayer during the Conference was that the small band of committed men would grow in number to 100; the exact number that were recruited (Tatlow, The Story of the Student Christian Movement). The fruit of her prayers reveal her intimate life of prayer and ultimate contribution to the Great Commission. In the closing remarks of her pastor on the occasion of Grace's death he states, "I am privileged to mention what is known to but very few, namely, Miss Wilder's relation to the Student Volunteer Movement. This movement started in connection with the Northfield Student Movement. In the years 1884-86 she and her brother, Robert, while at Princeton spent many a night in prayer to God for a great missionary awakening in the colleges, and asked God for volunteers for the mission field. At the Mt. Hermon Conference in 1886 one hundred students signed the volunteer pledge and out of this beginning grew a movement, which today is so widely affecting the whole missionary propaganda. Others are receiving the praise for this movement. We should not forget that God redeemed His promise of answering prayer, and this was the faithful and effectual prayer of Miss Wilder and her brother, which, humanly speaking, began this work.

In the year following the Conference it was presented to Robert that he might be the Traveling Secretary to college campuses being the herald for those who could not attend and stirring the Volunteers to perseverance. Now, facing the demands of an extremely strenuous year of constant travel, he had to consider his own grueling battle of several years with poor health. Not only that but his year-long absence would most likely mean that he would never see his father again; the doctors were giving his father six months. Grace was one of his few faithful supporters in his conviction to undertake this work and their correspondence through the next year proved an incredible encouragement to him.

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 51

Not so long after this climax of events did Grace sail for the foreign field herself. In 1887, she was twenty-six years old, Grace and her widowed mother set off for Islampur, India. Not only did she give her committed labor and eventually her life for the salvation of the Indian people, but she also constantly offered herself to the care of her mother. Grace died in India in 1911 at fifty years old. She stands as an example of the quiet confidence that comes in knowing and being aligned with the will of God. Her short life, though known by few, reflects the image of One who, hidden and meek came to seek and to save the lost and who beseeched the Father out of supreme love for Him to allow the advance of His Kingdom. John Mott once said, "I have seen so many unknown, humble missionaries working in quiet places who have held their lives in such close relationship to God that He has been able by His Holy Spirit to break through these lives and extend His influence in a way far beyond our comprehension." Miss Grace Wilder was one such as these. Her absolute surrender to and joy in her Father's work are summed up in this small poem that she herself penned: The Secret of God's Will -Miss Grace Wilder I sought the secret of Thy will; But, Lord, I did not know Thy lowly life - Thy heavy cross - Life's plan and purpose show. I thought some special path and plan, Bearing my name I'd see; Instead I found in Jesus' life Footprints for such as me. To save the lost His aim, so mine, Poor, hungry ones to feed; Weak, sightless eyes to turn to light; Sore, erring feet to lead. Since Jesus' life reveals God's will, Surely I'm in His way, When choosing rough, dark mountain paths To find the sheep who stray. To be like Him, I ask to hold My light where it is dark, To carry bread to those passed by; Let this, Lord, be my part.

Thus preaching Christ where yet unknown, God's worldwide love I show; And since for this Christ lived and died, God's will for me I know.

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 52

24 LUTHER WISHARD

By Alicia Addison Luther Wishard will forever more be famously known as the man who went to the Haystack Prayer Meeting monument and prayed, "Lord, do it again.

Where water once flowed, let it flow again." In 1877, Luther Wishard became the first full-time staff member for the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA). He was a missionary candidate, but the YMCA asked him to stay and serve as secretary of the association. His job was to direct the YMCA's work with students in the U.S. colleges.

In 1878, Wishard for the first time heard about Samuel Mills and the College Societies which started the American Missionary Movement. Soon after he went to Williams College, inspired by the Haystack Prayer Movement. Before the monument, he surrendered himself to complete the task Samuel Mills had begun. He beautifully prayed, "Lord, do it again. Where water once flowed, let it flow again." He also prayed, "I am willing to go anywhere at any time to do anything for Jesus." Eighty years after the Haystack Prayer Movement started, Wishard revived the vision.

Even though Wishard desired to go overseas, he saw that he could make a great impact mobilizing students in the U.S. He wanted to see a movement of students going overseas and thus make an impact through thousands going rather than just himself.

Wishard continued to pray for a missionary awakening among college students, and finally in 1886 those prayers came to fruition. Along with Robert Wilder and John Mott, Wishard asked D.L. Moody to help sponsor a summer Bible conference. In 1886, at Mt. Hermon, Massachusetts, at a boys school, the conference lasted for 26 days and had 250 men from more than 96 colleges attend. At the end of the conference they had 100 men who signed a missionary declaration. In the next year more than 2,100 men and women volunteered for missionary service. In 1888, this movement was organized as the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions (SVM). YMCA and YWCA students, through the SVM, were put into local prayer and study groups for missions.

In 1888, Wishard and his wife started a touring countries to help universities overseas develop Christian. He did not want to establish YMCA's overseas because he wanted the movements to fit the situation of the local universities.

They spent forty-five months traveling through countries such as Japan,

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 53

China, Malaysia, India, Arabia, Persia, Turkey, and many more. Wishard spoke publicly to thousands of students, personally interviewed thousands of missionaries, and spoke to many businesses and governmental officials about whether it was the right time to launch evangelistic movements among students. This kind of work helped him prioritize the student workers needs and organize for American staff to come. When Wishard returned to the states, he formed the Foreign Department for the YMCA and YWMA. Over the next 50 years, this department sent around 400 laborers overseas to pioneer movements among students.

Wishard's prayer at the Haystack monument began a revival in missions that resulted in 20,000 missionaries being sent out over the next 50 years.

Wishard was what could be called at trail blazer. He prayed and paved the way for student movements all over the world.

Sources: Gary, Jay. A Vision to Encompass the World, 1987. Olejarz, Mike.

The Student Beginnings.

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 54

25 ROBERT WILDER

By Alicia Addison "It is my purpose, if God permits, to become a foreign missionary."

Robert Wilder was born in Kolhapur, India in 1863. His father, Royal Wilder, was one of the very first missionaries who sailed for India in 1846 as a result of the haystack prayer meeting. Royal Wilder, after thirty years of service, returned home from ill health. Robert was fourteen when his family came to the U.S. His family's heart for the mission field never dampened. While Wilder was a student at Princeton University, he met with several students to study the Bible and to pray for missions on a regular basis. When he was a junior, Wilder attended a conference of the 'Interseminary Alliance' and went home

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 55

motivated to challenge students to pray for a revival at Princeton and increase their interest in missions. Wilder and his friends founded the 'Princeton Foreign Mission Society' that same semester. The purpose of the society was to take a bold stance on missions with the intent and purpose of being raised as missionaries. At the same time, Robert's sister Grace was going to an allgirls school, Mt. Holyoke, with the same intention to "hold ourselves willing and desirous to do the Lord's work wherever He may call us, even if it be in a foreign land." When the Princeton group met on Sunday afternoons, Grace was in another room praying for them. In Robert's senior year, he and Grace got together regularly and prayed for an extensive missionary movement in the American colleges and universities.

In the summer of 1886, Wilder attended a one month Bible conference sponsored by D.L. Moody and organized by Luther Wishard of the YMCA at Mt. Hermon in New York. Before Robert had even left for the conference, he and his sister Grace had prayed that God would raise up 100 students who would volunteer out of that conference for missionary service.

It was not even planned for foreign missions to be a central part of the conference, but Wilder convinced D.L. Moody to have a world mission night, and on top of that, Wilder got a group of guys together to pray every afternoon of the conference for foreign missions. The prayer group grew to 21 and each one of them signed a declaration Wilder had brought. It read, "We, the undersigned, declare ourselves willing and desirous, God permitting, to go to the unevangelized portions of the world." These students not only signed the declaration, but then they started challenging others during the conference.

Missions was being talked about everywhere!

Wilder ended up organizing an entire night of the conference where students presented the spiritual need of 10 nations. The audience was genuinely moved and silent as they heard about lost souls in China, India, Persia, Japan, Native America, Siam, Germany, Armenia, Denmark, and Norway. On the last day of the conference, 99 students had signed the missionary declaration. At their farewell meeting while they were praying, one more person slipped, completing what is now known as the Mount Hermon 100.

Grace's prayers had been answered!

The next school year, Robert and a fellow volunteer from Princeton traveled to 162 campuses and received 2,106 more volunteers (500 of these were women) who were committed to support missionaries through prayer and finances, and they would begin training with the goal of going overseas as missionaries. Among these volunteers were some of the greatest missionary leaders, including Samuel Zwemer and Robert Speer. One major impact all of these volunteers had was the American churches were mobilized and challenged to have a mission. Churches who had denied the command of Jesus to go into all the world were repenting. This became known as the 'Forward Movement' of churches.

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 56

In 1888, the missionary movement was formally organized as the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions (SVM) and Wilder became the traveling secretary. The SVM's motto was "The Evangelization of the World in This Generation." In 1893, Wilder obeyed his pledge and moved to India with his wife. Robert continued to come back to the SVM conferences to mobilize students and tell them of the need. At one conference he spoke at, he urged students to prove Christ is risen and live a spirit-filled like today. He said, "The early Christians turned the world upside down because they themselves were first turned upside down by the power of the Holy Spirit. By the time Wilder left India, India had hundreds if not thousands of student volunteers working there.

In the next 40 years the SVM became the greatest single force for missions that the world has ever seen. At least 20,000 young people went overseas as a result of its ministry. It spread across into England and Europe. In 1938, at age75, Robert Wilder was laid to rest.

Sources: Pierce, Dr. Dan. The SVM and Robert Wilder. Princeton UBF. http://grove.ship.edu/ubf/leaders/wilder.htm Gary, Jay. Come with Me: The Story of the SVM. 1986.

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 57

26 SAMUEL ZWEMER

By Sarah Sagely Since the 13th century the Muslim lands were neglected by any or little Christian missions until Samuel Zwemer in the late 18th century. He began again to develop real encounter with Muslims; by coordinating missionary efforts and helping to focus the Christian community on the Muslim world and their needs for Christ. Zwemer has been called by many the "Apostle of Christ."

He was born in Michigan in 1867 as one of fifteen children. It was natural for him to go into Christian service, as the son of a Dutch Reformed Church pastor. His four brothers also joined the call to ministry, along with a sister who spent 40 years as a missionary to China. He attended Hope College and during his senior year was influenced by the preaching of Robert Wilder and was moved by the urgency for the many lost souls who had no opportunity to hear of Jesus Christ. He signed the Student Volunteer Pledge, "I purpose, God willing and desirous to go to the unoccupied foreign fields." After

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 58

graduation and medical training, he applied, along with fellow student, James Cantine, to go to the Arab world with the Reformed Board; but was turned down because the mission seemed "impractical."

Zwemer and Cantine traveled across the states speaking to many churches raising funds and support. Instead of raising money for themselves; Zwemer traveled west coast and Cantine on the east coast raising funds for each other. Finally Cantine sailed for Arabia in 1889 and Zwemer in 1890. After four years the Reformed Church officially became incorporated into the mission the two had begun.

In 1895, Zwemer married Amy Wilkes, a missionary nurse from England.

They spent the first two years of their marriage in the states and returned to the Persian Gulf in 1897. They specifically went to Bahrein, passing out literature and conducting evangelism in public and in private homes. By 1905, they had established four stations with few faithful converts. It was in this year that the Zwemer's returned to the U.S. During those years in Bahrein, they endured many hardships; enduring extreme weather conditions (<100 degree temperatures) and most significantly the death of their two young daughters the year before in 1904. They died just within eight days of each other.

Despite such pain and difficulty, fifty years later he said, "The sheer joy of it all comes back. Gladly I would do it all over againâ&#x20AC;Ś" While in the states, Zwemer traveled the U.S. speaking on the necessity of missions to Muslims. He also aggressively raised funds for the mission and in 1906 served as the chairman of the first general missionary conference on Islam in Cairo, Egypt. During that time, he played a vital role in challenging many students to answer the call to foreign missions and ministry with Muslims. In 1910, he attended the Edinburgh Missionary Conference and soon after sailed back to Bahrein to continue his work.

After two years in Bahrein, the United Presbyterian Mission in Egypt invited him to coordinate all of their mission exploits to the Islamic world. Joining with the Nile Mission Press, the YMCA, and the American University of Cairo, he established programs to speak to students and leaders in surrounding Universities, along with publishing and distributing Christian literature. For seventeen years Zwemer worked in Cairo and from there traveled around the world participating in conferences, raising funds, and establishing work among Muslims throughout the world. He handed out leaflets and Arabic bibles while preaching Christ's salvation in the Balkans, India, Africa, and the Middle East.

In 1933, he ventured as far as China to bring the Gospel to the Chinese Muslims. One of his greatest adventures was to visit Sana'a in Yemen, a place where not one white man had ever been.

Zwemer felt so strongly the influence of getting Bibles and materials into the hands of Muslims that he authored or co-authored at least 48 books along with hundreds of tracts. He said, "No agency can penetrate Islam so deeply, abide so persistently, witness so daringly and influence so irresistibly as the printed page," Not only did he devote his life to reaching Muslims for Christ

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 59

but made great strides in creating awareness of the needs of the Muslim world to the Western Church.

In 1929, He was named Chairman of History of Religion and Christian Missions at Princeton Theological Seminary while editing and publishing the Moslem World Journal. Although he saw few converts throughout the span of his life and ministry, he is known for dealing with Muslims on an equal level, respecting them and their beliefs. He sought to learn more about their religion as he faithfully shared with them the hope and love of Christ. His life depicted a heart that truly followed Christ's call to be a witness to the ends of the earth by seeing the significance of reaching the barren fields of Arabia

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 60

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources

WWW.Ministry-Of-Grace.Org 61

Ministry Of Grace E-Books Resources