Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God. –William Carey
The past two weeks we’ve heard from two of our own short-term missionaries who have gone out this summer on mission – Rachel Cook and Anna Schmidt. I thought for this week’s Jym-shorts article I’d follow the missions theme and write briefly about a missionary I think all of us should know at least a little about: William Carey of Paulerpury, England, late of Serampore India.
In 1790, a young man who had just been ordained to gospel ministry in England addressed a gathering of believers on the novel idea of foreign missions. The young man, William Carey, had come to know some Moravian believers who had taken the gospel into foreign lands with much success. Carey was distressed that his fellow Baptist believers seemed to have very little heart for missions work. He had recently published a pamphlet with a very long title, typical for titles in that day and age, entitled: An Inquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens. I think you’ll agree that it is, as the British might say, “a right snappy title.” In the pamphlet, Carey chided his fellow Protestant believers for setting aside Jesus’ Great Commission as a call only to the generation of the apostles. He said, “Multitudes sit at ease and give themselves no concern about the far greater part of their fellow sinners, who to this day are lost in ignorance and idolatry.” When Carey finished his short talk at the meeting of Baptist leaders, a well-known and respected older man is reported to have said to him, “Young man, sit down! You are an enthusiast! When God pleases to save the heathen, he will do so without your help or mine.” Today, we call that the misguided views of a hyper-Calvinist. In Carey’s England, it was the prevailing thought of most Protestant believers.
Carey, however, was not dissuaded. Within two years he had formed a mission society and had determined to sail with his family to India - with the gospel of Christ to the people of India as his only task. A young surgeon by the name of John Thomas agreed to accompany him. But things did not start off well in India. They did not raise enough money to actually live in the Indian society, so within a few years Thomas had left to return to England, and Carey’s family was struggling. They were constantly sick, and eventually their 5-year-old son, Peter, died. Carey’s wife, who was not eager to go to India in the first place, began to show signs of dementia and mental stress, and who could blame her? “This,” Carey wrote in his journal, “is indeed the valley of the shadow of death to me, but I rejoice that I am here notwithstanding; and God is here.”
Finally, in 1799, Carey began to see things change for the better. New missionaries from England joined him and his family in Serampore. He was invited by the Danish government, who had settlements in India, to live under their protection and to preach freely. A school was opened for children who had no opportunities for education in that country. Carey began to teach at a British school, thereby relieving some of his financial stress. And then finally, after seven years of laboring to learn the Bengali language and to make connections with the locals, he baptized his first convert, a brother by the name of Krishna Pal. Soon, Carey knew the language well enough to translate the New Testament into Bengali. In fact, he knew the language so well that his work is still considered the foundation for the study of the Bengali dialect.
Until his death, Carey and his family labored in India. They campaigned against, and largely impacted, numerous social problems in India, including the abolition of infanticide, the burning of widows when their husbands died (still known as sati), and other human rights issues. A college was established that still serves Indian students today. The entire Scriptures and other major works were translated into Bengali, Oriya, Marathi, Hindi, and Sanskrit, the major dialects of India. By the time he died, Carey had spent 41 years in India without ever leaving, and over 700 men, women and children had come to know the hope we all share in Jesus Christ. Countless missionaries have entered into mission work since his day with Carey and his family as models, including Adoniram Judson, Hudson Taylor, and David Livingstone, to name only a prominent few.
Jesus’ words to “go, and make disciples in every nation…” continues to be our call to missions today. I’m glad we are following that call at LifePoint.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Jym