"Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts."
- Zechariah 4:6
History demonstrates to us that almost every movement of God started small—from finding the lost book of the law in the days of King Josiah to the preaching of a desert hermit named John in the days of Jesus, to 95 Theses nailed to a church door in Wittenberg, Germany. Even Jonathan Edwards' fiery sermon (Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God) delivered on an exceedingly hot day in Northampton, Massachusetts in July of 1741 was simply one of hundreds of sermons the great giant of American evangelicalism preached. God moves in mysterious ways. Revival broke out in King Josiah's day, the ministry of Jesus was inaugurated in John's, the Protestant Reformation in Luther's day, and the First Great Awakening in Edwards'. The history of the modern mission organization in America began in a similar fashion.
In 1806, five college students from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts came together on an unseasonably warm afternoon in August to pray together. They also intended to discuss a book they had all read, William Carey's call to gospel ministry among non-believers in foreign lands entitled, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens. A rather direct title, to say the least. However, on the way to their scheduled meeting, a sudden storm swept across the hills forcing them to take shelter under an unusually large haystack. There, tucked away from the storm, the five friends spoke about Carey's ideas and challenged one another to take seriously Jesus' Great Commission recorded in Matthew 28:19-20. They then went before the Lord in prayer. It was at this time, over the sound of thunder and blowing wind that Samuel Mills, one of the students, called out in a loud voice "We can do this, if we will!" When the storm died down, Mills suggested that each man in the group sell his belongings and go to India on mission. However, another student, Harvey Loomis, convinced the young upstarts that they should focus on reaching America with the gospel first. Two years later the students, along with a few other like-minded friends, formed "The Brethren," an organization with only two platforms: prayer and missions. After graduating from college, the friends requested to be sent together as missionaries to India by the Brethren. Thus, in June of 1810, the first official Protestant mission organization in America was formed. It was named “The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions,” and it was born out of what is now known as "The Haystack Prayer Meeting."
Eventually, others would be sent on mission by the American Board of Commissioners, zealous missionaries many of us know now by name. Adoniram Judson and his wife, Ann Hasseltine, would be the first Protestants in America to be commissioned as foreign missionaries. Judson would spend forty years of his life laboring in Burma. Luther Rice was also sent as an assistant to the Judsons but returned to the States later to spend the rest of his days raising funds to keep missionaries on the field. Over the next fifty years the American Board would send out over 1250 missionaries across the globe. It all happened as a result of a prayer meeting. Today, on the site where those college friends met to pray, a monument stands that reads, "THE FIELD IS THE WORLD," and underneath that phrase it reads, "The Birthplace of American Foreign Missions - 1806." Samuel Mills, Harvey Loomis, James Richards, Francis Robbins, and Byram Creen. These are no longer household names, but their zeal and love for the Lord initiated a wave of Protestant missions from this nation.
Do you find yourself feeling small some days? Ever wonder what contribution you will make for the kingdom of God? Seek the Lord, dedicate yourself to his service, and let God be God. You never know what he might do with a very small thing.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Jym