February 20th in China Missions History
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AustinGardner.net’s February 20th in World Evangelism HistoryOn this day in 1809, Robert Morrison, one of the earliest pioneer missionaries to China, was married to Miss Mary Morton.
Two years earlier, Morrison had arrived in a heavily-closed China to begin his work. But at this time, it was illegal for him to be a missionary. In fact, the law was so tight that it was even illegal for a Chinese person to teach a foreigner how to speak Chinese. In order to get past the law, Morrison moved into an American factory in the city of Canton, China and hired several Chinese teachers to come “repair his shoes”, as he called it. Every time a teacher would come to teach him Chinese, he would have a pair of shoes sitting there in case they got caught, he could make it look like they were working on the shoes.
At last, Robert was able to get a job as one of the main translators for the East India Company in China (I wonder if they ever asked how he learned the language?) While holding this job, Morrison met John Morton, a surgeon for the East India Company. But more importantly, he met John’s daughter, the lovely Irish born Mary. They were soon married in China.
In a letter to his father, Robert wrote this of his new wife:
As I have every prospect of being exceedingly happy with one whom I love and who is un attached to me, your anxiety respecting me being quite alone will be in some measure lessened. My missionary calling is as much as ever on heart and in it, I trust, I shall be considerably aided by my dear Mary.
The couple lived a very happy marriage, though Mary often suffered from sicknesses. They were married for twelve years. In 1821, Mary died from Cholera. So his two children would always their mother, Robert wrote a book for them that comprised many of his and their mother’s correspondents. The book was entitled, “The Domestic Memoirs of Mrs. Morrison”.
Source: The Legacy of Robert Morrison
February 10th in China Missions History
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AustinGardner.net’s February 10th in World Evangelism HistoryOn this day in 1859, Jonathan Goforth, the great missionary to China, was born on a farm in London, Ontario, Canada, the seventh of eleven children. Born into a strong Christian family, he was challenged by his parents to pray and to love, read and memorize the Scriptures. And he was also challenged to work hard.
As a boy, he was forced to juggle the challenges of both going to school and working on the farm at the same time. At the age of fifteen, his father put him in charge of the family’s second farm, located twenty miles from his home. His father left him on the farm with this charge, “Work hard. At harvest, I’ll return and inspect.”
In later years, Goforth stirred massive audiences as he told of his labors that summer, of his father’s return in the fall and of how his heart thrilled when his father, after inspecting the fields of beautiful waving grain, turned to him and smiled. “That smile,” he would say, “was all the reward I wanted. I knew my father was pleased. So will it be, dear Christians, if we are faithful to the trust our Heavenly Father has given us. His smile of approval will be our blessed reward.”
Source: Wholesome Words
February 7th in China Missions History
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AustinGardner.net’s February 7th in World Evangelism HistoryOn this day in 1824, Robert Samuel Maclay, a pioneer to China, Japan, and Korea, was born in Pennsylvania, the son of a tanner and one of nine children.
At the age of 23, Robert set out for China with another young man, Henry Hickok. Their mission society had sent them out with meager instructions (to acquire a working knowledge of the language, preach the Gospel of Christ, heal the sick, distribute literature, and establish schools) and, although he had a bachelors and masters degree from an American University, he had received little practical training on missionary work. But despite this, Maclay tackled his task with extreme diligence.
In 1856, Robert built the first Methodist church in East Asia at the city of Iongtau, calling it 真神堂 (the Church of the True God). Later that same year, he started the second church, 天安堂 (the Church of Heavenly Peace). For twenty-three years, Robert labored in China, until he was forced to return home for health reasons. He would later return to the East to start missions in Japan and Korea.
Robert’s work among the Chinese people is recorded in his book Life among the Chinese. In the opening chapter, he states:
“Four hundred millions! Who are they? Our brethren; bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh. What are they? Heathen, athwart whose gloomy night of error no ray of light ever shines; idolaters, bowing down to senseless images, the workmanship of their own hands. What are they? Men, created by God; fallen, ruined, helpless; victims, morally, of a foul and relentless malady; sinking into guilt and woe unutterable, inconceivable; immortals, objects of the divine compassion, subjects of Christ’s mediation, into the mysteries of whose redemption angels desire to look, and for whose eternal salvation all heavenly intelligences are moved with a profound and ceaseless solicitude.”
Source: Robert Samuel Maclay | Life among the Chinese By: Robert Maclay
February 5th in China Missions History
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AustinGardner.net’s February 5th in World Evangelism HistoryOn this day in 1858, Miles Knowlton, the Baptist missionary and author, wrote a letter to his mission society regarding his visit to the small mission work in the city of Chusan, China.
It was during his trip here that he was able to spend a lot of time with the people and he was able to develop a clear understanding of their culture and mindset. In his letter, he talks about the obsticle that hinders many of the Chinese to come to Christ:
“The gospel is, emphatically, the only hope for this poor people. Yet, like the Jews, they are far, very far, from being to receive it. In the first place, they are too proud to give any earnest attention to anything that is not taught in their own sacred classics. These, in their estimation, contain all the truths and doctrines that man needs or can know. It is confidently believed by all that Confucius knew all that can be known from any source by man and to hint anything to the contrary to a literary man is a very grave offence. Preach repentance, Confucius taught the same and they take it for granted that he taught it much better than we red haired barbarians can. Preach morality, goodness, love, benevolence, holiness, the relative duties of life -the classics teach the same in language of surprising elegance and perfection…..
They are literally without hope and without God in the world! How sad their condition. How should the hearts of all those whose minds have been illumined by the light of life yearn over them! The church of Christ has intrusted to it that which alone can impart to them hope, can transform their character, and fit them for endless life! The atonement of Christ lays a foundation upon which, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, the superstructure of a holy and godlike character may be reared. The gospel, Christ and Him crucified, is that which alone is adapted to meet the exigencies of this people’s case!”
Source: The Missionary Magazine (Read the full letter)
February 4th in China Missions History
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AustinGardner.net’s February 4th in World Evangelism HistoryOn this day in 1888, Jonathan Goforth and his new wife of only three months, Rosalind, set sail for China.
While Jonathan attended Knox College in Toronto preparing to go to China, Rosalind was at the Toronto School of Art, preparing to be an artist like her father. But Rosalind was never truly satisfied with her life. In her own words, she described the inner struggle:
“From that time, and increasingly as the years passed, there seemed to be two elements contesting within me, one for art, the other—an intense longing to serve the Master to whom I had given myself. In the early part of 1885, when still in my twentieth year, I began to pray that if the Lord wanted me to marry, He would lead to me one wholly given up to Him and to His service. I wanted no other.”
But since Rosalind never found a man, she continued on her art career. She finished her schooling in Toronto and began preparations to go to London to further her education. But just weeks before she left, she went to a meeting at a mission to play the organ. Here, she found a man who had a heart, commitment, and love for the Lord: Jonathan Goforth. For the next two years, Jonathan and Rosalind spent time together and worked together at different missions across Toronto. In the end of October of 1887, they were married. In February, they set sail for China.
This young couple, completely sold out to God, would see God use them in a might way. When they arrived, they made their home in the northern Henan Province, which was to be their home for decades to come. They faced hardships and challenges, trials and temptations, but they continued to look to the One who sent them. Slowly, the work grew. But all this time, the Lord was simply molding and preparing his servants for the great task that was ahead.
By the end of his life, Jonathan was leading revival meetings all over China. Often he would preach for eight hours a day, to crowds of up to 25,000 people. Thousands of sinners experienced the saving grace of Jesus Christ, and multitudes of Christians were awakened to a more vital relationship with God. The meetings were often characterized by public confession of sin and repentance.
The Goforths were some of the greatest missionaries of their time. But they never forgot their beginning. They knew they were really nobodies and that it was simply the spirit of God working through them. Whenever someone would praise the work the Goforths were doing and elevate them to a high level, Jonathan would smile and tell this little story:
“Friends, if you and I take glory to ourselves which belongs only to God, we are as foolish as the woodpecker about which I shall tell you. A certain woodpecker flew up to the top of a high pine tree and gave three hard pecks on the side of the tree as woodpeckers are wont to do. At that instant a bolt of lightning struck the tree, leaving it on the ground, a heap of splinters. The woodpecker had flown to a tree nearby where it clung in terror and amazement at what had taken place. There it hung expecting more to follow, but as all remained quiet it began to chuckle to itself saying, “Well, well, well. Who would have imagined that just three pecks of my beak could have such power as that!”
Source: History Makers | Wholesome Words
January in China Missions History
China has a lot of missions history! Men and women from all over the world have served in this great land. Adapted from AustinGardner.net’s January in World Evangelism History, below are links to short nuggets of China missions history. Read and be encouraged or motivated to do more for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! May we preach Christ in China and around the world!
- January 3rd in China Missions History
- January 4th in China Missions History
- January 5th in China Missions History
- January 7th in China Missions History
- January 8th in China Missions History
- January 10th in China Missions History
- January 13th in China Missions History
- January 14th in China Missions History
- January 16th in China Missions History
- January 17th in China Missions History
- January 18th in China Missions History
- January 20th in China Missions History
- January 22nd in China Missions History
- January 24th in China Missions History
If you come across more dates in “China Missions History,” please contact us and we can update our list.
January 24th in China Missions History
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AustinGardner.net’s January 24th in World Evangelism HistoryOn this day in 1922, Mrs. Grace Ciggie Stott, the wife of missionary George Stott, died.
For 23 years, Grace and her husband labored in the city of Wenzhou, China, working closely with the China Inland Mission and Hudson Taylor. The Stotts were truly pioneers, being the first missionaries to this city. But they worked hard and faithful, despite hardships and trials. And the Lord blessed them in a mighty way. Even today, the city of Wenzhou is called the Jerusalem of China. Of its 6 million residents, over 10% claim to be evangelical Christians. The oldest church in the city, Chengxi Christian Church, was started by the Stotts.
In order to be used in such a mighty way, one might imagine the Stotts to be some pretty impressive people who were cut out and destined for this type of work. But they weren’t. George was an amputee, having lost his entire left leg in a farming incident. He was rejected by every mission society until Taylor let him aboard. And Grace was just a typical young woman who felt called to serve her Lord, but felt completely unworthy and unprepared. She described the day she first felt called to China and the way she felt:
“Mr. Hudson Taylor addressed a small meeting, and as I listened to Mr. Taylor’s tale of the darkness of China and the terrible need of workers there, there came a question that would be answered, “Why may not you go to tell of a Saviour’s love?” I had been converted four years, and had begun in a feeble way to serve the Lord—who had bought me —at first by tract distribution, then Sunday-school teaching. The Lord had often also graciously used me to lead many an anxious soul into the light, but up to this time I had never thought of mission work, never supposed I had any call beyond my native city of Glasgow.
For days this question kept ringing in my heart. I had no home ties, it was true ; but was I fit? Then, too, at that time I had never heard of a young girl going to a heathen land—was it practicable? This latter question I decided to ask Mr.Taylor. He saw no reason why I should not go, even though but twenty years of age, if called of God, and if called, surely the fitness would be given by Him.”
Source: Twenty-six years of Missionary work in China | George Stott
January 22nd in China Missions History
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AustinGardner.net’s January 22nd in World Evangelism HistoryOn this day in 1877, Sarah Doremus, the “mother of missions”, died.
A wealthy socialite, Sarah was involved with many social projects and programs, but never got very involved with World Evangelism. But in 1834, she heard Rev. David Abeel, a missionary to China, tell of how the Chinese women continually ask for a “female man” who would come and tell the women of Christ. He continued to talk of how many woman in countries like China and India would flock to the gospel if they had someone who would work with them. But there were few woman trained to do that type of missionary work.
This appeal challenged Sarah to start an organization who would train, equip, and teach woman about missions. With her funds, she founded the Women’s Union Missionary Society for this very purpose. For the next twenty years, Sarah trained and equipped women for the mission field, whether they would go out single or married. During this time, her home saw a constant flow of missionaries coming in and out, giving her the name “the mother of missions.” In those years, her organization saw over 1000 missionaries trained and sent out.
Source: Christianity.com
January 20th in China Missions History
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AustinGardner.net’s January 20th in World Evangelism HistoryOn this day in 1858, Hudson Taylor is married to Maria J. Dyer, a young, single missionary in China. Her parents had been missionaries to China but had died before Maria was ten, leaving her a lonely girl. But when this young woman met Taylor, this all changed.
Maria saw in Taylor a love for and faith in the Lord that she had never seen in anyone else. And even though others mocked him for dressing in Chinese garb and acting like the Chinese, she was attracted to the spirit he did all of it with. When Hudson wrote her a letter of marriage, she was overjoyed. But Miss Aldersey, the woman she lived with, was not: “Mr. Taylor! that young, poor, unconnected nobody. How dare he presume to think of such a thing? Of course the proposal must be refused at once and that is final!” And from that moment on, Miss Aldersey and many of the other missionaries did everything in their power to stop Maria from seeing Hudson and flocked her with other suitors “more qualified” in their opinion.
When Taylor returned from his trip, those opposed to him marrying Maria made it nearly impossible for him to see her or spend time with her. But his heart and her heart still yearned for each other. But they both had to commit it to Lord. And He came through. On night, a massive storm made it impossible for a group of missionaries, including Maria, to get home. So they took refuge in the home of a missionary, which just happened to be the place where Taylor was also staying. That night, Maria and Hudson could finally talk, and both confirmed their love for each other. Despite the opposition, this couple was able to marry and do mighty things for God!
Source: Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret
January 18th in China Missions History
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AustinGardner.net’s January 18th in World Evangelism HistoryOn this day in 1907, John Cornelius Stam was born in Patterson, New Jersey. As a young man, he felt a call to go into mission work and attended the moody Bible Institute, where he meant a young woman named Betty. In 1932, John sailed to China with the China Inland Mission. He married Betty, who had come to china a year earlier, in 1933.
As the young couple worked in the small eastern town of Tsingteh (today called Jingdezhen), they heard rumors of communist bandits raiding and attacking villages throughout the countryside. As the Stams were preparing to flee south to safety, the bandits raided their town and took the couple and their two month old baby captive. That night, John Stam wrote a letter to CIM authorities, which read:
“My wife, baby and myself are today in the hands of communist bandits. Whether we will be released or not no one knows. May God be magnified in our bodies, whether by life or by death. Philippians 1:20″
Betty, after seeing a bandit killed before her eyes for trying to protect her and her baby, realized that their lives would probably be taken. In order to save her baby, she took her and wrapped her, some provision, and a little money inside a hooded sleeping bag and hid her in some winter bedding.
Mr. Lo, a Chinese pastor who had worked with John Stam, had been following the group of bandits, hoping to somehow help the Stams. He was the one who came across the bodies of John and Betty Stam on that cold December morning. As he was removing the bodies, he heard a noise coming from some old bedding, as he went to investigate, he found a small sleeping bag containing some supplies, money, and a small baby girl whop had been saved by her mother’s bravery.
Back in 1923, when Stam graduated from the Moody Bible Institute, he gave a speech whichstated the following:
“Shall we beat a retreat, and turn back from our high calling in Christ Jesus, or dare we advance at God’s command in the face of the impossible? …. Let us remind ourselves that the Great Commission was never qualified by clauses calling for advance only if funds were plentiful and no hardship or self-denial was involved. On the contrary, we are told to expect tribulation and even persecution, but with it victory in Christ.”
Source: OMF International