Bible

• William Carey


  • Known as the "Father of Modern Protestant Missions"
  • Translated the Bible into major Indian languages including Bengali, Oriya, Marathi, Hindi, Assamese, and Sanskrit
  • Sought social reforms in India such as abolition of infanticide, widow burning (sati), and assisted suicide
  • Founded Serampore College in 1818, a divinity school for Indians
• William Carey's life and ministry

  1. Born in 1761 in England

  2. Apprenticed as a cobbler, converted to Anglican faith, taught himself Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Italian, French

  3. Married Dorothy Plackett, had 7 children, 3 died young

  4. Wrote "An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens"

  5. Organized a missionary society in 1792, went to India with John Thomas

  6. Faced many hardships and losses in India, including his wife's mental illness and children's deaths

  7. Translated Bible into major Indian languages, founded Serampore College

  8. Passed away in 1834 after 41 years of missionary work in India
• Carey's famous quote: "Expect great things from God! Attempt great things for God!"
• God as the Great Sender


  • God knows where there are people with seeking hearts and where His workers need to be
  • God is the Lord of the harvest and sends out workers to His field, the world
• Missionary example of David Livingstone

  • Initially did not intend to be a missionary, planned to help missions financially
  • Later decided to be a medical missionary to China, but God closed that door
  • Ended up becoming a missionary to Africa instead, where God sent him
• What are the establishments and contributions of William Carey to the work of missions and the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
• Consider the example of David Livingstone, the great missionary to Africa.
• At first Livingstone did not intend to go to Africa. In fact, at first he did not plan to be a missionary at all.
• Livingstone prepared to be a medical missionary to China. However, God closed the door to China.
• Livingstone became acquainted with Robert Moffat, the great missionary to South Africa, and the man who said, "Oh, that I had a thousand lives and a thousand bodies, all should be devoted to preach Christ to these benighted people."
• Robert Moffat encouraged Livingstone to make Africa the field of his labors, and this is what Livingstone did.
• Livingstone was the first white man to set foot in many parts of Africa. He traveled some 30,000 miles.
• Livingstone's remarkable travels from 1851 to 1856 included his walk across Africa from west to east.
• Livingstone was a noted explorer and scientist, but most of all he had a burning desire to bring the gospel message to lost men.
• If Livingstone had his way, he would have been a missionary in China. But God is the great SENDER and God sent this man to Africa!
• It costs something to be a missionary. It costs something to leave the comforts of home and to go to a foreign field.
• No sacrifice that we can make can compare with the sacrifice of Christ who "loved us and gave Himself for us" (Gal. 2:20 and Ephesians 5:2).
• Count von Zinzendorf


  One of the great leaders of the early missionary movement, a wealthy German nobleman who ignored his position and riches to devote his life to spreading the gospel and doing and promoting missionary work
• Zinzendorf visited an art gallery and saw a painting of the Lord Jesus with the words "ALL THIS I DID FOR THEE; WHAT DOEST THOU FOR ME?" underneath, which inspired him to give his life to serving the Saviour.
• Zinzendorf used some of his money to buy a piece of property and then he allowed believers to settle there. The name of this settlement was called HERRNHUT, which became a great missionary base.
• C.T. Studd


  A wealthy Christian businessman from England who sacrificed possessions and position to go out as a missionary, serving first in China, then in India and later in Africa
• C.T. Studd: '"If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him."'
• David Brainerd


  A missionary to the American Indians, known for his self-sacrifice, who travelled thousands of miles on horseback to reach the American Indians with the gospel message
• Brainerd died at the young age of 29, exhausted from his life's labors.
• David Brainerd: '"Oh, that I might be a flame of fire in the Master's cause."'
• Two Moravian missionaries chose the lazar house, an abode of misery for lepers, as their field of labor, compelled by a divine love for souls.
• If "God so loved the world…" (John 3: 16), should not believers share a love and concern for the world as well?
• Mary Slessor


  A woman born in Scotland who became a Christian in her teen years and volunteered to be a missionary in place of her older brother, going to the dangerous land of Calabar in Nigeria, West Africa
• Mary Slessor personally raised many of the sets of twins that would have been killed had she not stepped in and taken these babies unto herself.
• One of Mary Slessor's Nigerian friends said, "Mary Slessor didn't stand up on a mountain top and preach to us. She came right down and lived among us, ate our food, slept in our huts, showed us what was right and wrong by her example."
• John Paton


  A missionary to the New Hebrides islands, which were inhabited by savage cannibals, who was willing to face the dangers of the mission field
• The first two missionaries that set foot on one of the New Hebrides islands were clubbed to death and eaten.
• Mr. Dickson : '"The cannibals! YOU WILL BE EATEN BY CANNIBALS!"'
• John Paton: '"If I can live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms."'
• John Paton knew of 50 times when his life was in imminent danger, but his escape was due solely to the grace of God.
• Hudson Taylor was a great missionary to China who faced dangers on the mission field, but God protected him miraculously.
• Hudson Taylor


  Great missionary to China
• Hudson Taylor's prayer was answered, the breeze came and the ship was saved from the cannibals
• David Brainerd


  Missionary who went to a very savage tribe in the New Jersey forests
• What happened when David Brainerd went to the savage tribe

  1. He was welcomed by the Indians

  2. The warriors had planned to kill him but saw him praying and a rattlesnake near him

  3. They let him live and visit them