From J. Hudson Taylor's Notes
Fall, 1857
Not every missionary gets to see this. I think of those who worked for ten years without a single person coming to faith in Christ. Other missionaries have been beaten and told to leave countries.
But last week I had a chance to witness Nyi, business man who walked away from the Buddhist religion to accept the free gift of God's love. This same man immediately shared what he'd learned to the Chinese men attending a Buddhist meeting. One of men listening also chose to put his faith in Jesus as his savior.
Nyi continued to meet with me. He asked many questions about God, hungry to learn. I gave him a Bible and taught him the answers to his questions, inviting him to ask more.
During our conversation Nyi turned to me as asked, "How long have you had the truth of God's love in England."
His questions bothered me. I knew where this question led and the answer saddened me. I said, "Several hundred years."
Nyi's eyes widened. He took a step back. "What?! The truth has been in England for several hundred years and only now coming to us. Why have you waited? Why has no one told us before?"
He looked at me with very sad eyes. I didn't have an answer. China is a large country and so many people had never heard of God's love. Why hadn't missionaries come sooner? True there had been some missionaries, but apparently none had come where his father lived.
Nyi placed his hand on his chest and inhaled. "My father searched for the truth for more than twenty years and died without finding it. Why, oh why did no one come sooner for him to hear ?"
I may not have had an answer to his question. But after sharing this experience with my co-worker, John Jones, we committed to diligently do the work God sent us to do with enthusiasm.
We organized a place to offer a free breakfast to the poor in Ningbo. Sixty to eighty people came daily for a warm morning meal and attended our chapel services. This took every penny of our finances more than once, but God continued to send us additional funds.
Praise God for his help in giving us a place to help others, the money to serve the poor food, and HIs word to tell them the Truth.
Please pray for the people in China that they may hear the good news of God's love.
J. Hudson Taylor
Missionary to China
Blessed by God
Do you have any questions?
Photo courtesy of visualbiblealive.com
Research resources: J. Hudson Taylor, An Autobiography by J. Hudson Taylor; It is Not Death to Die, a new biography of Hudson Taylor by Jim Cromarty; Hudson Taylor Founder, China Inland Mission by Vance Christie; J. Hudson Taylor, A Man in Christ, by Roger Steer, and Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret by Dr. &and Mrs. Howard Taylor.
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