By Mary Vee
Year: January 1875
Hudson Taylor: age 43
From J. Hudson Taylor's Notes
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| Photo Courtesy |
I spent much of my day reading any current news about China. Riots broke out in areas where we had our centers. I feared for our workers safety. Reports came to us stating one of our missionaries had been assaulted and many of his things stolen.
Years ago, when we tried to send missionaries into western territories, I thought we might have an easier time traveling there through Burma. The British recently worked to open a trade route into China through Burma and the Chinese government approved the idea. Everything seemed to go smoothly.
A group of men led by Colonel Browne left England in February to set up the trade route. While traveling through the unknown areas of China the colonel discovered the local people had not been told about the plan. The people became afraid and attacked the uninvited soldiers, killing one British interpreter and six Chinese helpers.
I couldn't let this hinder our work. I wrote another pamphlet and sent it to every church and supporter in England. I wrote: God does not tell us to try. His command is not to do our best. His command is to do what was commanded.
I spent many long hours praying for my beloved China. A map hung at the end of my bed where I could gaze upon the land and pray. Please, God, I prayed, we need eighteen new missionaries to go to China to reach the nine untouched areas.
While my mind filled with needs for prayer and duties, God gave my wife and I a present. I am happy to say that on January 7, my wife, Jennie, gave birth to my son Ernest. Both are doing very well.
It took two months of total bed rest before I was finally able to sit up in a chair. The pain returned after a few hours, but still, I liked sitting and couldn't wait to try standing.
More good news came. A good number of applications from men and women wanting to serve as missionaries to China filled our mailbox. Sixty! We looked over each one and found fifteen excellent candidates with good health.
Three months later I took my first steps up and down the stairs by myself.
A year had passed after the accident on the ship before I could walk with the use of canes. You can't begin to imagine how happy I felt to be able to walk. I asked my secretary to schedule speaking appointments. We needed to remind the people of England about the needs in China. I went to the Brighton Convention and talked about what God had done in only ten years. We had twenty eight missionary stations, helped over six hundred Chinese people to ask Jesus into their heart and trained seventy of those men to become preachers in their own churches.
On the way home I happened to meet a Russian noble who had also attended the convention. "I would like to make a contribution to the China ministry," he said.
He handed me a banknote. I looked at it and saw the amount was for fifty pounds. "Are you quite sure you want to give this much?" I offered the note back to him.
The count replied, "I cannot take it back. I had planned to give five pounds, but God must have intended you to have fifty. I cannot take it back."
I accepted the gift and returned home. As I walked in I heard the missionaries praying, asking God to provide sufficient money to meet a particular need in China. An amount close to what I held in my hand! I set the note on the table as the group echoed their Amens. God knew the need before they even asked.
China Inland Mission is celebrating it's ten year anniversary. The Lord has been with us each step of the way, opening doors, supplying money, and saving lives in China.
Praise God for His blessings.
J. Hudson Taylor
Missionary to China--Inland China!
So Very Blessed by God
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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