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"The Greatest Century of Missions is not only
a good read, but also a timely reminder of the tenacity
and courage of the remarkable 19th Century missions
movement upon which our present amazing numerical
growth on non-Western Christians is built. Yet this
is also a wake-up call to us who sould be carrying
the torch of the Gospel in this dangerous post-11
September world where equal fortitude and faith is
needed."- Patrick Johnstone (WEC missionary
and Author of Operation World)
"Peter Hammond has done us all a great service
by reminding us of some of the great missionary pioneers
of the past. It is to the great loss of the current
generation of Christians that biographies are no longer
read as they ought to be. The inspiration to be obtained
from the lives, dedication and the zeal of Gospel
heroes of days gone by, is enormous. I recommend this
book as a fine introduction to the hobby of reading
biographies and stirring up missionary zeal".
- Bishop Frank Retief, presiding bishop of the Church
of England in South Africa.
"I
have just finished going through your new book The
Greatest Century of Missions Thank you for all the
energy, passion and prayer you put into this most
outstanding tool of motivating men and woman in our
day for missionary service. I am both thrilled to
be part of such a host of witnesses to the great work
accomplished by our Lord, but also feeling somewhat
ashamed to bear the same title of missionary. What
a privilege we have to follow such a great calling!"
- Walter Gschwandtner
" DO WE REALLY NEED LEADERS? Just before
Christmas I read a fascinating little book called
"The Greatest Century of Missions"
by Peter Hammond (http://www.christianlibertybooks.co.za)
In this little volume Dr. Hammond documents the world-changing
impact of a handful of Christian missionaries during
the last half of the 18th and the first half of the
19th century.
These brave individuals overcame severe criticism
and crippling societal indifference to reach out to
nations that were rife with disease, barbarism, cannibalism
and slavery. They endured tremendous persecution,
heartache and death, all in the cause of bringing
them the Christian gospel.
It is easy to forget just how brutal life was for
most people on earth just 150 years ago. When John
Paton went to New Hebrides, for example, it was common
practice for a man to kill his best wife and serve
her as the main course at a feast! Infanticide and
other unspeakable evils were the norm.
I suppose today these missionaries would be criticized
for "imposing their morality" on others.
But there is no disputing the fact that their civilizing
influence has brought liberty, peace, health, prosperity
and spiritual well-being to hundreds of millions,
even billions, of people.
These missionary pioneers, people such as William
Carey, David Livingstone, Mary Slessor, Hudson Taylor,
John Paton and others, were leaders in the finest
sense of the word. They had a vision of what they
wanted to accomplish, they created change, and they
inspired others to create change as well." -Dr
Jeff Myers of Bryan College is the Director of the
Understanding the Times curriculum - now used in more
than 20 000 schools worldwide
"I
am happy to endorse the Frontline Fellowship and the
outstanding work that they are doing to promote missions,
evangelism and reformation throughout Africa. May
God continue to use your organization to reach an
increasing number of the needy and lost in Africa
and advance the cause of Reformed Christianity in
that part of the world." - D.
James Kennedy, Ph.D., Senior Minister, Coral Ridge
Presbyterian Church
"My
8 year old daughter and I are delighted to read it.
She is amazed at her Christian heritage and does not
stop marveling at the Faith of the Fathers and Mothers
of missions.....its a great treasure, and every Christian
home should own a copy." - Lahadi Demshakwa,
Mount Carmel Christian School, Nigeria
The Greatest Century of Missions, by Peter Hammond,
is a treasure trove of incredible adventures, inspiring
exploits and unbelievable achievements of some of
the most extra-ordinary people in the most momentous
era of Christian advance.
This book will be an invaluable resource for pastors
and missionaries and a textbook for senior homeschoolers,
Christian schools and Bible colleges. It should be
required reading for prospective missionaries.
“Expect
great things from God, attempt great things for God.”
This
battle cry launched the most incredible movement in
history.
As
Church historian, Kenneth Scott Latourette, declared:
“Never had any other set of ideas, religious
or secular, being propagated over so wide an area
by so many professional agents, maintained by the
unconstrained donations of so many millions of individuals.”
In
the words of Alexander Somerville, this was “a
new enterprise on behalf of the noblest object that
can engage the enthusiasm of man – the salvation
of millions!”
The obstacles, dangers and difficulties they had to
face and overcome were staggering.
By
an act of British Parliament, missionaries were illegal
in India. In China, not only was all missionary activity
completely illegal, but so was attempting to learn
the Chinese language! There was a ban on any Chinese
teaching their language to foreigners. The Chinese
tutors to Robert Morrison carried poison on their
bodies so that if they were discovered, they could
end their lives quickly and escape torture. Because
the Chinese forbade foreign women, Robert Morrison
had to live apart from his wife, Mary, for most of
their lives, once for six years.
America’s
first foreign missionary, Adoniram Judson, was captured
on the high seas and incarcerated in a French prison
– from which he escaped. Later he was imprisoned
and tortured in “Death Prison”, in Burma,
for eighteen months.
When
pioneer missionary to Persia, Henry Martin, sought
to present his Persian New Testament to the Shah,
he was challenged with an ultimatum to declare that
“Muhammad is the prophet of God.” Henry
Martin boldly refused and asserted instead that Jesus
Christ was the Son of God. His opponents were enraged
and threatened to have his tongue torn out for “blasphemy”.
When
Robert Moffat first applied to the London Missionary
Society, he was rejected. His proposal to marry Mary
Smith was also refused by her parents. Yet, Robert
persevered and on his first missionary trip to South
Africa, succeeded in bringing to Christ the most notorious
bandit and murderer in the country. Finally, Mary
Smith’s parents relented and gave permission.
She sailed to South Africa, where they married and
for the next 50 years, the Moffat’s became one
of the greatest husband-wife teams in missionary history.
Robert Moffat succeeded in being the first to translate
the complete Bible into an African language.
Human
life in the Pacific Islands was cheap and cannibalism
was rife when the missionaries arrived. In Fiji, two-third’s
of all the children were boiled and eaten. Every village
had a human butcher. Aged parents were butchered and
eaten by their friends. Men would even cook their
best wife or child as a special feast for friends.
The widows of chiefs and warriors were strangled or
hung, so that they could “accompany their husbands
to the next world”, there to continue serving
them!
John
Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides, witnessed women
killed in human sacrifices to secure the recovery
to health of the chief, and was encircled by threatening
cannibals “in a deadly ring and one kept urging
another to strike the first blow.” Yet Paton
could write: “my heart rose up to the Lord Jesus;
I saw Him watching all the scene, my peace came back
to me like a wave from God. I realised that my life
was immortal till my Master’s work with me is
done.” John Paton had the privilege of leading
many of these cannibals to Christ and seeing the entire
populations of some islands won to Christ.
Mary
Slessor was born in a poverty-stricken family. Their
one-roomed home had no water, lighting or toilet and
hardly any furniture. Mary slept on the floor and
began work at 10 years old. When two brothers, who
had been dedicated to becoming missionaries to Africa,
died, Mary resolved to take their place and to sail
for Calabar. Mary established many schools and Churches
and successfully brought an end to the killing of
twins and the practice of slave trading in Calabar.
Hudson
Taylor’s parents dedicated him to missionary
work in China before he was even born. During a time
of momentous upheavals in China, Hudson succeeded
in launching the largest missionary organisation in
the world, which brought many tens of thousands of
Chinese to Christ.
C.T.
Studd was a famous cricket captain, who became a pioneer
missionary to China, India and later the Congo. C.T.
Studd wrote: “Christ’s call is to capture
men from the devil’s clutches and snatch them
from the very jaws of hell, to enlist and train them
for Jesus and make them a mighty army of God. But
this can only be accomplished by red-hot, unconventional,
unfettered Holy Spirit religion, by reckless sacrifice
and heroism in the foremost trenches.”
Samuel
Crowther was captured by African slavers and sold
to a Portuguese trader for transport across the Atlantic.
But he was rescued by a British Naval Squadron and
became the first African Bishop of the Church of England.
His pioneer missionary work in Yorubaland succeeded
in establishing an Evangelical Anglicanism that was
truly African.
When
Britain was the greatest economic and military power
in the world, Queen Victoria was asked by a visiting
African prince what the secret of England’s greatness
was. She presented him with a Bible, saying: “Here
is the secret of England’s greatness.”
Samuel
Zwemer chose to oppose the only faith that had caused
Christianity to beat a retreat - Islam. He also resolved
to engage the enemy on the soil of Arabia – the
birthplace of Muhammad.
The Greatest Century of Missions presents many unforgettable
pictures and stories about these and other fascinating
missionaries of the 19th Century.
Dr.
George Grant in his Introduction to the Greatest Century
of Missions writes: “As missionaries circled
the globe, penetrated the jungles and crossed the
seas, they preached a singular message: light out
of darkness, liberty out of tyranny, and life out
of death. To cultures endemic with terrible poverty,
brutality, lawlessness, and disease, those faithful
Christian witnesses interjected the novel Christian
concepts of grace, charity, law, medicine, and the
sanctity of life. They overturned despots, liberated
the captives, and rescued the perishing. They established
hospitals. They founded orphanages. They started rescue
missions. They built almshouses. They opened soup
kitchens. They incorporated charitable societies.
They changed laws. They demonstrated love. They lived
as if people really mattered. Wherever missionaries
went, they faced a dual challenge: confront sin in
men’s hearts and confront sin in men’s cultures.
“Thus,
the 19th Century missions movements was more than
simply a great era of Biblical preaching. It was a
great era of Biblical faith. Appropriately, Dr. Hammond
beautifully captures this remarkable multi-faceted
legacy in The Greatest Century of Missions. Not only
does his fluid narrative make the individual missionaries
come to life, he highlights their vision, their motivation,
their theological faithfulness, and their long-term
cultural impact.”
“It
is my prayer that as modern Christians read this much
needed book, they will see the great pioneers, these
culture-shapers, these soul-winners and nation-builders
of the 19th Century in a entirely new light –
and that we will model our own 21st Century efforts
after theirs. I am convinced that if we do, we too
will see a glorious transformation of men and nations
– perhaps heralding an even greater century of
missions. Lord, may it be so.”
The
Greatest Century of Missions is 150 pages with 90
photographs, pictures and maps, and is available from
Christian Liberty Books. It will retail for $10 each
overseas and R68 in South Africa for soft cover (hard
cover $16 overseas and R110 in South Africa). Discounts
available for bulk orders.
Christian Liberty Books, P.O. Box 358, Howard Place,
7450, Cape Town South Africa; Tel./Fax: +27-21-689-7478;
E-mail: clbooks@global.co.za
& Web: www.christianlibertybooks.co.za
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