William Carey

The Sunday School has always dedicated the first month of October as the mission. They will be getting people from different nationalities to share their testimonies to the Sunday School students. The purpose of this whole exercise is to expose our students to the work of missions while they are still young. As a church, we must be mission-minded. Of course, we cannot expect everyone in the church to go on mission trips. Some are held back because of health; some due to work; and others due to their responsibilities, especially to their families. Regardless, we must always have a heart towards mission, even if we are unable to go for such trips. We could contribute our gifts and our prayer for others in the work of missions. We must develop a heart for missions. For those of us who are able, we must not forsake opportunities to do the work of the Gospel beyond our church. Freely we have received, and freely we must give. The problem with many of us is that we are always so secure in our own comfort zone and possess the greatest inertia to move out. We have been fishing but we are unable to catch any fish. Why? Because many times, we have been fishing from our toilet bowls in the comfort of our home. Enlarge your influence in the workplace. Enlarge your service unto the Lord beyond the four walls of this church. Enlarge your missions beyond the shores of this nation. Stop fishing from your toilet bowl and start fishing in the vast ocean. It is only when we lift up our eyes beyond our own comfort zone that we are able to see that the harvest is truly plenteous and the labourers are few. Learn the lesson from the life of William Carey. Carey’s friends nicknamed him “Columbus” because of his fascination with traveling and adventure. Little did they imagine that one day Carey would become greater than Columbus, as God used him as a beacon of the Gospel in the mission field in India. There was this incident recorded at a ministers’ meeting, where Carey proposed that they consider the need for all ministers to carry out the command of the Great Commission. One of the ministers impatiently interrupted Carey and exclaimed, “Sit down, young man, sit down and be still. When God wants to convert the heathen, He will do it without consulting either you and me.” This led William Carey to be more determined in his endeavour to reach the lost with the Gospel. 31 May 1792 was the turning point. In Northampton, England, William Carey preached one of the most influential sermons in the history of world missions. His sermon literally sparked the greatest century of Christian advancement in missions. The text was taken from Isaiah 54:2-3. The theme of his sermon was summarized as “Expect great things from God! Attempt great things for God.” Riveting as the sermon was, but alas, the people who heard it were not burdened by the need of the work of the Gospel. They did not weep for the lost souls. They did not even pause to pray! To them it was just another sermon, nice to listen to, but not to be taken seriously. Such was the indifference in the people. When Carey saw the people rising to leave as usual, he exclaimed in agony, “Are we not going to do anything? Let’s do something in answer to God’s call!” Carey persisted and five months later, a society was eventually formed to propagate the gospel to the heathens. William Carey became their first minister to be sent into the faraway land of India, without any hope and expectation to return again unto them. Undereducated, underfunded and underestimated, William Carey seemed to have everything against him. He was brought up in abject poverty and never had the benefit of high school, as his formal education ended in junior school. Yet, at age 12 Carey taught himself Latin. Then he went on to master on his own – Greek, Hebrew, French and Dutch! He became professor of Bengali, Sanskrit and Marathi. Carey succeeded in translating the Bible into 6 languages and New Testaments and Gospels into 29 other languages! By the time of his death, Carey, with the help of his co-workers, had left behind a legacy of founding over 100 Christian schools for over 8,000 Indian children of all castes. Carey also launched the first Christian College in Asia. Serampore Christian College still exists today as the legacy of the mission work of William Carey. The Gospel made so much progress in India all because a man who embraced the promise of God and acted out in faith to enlarge the work of God; and who has a passion for lost souls. He overcame all the odds against him and transformed the land of India into his mission field. May you too be inspired to reach out to the world with the Gospel of Jesus. That is part of your calling in Christ. HCL