“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father…. the Son and Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19-20
In my Perspectives class we have been learning the “who, what, why, where and when” of modern missions. I am learning terms I had never heard before, such as: missiology, contextualization, the E-Scale and the P-Scale, the Three Eras on Protestant Missions, Ethnolinguistic peoples and unimax people groups, and the list goes on. I thought I was familiar with William Carey, considered the Father of Modern Missions. I knew about his famous quote: “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.” But I was totally blown away by all the good deeds and culture the young British shoe cobbler brought to India in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s!
William Carey was a “botanist” who introduced a modern system of gardening and published the first books on science and natural history in India. He wrote essays on forest conservation and began the practice for cultivation of timber, growing trees for environmental purposes, agricultural and commercial needs.
He was an Industrialist who introduced the steam engine to India and encouraged blacksmiths to make copies of his engines. He was the first to make indigenous paper for the publishing industry which included building a large printing press. He was an Economist who introduced the idea of savings banks to fight the evils of money lending at 36-72 percent interest.
He was a medical humanitarian who led the campaign for humane treatment of lepers. Until that time, they were buried or burned alive. He was the first man to stand against the oppression of women synonymous with Hinduism. These evils included female polygamy, female infanticide, child marriage, widow-burning, euthanasia, and female illiteracy. He influenced a whole generation of civil servants to resist these evils and open schools for girls.
He was a Library pioneer who introduced the idea of lending libraries. He asked his friends in England to send educational books and seeds with the ships. He felt the seeds would help in the task of regenerating Indian soil and the books would help the people to receive knowledge and wisdom from around the world.
William Carey was a preacher who taught that ethics and morality went together. The Indian people had many strange ideas about mystical powers and enlightenment. Carey preached those human beings were sinners and needed forgiveness of sin and deliverance from its power over them. Sin had separated them from God and it was impossible to please Him without holiness. True spirituality began with repentance of sin and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Carey saw India as his heavenly Father’s land and the people to be loved and served. This marked the turning point of Indian culture from a downward to an upward trend. Early Indian Hindu leaders were brought to Christ. In all, William Carey pioneered the Protestant Church in India, translated the Bible into 6 different languages and parts of the scripture into 40 different languages! He was an evangelist who used every available means to bring the light of God’s truth to the dark face of India. “Well done, good and faithful Servant!”
Your friend, Jean