A man named Augustine, walking...
Illustration
Object:
A man named Augustine, walking through a slave market in ancient Rome, saw a group
of fair-haired Saxons chained together on the auction-block; asking who they were, he
was told, "Angles." "No," he remarked, looking into their sad eyes, "not Angles, but
angels." Augustine set off on a journey to the far-off land of England, "Angle-land." He is
remembered to this day as Augustine of Canterbury, the man who evangelized
England.
A young apprentice shoemaker named William Carey became the pastor of a church and worked for years fixing shoes at night to pay the expenses of his ministry. During this time he also taught himself five languages, and in 1793 set off on a Danish merchant ship for India. It seemed, to some who knew him, a foolish and futile journey. But William Carey became one of the greatest missionaries in the history of the church. In five years he translated the New Testament into Bengali and visited over 200 villages. Through this work as an evangelist and a missionary teacher, thousands came to know Christ.
An African-American woman named Betsy Stockton, a former slave, was taught to read by Princeton Seminary students. When she heard that a young seminarian named Charles Stewart was going as a missionary to "the Sandwich Islands" -- Hawaii -- she asked to go, too. In 1822, Betsy Stockton sailed with Stewart and his wife "around the Horn" to Hawaii. There she stayed for several years, opening a school for Hawaiian children. Returning to Princeton, she helped start the Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church, a predominantly black church that is there to this day. She became active in educating African-American children, a missionary in her own land.
These are some superstars of Christian mission: sterling examples of those who went "fishing for people."
A young apprentice shoemaker named William Carey became the pastor of a church and worked for years fixing shoes at night to pay the expenses of his ministry. During this time he also taught himself five languages, and in 1793 set off on a Danish merchant ship for India. It seemed, to some who knew him, a foolish and futile journey. But William Carey became one of the greatest missionaries in the history of the church. In five years he translated the New Testament into Bengali and visited over 200 villages. Through this work as an evangelist and a missionary teacher, thousands came to know Christ.
An African-American woman named Betsy Stockton, a former slave, was taught to read by Princeton Seminary students. When she heard that a young seminarian named Charles Stewart was going as a missionary to "the Sandwich Islands" -- Hawaii -- she asked to go, too. In 1822, Betsy Stockton sailed with Stewart and his wife "around the Horn" to Hawaii. There she stayed for several years, opening a school for Hawaiian children. Returning to Princeton, she helped start the Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church, a predominantly black church that is there to this day. She became active in educating African-American children, a missionary in her own land.
These are some superstars of Christian mission: sterling examples of those who went "fishing for people."
