Missionary William Carey Quotes

To know the will of God, we need an open Bible and an open map.

William Carey, the great Baptist missionary, said, "Attempt great things for God and expect great things from God.

Ryland had been always loyal to the journeyman shoemaker he had baptised in the river, and he gives us this record:—"If all the people had lifted up their voices and wept, as the children of Israel did at Bochim, I should not have wondered at the effect. It would only have seemed proportionate to the cause, so clearly did he prove the criminality of our supineness in the cause of God." The text was Isaiah's (liv. 2, 3) vision of the widowed church's tent stretching forth till her children inherited the nations and peopled the desolate cities, and the application to the reluctant brethren was couched in these two great maxims written ever since on the banners of the missionary host of the kingdom— EXPECT GREAT THINGS FROM GOD. ATTEMPT GREAT THINGS FOR GOD.

LEICESTER, Jan. 17th, 1793. "DEAR AND HONOURED FATHER,—The importance of spending our time for God alone, is the principal theme of the gospel. I beseech you, brethren, says Paul, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable, which is your reasonable service. To be devoted like a sacrifice to holy uses, is the great business of a christian, pursuant to these requisitions. I consider myself as devoted to the service of God alone, and now I am to realise my professions. I am appointed to go to Bengal, in the East Indies, a missionary to the Hindoos. I shall have a colleague who has been there five or six years already, and who understands their language. They are the most mild and inoffensive people in all the world, but are enveloped in the greatest superstition, and in the grossest ignorance...I hope, dear father, you may be enabled to surrender me up to the Lord for the most arduous, honourable, and important work that ever any of the sons of men were called to engage in. I have many sacrifices to make. I must part with a beloved family, and a number of most affectionate friends. Never did I see such sorrow manifested as reigned through our place of worship last Lord's-day. But I have set my hand to the plough.—I remain, your dutiful son, "WILLIAM CAREY.

William Carey is considered the father of the modern missionary movement, not only because he carefully set forth a theology of missionary activity, but also because he set up a secondary structure, a missionary society-a sodality-which provided the means that enabled men and women to effectively serve as missionaries.

I have now to ask, whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life; whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean; to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India [Judson’s first destination]; to every kind of want and distress; to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death.153

Today we face many challenges similar to those faced by the Judsons, such as whether or not we will sacrifice our personal plans for the sake of a larger vision of reaching the world for Christ. A central characteristic of both ages is courage. Deciding to live among peoples previously unreached with the gospel requires courage and faith, no matter where that might be. In fact, it is a rare individual who is willing to give up life, home, and liberty for the sake of others. Surprisingly, Christian family and friends in our globalized world still greet such aspirations with incredulity, despair, and even ridicule.

Even those who know the chronology of missions history still sometimes cite Carey as the "father" because of the length of his ministry in India (forty-one years), because of his commitment to Bible translation, or because he was an English speaker. However, when Carey arrived in India in November 1793, the German Protestant missionary Friedrich Schwartz already was in the forty-third of what would eventually be forty-eight years of ministry in India. Furthermore, the first Protestant missionaries, Ziegenbalg and Plutschau, translated the New Testament into Tamil by 1715, less than a decade after their arrival in India. There were several well-known English-speaking missionaries before Carey, including John Eliot (1604-1690) and David Brainerd (1718-1747). In short, looking at the pure chronology of missions, it is difficult to see why Carey is considered the "first" or the "father" of modern missions. However, this is why missions history must be seen not simply through the lens of chronos but also through the lens of kairos. William Carey can be referred to as the Father of Modern Missions, but not because of any of the reasons that are normally offered. William Carey is the father of modern missions because he stepped into a kairos moment, which stimulated the founding of dozens of new voluntary missionary societies and propelled hundreds of new missionaries out onto the field in what became the largest missions mobilization in history.

may it please our Lord to kindle a new light of the world which may guide unbelievers to conversion, that with us they may meet Christ, to whom be honor and praise world without end.

Fifthly, As to learning their languages, the same means would be found necessary here as in trade between different nations. In some cases interpreters might be obtained, who might be employed for a time; and where these were not to be found, the missionaries must have patience, and mingle with the people, till they have learned so much of their language as to be able to communicate their ideas to them in it.

From such a society a committee might be appointed, whose business it should be to procure all the information they could upon the subject, to receive contributions, to enquire into the characters, tempers, abilities and religious views of the missionaries, and also to provide them with necessaries for their undertakings.

Have not the popish missionaries surmounted all those difficulties which we have generally thought to be insuperable? Have not the missionaries of the Unitas Fratrum, or Moravian Brethren, encountered the scorching heat of Abyssinia, and the frozen climes of Greenland, and Labrador, their difficult languages, and savage manners? Or have not English traders, for the sake of gain, surmounted all those things which have generally been counted insurmountable obstacles in the way of preaching the gospel? Witness the trade to Persia, the East-Indies, China, and Greenland, yea even the accursed Slave-Trade on the coasts of Africa. Men can insinuate themselves into the favour of the most barbarous clans, and uncultivated tribes, for the sake of gain; and how different soever the circumstances of trading and preaching are, yet this will prove the possibility of ministers being introduced there; and if this is but thought a sufficient reason to make the experiment, my point is gained.

About the year 1743, Mr. David Brainerd was sent a missionary to some more Indians, where he preached, and prayed, and after some time an extraordinary work of conversion was wrought, and wonderful success attended his ministry.

The means Carey initiated for global outreach, the mission society, is a core strategy for Baptists around the world. Much good has come from using this method, but perhaps at the expense of keeping all believers in local churches lashed to the burden of global mission responsibility. The proliferation of mission societies on every continent, in almost every country and for every conceivable purpose, has diversified missionary outreach. It has also, perhaps to the detriment of Baptist churches, diluted efforts by expending so much money on administration, promotion, fundraising, and management of thousands of well-meaning organizations, rather than investing more resources directly in the field.

North American church continues to blur the meaning of the word “missions” such that it encompasses anything the church does outside the four walls of its building. The problem with calling everything the church does by the term “missions” is that it dilutes the urgency of prioritizing the church’s task toward those who currently have no access to the gospel.

Carey called for a new extra-biblical ecclesiastical structure—a society—to establish policies, commission missionaries, and provide their financial support.250 While councils, committees, societies, and mission boards are too numerous today to count, most Christians who read Carey’s pamphlet or heard him speak had never conceived of an organization with global missional responsibility.

Carey wisely understood that missions appropriately begins with our expectation of God to act prior to our plans or actions.

She regretted her decision almost from the time the ship departed. Dorothy did not adjust to missionary life; the climate challenges, cultural adaptations, grinding poverty, strange sicknesses, and the death of a child took their toll. After about three years, she lapsed into a deep depression. She lived her final thirteen years in a padded room behind a locked door.

The ‘pamphlet’ urged by Thomas Potts he now titled An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens, in Which the Religious State of the Different Nations of the World, the Success of Former Undertakings, and the Practicability of Further Undertakings are Considered. The title surely told anyone the publication would not be a pamphlet. It turned out to be a 87-page book. In the first section William asked the key question: Is the Great Commission still binding? And in this section he reviewed every objection he had ever heard against missionary work. Then he rebutted it. Examples of these were[3]: Objection: But how do we know that this command is still valid? Not even divine injunctions abide for ever. They have their periods and pass, like the Levitical law. Reply: Nay, divine injunctions abide till they have fulfilled their function. Who can think this commission exhausted, with the majority of mankind not yet acquainted with Christ’s name? Objection: But Christ’s command could scarcely have been absolute, even for the apostles, seeing that they never heard of vast parts of the globe - the South Seas for example -nor could they these be reached. Neither can we think it absolute today, with very large regions still unknown and unopened. Reply: As they (the apostles) were responsible for going according to their strength into all their accessible world, we are in duty bound to speed into our much enlarged world. Indeed, we ought to be keen to go everywhere for Christ, till all closed doors are opened. In

Far distances and language barriers never stopped traders, he argued. Who could deny that? So the missionary must not be stopped either. Hunger would rarely be an obstacle, insisted William. The missionary could farm, fish and hunt. But nevertheless the missionary must be resolved to face poverty, poor housing and unrelenting hard work. And yes, he may also face hatred, intimidation, imprisonment, torture and even death. His

Next morning at 10 o’clock William had a unique opportunity. For it was he who would deliver the sermon for the meeting. And to the discomfort of many there he preached on Isaiah 54. “‘Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes’!” he exhorted his fellow ministers. Once again he had delivered his message of obligation to convert the heathen. Finally he concluded, “Brothers, expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.” Young John Ryland looked shaken. “Brother Carey, I think you have proved our negligence in this cause of God.” Bringing John Ryland to the cause was a great step forward. William knew he already had one powerful ally in Andrew Fuller. But at the business meeting later, not only was no money allocated toward a missionary society but not one minister seconded William’s motion to form a society. William slumped in his chair, his mind reeling. “This

Apparently Doctor Thomas went to Charles Grant in London,” continued Andrew Fuller, uncharacteristically subdued. “Grant is now one of the Directors of the East India Company. Thomas was refused licenses. Apparently the government is no longer indifferent to missionaries but hostile...

So Newton introduced the two travelers to William Wilberforce., About the same age as William, Wilberforce was said to be a force in the House of Commons, constantly haranguing evils of slavery. He was a thoroughly good man who also thought it was high time England stopped persecuting Catholics. Wilberforce was part of a London circle of evangelical intellectuals called the ‘Clapham Sect’ because they all lived in Clapham, a new area of fine homes south of London. Mansions there were built in revived Classical style with columns. The wealthy evangelicals also included Charles Grant and Sir John Shore, another longtime official in the East India Company. These men seemed agreeable to converting heathens, yet remained silent about missionary work in India.

And praise God, William recovered his health again, if not his hair. He began tutoring students in his shop in the evenings to make extra money. His shop soon had the air of a school, with books and maps and charts always lying about. His friend Scott joked that the shop was ‘Carey’s College’. At the Hackleton Meeting House he joined discussions. Once a month now they discussed the churchman’s obligation to evangelize, not just within his parish but to the entire world. Arguments flew back and forth. William found himself drawn more and more to the idea that the ‘Great Commission’ did indeed require churchmen to spread Christ to the entire world. No longer could rigid Calvinism dismiss all efforts at missionary work in other countries as useless because God had already chosen his ‘elect’.