God's General - William Carey

GOD'S GENERAL

WILLIAM CAREY(1761-1834)

"Multitudes sit at ease and give themselves no concern about the far greater part of their fellow sinners, who to this day, are lost in ignorance and idolatry." William Carey

William Carey was born in 1761 in England to a very poor family. William's education ended at age 12. He became a gardener and a shoe maker.

CONVERSION AND EARLY MINISTRY

Though raised up in an Anglican Church, William got converted when he attended an independent service organized else where. He taught himself how to read the New Testament in Greek. He also began learning Hebrew, Latin, French and Dutch on his own.

Carey was later ordained Pastor at a Baptist Church at Moulton. Carey pushed for the Gospel to be sent to the unsaved heathen but his fellow Ministers rejected the idea. They claimed if God wanted to save the heathens, He can do it without them.

Three weeks later, Carey preached a famous sermon from Isaiah 54:2 where he made his famous quote "Expect great things from God, attempt Great things for God". He argued that Jesus' Great Commission applies to all Christians at all times.

TROUBLE IN INDIA

In 1793, he organized a mission trip to India with his family and a friend. The initial life in India was however very difficult. Carey's son died of dysentery and his wife's mental illness got very worse. There was also financial hardship. Carey was devastated but he held on to his faith God. For him, God is all sufficient. In these struggles, Carey learnt the local Indian language and began translating the New Testament into Bengali.

BREAKTHROUGH AT LAST

In 1799, the situation improved for Carey. He relocated to a Danish settlement and was now under the protection of the Danes. Carey was also joined by some friends who helped financed his ministry work.

In 1800, Carey baptized his first Indian convert and also published his first Bengali New Testament. By 1803, 25 Indians had been baptized into Christ.

TRANSLATION WORK AND SETBACK

Carey began translating the whole Bible into Indian major languages. However, in 1812, fire destroyed their printing house and burnt all of his uncompleted manuscripts. It took some time for Carey to rewrite the burnt manuscripts.

Over 28 years, Carey had translated the entire Bible into six major languages in India. This was a remarkable work for a man whose schooling ended at age 12.

CAREY'S LEGACY

In 1819, Carey established Serampore College, a Christian school for Indian students. His aim was to encourage Indians to evangelize to their own people.

Carey spent about 42 years doing mission work in India. By the time this God's General died in 1834, he had inspired a Worldwide Missionary Movement. The need to take the Gospel to the whole world became important to other Christians. Today, Carey is known as the Father of Modern Missions.

SOURCES:

"70 GREAT CHRISTIANS" GEOFFREY HANKS.

CHRISTIANTODAY.COM