THE FAITH OF HUDSON TAYLOR

I have just finished reading a fascinating book entitled, “Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret.”

For those who don’t know who Hudson Taylor was, let me give you a brief overview. Taylor was one of the early British missionaries to take the gospel to China. In 1853 at just 21 years of age, Hudson Taylor left England for China. As a young man he was deeply burdened for the millions of Chinese who had never heard about Jesus Christ. At the beginning of Taylor’s ministry in China, only a handful of missionaries were there and their activities were severely restricted by the Chinese government.

Hudson Taylor was a radical missionary. When he arrived in China, he was dismayed at the conduct of most of the “missionaries.” Many of them spent their time acting as translators for English businessmen and diplomats who were active primarily in a few of the large cities.  Taylor felt that the “missionaries” were worldly and he wanted little to do with them.

Let me list just a few things that made Taylor a radical and a spiritual giant:

·            Taylor was not content to reach a few people in one of the large cities. He was burdened for the large segments of the nation where no missionaries had gone. His passion for souls caused him to turn away from established missions and form his own ministry called China Inland Mission (CIM).

·            Taylor did not want to live in a missions compound with other missionaries; he wanted to live where the people lived, eat what they ate, and wear “native” clothing. Missionaries of the day just did not do this.

·            Perhaps the most radical departure from traditional missionary thinking was Taylor’s approach to financial support. Taylor believed that the Lord wanted him to go to China and, therefore, the Lord would provide the funds needed for his support and for the evangelistic outreach to the nation. Taylor never publicly asked for funds but believed that he was to pray and trust God for what was needed.

When Taylor died in 1905 he had never wavered from these principles. The organization that Taylor began was responsible for 800 missionaries going to China and the establishment of 125 schools. After his death, it was said about Taylor that “no other missionary since the Apostle Paul has had a wider vision and has carried out a more systematised plan of evangelising a broad geographical area than Hudson Taylor.”

Taylor’s desire to evangelize all of China and to do it “by faith and prayer” was sorely tried in 1868. Taylor took a party of missionaries to the city of Yangchow to establish a new mission but problems developed when their mission premises were attacked, looted and burned during a riot.

Unfortunately, the international outrage at the Chinese for the attack on British nationals caused the China Inland Mission and Taylor to be criticized in the British press, and almost started a war.

The heavy criticism by the British press caused somewhat of a crisis within CIM, as the level of donations from the public dipped to a dangerously low level. But in the midst of this “crisis” something amazing happened! Taylor continued to pray intensely about the financial needs of the ministry and suddenly he received an unsolicited letter from one of CIM’s supporters. The supporter, who had been regularly sending small gifts, indicated that in prayer the Lord had spoken to him about increasing his giving—and he did. After a short while, the man wrote again and said that the Lord had spoken to him about increasing his giving again—and again he did.

What makes all this amazing is that the man who was writing had no finances of his own! In fact, he had a ministry to orphans that he supported entirely through prayer. Like Taylor, this man from Bristol, England, did not make public appeals for finances but prayed and trusted God. He had about 2,000 orphaned children in his care—and his name was George Mueller. Mueller was deeply burdened for the lost in China and wanted to help evangelize the nation. His faith giving went from just relatively small gifts to nearly $24,000 per month (in today’s dollars) and this was done while he continued to pray in the funds for his own orphanage.

As I thought about this amazing story of two giants of faith and how God used them, I was struck with a new understanding of Matthew 18:19: “If two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven” (ESV). In the original language, the word agree comes from two words meaning “together” and “to sound” or, better put, “to sound together.” The word in the Greek is sumphoneo, from which we get the word symphony. It is highly charged with the meanings of harmony, accord and agreement. Few things are more beautiful than an orchestra that is tight in its harmony and tempo. 

 

In China, Hudson Taylor prayed for finances for the ministry to continue and not be diminished.  At the same time, 6,000 miles away, George Mueller was praying that he could be involved in reaching the lost in China. Whether they ever realized it or not, they had come into agreement in prayer. God used Mueller’s faith to be coupled with Taylor’s faith—and the kingdom of God was expanded.

I had always limited Matthew 18:19 to mean having prayer with someone I knew or was personally meeting with. I understand now that when God burdens me to pray for something or someone, it doesn’t matter if I know them or not. I am praying first in agreement with the Holy Spirit who has led me to pray and also with that other person. I will never know just what my prayers, done in this manner, accomplish this side of heaven but that’s okay with me. The revelation of what God did through Mueller and Taylor has put a new intensity into my prayer times for people in nations where heavy persecution is taking place.