“My feelings on stepping ashore I cannot attempt to describe. My heart felt as though it had not room and must burst its bonds, while tears of gratitude and thankfulness fell from my eyes.” So wrote Hudson Taylor of the moment he stepped onto land at Shanghai, China on this day, March 1, 1854.

He was alone among 500 million souls, knew no one nor where to turn, but he had learned much about trusting the Lord. At first nothing worked out. With no income he could do little. Civil war began and rival gangs slaughtered people before his horrified eyes. He learnt to speak Chinese and adopted native dress and sought to establish a thoroughly native church because he understood the Chinese wanted little to do with foreign ways. He did not tell others of his financial needs, trusting the Lord to provide all his needs.

He prayed specifically for more missionaries. One year he prayed for 70 missionaries. The Lord sent 76. Another year he asked for 100 and got 102. At his death in June 1905, the China Inland Mission had 205 missionaries. Through unwavering faith and perseverance, he overcame huge difficulties. Today the Chinese church is one of the fastest growing in the world because of the faithful evangelism of Taylor.

New Christians all over the world owe their first contact with Jesus to men and women such as this. Please remember them in your prayers. Best blessings

Alan Frauenstein