XI
“A MAN SENT FROM GOD”

Thou on the Lord rely,
So safe shalt thou go on
Fix on His work thy steadfast eye,
So shall thy work be done.
PAUL GERHARDT.
HAPPY the man, called to go forward in any pathway of faith, who has in
his life-companion only sympathy and help. For seven and a half years —
perfect years as concerned their married life — Hudson Taylor had known
no disappointment in the one he loved, and she did not fail him now. Frail
in health and only twenty-eight years of age, Mrs. Taylor’s hands were
full with the care of four young children, yet from the moment she learned
of her husband’s call to the great, the seemingly impossible task of the
evangelization of inland China she became in a new way his comfort and
inspiration. Her hand wrote for him, her faith strengthened his own, her
prayers undergirded the whole work and her practical experience and
loving heart made her the Mother of the Mission.
For very soon the larger house at Coborn Street into which they had
moved began to fill up with candidates for China. The parlors that had
seemed so spacious could scarcely accommodate the friends who gathered
for the Saturday prayer meeting. The fifty dollars (all he had) with which
Mr. Taylor had opened a bank account in the name of “The China Inland
Mission” grew into hundreds, through the voluntary, unasked gifts of
those who desired to have part in the work; and plans began to form
themselves for the outgoing of the first party.
Picture then the sitting room at Number 30 Coborn Street on Sunday —
the only day when Mr. Taylor could find time for quiet writing. At the
table Mrs. Taylor is seated, pen in hand, while he paces to and fro,
absorbed in the subject on their hearts. For the articles Mr. Lewis
suggested have taken on new meaning. There is not only an urgent need to
make known, but a new departure, a definite effort to meet that need in
dependence upon God. China’s Spiritual Need and Claims was the
pamphlet that came into being as they prayed and wrote, wrote and
prayed; and perhaps no book of modern times proved more effective in
moving the hearts of the people of God. How many it sent to China as
edition after edition was published, how many it drew into sympathy
with missionary work the wide world over, how it strengthened faith and
quickened prayer and devotion will never be known until the secrets of all
hearts are revealed. “Every sentence was steeped in prayer,” and every
sentence seemed to live with the power of God.
The book made many friends and many openings. It had to be reprinted
within three weeks of publication, and drew forth letters such as the
following from the late Lord Radstock:
I have read your pamphlet and have been greatly stirred by it. I trust you
may be enabled by the Holy Spirit to speak words which will thrust forth
many laborers into the vineyard. Dear Brother, enlarge your desires! Ask
for a hundred laborers, and the Lord will give them to you. 12
Not a hundred, however, but just twenty-four was the first objective, and
a well-worn Bible lies before us now in which that prayer is recorded in
Mr. Taylor’s clear though faded writing. Far from being elated at the turn
events were taking, success only added to his sense of responsibility, and
it was a man burdened with a God-given message who moved from place
to place that memorable winter, awakening other hearts to a like
God-consciousness.
For it seemed a new thing, in those days, to talk about faith as a sufficient
financial basis for missionary undertakings at the other end of the world.
“Faith missions” were unheard of, the only organizations then in existence
being the regular denominational boards. But Hudson Taylor, young
though he was, had learned to know God in a very real way. He had seen
Him, as he wrote, quell the raging of a storm at sea, in answer to definite
prayer, alter the direction of the wind, and give rain in a time of drought.
He had seen Him, in answer to prayer, stay the hand of would-be
murderers and quell the violence of enraged men. He had seen Him rebuke
sickness in answer to prayer, and raise up the dying, when all hope of
recovery seemed gone.13 For more than eight years he had proved His
faithfulness in supplying the needs of his family and work in answer to
prayer, unforeseen as many of those needs had been. How could he but
encourage others to put their trust in the love that cannot forget, the
faithfulness that cannot fail?
We have to do with One (he reminded his hearers) who is Lord of all
power and might, whose arm is not shortened that it cannot save, nor His
ear heavy that it cannot hear; with One whose unchanging Word directs us
to ask and receive that our joy may be full, to open our mouths wide, that
He may fill them. And we do well to remember that this gracious God,
who has condescended to place His almighty power at the command of
believing prayer looks not lightly on the blood guiltiness of those who
neglect to avail themselves of it for the benefit of the perishing....
To those who have never been called to prove the faithfulness of the
covenant-keeping God... it might seem a hazardous experiment to send
twenty-four European evangelists to a distant heathen land “with only
God to look to”; but in one whose privilege it has been, through many
years, to put that God to the test — at home and abroad, by land and sea,
in sickness and in health, in dangers, necessities, and at the gates of death
— such apprehensions would be wholly inexcusable.
The work they were undertaking was far too great to be limited to any one
denomination. The fact that the Mission offered no salaries was in itself
enough to deter all but those whose experience made them sure of God,
and such souls possess a union in more than name.
We had to consider (Mr. Taylor continued) whether it would not be
possible for members of various denominations to work together on
simple, evangelistic lines, without friction as to conscientious differences
of opinion. Prayerfully concluding that it would, we decided to invite the
cooperation of fellow-believers, irrespective of denominational views, who
fully held the inspiration of God’s Word and were willing to prove their
faith by going to inland China with only the guarantee they carried in their
Bibles.
That Word said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things (food and raiment) shall be added unto you.” If anyone
did not believe that God spoke the truth, it would be better for him not to
go to China to propagate the faith; if he did believe it, surely the promise
sufficed. Again, we have the assurance, “No good thing will he withhold
from them that walk up rightly.” If anyone did not mean to walk up
rightly, he had better stay at home; if he did mean to walk up rightly, he
had all he needed in the shape of a guarantee fund. God owns all the gold
and silver in the world, and the cattle on a thousand hills. We need not be
vegetarians!
We might indeed have had a guarantee fund if we had wished it; but we felt
that it was unnecessary and would do harm. Money wrongly placed and
money given from wrong motives are both greatly to be dreaded. We can
afford to have as little as the Lord chooses to give, but we cannot afford to
have unconcentrated money, or to have money placed in the wrong
position. Far better have no money, even to buy bread with. There are
plenty of ravens in China, and the Lord could send them again with bread
and flesh.... He sustained three million Israelites in the wilderness for forty
years. We do not expect Him to send three million missionaries to China,
but if He did He would have ample means to sustain them all.
Let us see that we keep God before our eyes; that we walk in His ways
and seek to please and glorify Him in everything great and small. Depend
upon it, God’s work, done in God’s way, will never lack God’s supplies.
One thing greatly concerned Mr. Taylor, and that was that the new
enterprise should not deflect men or means from previously existing
agencies. Robbing Peter to pay Paul, in this sense, would be no advantage
to the work of God. To open the way for workers who might not be
accepted by other missions, whose preparation had not included
university training, was part of the plan, and no one was to be asked to
join the Inland Mission. If the Lord of the harvest wanted them in that
particular field, He would put it into their hearts to offer. In the same way,
there were to be no appeals for money. If the Mission could be sustained
in answer to prayer, without subscription lists or solicitation of any kind
for funds, it might grow up among the older societies without danger of
diverting gifts from their accustomed channels. It might even be helpful, by
directing attention to the Great Worker, and affording a practical
illustration of its underlying principle that God, God alone, is sufficient
for God’s own work.
For the rest, they were content with little in the way of organization. It
was wonderful how provision was made for the home side of the work. In
Mr. and Mrs. Berger of Saint Hill, friends had been raised up who bore it
upon their hearts almost as did Mr. and Mrs. Taylor. They prayed for it
and lived for it with equal devotion, turning their beautiful home into a
center for all the interests of the Mission.
When I decided to go forward (Mr. Taylor said of this relationship), Mr.
Berger undertook to represent us at home. The thing grew up gradually.
We were much drawn together. The Mission received its name in his
drawing room. Neither of us asked or appointed the other — it just was
so.
Essential, spiritual principles were talked over with the candidates and
clearly understood as the basis of the Mission. A few, simple
arrangements were agreed to in writing, in Mr. Berger’s presence, that was
all.
We came out as God’s children at God’s command (was Mr. Taylor’s
simple statement) to do God’s work, depending on Him for supplies; to
wear native dress and to go inland. I was to be the leader in China.... There
was no question as to who was to determine points at issue.
In the same way, Mr. Berger was responsible at home. He would
correspond with candidates, receive and forward contributions, publish an
Occasional Paper with audited accounts, send out suitable reinforcements
as funds permitted and keep clear of debt. This last was a cardinal
principle with all concerned. 14
It is really just as easy (as Mr. Taylor pointed out) for God to give
beforehand, and He much prefers to do so. He is too wise to allow His
purposes to be frustrated for lack of a little money; but money obtained in
unspiritual ways is sure to hinder blessing.
There were problems, many of them, that only experience could solve, and
Mr. Berger’s practical illustration often came to mind. He was a man of
affairs, a manufacturer of starch, at the head of a prosperous business. He
knew that like the trees on his estate, a live thing will grow.
You must wait for a tree to grow (he said in this connection) before there
can be much in the way of branches. First you have only a slender stem,
with a few leaves or shoots. Then little twigs appear. Ultimately, these
may become great limbs, all but separate trees. But it takes time and
patience. If there is life, it will develop after its own order.
The many answers to prayer, as the first party of the Mission made their
preparations for sailing, cannot be dwelt upon now. Wonderful indeed
they were! so much so that an inset had to be put into the first Occasional
Paper saying that the whole sum referred to as needed for passage and
outfits was already in hand. But behind these experiences lay the noon
hour of prayer every day in Mr. Taylor’s home, as well as the weekly
gathering there and at Saint Hill and special days for prayer and fasting. It
all meant a very close and happy walk with God.
Human nothingness, divine sufficiency — the one just as real as the other
— was the atmosphere of those last days at Coborn Street. Friends could
not come and go without feeling it. Among packing-cases and bundles, the
last prayer meetings were held, people crowding the rooms and staircase,
sitting on anything that came to hand. On the wall still hung the map; on
the table lay the open Bible.
Our great desire and aim (Mr. Taylor had written of the new mission) are
to plant the standard of the Cross in the eleven provinces of China
hitherto unoccupied, and in Chinese Tartary.
“A foolhardy business,” said those who saw only the difficulties.
“A superhuman task,” sighed others who wished them well And many
even of their friends could not but be anxious.
“You will be forgotten,” was the concern of some. “With no committee or
organization before the public, you will be lost sight of in that distant land.
Claims are many nowadays. Before long you may find yourselves without
even the necessaries of life!”
“I am taking my children with me,” was the quiet answer, “and I notice it
is not difficult to remember that they need breakfast in the morning, dinner
at midday and supper at night. Indeed, I could not forget them if I tried.
And I find it impossible to think that our heavenly Father is less tender
and mindful of His children than I, a poor earthly father, am of mine. No,
He will not forget us!”
And through all the years since then, with all they have brought, that
confidence has been amply justified.