DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT TUESDAY - CLASSICAL TESTIMONIES… HAROLD WILDISH – MAN OF FAITH!
They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. – Revelation 12:11.By way of encouragement, I would like to devote Tuesdays to classical testimonies which have brought great blessing and glory to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. These are of men and women, who have faithfully served for the Kingdom of God. My prayer is that you will be blessed, encouraged, and inspired by these testimonies as I was. Enjoy…
The first time that Harold Wildish tried to preach, he was eighteen years old. His audience was a group of late night English drinkers. As soon as he began to speak, a man shouted, "Sonny, does your mother know you are here? Why, you can't even grow any hair on your face."
Suddenly a man pushed his way through the crowd. It was Harold's dad. "My wife and I knew our son was out," he said. "We would far sooner see him preaching the gospel than spending his nights drinking or carousing... I'm ashamed that a man of your age would sneer at a young fellow wanting to tell others about Christ." The result was that, as Harold went home wounded, his father led the heckler to Christ. The heckler, it turned out, had a son in prison at the time.
Converted to Christ at the age of twelve, Harold had hidden the knowledge in his heart for five years. Then he heard the words "Everyone shall give an account of himself to God," and he vowed to open his mouth for Jesus.
After completing his education, he expected God to dramatically show him what to do next. No brilliant light shone from heaven, however. In desperation, he prayed one night to know God's will before midnight. He came home to find a note propped on the mantle. Someone had written him a letter quoting the great commission (which tells Christians to go into the whole world) and with it other words encouraging him to be a missionary.
Three years later, Harold received a letter from Christians in Many Lands asking him to take the place of a man who could not go to the Amazon. He had less than five dollars (one English pound) to his name. He spread the letter on his bed and asked the Lord to supply what he needed. The next morning, he received 25 pounds in a letter from a Christian businessman. "But I must have 35," he told the Lord.
The following day, he received ten more pounds (about $49) from the same businessman. "I could not sleep last night for thinking about you," wrote the man. "I believe you must need the enclosed ten pounds." And that is how it came about that on this day, June 6, 1925, Harold Wildish stepped aboard the Amakura, bound for South America with two other mission men.
They did not win any converts for a long time. God had to deliver them from Indians who would have killed them. Seeing no success, Harold became discouraged. "Why am I here?" he asked. Shortly afterward, a young woman converted to Christ. Her father brutally beat her and left her alone in the jungle to die. Harold had to ask himself if his faith could compare with hers.
The boy who spoke so awkwardly at his first attempt, went on to become a powerful evangelist. After repeated cases of malaria forced him to leave the Amazon, he turned his attention to evangelizing the West Indies. He also wrote several books about the Christian life.
As you leave the whole burden of your sin, and rest upon the finished work of Christ, so leave the whole burden of your life and service, and rest upon the present inworking of the Holy Spirit. Give yourself up... to be led by the Holy Spirit and go forward praising and at rest, leaving Him to manage you and your day. Cultivate the habit... of joyfully depending on and obeying Him, expecting Him to guide, to enlighten, to reprove, to teach, to use, and to do in and with you what He wills. Count on His working as a fact, entirely apart from sight or feeling. Only let us believe in and obey the Holy Spirit as the Ruler of our lives, and cease from the burden of trying to manage ourselves; then shall the fruit of the Spirit appear in us to the glory of God. – Quote by Harold Wildish, British Bible teacher and - missionary to Jamaica, in mid-1900s
Are you willing to do whatever it takes and give your all to win the lost to Christ? Then like, Harold Wildish, put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the water, and dare to follow Jesus wherever He leads you?
The first time that Harold Wildish tried to preach, he was eighteen years old. His audience was a group of late night English drinkers. As soon as he began to speak, a man shouted, "Sonny, does your mother know you are here? Why, you can't even grow any hair on your face."
Suddenly a man pushed his way through the crowd. It was Harold's dad. "My wife and I knew our son was out," he said. "We would far sooner see him preaching the gospel than spending his nights drinking or carousing... I'm ashamed that a man of your age would sneer at a young fellow wanting to tell others about Christ." The result was that, as Harold went home wounded, his father led the heckler to Christ. The heckler, it turned out, had a son in prison at the time.
Converted to Christ at the age of twelve, Harold had hidden the knowledge in his heart for five years. Then he heard the words "Everyone shall give an account of himself to God," and he vowed to open his mouth for Jesus.
After completing his education, he expected God to dramatically show him what to do next. No brilliant light shone from heaven, however. In desperation, he prayed one night to know God's will before midnight. He came home to find a note propped on the mantle. Someone had written him a letter quoting the great commission (which tells Christians to go into the whole world) and with it other words encouraging him to be a missionary.
Three years later, Harold received a letter from Christians in Many Lands asking him to take the place of a man who could not go to the Amazon. He had less than five dollars (one English pound) to his name. He spread the letter on his bed and asked the Lord to supply what he needed. The next morning, he received 25 pounds in a letter from a Christian businessman. "But I must have 35," he told the Lord.
The following day, he received ten more pounds (about $49) from the same businessman. "I could not sleep last night for thinking about you," wrote the man. "I believe you must need the enclosed ten pounds." And that is how it came about that on this day, June 6, 1925, Harold Wildish stepped aboard the Amakura, bound for South America with two other mission men.
They did not win any converts for a long time. God had to deliver them from Indians who would have killed them. Seeing no success, Harold became discouraged. "Why am I here?" he asked. Shortly afterward, a young woman converted to Christ. Her father brutally beat her and left her alone in the jungle to die. Harold had to ask himself if his faith could compare with hers.
The boy who spoke so awkwardly at his first attempt, went on to become a powerful evangelist. After repeated cases of malaria forced him to leave the Amazon, he turned his attention to evangelizing the West Indies. He also wrote several books about the Christian life.
As you leave the whole burden of your sin, and rest upon the finished work of Christ, so leave the whole burden of your life and service, and rest upon the present inworking of the Holy Spirit. Give yourself up... to be led by the Holy Spirit and go forward praising and at rest, leaving Him to manage you and your day. Cultivate the habit... of joyfully depending on and obeying Him, expecting Him to guide, to enlighten, to reprove, to teach, to use, and to do in and with you what He wills. Count on His working as a fact, entirely apart from sight or feeling. Only let us believe in and obey the Holy Spirit as the Ruler of our lives, and cease from the burden of trying to manage ourselves; then shall the fruit of the Spirit appear in us to the glory of God. – Quote by Harold Wildish, British Bible teacher and - missionary to Jamaica, in mid-1900s
Are you willing to do whatever it takes and give your all to win the lost to Christ? Then like, Harold Wildish, put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the water, and dare to follow Jesus wherever He leads you?
Loving Father, I thank you for the life of Harold Wildish, and I pray that anyone reading this may be inspired by his testimony to give their life to you, and that you would use them in the same way, as you used Harold. By the power of the Holy Spirit, help me to be a person of like faith, that I may bring glory to your name. In the wonderful and mighty name of Jesus I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged.
GBYAY
PS. I have found it difficult to find out what happened to Harold, I know that he married Marion Arrol, and had a son, and became an itinerant evangelist speaking many times at Keswick Conferences in the UK, and can be downloaded as MP3’s, here.
He wrote this…The Glorious Secret,
If anyone has anymore information on what happened to Harold, I would appreciate it if you could let me know.
GBYAY
PS. I have found it difficult to find out what happened to Harold, I know that he married Marion Arrol, and had a son, and became an itinerant evangelist speaking many times at Keswick Conferences in the UK, and can be downloaded as MP3’s, here.
He wrote this…The Glorious Secret,
If anyone has anymore information on what happened to Harold, I would appreciate it if you could let me know.
Labels: Harold Wildish, Missionary, Tuesday's Classical Testimony
posted by John @ 12:09 AM
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