DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT TUESDAY - CLASSIC TESTIMONIES…. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

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.

Cardiff is a seaport and the capital of Wales--a city graced with many historic buildings and overlooked by a castle on a hill. A town of fewer than 2,000 people in 1801, its population multiplied into the hundreds of thousands in the 19th century. Martyn Lloyd-Jones contributed to that population boom when he was born in Cardiff on, December 20, 1899.

Martyn's childhood had at least one highlight: In January, 1910, his home caught on fire while he and his brothers were sleeping. All of them could easily have lost their lives. The family did lose almost everything they owned and their shaky finances never recovered. As a result, Martyn set out with real determination to succeed.

He entered a London medical school, completing all his exams at such a young age that he had to wait for his degree until his age caught up with his education. He became the chief clinical assistant of a leading physician, Sir Thomas Horder. Horder described Martyn as "the most acute thinker that I ever knew." Martyn faced the prospect of a brilliant and financially rewarding career. But something happened to change that.

Martyn had joined a Calvinist Methodist church when he was fifteen-years-old. Around 1924, he began to seriously consider his spiritual condition. "For many years I thought I was a Christian when in fact I was not. It was only later that I came to see that I had never been a Christian and became one." Reading the Bible for himself and pondering its meaning, he eventually realized that "What I needed was preaching that would convict me of sin and ... bring me to repentance and tell me something about regeneration. But I never heard that. The preaching we had was always based on the assumption that we were all Christians..."

Martyn asked Christ to become master of his life. As soon as he had made that decision, he was overwhelmed with a longing to return to Wales to share his new-found faith with the folks back home.

He took a small church in Aberavon, Wales. Local doctors snubbed him, thinking he was going to poach on their patients. But Martyn wanted instead to win souls. He preached clear, analytical messages. Working men and women came to know Christ. Notorious alcoholics converted to Christ. Other churches invited him to speak.

A few years after Martyn came to Aberavon, a local doctor asked for help with a difficult medical case. Martyn diagnosed the problem at once and proved completely right. After that, demands for his medical assistance increased to the point that they almost threatened his pastoral work.

His name became increasingly well-known. G. Campbell Morgan, another pastor with a powerful ministry, invited him to come to Westminster Chapel. Martyn accepted the Westminster invitation in 1938. Publication of his powerful sermons made him internationally famous. He died in 1981.

Are you willing to do whatever it takes, and give all you have, to win the lost to Christ? Then like, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, 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 Martyn Lloyd-Jones, 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 Martyn. 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

DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT TUESDAY - CLASSIC TESTIMONIES… Dr. Helen Roseveare.

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.

On August 7, 1964 Congo rebels captured Stanleyville (now known as Kisangani). In the four years since Congo's independence from Belgium, most white people had fled from the nation or been captured or killed. Because Helen Roseveare was a doctor, her life was spared, although not without many serious incidents. For example, someone tried to poison her, but her dog ate the food intended for her and died instead.

Helen was well aware of her danger. Many mission women had been raped by the marauding rebel armies. She stayed on, believing that "If Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him." That was her mission's motto. She reasoned that if an earlier generation of missionaries to Africa had died of malaria and other jungle diseases for the sake of God and his glory, then God might well demand a different kind of sacrifice of her as he already had of other women missionaries.

Part of the sacrifice that God asked was her struggle with pride as Africans took over and sometimes mismanaged mission affairs. She also lost sleep many nights when terror overtook her. Peace was even harder to attain after her house was looted of every worthwhile item. She continued to learn to see God in the details of her life, to trust him more fully. She had been coming toward total trust in God all of her life, between bouts of depression, often brought on by overwork and by Satan's insinuation that she was not really a Christian because she was capable of spells of anger and bitterness and other sins.

"I was unable to reach the standard I myself had set, let alone God's. Try as I would, I met only frustration in this longing to achieve, to be worthy." She came to recognize that hatred of sin is a gift of the Holy Spirit and she prayed that God would make her "willing to be made willing to hate what he hated."

On Saturday, August 15, 1964, a truck-load of soldiers took over the hospital compound at Nobobongo. They occupied it for five months. "They were brutal and coarse, rough and domineering. Their language was threatening and obscene. All of us were cowed. We did exactly what they demanded, mostly without argument." Tension was terrific.
"We heard that the local chief had been caught, bound and beaten; then he was taken to the people's tribunal at Wamba, found guilty, flayed alive and eaten. No wonder we did not sleep well. No wonder we were not hungry."

Then Helen and others were taken away. "...We were put off at a house in the jungle--nineteen defenseless women and children surrounded by some seventy-five men, soldiers and others, all filled with hatred and evil intentions toward us...And in my heart was an amazing peace, a realization that I was being highly privileged to be identified with [Christ] in a new way, in the way of Calvary."

Although raped and humiliated by the rebels, Helen found that God gave her an even deeper love for the Congo people. In 1965 she returned to pick up her medical mission work. She had learned through her painful experience that participation in Christ's suffering is necessary to each of us if we are to fulfill his will in this world.

Are you willing to do whatever it takes, and give your all, to win the lost to Christ? Then like, Are you willing to do whatever it takes, and give your all, to win the lost to Christ? Then like, Helen Roseveare, 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 Helen Roseveare, and I pray that anyone reading this may be inspired by her testimony to give their life to you, and that you would use them in the same way, as you used Helen. 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

DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT TUESDAY - CLASSIC TESTIMONIES… Ann Hasseltine Judson.

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.

Many of her friends and neighbours thought Ann was wild and romantic when she went off to India in 1812. It was unthinkable then that a young woman would travel to some little known spot on the globe to work among the heathen in primitive surroundings. It meant leaving behind her family with little hope of seeing them again in this world. But Ann Hasseltine Judson insisted on going; she knew this was the work God had called her to do.

Ann Hasseltine was born in Bradford, Massachusetts the same year the young United States began its government under the Constitution 1789. When she was a teenager Ann accepted Christ as her Savior and began to spend time in Bible study and prayer. She wanted to be used by God and prayed, Direct me in Thy service, and I ask no more. I would not choose my position of work, or place of labor. Only let me know Thy will, and I will readily comply.

What A Honeymoon!
By 1810, when she was 21, Ann wanted to become a missionary to foreign lands. So did the Congregational minister named Adoniram Judson that she married on February 5, 1812; the next day, the newlyweds sailed from Salem, Massachusetts for Calcutta, India! Six other missionaries were also sent to Calcutta. At that time the government in India and the East India Company were opposed to missions, and they were soon ordered to leave the country.

So the Judson’s began their missionary work in Burma, located between India and China. The gospel had never reached that land of over 15 million people, and Ann prayed, O thou Light of the world, dissipate the thick darkness which covers Burma, and let thy light arise and shine. O display thy grace and power among the Burmese. Subdue them to thyself, and make them thy chosen people.

The Judson’s settled in Rangoon, the principle seaport of Burma, and began learning the language. There were no rapid conversions, but Ann and Adoniram were "sensible that the hearts of the heathen, as well as those of Christians, are in the hands of God, and in his own time he will turn them unto him." The Burmans frequently told the Judson’s, "Your religion is good for you, ours for us." The missionaries hoped the lives they lived would convince the Burmese people that Christianity was good for them as well. Even so, there were only eighteen converts after nine years in Rangoon.

Ann and Adoniram learned the Burmese language and translated the Scriptures. The Burmans had no idea of a God who was eternal, without beginning or end, and it was difficult to find words to accurately describe the Christian truths. Nevertheless, within three years the Judson’s had prepared a Burmese grammar, printed two tracts, and translated the gospel of Matthew. Ann had formed a society of native women who met together on Sundays to pray and read the Scriptures.

Home to Recoup and Recruit
In spite of difficult living conditions, Ann came to love Burma as a place where she had learned much of the Lord' s mercy and grace. It was difficult for her to leave her adopted land in 1822, when a severe liver problem forced her to return to America. While in America, Ann wrote a history of the Burmese mission that was widely read in America and encouraged many to become missionaries. Ann awakened many to the conditions of the Burmese women and the importance of female missionaries working among them.

When Ann returned to her home in Rangoon in 1823, war between Britain and Burma was threatening. When war did break out, the Burmese thought the Americans to be associates of the British, and Adoniram was thrown into death prison. Ann, then two months pregnant, became a prisoner in the inner room of her own house. She valiantly pled with government officials for her husband' s life and was secretly able to bring supplies and food to Adoniram and his fellow prisoners.

Stand By Your Man
Shortly after their daughter was born, Adoniram caught a tropical fever. Ann devotedly cared for him from a small hut near the prison gate. One night, however, Adoniram was moved secretly to another prison. He was forced to walk barefoot eight miles over sand and gravel. The soles of his feet were raw flesh, and he was near death when he finally arrived at Oung-pen-le. Ann took her three-month-old daughter and followed after her husband. She was able to share a room with the jailer and his family, but became seriously ill herself from both smallpox and spotted fever. Ann later wrote her brother: The acme of my distress, consisted in the awful uncertainty of our final fate. My prevailing opinion was, that my husband would suffer violent death; and that I should, of course, become a slave. But the consolation of religion, in these trying circumstances, were neither ' few nor small!' It taught me to look beyond this world, to that rest, where Jesus reigns and oppression never enters.

When Burma and the British made peace, Adoniram was released and united with his wife and infant daughter. Ann, however, was still weak. She died of a fever on October 24, 1826. Her daughter died within six months. Ann Hasseltine Judson was the first woman missionary to leave America; her story of constant love for Christ encouraged many other women to serve Christ on the mission field.

Staying on
In spite of his suffering at the hands of the Burmans, Adoniram stayed in Burma to bring the gospel of Christ to the people. After twenty-four years he completed a translation of the entire Bible into Burmese. By the time of his death in 1850, Burma had sixty-three churches with 163 missionaries and native church leaders.

Are you willing to do whatever it takes, and give your all, to win the lost to Christ? Then like, the Judson’s, 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 lives of the Judson’s, and I pray that anyone reading this may be inspired by their testimony to give their life to you, and that you would use them in the same way, as you used the Judson’s. 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

DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT TUESDAY - CLASSIC TESTIMONIES… Corrie ten Boom.

Corrie woke on the morning of, February 28, 1944 with the flu. For two days she had suffered with it. Every tiny sound shot through her throbbing head, making her miserable. She wanted to shout to everyone, "Get out." But she couldn't do that. The secret compartment in which she hid Jews opened through her room. For safety's sake, their bedding and belongings had to be stowed out of sight during the day. She would simply have to endure the jolting sounds which jabbed at her like daggers.

She fell back to sleep. Betsie woke her, a cup of tea in hand. There was a man to see Corrie, she said. He claimed to be from the underground. Betsie had never seen him before.

Corrie weakly struggled down the stairs, clinging to the rail so as not to fall. The caller made her uneasy. He would not meet her eyes. His wife had been arrested for hiding Jews, he said. He needed money to bribe the police for her release. Somehow Corrie wasn't sure about his story. But then, what if it was true? She arranged for the money and struggled back upstairs to bed.

Through the fog of feverish sleep she seemed to hear a buzzer ringing. People rushed past her, bolting for the secret room. Corrie came awake. It was the emergency buzzer and this was no drill. Her family was betrayed!

Leaping from bed, she slammed shut the sliding door behind the last of the Jews. Then with horror she saw her bag on the floor, the one with the addresses of her contacts. She opened the hidden door and flung that into the hiding place also. Desperately she shut the door again, hoping she was quicker than the Gestapo. She had just fallen back into bed when the secret police entered.

Corrie and Betsy were interrogated by their captors. "Where are you hiding the Jews," they were asked? The two women refused to speak. The officers struck them in the face. When they saw that the family members would not speak, they led them from the house and took them to various prisons.

In prison, the Lord helped Corrie and Betsy retain their witness for Him-- the witness which had made them protect Jews from the Nazis. In camps that crawled with fleas and were oppressed by evil, they led desperate souls to Christ and shared the fellowship of His sufferings.

Through a clerical error, Corrie was released. The rest of the ten Booms died in prison or soon after. Corrie became a "tramp" for the Lord, spreading the gospel of forgiveness from sins to many nations. Her powerful testimony was made into the film The Hiding Place and reached millions with its call to live lives of courage and faith.

Are you willing to do whatever it takes, and give all you have, to win the lost to Christ? Then like, Corrie ten Boom, 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 Corrie ten Boom, and I pray that anyone reading this may be inspired by her testimony to give their life to you, and that you would use them in the same way, as you used Corrie. 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

DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT TUESDAY - CLASSIC TESTIMONIES… MARY JONES AND HER BIBLE.

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.

Many years ago, a little girl lived with her mother in a small grey stone cottage in the Welsh countryside. Her home was in a green valley in the shadow of a mountain, and from there you could sometimes see the sea in the far distance. Her father was a weaver who worked very hard to support his family but sadly he died when Mary was young.

‘Mary, Mary!’ called a distant voice. ‘Coming, Mother …’ Mary Jones knew what was expected of a nine-year-old girl. Without grumbling, she would do her share of the chores around her home. She would scrub the floors, feed the chickens, cook and help to keep the house tidy.

On Sunday mornings, Mary dressed in her Sunday best, would walk to the little chapel in the village two miles away. At the front, the minister would open a large, black, leather-bound book. As he began to read, Mary would marvel at the wonderful words and store them up in her heart. After the service, she would go cautiously up to look at the impressive book. There were two words printed in gold on its cover. Mary guessed that these said ‘Holy Bible’ because she had heard the minister mention the name of the book. The words inside looked odd to her. ‘How can anyone ever make sense of these squiggles?’ she thought. ‘Oh, how I wish I could read this book for myself, or even have one for my own!’

Then, on Sunday morning, the minister, announced that a school was to open in the village. Mary was excited. ‘Now I can learn to read,’ she said, ‘and make sense of those strange marks in the book at chapel.’

The schoolmaster, Mr Evans, and his wife moved into a farmhouse not far from Mary’s home. Mary worked extra hard to finish her chores quickly so that she could go to the Evans’ house to learn to read. Her parents saw how hard their daughter worked at both schoolwork and her duties at home.

Months passed and seasons changed, until at last Mary was asked to read from the chapel Bible one Sunday morning. She was not very tall, so a special wooden box for her to stand on so that she could see the words properly. Now the squiggles were no longer strange to her. She read perfectly. Mr and Mrs Jones were very proud of their daughter.

After the service, Mary rushed up to her mother. ‘I must have a Bible, I must have a Bible!’ she cried. Her mother gently placed his hand on her shoulder. ‘But Mary, Bibles are expensive, and we haven’t much money.’

‘I know, I know, that’s why I am going to save up for one, and I don’t care how long it takes me. I’ll do jobs for other people, I’ll save all my pennies, I’ll do anything just to have my own Bible.’
And that is exactly what Mary did. For six long years she saved all she could until the day came when she had enough money to buy a Bible. Mr Evans had told her that there was a man in a town called Bala who had a number of Bibles. Mary, now fifteen, told her mother that she was going to walk to Bala.

Her mother exclaimed, ‘Daughter, that’s nearly twenty-five miles away!’ But there was no changing Mary’s mind she had waited too long for that. So, with her purse of money and some bread and cheese tied up in a bundle, she set off.

The journey to Bala seemed endless. Mary followed many paths, crossed valleys and streams and found her way around hills. As her weariness grew and her aching limbs seemed almost too much to bear, she muttered words of encouragement to herself. ‘Come on, Mary, not much further now,’ she thought. Eventually she came to the brow of a hill, from which she could see the edge of a town. Dusk was falling, and candlelight had begun to flicker in cottage windows. Mary's heart pounded with excitement. Here was Bala at last! She recognised it from Mr Evans’ clear description. With renewed energy and a new determination, she set off again down the hill.

Mary asked for directions to find Mr Charles. After knocking on several doors and asking for directions, she found his house. She ran up the garden path and knocked loudly on the large oak door.

As it was opened, Mary made her request for a Bible, the words tumbling over themselves in her eagerness: ‘I’ve walked twenty-five miles to get here, I’ve saved up for six years to buy a Bible, I’ve got the money here, you can count it if you like, please can I have a Bible?’

Mr Charles was taken aback. ‘You had better come in and tell me all about it, but first you must have something to eat. You must be famished.’ He smiled kindly and beckoned the housekeeper to take Mary to the kitchen. After she had eaten, Mary told Mr Charles everything. He was moved by her account. And he held out to her a brand new Bible. Mary stared at it for a long moment before taking it with both hands. Then she expressed her heartfelt thanks.

The next morning, Mary, clutching her treasured possession, said goodbye to Mr Charles and started on her way home. She arrived to a grand reception. It seemed as if everyone was there. Her mother threw her arms around her and hugged her. Nearby stood Mr Evans and the minister, smiling broadly and clapping their hands. Everyone was cheering and wanted Mary to show them her Bible. As she held the book up for all to see, she murmured a few quiet words. ‘Thank you, Jesus, thank you Mr Charles,’ she said.

In his study, Mr Charles remembered how the young girl had disappeared over the brow of a hill still holding the new Bible to her chest. He began to think of all the other Mary Joneses who must be wanting Bibles, not only in Wales but in England, Scotland, Ireland, and even in other more distant lands.

In 1804, the British and Foreign Bible Society was formed by Thomas Charles and other important men in response to needs which stories like that of Mary Jones had brought to light. Bible Society is working for the day when the Bible’sGod-given revelation, inspiration and wisdom is shaping the lives and communities everywhere.

Are you willing to do whatever it takes, and give all you have, to win the lost to Christ? Then like, Mary Jones, 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 Mary Jones, and I pray that anyone reading this may be inspired by her testimony to give their life to you, and that you would use them in the same way, as you used Mary. 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

DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT TUESDAY - CLASSIC TESTIMONIES… James Gilmour, Apostle to Mongolia… The conclusion.

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.

13. Mrs. Gilmour's Death. Affliction finally took hold of Mrs. Gilmour, the disease sure of its prey, no matter how long it would be in securing it. Six weeks before the end came they talked over spiritual things, lest later she might not be able to speak of them. In simple, childlike faith, on September 19, 1885, she passed away and the eleven years of happy married life were brought to an end.

14. Phases of His Work. Tobacco, opium, and whiskey were the three great evils of the Mongolians and against them Gilmour presented Christ with great power. He made abstinence from all three conditions of church membership. Opposition was strong, but he stood his ground, declaring that "to leave Christians drinking whiskey and smoking tobacco would be preaching forgiveness of sin thru Christ to men who were still going on in the practice of what their consciences told them was sin."

Imagine his embarrassment when he had to acknowledge to a deputation of Mongolians, favorably-disposed to Christianity, who came to him to know if it were true that a certain missionary in Peking smoked after he preached, that this was true. These men left and never returned to hear him. Still he was undaunted. Christ he would preach and leave the results with his Lord. He went afoot to save expense and was barred from decent inns because he was a tramp. He hired a donkey to carry his baggage, to give him respectability. An agent of the Bible Society and a native quarreled.

This spread and met Gilmour everywhere he went, and people told him they did not want a religion that was not better than their own. Alone he pressed forward, sowing in tears as few missionaries ever are called upon to do; lonely and alone, is it any wonder that he had seasons of depression and urged the church at home to pray for him, and help him with her sympathy? He was willing to be all things lawful in order to win some trophies of the cross.

He became a vegetarian to win some of higher moral standards; he dressed like a shopkeeper; ate porridge, native fashion, in the street in order to win souls for Christ. His living expenses averaged about six cents per day. Some think he shortened his usefulness by such methods, but none were as capable of judging what was best as he who was on the field and understood conditions.

15. His Work. Upon reaching a new city he pitched his tent on a main thoroughfare, and from early morn till late at night healed the sick, preached and talked to inquirers. During one eight months' campaign he saw about 6,000 patients, preached to nearly 24,000 people, sold 3,000 books, distributed 4,500 tracts, traveled 1,860 miles and spent about $200, and added, sadly, that but two openly confessed Christ.

He longed for a helper on his field, but the Society was unable to supply him. At last, when one did come, the first thing he did was to send Gilmour home on furlough. When the faithful missionary reached England in 1889 he was so thin of body and the marks of struggle so prominent in his face, that his friends did not know him. How delighted he was to be with his motherless boys, who had been sent home after their mother's death to be educated. His book, "Gilmour and His Boys," has touched many a heart.

16. The End. In due time he returned to Mongolia again. He continued his work along the same lines. In April, 1891, he returned to Tientsin to attend the North China District Committee of the London Missionary Society. They honored him by making him chairman and he served them well. During the time he was the guest of Dr. Roberts. Suddenly he was stricken with typhus fever of a very malignant type. On May 21, 1891, he fell asleep, to be forever at rest with the Lord. When news of his death circulated in far-away Mongolia, strong, grown-up men wept like children when they were told that "their Gilmour was dead."

Chronology of Events in Gilmour's Life
1843 Born at Cathkin. Scotland. June 12.
1862 Entered Glasgow University.
1867 Offered himself to London Missionary Society.
1869 Entered Highgate Missionary Society.
1870 Ordained in Augustine Chapel. Edinburgh, February 10;
Sailed from Liverpool on Diomed for Mongolia, February 22.
1870 Arrived at Peking, May 18;
Massacre of 13 French Catholics, June 22;
Journey from Peking to Kiachta, August 5 to September 28.
1874 Married to Miss Prankard, December 8.
1876 156 days' journey with wife In Mongolia, begun April 7.
1882 Furlough to England, Spring to September 1883;
Published "Among the Mongols," April.
1884 His first convert, March 1.
1885 Mrs. Gilmour died, September 19.
1886 Two oldest children went to England, March 23.
1889 Second furlough to England, April 4, to May 14,1890.
1891 Died in Tientsin. May 21.

Are you willing to do whatever it takes, and give all you have, to win the lost to Christ? Then like, the James Gilmour, 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 James Gilmour, 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 James. 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

DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT TUESDAY - CLASSIC TESTIMONIES - James Gilmour, Apostle to Mongolia… Part 2.

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.

8. His Romantic Marriage. In 1872 Mr. Meech, of Peking, had married a Miss Prankard, of London. Gilmour frequented this home, saw a picture of Miss Emily Prankard hanging on the wall and heard the family speak of her frequently. In his lonely hours in the desert he had taken the matter of a suitable companion to the Lord and asked Him to send one that would help in his work. Gilmour, though he had not seen the lady or written her a line before, wrote her a letter in January, proposing marriage. Later, in the spring, he went up country and returned about July, to find he was an accepted man. He had written his parents at the time he made the proposal but that letter was delayed. Imagine their surprise when they received a letter from an unknown lady in London, telling of her engagement. Some thought he was running a great risk, but he assured them that he was at ease, for he had asked the Lord to provide.

When the bride-to-be visited his parents they were much pleased and said she would suit him well. Her first glimpse of her husband was from a boat near Tientsin as he stood on a lighter coming out to meet her. He was dressed in an old overcoat and had a large woolen comforter around his neck, -- for it was cold, -- not the usual method to make a favorable impression. She landed on Thursday and the following Tuesday, December 8, 1874, they were married. He afterwards wrote, "She is a jolly girl, as much, perhaps more, of a Christian and a Christian missionary than I am."

9. Home Life. Companionship meant much to Gilmour. Circumstances were such that their first year was spent almost entirely in Peking. He made occasional trips to fairs at important centers, but not until April 7, 1876, did Mr. and Mrs. Gilmour take a tour into Mongolia proper. It covered a period of 156 days, during which time she picked up the language rapidly and accurately. The experience, however, was more than novel; dust storms and the continuous round of millet and mutton as food tried her greatly. While she was happy to endure for the work's sake, it was a great relief to get back to Peking again. Gilmour turned his attention to preparing two publications, one on striking incidents from Daniel, and the other the story of salvation, both published by the Religious Tract Society for him. These vacations from the plain were decidedly necessary, for the loneliness of the desert was too great a strain to endure all the time.

10. Encouragements. Once Rev. Lewis and Gilmour visited Hsiao Chang, five days distant from Tientsin. The district was famine stricken. They preached to audiences of from 130 to 300, people who were eager to learn to sing Gospel songs. Gilmour declared the service of song was a most powerful method of introducing Christ. His discourses were simple, full of illustrations from his own life, and with such earnestness and directness as gave them great force. When during the winter he was in Peking, he would hunt out the homes of Mongols and talk with them about Jesus. He peddled the Bible and often had opportunity to read to groups that gathered about him. They came from various parts of Mongolia and thus the Gospel was sent into almost every part of the country.


However, in his ability to dispense medicine was his greatest power among the natives, though many amusing requests came to him. "One man wants to be made clever, another fat, another cured of insanity, or of tobacco, or of whisky, or of hunger or tea. Most men want medicine to make their beards grow, while almost every man, woman and child wants to have his or her skin made as white as that of a foreigner." After ten years of work Gilmour was thoroughly convinced that medicine introduced him to many who would otherwise have held themselves aloof.

11. Among the Mongols. In 1882 the Gilmours took furlough to England, a much-needed rest for all of them. While home he published his famous book, "Among the Mongols." Even to the present the book sells well. So interesting was it that one critic wrote, "Robinson Crusoe has turned missionary, lived years in Mongolia, and wrote a book about it." Concerning the author the critic said, "If ever on earth there lived a man who kept the law of Christ, and could give proof of it, and be absolutely unconscious that he was giving it to them, it is this man whom the Mongols called 'our Gilmour.'"

While at home his main message was to pray more for the missionaries. "Unprayed for I feel very much as if a diver were sent down to the bottom of a river, with no air to breathe, or as if a fireman were sent up to a blazing building and held an empty hose; I feel very much like a soldier who is firing blank cartridges at an enemy." He would not ride a car or bus on Sunday, but once walked twelve miles to hear Spurgeon preach and then walked home, footsore but happy.

12. His First Convert. At the end of 1883 Gilmours were back in Peking. In the early part of 1884 he started out afoot without any medicine, on one of his most remarkable Mongolian journeys. The Mongols were surprised to note this foreigner, having all his belongings on his back, going about the country like their own beggar lamas. It was on this spiritual journey that he found his first convert. He was one day in a mud hut, pressing the claims of Christ upon a lama. A layman entered, stirred the fire that would not burn, and simply increased the volume of smoke in the room. So dense was the smoke that though the layman was but two yards from Gilmour he could not see him. Finally the layman said that for months he had been a learner of Jesus Christ and he was now ready to trust the Savior. The smoke had settled lower. Gilmour was lying on his back on the platform while the Mongols were crouched near the door.

The missionary says of the occasion, "The place was beautiful to me as the gate of heaven, and the words of the confession of Christ from out the cloud of smoke were as inspiring to me as if they had been spoken by an angel from out the cloud of glory."

Gilmour and the convert traveled for nearly twenty-three miles together, talking, and then in a lonely place in the road knelt and prayed together and then separated. This led him to the conviction that personal work was most effective, and forsaking all else, -- secular papers and books, even the bedside of his sick wife at times, -- he gave himself over to inquiries from early morning till late at night. Conclusion next week.

Are you willing to do whatever it takes, and give all you have, to win the lost to Christ? Then like, the James Gilmour, 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 James Gilmour, 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 James. 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

DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT TUESDAY - CLASSIC TESTIMONIES… Evangeline Cory Booth. – Part 2.

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.

We conclude the story of Evangeline Cory Booth …

Thus in 1904, Evangeline Booth began her thirty-year career as leader of the rapidly growing Salvation Army forces in the United States. In this period the Army continued its evangelical efforts and expanded its broad program of social services -- "rescue homes" for "fallen women" and hospitals for unwed mothers, food and shelter depots, salvage brigades for the unemployed, prison work, and aid to released convicts. Evangeline Residences, homes away from home for young working women, were established in more than a dozen large cities. The Army forged its emergency disaster service during the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906. Its canteens for the American armed forces in France during World War I, with their "doughnuts for doughboys," won universal public enthusiasm and brought Evangeline Booth the Distinguished Service Medal in 1919.

As the Salvation Army's officers and institutions increased, it became necessary to divide the administration in the United States into four territories, each with its own headquarters, training college, and edition of the 'War Cry.' Still Commander Booth supervised the work in all four territories from national headquarters. Perhaps the climax of her administration was the dedication of a fine new headquarters building in New York City in 1930, the fiftieth anniversary of Salvation Army service in America.

An able administrator, Evangeline Booth readily adapted herself to American conditions. Whereas in England the Salvation Army depended largely on the work and support of its own members, in the United States it early developed a broad group of of unaffiliated sympathizers and benefactors. As far back as the 1890's an Auxiliary League had enrolled 6,000 members, among them the Rev. Lyman Abbott, Chauncey M. Depew, and Postmaster General John Wanamaker.

Evangeline Booth continued and expanded this policy, enlisting as advisers such influential figures as Myron T. Herrick, Otto H. Kahn, Bishop William T. Manning, and Helen Gould Shepard. In 1919, capitalizing on the Army's wide popular prestige, she conducted its first national fund drive, a well-planned campaign that raised $16,000,000. Her own personal commitment to the United States was symbolized on April 10, 1923, when she became an American citizen.

Her American experience undoubtedly influenced Evangeline Booth's willingness to lead the forces of reform during a new crisis that rocked the international Salvation Army in 1929. Before his death in 1912 General William Booth had named as his successor his oldest son and chief of staff, William Bramwell Booth (1856-1929), passing on to him the same absolute power that he himself had exercised. But a power that had seemed fitting in the prophet like founder soon aroused resentment in the hands of his more arbitrary son. Like Ballington Booth before her, Evangeline found herself increasingly at odds with the Army's high command. In 1929, invoking a policy of rotation of duty, Bramwell booth ordered his sister to relinquish her post.

Again, as in 1896, public protest mounted, and Bramwell Booth, unlike his father, had to back down. Prominent Salvationists the world over now urged a change in the Army's constitution and looked to Evangeline Booth for leadership. At first privately, then in concert with other high officials (including Frederick Booth-Tucker), she sought to persuade her brother to give up his autocratic and dynastic powers. All efforts having failed, a "High Council" of top Salvation Army officers met in London in 1929, deposed the now ailing Bramwell, and established the principle of electing the general rather than having him appoint his own successor. Though Evangeline Booth did not escape charges of personal ambition, it seems clear that principles were of greater importance than personalities.

The climax of Evangeline Booth's career came in 1934 when she was herself elected to the generalship. With a "pang," she left the land of her adoption to return to London. For five busy years she directed the international work of the Salvation Army in more than eighty countries and colonies, traveling around the world to visit the various outposts. Her retirement, in 1939, marked the end of an era for the Salvation Army, a shift from dominant individual leadership to corporate solidity. She was the last of the Booths to head the Salvation Army, the last commander in the United States to become a personal symbol of the institution.

For Evangeline Booth, the service of God was never joyless. The first Salvationist to ride a bicycle in the 1880's, she was also an accomplished horsewomen and enjoyed swimming and diving at her summer cottage on Lake George. Her temperament was such that she would drive herself unsparingly for weeks and then collapse for a period of absolute rest. Music was always a part of her life. Among the several instruments she played, her favorite was the harp. She composed a number of hymns, some of them still sung in Salvation Army meetings. A collection of her compositions was published in 1927 as 'Songs of the Evangel.'

Always an effective speaker, she drew large audiences at her public lectures in the United States. She used her own personal influence and that of the Salvation Army to support the movement for prohibition and later was in the vanguard of the forces opposing its repeal. A feminist by family heritage, she favored woman suffrage, though she took no part in the movement to obtain it. Unlike most of her brothers and sisters, she never married, though her dedicated resolve once wavered when, at twenty-nine, she was ardently courted by the idealistic Russian Prince Galitzin.

Following her retirement as General, Evangeline Booth returned to the United States to spend her last years at her home in Hartsdale, N.Y. She died there in her eighty-fifth year of arteriosclerosis. After public services in the Salvation Army citadel in New York City, she was buried in the Army's plot in Kensico Cemetery, near White Plains, N.Y. Among the many honors that had come to her were degrees from Tufts College (1921) and Columbia University (1939).

Are you willing to do whatever it takes, and give your all, to win the lost to Christ? Then like, the Evangeline Cory Booth, 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 Evangeline Cory Booth, and I pray that anyone reading this may be inspired by her testimony to give their life to you, and that you would use them in the same way, as you used Evangeline. 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

DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT TUESDAY - CLASSIC TESTIMONIES… Evangeline Cory Booth. – Part 1.

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…

Evangeline Cory Booth, (Dec. 25, 1865 - July 17, 1950), fourth general of the Salvation Army, was born in the South Hackney section of London, England, the fourth of five daughters and next to youngest of the eight children of William and Catherine (Mumford) Booth. Named after Little Eva of 'Uncle Tom's Cabin', she was generally known by this short form of the name until her move to the United States, where, on the advice of Frances E. Willard, she used the more dignified Evangeline. In the year of her birth her father left the Methodist ministry to found an independent evangelistic organization that became the Salvation Army.

The life of the whole Booth family centered around the Army, with its emphasis on personal religious commitment, strict moral principles, and unlimited compassion for the less fortunate. With her brothers and sisters, Eva often played at preaching and talked of souls and sinners, backsliders and penitents.

Catherine Booth, the "Mother of the Salvation Army," was herself an inspiring preacher who demonstrated that women could be as successful as men in winning souls for Christ. Of the eight children, seven became prominent leaders in the Salvation Army. The family's religious solidarity even extended to the husbands of the three married daughters, who accepted the Booth name as a prefix to their own.
No opportunities open to her brothers were denied Evangeline or her sisters. Since her mother strongly distrusted the contaminating influence of secular educations, Eva was educated at home by tutors and governesses.

At fifteen she donned a sergeants's uniform and began her practical training by selling the 'War Cry,' the Army's newspaper, in the streets. She was given a Salvation Army post of her own when she was only seventeen. Dynamic in personality, she preached in rundown halls, sang in public houses, accompanying herself on the guitar, faced hostile magistrates on charges of "disturbing the peace," and melted hardened roughs. She made a striking appearance, with her tall, slender figure, flowing auburn hair, and handsome face dominated by deep, flashing eyes, and soon won the name "White Angel of the Slums."

From her active ministry in the field, she was placed in charge of the International Training College at Clapton and given the command of the Salvation Army forces in the London area. Her most effective work in England was as a troubleshooter, sent wherever persecutions, either physical or legal, were most critical. In every case her keen common sense, winning personality, and ability to discover an unusual way to win her point brought victory to the Salvation Army. When trouble arose, General Booth's command would be: "Send Eva."

Her first trip to the United States was on such a mission. Her older brother Ballington (1857-1940) and his wife, Maud Ballington Booth, had in 1887 assumed command of the Salvation Army forces in the United States. Their leadership proved popular and effective. But their American experience made them question the wisdom of the absolute control exercised over the Army from England and led to an estrangement from General Booth. When in 1896 they were suddenly ordered to relinquish their command, they resigned from the Salvation Army.

Public opinion in the United States swung sharply against the Army and a secession movement loomed. Though Evangeline Booth was unable to prevent her brother's resignation, she helped regain public support and showed considerable initiative in holding the organization together until her sister Emma with her husband could assume command. Evangeline Booth then proceeded to neighboring Canada to head the Salvation Army forces there.

Emma Booth-Tucker (Jan. 10, 1860 - Oct. 28, 1903) was the fourth of the Booth children and second eldest daughter. Known as "The Consul," she was an active leader in the United States at the time the Salvation Army was inaugurating its extensive program of social work. As co-commander with her husband, Frederick St. George de Lautour Booth-Tucker, she traveled widely, speaking and visiting the Army's various social institutions, including some experimental farm colonies in the West.

On one such trip she was killed in a train wreck near Dean Lake, Mo., at the age of forty-three. Her husband tried to carry on the work alone but found the burden too heavy. The logical successor was Commander Evangeline Booth, who had made an outstanding record in Canada. Part 2 next week.

Are you willing to do whatever it takes, and give your all, to win the lost to Christ? Then like, the Evangeline Cory Booth, 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 Evangeline Cory Booth, and I pray that anyone reading this may be inspired by her testimony to give their life to you, and that you would use them in the same way, as you used Evangeline. 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

DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT TUESDAY - CLASSIC TESTIMONIES… R. G. LeTourneau.

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 classic 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…

Robert Gilmore LeTourneau was a man who knew how to clear obstacles. When he met his wife Evelyn, she was but twelve, he was in his twenties. Almost at once she fell in love and began to pray, "Oh God, please have him wait for me." Bob did wait for her. When she turned seventeen he asked for her hand. His father, Oscar Peterson, forbade marriage until Evelyn was twenty-one. So R. G. eloped with her to Tijuana.

Life was tough for the young couple. Often they did without necessities. For years they did not even have running water. The death of their first child forced them to realize they had neglected God in their marriage. They committed themselves fully to the Lord and began to tithe. By 1920 R. G. opened his first garage. The year of the stock market crash he formed his Peoria earth-moving business. Despite the times, LeTourneau succeeded.

R. G. became the greatest obstacle-mover in history, building huge earth-moving machines. During World War II he produced 70% of all the army's earth-moving machinery. He spoke of God as the Chairman of his Board. A lay pastor in the Christian and Missionary Alliance, R. G. shared his faith with millions during his life. Additionally he started two agricultural missions in Liberia and established the LeTourneau foundation to channel 90% of his personal salary to Christian endeavors, especially the training of Christian workers in practical skills (such as house-building) which are needed on mission fields. He also gave of his time to Christian business associations and Christian colleges.

R. G. maintained a close partnership with Evelyn. She could move obstacles, too. Once, at Bob's request, she baked his favorite hot Tamale pie--for eight thousand people! As active as he was in spiritual affairs, she was more so. She mothered the young men who worked for LeTourneau, even going so far as to rent a house that many could live in so they would not become prey to the vices of Chicago. Many became Christians.

On May 30, 1937, Evelyn and R.G. LeTourneau were in a serious car accident. R. G. was on crutches when their twentieth wedding anniversary rolled around. Despite that, Evelyn coaxed him into the car on August 27, 1937. She had something she wanted him to look at it with her. That day they drove to Winona Lake, Indiana, and she bought Camp Bethel. Using help from students of Wheaton College, she turned the camp into an evangelistic and recreational center. Numbers of people became Christians in its "Victory Circle."

As a multi-millionaire, LeTourneau gave 90% of his profit to God's work and kept only 10% for himself. A special friend of Billy Graham, in his early days, LeTourneau designed a portable dome building intended for Graham crusades. He also founded a university that is thriving to this day. LeTourneau said that the money came in faster than he could give it away. LeTourneau was convinced that he could not out-give God. "I shovel it out,” he would say, “and God shovels it back, but God has a bigger shovel."

Many people see Letourneau as one of the most influential people of the past hundred years. As the father of the modern earthmoving industry, he was responsible for 299 inventions. These inventions included the bulldozer, scrapers of all sorts, dredgers, portable cranes, rollers, dump wagons, bridge spans, logging equipment, mobile sea platforms for oil exploration, the electric wheel and many others.

He introduced into the earthmoving and material handling industry the rubber tire, which today is almost universally accepted. He invented and developed the Electric Wheel. His life's verse was Matthew 6:33: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you."

LeTourneau’s example reminds me that we too can be Mountain Movers. As the Great Physician said in Matthew 17:20, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” RG LeTourneau once said: “You will never know what you can accomplish until you say a great big yes to the Lord.” My prayer for those reading this article is that God may raise up many creative leaders who, like LeTourneau, will be movers of mountains and people.

R. G. LeTourneau died on 1st June1969 at the age of 88, and life is a testimony to the big things God can do, through people with big ideas. He learned to give unstintingly to God.

Are you willing to do whatever it takes, and give your all, to win the lost to Christ? Then like, the Robert Gilmore LeTourneau, 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 lives of Robert Gilmore LeTourneau and his wife Evelyn, and I pray that anyone reading this may be inspired by their testimony to give their life to you, and that you would use them in the same way, as you used the Robert and Evelyn. 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

DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT TUESDAY - CLASSIC TESTIMONIES… MILDRED CABLE. Part 2.

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 classic 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…

With “toiling beasts and bulging baggage,” laden with hundreds of Bibles, books and tracts in local languages, nine months later at the edge of the vast expanse of nothingness that was the vast and perilous Gobi, Mildred was asked by the young city-gate keeper: “Must you go into the Gobi?” “Yes.” They quietly replied. “We must. For we seek the lost, and some of them are out there.”

By the end of the decade, their decision to go had been vindicated. The country was ablaze with forest fires of revolt. Descent into anarchy, brutal civil war and feudal warlord-rule, closed all doors to the Gospel. But by that time, after 15 years of crisscrossing the most inhospitable desert known to man in a donkey cart, thousands had heard the gospel who would never again have a chance to hear it from human lips.

“Only a fool crosses the great Gobi without misgivings,” she was to write later. But with every painstaking step she took she was to see parables for life … a life that embraced the message she had come to bring. “In this trackless waste, where every restriction is removed and where you are beckoned and lured in all directions …. one narrow way is the only road for you. In the great and terrible wilderness, push on with eyes blinded to the deluding mirage, your ears deaf to the call of the seducer, and your mind un-diverted from the goal,” she urged the reader while writing of the Gobi Desert.

The vast network of trade routes crisscrossing the area to spread gossip and political intrigue, captured Mildred’s imagination. In her mind’s eye she saw trade routes “captured for Him.”

From their first base in Suchow, the City of prodigals, she wanted to see the Good News catapulted out to every untouched crevice of this remote land. “With such a glamorous task ahead,” wrote Mildred later, what mattered torrid heat, revolting flies and the accumulations of stinking oasis filth? For them, the “terms of service” for the master included not only suffering, but deep joy. “For Christ’s sake it is worth it a thousand times over.”

Mildred and her companions were uniquely placed to reach Chinese women whose homes and heartaches had been barred to male missionaries. Traveling slowly they stayed in filthy inns and caves, frequented by opium addicts. They made a point of visiting the lonely, the rejected and the poorest of the poor, feeding orphans, healing the sick, and educating girls. Given haunted houses to live in, because no-one wanted to host the “foreign devils,” their children’s meetings attracted suspicious mothers, who wooed by the message of love found their prejudices melting as they “crept out at dusk to join the throng.”

They were soon privy to family confidences and sharers of family sorrows. Countless women and girls were rescued by the Trio. Some had been male playthings, discarded in old age. Others were forced to give sexual favours in the Temple, and there were many driven by marital unfaithfulness or cruelty to opium overdoses. Others had narrowly escaped being sold to opium lords, one, so tortured and underfed looked more like a sick monkey than a child, and the most famous of all, a deaf and dumb beggar girl “Little Lonely,” was renamed Topsy and eventually adopted by the Trio. All were launched into new lives where they were valued and respected.

At the mercy of psychopathic bandits and generals at whose whims they could have been annihilated, prey to cholera and typhus, tormented often by questions and doubt, and with paralysing fear lurking in the crevices of every ravine and mountain pass, the strain often proved intolerable and the task hopeless. But their calling to open a window in the darkness, through which Jesus would shine as the Light, spurred them on, and the feeling that the “night when no-one could work,” would soon be upon them, gave them the urgency they needed to complete the task.

1936 saw the hated “foreign devils ” chased out of China and with them of course Mildred, Francesca and Eva with Topsy in tow. They laboured tirelessly until their dying day writing, spreading the needs of China’s millions around the world from their base, a little stone cottage in Devon where “baths, beds, good lighting and an easy chair” were theirs for the taking. Mildred Cable and her friends pushed back the frontiers for women pioneer missionaries of the day. Treading where no white woman had ever trod to bring the gospel to those who had never heard, they trampled the fears and suspicions that made male missionaries a threat to local people.

Their impact on conditions for Chinese women and children was incalculable and the value of their educational work became a pivotal building block in the China of the day. They were often misunderstood by their own, and criticised for their decision to stride out into uncharted territory. Single and celibate, they embraced loneliness, sacrifice and hardship with a vigour and single-mindedness impossible for married men with families. They shattered every stereotype of dowdy spinster missionary-hood with their fun, their zest for life and love of the absurd.

When Mildred Cable died at the age of 74 in 1952, Francesca said at her funeral: “Was her death the end? No rather the beginning, for the hand of God can never lead those who follow to anything but life, growth, expansion and attainment beyond human imagining.” “We have been gloriously happy,”

Mildred had written on returning to London. “We have proved the truth of Christ’s words “Lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the world. We have known joy unspeakable as men and women came from darkness into light and from the power of Satan unto God.”

"In one house we found an old lady of 70, trembling with excitement at the prospect of seeing us for the news had reached her that we were preaching the forgiveness of sins…tell me how my sins can be wiped out. I have kept all my vows, and made many pilgrimages; now tell me what more I can do?…With an interest into which the whole endeavour of a lifetime was concentrated, she listened as we spoke to her of a Saviour, who has taken upon Himself the sin of the world.”

A lama came towards us who had traveled barefoot from the sacred mountains of Shansi, prostrating himself at every few steps…..we handed him a copy of St John’s Gospel in which he at once read aloud the opening words: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God..”…he listened with profound attention while we preached unto him Jesus. “I know about this,” he said. “This Jesus of whom you speak has been greatly troubling me late-ly in my dreams. I know I shall have to believe in Him!” - Through Jade Gate and Central Asia by Mildred Cable and Francesca French

"It looked as though all that was required was the courage to step into the unknown for whenever they did so, doors seeming-ly shut yielded to a touch. Perhaps they were marked with the word “push”. " - Something Happened by Mildred Cable and Francesca French

“On a beautiful May morning, when the lilac was in bloom, there was put into my hands a letter in which was written that which made a goblin of the sun….unless I was to deny my vocation, I must pursue my pathway alone…In one hour the high-est things of life burned themselves to ashes.” - Mildred Cable wrote this when her deter-mination to continue to China even after the Boxer massacres, caused her fiancé, a fel-low candidate at mis-sionary school, to break off their engagement.

Are you willing to do whatever it takes and give your all to win the lost to Christ? Then like, the Mildred Cable, 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 Mildred Cable and her companions, and I pray that anyone reading this may be inspired by their testimony to give their life to you, and that you would use them in the same way, as you used the Mildred. 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