Dr. Howard Taylor - Hudson Taylors Spiritual Secret

A S I REREAD this great Christian classic, I was moved just as much as when I read it over forty-five years ago. This is a must-read book, even for this postmodern generation! What this amazing servant of the Lord went through to start what became one of the great mission agencies of all times is absolutely amazing. We read afresh about the reality we can experience in Christ in the midst of some of the toughest situationssee, for example, the key chapter entitled The Exchanged Life.

By Gods grace, after fifty-four years of ministry, I can also say that this great truth can be and should be a personal reality in our own lives. It will be worked out in different people in different ways, but it must take place if there is to be spiritual formation and reality in our walk of faith.

For some who read this, Hudson Taylor will come across as extreme, and yet history shows that when God is birthing something new and unique He often chooses people who seemor areextreme to make it happen. In this day when people are often so loose and careless with finances, it is instructive to read about how he handled funds. I found it beautiful to see his esteem of other agencies that followed a different road in terms of releasing the necessary funds to carry on the work. The importance of his relationship with George Mueller is another lesson. It is inspiring to learn of the way Mueller, who needed so much funding for his orphanage work, ended up giving large amounts of money to Hudson Taylor. It would be great to see more of that in this day and age taking place between different ministries.

There is a strong force today that is saying we should not send people into high-risk areas. Workers are pulled out quickly when there is a problem or someone gets killed. I want to be careful in judging those who make such decisions as I have made some myself, but it is a humbling experience to read about evangelistic teams going forward day after day in very dangerous situations. Yes, China Inland Mission is the agency that ended up with almost more martyrs than any other agency in the history of missions. Surely all of us can learn from this great example.

Here we are 130 years later and all eyes are on China, where some of the greatest church growth in history has been taking place. Some say there may be over 70 million people who follow Christ in this land; others give larger numbers. Chinese people all over the world have pioneered some of the most exciting and visionary churches. Many thousands have worked with different mission agencies and China Inland Mission, which became Overseas Missionary Fellowship, is still one of the outstanding mission movements of our day, working almost everywhere that you find Chinese people. We in Operation Mobilization have greatly benefited from this great work of God among this great people. Without question, what is going on in China today can be traced back to this amazing man and other men and women who pioneered, risking everything to take the Gospel to every part of China.

When we read books like this, it hard to believe that today there still are so many unreached people in China and around the world. We used to say fifty years ago that half the world had never even heard the Gospel, but today we say it is about 20 percent. There is much to thank God for, but the truth is that 20 percent of todays population is a similar number of actual people as 50 percent was fifty years ago. Yes, we urgently need missionaries today like Hudson Taylor and his wife, Maria (who died giving birth to one of their children, who also died), who gave their all.

The team of people that God raised up to work with Hudson Taylor is equally important in understanding what God was doing. Every nation is different and there are countries today with large numbers of churches and believers who can do most of the work in their own land. However, they often ask for help from people in other nations. There are at least forty nations and hundreds of people groups that will never be reached without some modern-day Hudson Taylor launching out and pioneering for the Lord. If we try to do it in our own strength rather than the kind of Christ-centered reality we read about in this book, we will be destined to fall short of the mark and maybe even make a mess in the process.

Please take and keep this book with you until you have finished reading it. Then go back and read some key parts again. After that and some prayer, get some extra copies and pass them on to so many in this generation who, sorry to say, do not even know who Hudson Taylor was and even have difficulty finding China on the map.

G EORGE V ERWER
Founder of Operation Mobilisation

B EAR NOT A SINGLE CARE THYSELF,
O NE IS TOO MUCH FOR THEE;
T HE WORK IS M INE, AND M INE ALONE;
T HY WORK TO REST IN M E.
Selected

H UDSON T AYLOR was no recluse. He was a man of affairs, the father of a family, and one who bore large responsibilities. In tensely practical, he lived a life of constant change among all sorts and conditions of men. He was no giant in strength, no Atlas to bear the world upon his shoulders. Small in stature and far from strong, he had al ways to face physical limitations. Next to godly parentage, the chief advantage of his early years was that he had to support himself from the time he was about sixteen. He became a hard worker and an efficient medical man; he was able to care for a baby, cook a dinner, keep accounts, and comfort the sick and sorrowing, no less than to originate great enterprises and afford spiritual leadership to thoughtful men and women the wide world over.