Day 8
The Mind of a Missionary Devotional
The Gospel Catapult
Hudson Taylor
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” — Jeremiah 29:11
The dented, iron cannonball sat on Amelia Taylor’s living room shelf for years—a strange decoration but a novel conversation starter in her quaint English home. A single glance at the five-pound ball triggered harrowing memories of her son’s near-death experience in China.
When twenty-two-year-old Hudson Taylor landed in Shanghai on March 1, 1854, the city was in turmoil. After the Red Turban rebels had taken possession of the native city, nearly 50,000 soldiers from the Imperial Army retaliated with heavy force. The approaching chaos was unavoidable.
Surrounded by the horrors of war, the young missionary felt utterly isolated and helpless, often going days without food. Six months after arriving in China, during one of the nightly skirmishes, a fire broke out in Taylor’s native neighborhood. As he climbed to the top of the building to escape the flames, a cannonball whizzed inches from his head and smashed into the roof, showering pieces of broken tile all around him. He grabbed the cannonball, gathered the rest of his belongings, and abandoned his house. Days later, the place was burnt to the ground.
Only six years earlier, Amelia Taylor bowed in her room in England, pleading for hours for her son’s salvation. God heard her prayers, revealing Himself to sixteen-year-old Hudson Taylor. But salvation was only the beginning. The Holy Spirit whispered “China” into the young boy’s heart, igniting a passion that would drive him to lay down his life for the spiritual needs of the Chinese. The vastness of the population, combined with the sheer number of souls who had never heard the Gospel, weighed heavily on his heart. His mind was set; he was to be a vessel of God’s love and grace in a land far from home.
Though Taylor was convinced of God’s calling and ready to give his life to missionary work, he recognized the dangers of his God-given task. “When I get to China, I shall have no claim on anyone for anything,” he said. “My only claim will be on God. How important, therefore, to learn before leaving England to move man, through God, by prayer alone.”
Despite extensive planning, Taylor was hardly prepared to arrive during a bloody war. Upon his arrival in Shanghai in 1854, he faced the ongoing conflict with the Red Turban rebels, the cultural barriers, and the skepticism of the local populace. But Taylor’s approach to missions was groundbreaking. He immersed himself in the culture, adopting the Chinese way of life, from their dress to their customs. This endeared him to many and opened doors that would have otherwise remained shut.
The pioneer believed God had called him to ignite a spiritual revolution. However, the spiritual needs in China’s interior were immense, and Taylor knew the task was too vast for one man. This realization birthed the China Inland Mission (CIM) in 1865, a mission agency dedicated to reaching areas that had never heard the Gospel. Taylor challenged missionaries to go without the promise of financial support, trusting God to provide for their needs. For, he said, “All God’s giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on God being with them.”
The response was overwhelming. By 1876, the CIM had fifty-two workers, making up a fifth of the missionary force in China. Taylor’s faith and vision inspired many. When he prayed for seventy more missionaries in 1881, seventy-six people came. His subsequent prayer for a hundred more in 1886 saw 102 candidates joining the mission by the following year. By 1888, they had 294 missionaries serving in fourteen provinces. Even during the tumultuous times of the Boxer Rebellion, when many missionaries faced persecution and death, the mission grew in strength and numbers.
Hudson Taylor’s influence extended beyond his death on June 3, 1905. The seeds he had sown bore fruit, bolstering the Christian population in China. Today, unofficial estimates suggest over a hundred million Chinese profess the Christian faith, affirming the pioneer’s words: “There are three stages to every great work of God; first it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.”
The five-pound cannonball Hudson Taylor gifted to his mother might have been the end of him but for God’s providence. Braving the impossible, the pioneer catapulted the Gospel deep into the heart of China, causing explosions of joy wherever he went, and introducing millions to Jesus Christ.
– Personal Response –
Passage: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
Point: God’s plans often begin with hardship, but His purpose will always prevail through faith and obedience.
Ponder: Are you willing to trust God’s plan even when it seems dangerous, delayed, or impossible?
Prayer: Lord, give me bold faith to trust Your plans, dedicate myself to prayer, and walk in obedience no matter the cost. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Proclamation: I will follow God’s call, trusting Him to do the impossible through my weakness.
Practice: Identify one area where you’ve been hesitant to trust God. Take a bold step of obedience this week, relying on Him for strength and provision.
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