The Wider WorldAlongside the English language, one of Britain's most significant exports has been the Christian faith. But missionary work is more than ‘preaching the gospel’.
• Across Africa, the explorer and missionary David Livingstone worked against the slave trade.
• In India, William Carey and his helpers spent forty years from 1793 translating parts of the Bible and great works of Indian literature into more than thirty Indian languages and dialects. Amy Carmichael rescued abandoned children, and girls given up by their parents to be temple slaves and prostitutes. Other missionaries worked to end ‘suttee’ – the burning alive of widows.
• Because of her success in stopping tribal wars in Nigeria, Mary Slessor became probably the first woman in the British Empire to be appointed a vice-consul.
• In the islands of the Pacific Ocean, the Christian message helped bring to an end head-hunting and cannibalism.
• In China, Christian missionaries worked to abolish the opium trade.
• Christians led by Wilberforce and the missionary John Philip secured a declaration from the British Parliament in 1828 that black Africans should have the same rights as white settlers in South Africa.
• Thousands of Christians are distributing food aid, building orphanages, providing fresh water, and are involved in agriculture and education. Others give medical aid including hospital building, community hygiene, dental and leprosy care. The Leprosy Mission, which began in 1874 now has a staff of 2,300 working in over thirty countries on a budget of almost £10 million.
• More than £125 million is given to overseas aid each year by charities such as The Evangelical Alliance Relief Fund and Christian Aid who state that the motivation for their work is obedience to Christ and the Bible. Oxfam began with a committee of concerned Christians in Oxford nearly sixty years ago. Click Here to find out more
Copyright Day One Publications, used with permission |
