J. Hudson Taylor: A Man in Christ
Price: £ 6.99
Product Description
Hudson Taylor was only 21 years old when he sailed from England, never expecting to see home or family again. In a strange land, backed only by an unreliable mission society thousands of miles away, he set out to share the gospel with the Chinese.
By the time he died, aged 73, he had travelled to China eleven times, baptised over eighteen thousand Chinese Christians had been baptised, and the mission he founded was the largest in China.
"His life was impelled by a growing confidence in the faithfulness of God." -- from the forward by Billy Graham
Vaughan Roberts, St Ebbe's,Oxford
"The challenge of world evangelisation remains as great in the 21st century as it was in Hudson Taylor`s day. Spurred by the gospel, he went to extraordinary lengths to proclaim it. Read this stirring account of Taylor`s remarkable life then follow his example."
David Anderson from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada*****
nbooksca@yahoo.com
J. HUDSON TAYLOR: A MAN IN CHRIST by Roger Steer
There have been many books written about Hudson Taylor over the years, this one is a retelling for a modern-day readership. Taylor was a missionary in China in the latter half of the nineteenth century and founded the China Inland Mission. Somehow I’d missed reading or hearing his life story in the past, so I came to it completely fresh when I opened this book. I’m glad I did. Firstly, it is a gripping story. I found myself picking the book up at spare moments, dying to find out “what happens next.” As a true adventure story there are many memorable moments: the morning that Taylor woke up in a freezing cold attic room to find a light fall of snow covering his bed sheets; his seven-month pregnant wife jumping off a 15-foot rooftop when fleeing for her life from a mob; crossing a flooding river on muleback; his eleven sailing voyages to and from China, etc. Secondly, it is a story of great hardship and tragedy, with diseases and mob violence taking a heavy toll. Just when I thought to myself “Surely things can’t get much worse?”, very often they did. One of Taylor’s fellow missionaries, at age 32, had already been twice bereaved of a wife and once of a child. Hudson Taylor himself lost a wife and four children. At one point in this book, over a scant four consecutive pages, three members of Taylor’s family die, including a thirteen-day old baby. Just when the Mission is well-established and Taylor is contemplating retirement, the ‘Boxer’ uprising of 1900 leads to the martyrdom of 130 Protestant missionaries and 50 of their children, CIM losing 58 missionaries and 21 children. Afterwards, Taylor received a letter written by two of his women missionaries the day before they were beheaded by the mob. Thirdly, it’s a story of enormous commitment and determination, leading to success against great odds. Five years after the Boxer uprising, 73-year old Taylor is back deep in the Chinese interior encouraging his 800 missionaries in their renewed work. As well as his total dedication, Taylor was also a missionary very much ahead of his time. His passion for his work in China grew out of deep respect and admiration for Chinese people and their culture. This strongly influenced his lifestyle. He was one of the first Protestant missionaries in China to adopt native dress, diet and social habits, and he insisted that CIM missionaries do likewise. New missionaries were told that learning the language was not just essential for communication but also as their gateway into Chinese culture. Taylor strongly believed that his work was to convert Chinese people to Christianity, not make them ‘Western’ or British. This book is a great read and I recommend it. Reviewed by David Anderson
*****