Who is hudson taylor

Our Mission. What We Do. Our Story. Long Term. Short Term. Join the Team. About East Asia. For My Church. For Small Groups. First Name. And it was there, while walking along the beach, that Taylor's gloom lifted:.

I told him that all responsibility as to the issues and consequences must rest with him; that as his servant it was mine to obey and to follow him. His new mission, which he called the China Inland Mission CIM , had a number of distinctive features, including this: its missionaries would have no guaranteed salaries nor could they appeal for funds; they would simply trust God to supply their needs; furthermore, its missionaries would adopt Chinese dress and then press the gospel into the China interior.

Within a year of his breakthrough, Taylor, his wife and four children, and 16 young missionaries sailed from London to join five others already in China working under Taylor's direction. Taylor continued to make enormous demands upon himself he saw more than patients daily when he first returned and on CIM missionaries, some of whom balked.

Lewis Nicol, who accused Taylor of tyranny, had to be dismissed. Some CIM missionaries, in the wake of this and other controversies, left to join other missions, but in , with 52 missionaries, CIM constituted one-fifth of the missionary force in China. Because there continued to be so many Chinese to reach, Taylor instituted another radical policy: he sent unmarried women into the interior, a move criticized by many veterans. But Taylor's boldness knew no bounds.

In , he asked God for another 70 missionaries by the close of he got In late , Taylor prayed for another within a year: by November , he announced candidates had been accepted for service. His leadership style and high ideals created enormous strains between the London and China councils of the CIM. London thought Taylor autocratic; Taylor said he was only doing what he thought was best for the work, and then demanded more commitment from others: "China is not to be won for Christ by quiet, ease-loving men and women," he wrote.

Unlike Charles Gutzlaff, Taylor organized national committees that actually survived his absence and death. He could attend both to the needs of individuals and to the overall direction of what became a very large organization. As a speaker, he wielded unusual sway over large audiences; in person, despite a humble quiet demeanor, he quickly won trust and allegiance; and as a writer, he reached many thousands of avid readers.

People of all ranks responded to his quiet trust in God and his passion for the renewal of the church and the spread of the gospel. Taylor that helped us, it was the life of the man. He bore about with him the fragrance of Jesus Christ.

Not only did he welcome people from all sorts of denominations into the CIM, but he always appealed for united action by all the missionary societies in China and for the mobilization of all Protestants of every sort to join their own missionary societies for the sake of evangelizing China.

In later years, he spoke to great ecumenical conferences and shared the platform with leaders like D. Moody, A. Pierson, John R. Mott, Robert Wilder, and Robert Speer. To accommodate workers from the Anglican church, he created a special CIM field in Sichuan, for which William Cassels received consecration as a diocesan bishop. Hudson Taylor longed to see China evangelized, but he also rejoiced when God called people to labor in different areas of the world.

One reason he refused to appeal for funds was his fear that support would be diverted from other missions. After the Boxer Rebellion, when the Western powers forced China to pay for the deaths and destruction suffered by missionaries, Taylor refused any indemnity. Realizing the incalculable harm it inflicted upon the Chinese people and the stain it left on all Britain and the resultant association of Christian missions with the despised system, he spoke out often against opium. Hudson Taylor possessed remarkable leadership qualities, inspiring men and women alike to attempt great things for the work of the Gospel among the Chinese and organizing them to achieve specific objectives.

Though adamant on principles of action, he was patient with those who opposed him. As a result of his experience with the absentee-landlord style of the Chinese Evangelization Society, he insisted that the CIM must be directed from China, and by a man with intimate knowledge of its unique conditions. All who became members of the CIM knew that they were placing themselves under his authority as Director. He led, rather, by example no one worked harder than he ; prayer; clearly-enunciated principles; constant communication; and great forbearance towards recalcitrant members, including those who spread malicious slander and fomented open rebellion against him.

We cannot explain the powerful influence of Hudson Taylor apart from his amazing capacity to love. From his youth, he enjoyed a particularly affectionate relationship with his mother and his sister Amelia. His letters to his first wife Maria Dyer and then, after her death, to his second wife Jenny Faulding, reveal a man with a tender heart and a rare passion that lasted well beyond the honeymoon.

This love extended to those around him; to other missionaries in need; to the Chinese for whose salvation he ardently longed and labored; and even to his enemies.

There are several points to consider:. Indeed, this attitude was common among Protestant missionaries from Great Britain in that era. Furthermore, life in China could be fatal for women and children, as Taylor knew well from bitter experience, having buried his first wife Maria and several of his little ones there.

Sending them home to England could sometimes be the only way to preserve their lives. The same goes for his surviving children, one of whom co-authored an exemplary two-volume biography of Taylor. Still, his utter devotion to the evangelization of China shoved almost all other concerns to the sidelines. Even when on vacation, he usually left the children to play while he maintained his correspondence. As a consequence, the CIM as an organization propounded views of family life different from those of many Western Christians today: married life, though honored, was definitely to be subordinated to missionary service; children were all sent off to the CIM boarding school; and these policies were contributing factors to unhappy marriages, and to a sense of neglect and even bitterness on the part of some CIM children.

Perhaps the influence of the behavior of the founder outweighed that of his heart, and the cultural mores of England, including the assumption that children would be sent to boarding school at an early age, exerted more sway than Christians realized at the time. From the start of his residence in China, Taylor pushed the boundaries allowed to foreigners.

The growth of the CIM necessitated arduous journeys, often in inclement weather and using uncomfortable means of transport, as Taylor visited his team and took some of the men with him on exploratory trips far into the interior. Between April and February, he travelled more than 15, miles by boat, cart and foot. He was equally on the move back in Europe, promoting the cause of missions to China.

Considering his small frame and less-than-robust constitution, even his severest modern critics have acknowledged that he possessed extraordinary perseverance. His capacity to endure hardship, weariness, pain, and labor was almost phenomenal. As noted above, this never-ending toil may have contributed to frequent bouts of illness, but it also helps to explain the amount of work he accomplished.

Before going to China, he developed the habit of trusting God for all things, including financial provision, by refusing to tell others of his needs, speaking of them only to God in prayer. This trust in God supplied constantly-renewed resources of patience, inner peace, and persuasive influence over other people. Often, when seeking resolution to a conflict, he relied on the Holy Spirit to change either himself or the other persons involved, and was rewarded by what appeared to be direct divine intervention.

The same held true in times of great danger, when he experienced peace amidst the storm. Taylor did have the light of God in his face. Under great stress, he could be cheerful. Even at the last, when his weakness and illness rendered him almost immobile, he evinced a quiet joy that would not be quenched.

When he died, J. Hudson Taylor left behind the largest foreign missionary organization in China, with over members from a number of nations, who had taken the gospel into every province of the empire and had gained the respect of other missionaries, many British government officials, and thousands of Chinese. Churches, schools, and hospitals dotted the land, staffed by not only missionaries but by an equal number of Chinese Christian helpers.

His published works had motivated perhaps hundreds of thousands of Christians to trust God more fully and so support the cause of missions around the world. Several thousand offered themselves for missionary service in response to reading his books and articles.

His influence through the printed word has only grown since his death. Many biographies have further spread the story of Taylor. Some of these are listed in the Resources section below.

In time the CIM became known by the very high standard of proficiency in the Chinese language that it required of missionaries; their extensive evangelistic, medical, and educational work; and their refusal to seek protection from consular authorities when threatened with danger or even when attacked by local Chinese mobs.

We can account for the extraordinary accomplishments of J. Hudson Taylor and his lasting influence only by giving proper attention to the unusual mix of natural abilities, spiritual qualities, and enormous self-discipline that combined to make him so successful as a missionary to the Chinese. Hudson Taylor and Maria had eight children, three of whom died as infants.

Jennie bore him two children, Ernest Hamilton and Amy Hudson. Four of his children later served with the CIM. First impossible, then difficult, then done. Not China, but Christ. Can we do too much for Him? Can we do enough for such a precious Savior? Distinguished educator and promoter of special education for children. Served in China, Europe, and Australia. China Inland Mission Shanghai.

He eventually had to start his own missionary-sending agency in order to get missionaries deployed in the unreached inland areas of China. We live in an age of options. We have a a choice of denominations. We have options for Bible cover colors. We have options as to which Bible translation we use. We can choose Bibles with or without study notes.

We do not, however, have an option when it comes to fulfilling the Great Commission through our praying, giving, mobilizing, sending and going. Obedient believers cannot consider evangelizing all the people groups of the world to be optional.

When we make Jesus Lord, we sign on to obey His every command.