Bob Pierce

Nobody wants a broken heart, yet heartbreak can also open us to new possibilities. Mother Teresa said it well, “May God break my heart so completely that the whole world falls in.”
Bob Pierce (1914-1978) was a young missionary leading Christian outreach meetings in China. He was invited to speak at a girl’s school run by Dutch missionaries. He explained the gospel to young girls as simply as he knew how. Some opened their hearts to Jesus, and Bob encouraged these new believers to share their decisions with their families. He returned to the school the next day to say goodbye and was met at the front door by the principal, holding a little girl in her arms. She said, “Dr. Pierce, I want you to meet White Jade. She did what you told her to do. She went home and told her father that she was now a Christian. When she refused to renounce her new faith, he caned her and threw her into the street. She can never go home again.” Her words broke Bob’s heart. “You will take care of her, won’t you?” he pleaded. “I’m feeding as many children as I can,” she answered. “The question is not what I am going to do. The question is, what are you going to do?” With that, she thrust White Jade into Bob’s arms. Bob said of the moment, “I stood there with the child in my arms. Tears were running down her cheeks, shaking in my arms. I was shaken to the core. I had never been held accountable for any consequences of my messages.” Bob gave the principal his last five dollars and promised to send more money when he returned home. The memory of White Jade would not leave him alone. Bob returned to China with a movie camera to capture the plight of starving children. He showed the film to churches across America, asking Christians to adopt at least one child. In 1950, he launched World Vision, now the largest Christian humanitarian agency in the world. Last year alone, World Vision donors sponsored four million children. Bob wrote a prayer that he attached to the flyleaf of his Bible: