William Carey (1761-1834) failed at the job of cobbler. He was good at making shoes yet lousy at making money. Next, he turned to preaching. William lived during a time when people were indifferent, even hostile to world missions. He said to a gathering of Baptist ministers that the commission Jesus gave his apostles to share the gospel with the world was still binding on succeeding generations. “Young man,” an older preacher interrupted, “You are an enthusiast. When God wants to convert the heathens, he will do so without consulting you or me.” William disregarded his counsel and wrote a pamphlet in 1792 with the formidable title, An Inquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens that led to the formation of a foreign mission society. At its inaugural meeting, William preached what one pastoral colleague called “an animated sermon” in which he closed with the memorable words, “Expect great things. Attempt great things.” The two phrases were later amended to a slogan that endures, “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.”
A year later, William and family, his pregnant wife with three young sons, were on a ship bound for India. Seven years passed before the first convert in India was baptized, yet William persevered. He devoted the remaining forty-one years of his life to sharing the gospel in India and church history credits him as the father of world mission. William was deeply committed to prayer yet refused to use it as an excuse to do nothing, “We must not be contented, however, with praying without exerting ourselves in the use of means for the obtaining of those things we pray for.”
We join William Carey in praying for God to awaken desire in us to share Christ’s love with the world: