July 16. GR Kampfer. Kampfer was a man of mission. Like God sent Paul to the Macedonians, God sent Kampfer to Northern India to people who were “spirit worshippers sunk in the depravity of ignorance” and “driven back into the swamps and jungles.”
When he arrived—though the journey had been long and exhausting and his destination was shot through with evil—he said, “How glorious these trips in the open in November! The evening sky so clear, covered with … stars … And how welcome the rest after the heat and burden of the day!” He had come to do battle with the devil, so he always first guarded his own soul.
When dangers arise, look out for doubt and temptation—wild beasts of the soul.
In northern India—in the land of the gallows, roaring tigers, and wild elephants—Kampfer loved the natives, the “half-dazed, half-savage, half-demonized devil worshipers.” He had come to do battle with the devil.
The natives had been repeatedly attacked by a kind of virulent malarial fever, and they believed it was the attack of evil spirits. So Kampfer had to break taboos and drive out evil spirits. It was three years before the first-ever Baptist church was founded in the village.
After this, the church flourished in different parts of the area. Kampfer went home briefly and returned to India. He said it had been a delightful experience. The villagers, who had fled on his first missionary journey eight years back, now had turned to Christ and were singing hymns in their own tongue.
As the church grew, many young men and women joined Kampfer as missionaries. They had to travel long distances and cover a hundred miles in three days by steamer, railway, and buffalo cart. They crossed long stretches of boggy jungle and slept with him in the same hut or in the open air.
One night, a prowling tiger invaded the village, and—out of one of the nearby huts—the tiger snatched a live pig. In the morning, none of the still-alive men were bothered about the loss of the pig. Seemed like a good outcome.
Kampfer didn’t fear the tigers and called these “Happy Days.” He said, “The gospel spread like a Macedonian invitation to the north.”
One day, Kampfer was riding his bicycle on a winding and rutted road, and suddenly he had the odd feeling that something very strange was running behind him. He slowed. As he crossed a culvert, he saw an obstacle in the road that forced him to stop suddenly.
Two “breathless creatures half-naked with their long hair tied into a top knot” blocked his way. Out in front of them, they gripped huge knives and pointed them at Kampfer. He stood motionless.
They shouted, “Sahib, we want the Kingdom of God.”
Kampfer relaxed and whooped with joy and spoke with tenderness and respect. He gently led the men to the door of the Kingdom of God, where they met the King of Kings, King Jesus.
After that, Kampfer loved to tell the story with the happy ending about the beautiful church at Phasiagaon and the people who “take the Kingdom by storm.”
The reborn natives were steady in Matthew 11 taking the Kingdom by force.
“From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force” (Matthew 11:12 NASB).
And Kampfer kept preaching and praying and hanging onto Psalm 30.
“For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5 NASB).
Kampfer said he had often been afraid. “Problems, difficulties, dangers, crises often face the missionary, and there are worse things—doubt and temptations, these wild beasts of the soul! What avails against them? A mighty song, the assurance of a promise, a lifting up of the eyes—then into the dark, a quickened pace, and another victory. Do their hearts tremble? Let them tremble. The devil trembles even more.”
A new challenge often brings with it doubt and temptation. When dangers arise, look out for doubt and temptation—wild beasts of the soul.
Daimari, Sri Rihon. “The Unpublished Notes of Rev G.R. Kampfer.” Original source.
Daimari, Surya Kumar. “A Review on ‘The Unpublished Notes of Rev G.R. Kampfer.’” Original source.
Would You Like to Learn More About This Man?
The village where Kampfer first landed was called “Phasiagaon,” which means “village of the gallows”—a place where condemned people had been executed or hanged.
Story read by: Peter R Warren, https://www.peterwarrenministries.com/
Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter
Audio production: Joel Carpenter
Editor: Teresa Crumpton, https://authorspark.org/
Project manager: Blake Mattocks
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