April 25. Hudson Taylor. On this date in 1851, God called Hudson to be a missionary to China, and he went.
He concentrated his efforts on the interior of China and founded the China Inland Mission. The missionaries did not get salaries; they could not appeal for funds; and they would all adopt Chinese dress. To meet the tremendous need for missionaries to the interior, Taylor adopted another radical strategy: he allowed unmarried women to serve.
The mission included medical care, translation work, and gospel preaching, and it came at great personal expense. Hudson’s own health suffered, his wife died at the age of thirty-three, and four of his eight children died before reaching the age of ten.
In spite of the toll it took on him, Hudson’s vision and work inspired thousands to take up the call to “bring the Christian message to the vast and unknown interior of China.”
Between Mainland China and the Korean peninsula is the northern part of East China Sea—the Yellow Sea, and on the western edge of it, a funnel-shaped inlet pokes into the mainland. That’s where—in today’s story—Hudson Taylor got drenched. Here’s what happened.
When Christ said, “Come,” you came. When he says “Go,” what will you do?
Soaking wet, Hudson struggled in the fishing boat, and finally collapsed on its rough bottom. Next to him lay the lifeless body. Shouting in Chinese, a group of angry fishermen stood over Hudson. One of them threw something wet at him, and it thumped his head.
They snickered loudly and shouted, “Foreign devil forgot his hair!”
And a black fake-braid splashed into the puddle around him.
This is how it happened: A brisk wind blew the Chinese junk ship quickly along the waters bound for the city of Ningpo. Rather than going below to his cabin, Hudson had remained on the deck to enjoy the night air.
Traveling like this seemed like luxury after the arduous journey by foot he had made alone to the coast of Shanghai from the inland villages. He sat on a large coil of rope to rest his blistered feet. Nearby was another passenger, and Hudson introduced himself. The passenger was surprised to meet a foreigner, as Hudson appeared to be a fellow Chinese. The passenger had visited England and was happy to speak with an Englishman again. They talked until late. Hudson said, “I had drawn him into earnest converse about his soul’s salvation. The man listened with attention, and was even moved to tears.” They promised to talk more the next morning.
But dawn, the ship was nearing the large city of Sung-kai. Already noisy crowds of customers and merchants were bustling on the shoreline. Hudson was still below deck when he heard a loud splash and screams coming from above.
He rushed up top. Passengers and crewmen peered over the deck and shouted the man’s name. It was his friend from last night in the water! Not wasting a second, Hudson dove overboard into the murky sea. The waves were now high. A strong wind had come up, and the ship was moving fast away from the spot where his friend went under.
Again and again, Hudson plunged under-water, looking, feeling, but he found nothing. His hope surged when he caught sight of a nearby fishing boat with a dragnet hung over the side. Hudson swam over quickly and shouted, “Come! Come and drag over this spot, a man is drowning just here!”
But the fishermen glanced at him, said it wasn’t convenient, and turned their backs.
Dumbfounded, Hudson swam closer and shouted louder, “Don’t talk of convenience! A man is drowning, I tell you!”
The men looked up. “We are busy fishing. We cannot come.”
“Never mind your fishing! I will give you more money than many a day’s fishing will bring, only come. Come at once!”
The fishermen finally came over and looked down at Hudson in the water. “How much money will you give us?”
“Come or it will be too late! I will give you five dollars.”
But they wanted twenty, and only after Hudson offered all the money he had, did the fishermen slowly let the net down where his friend had gone under. They drew his body out of the water and deposited him on the fishing boat.
Hudson couldn’t revive the man and collapsed on the deck. Beside Hudson lay his Chinese braid, the one the fishermen had flung at him. It had come unwoven from his hair in the water and must have gotten swept up in the net with man.
Hudson shook his head. He couldn’t even persuade a couple of fishermen to save a drowning man. How could he convince “congregations of Christians rejoicing in their own security, while millions perish for lack of knowledge” to come to China and help?
But there was that silly braid. It reminded him of He whose “minute care counts the very hairs of our heads. … As His servant, it was mine to obey and to follow Him, to go and do the work.”
He squeezed the sea out of the braid and stood to face the fishermen.
After this event, Hudson prayed earnestly for God to “thrust forth labourers” and for the “deepening of the spiritual life of the Church, so that men should be unable to stay home.”
Hudson said, “The Lord Jesus commands me, commands you, my brother, and you, my sister, ‘Go.’ Shall we say to Him, ‘No it is not convenient? Shall we tell Him that we are busy fishing and cannot go? Or are engaged in other more interesting pursuits? Ere long we ‘must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body.'”
Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15 ESV).
Everyone one of us has a call on us; are we listening? Hudson said, “God isn’t looking for people of great faith, but for individuals ready to follow Him.”
When Christ said, “Come,” you came. When he says “Go,” what will you do?
“Fulfilling Christ’s Great Commission.” Accessed August 24, 2020.
https://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/slogans.htm
Taylor, J. Hudson. The Autobiography of Hudson Taylor Missionary to China. GHL Publishing.
Tucker, Ruth A. From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya Grand Rapids, MI: The Zondervan Corporation, 1983.
Story read by Peter R Warren, https://www.peterwarrenministries.com/