Sermons & Devotionals by Missionary Biographies

By whatever measurement you measure the man Judson — the measurement always is the same — he was a mighty man! Mentally — he was mammoth. He read at the age of three years, took navigation lessons at ten, studied theology as a child, entered Providence College (now Brown University) at seventeen — d... Read More

After many perilous and harrowing experiences, Alexander Mackay, a young Scotsman, at last reached his destination on the shores of Lake Victoria, in Central Africa—Uganda, described by the great explorer, Henry M. Stanley, as "the pearl of Africa." The young Scotch missionary was eager to win as a ... Read More

Ann Hasseltine Judson, missionary, was born in Bradford, Massachusetts, December 22, 1789. She received a thorough education, and early in life became deeply interested in religious matters. She met Rev. Adoniram Judson in 1810, when he was preparing for missionary work at Andover Theological Semina... Read More

"Charlie was the most indefatigable personal worker I ever knew," wrote Dr. R. A. Torrey when he learned of the sudden death of his beloved co-worker.1 And S. D. Gordon said, "He was always so whole-heartedly keen in winning men to Jesus. All the power of his lovely, winsome personality was thrown u... Read More

Forward Ever, Backward Never! "Some wish to live within the sound of Church or Chapel bell; I want to run a Rescue Shop within a yard of hell."—C. T. Studd Charles T. Studd was a servant of Christ who faithfully served His Saviour in China, India, and Africa. As Alfred Buxton in the forward to the b... Read More

Christmas Evans (1766-1838), one of the great Welsh preachers, was born on Christmas day 1766, at a place called Ysgaerwen, in the parish of Llandyssul, Cardiganshire [Wales]. His father, Samuel Evans, was a poor shoemaker, who, dying when his son was only nine years old, left him in a state of comp... Read More

David Brainerd: Afame for God by Eugene Myers Harrison A frail young man, with sad, lustrous eyes and face so blanched that he seems to be the palest of the palefaces, is engaged on a serious and dangerous mission. Having heard of a tribe of particularly ferocious Indians living in the dense forests... Read More

By almost every standard known to modern missionary boards, David Brainerd would have been rejected as a missionary candidate. He was tubercular — died of that disease at twenty-nine — and from his youth was frail and sickly. He never finished college, being expelled from Yale for criticizing a prof... Read More

A young Scotsman had come to hear an address by a celebrated missionary. Following his conversion several years earlier, the young man had begun to grapple with the question, "What shall I do with my life?" The Great Commission had come to have a singular hold upon his mind. Its majestic syllables h... Read More

Frances Jane Van Alstyne, poet and hymn-writer, known by her pen name Fanny J. Crosby, was born at South East, Putnam County, New York, March 24,1820. When six weeks old she lost her sight, through the negligence of the attending physician, but in spite of this severe affliction has always been note... Read More

Huge crocodiles dozing on the muddy banks of the mighty Congo sullenly opened their beady eyes to gaze at the strange monster, then hastily plunged into the river. The cause of their alarm was a small steamer, named the Peace, the first ship ever to breast the Congo waters under steam power. The cro... Read More

Henry Nott: Herald of the Love of God in Tahiti from Giants of the Missionary Trial by Eugene Myers Harrison In the shade of overarching palm trees on an island of the Society group in Polynesia, a white man and a native were talking. The former was a missionary, the latter a heathen ruler. The whit... Read More

John Wilbur Chapman was born in Richmond, Indiana, on June 17, 1859. His parents Alexander H. and Lorinda Chapman prepared him for a life of Christian ministry. The young man felt he could never pinpoint a date for his conversion, but did make public his acknowledgement of Christ at age seventeen. I... Read More

James Chalmers: The Greatheart of New Guinea from Giants of the Missionary Trial by Eugene Myers Harrison The newly arrived missionary was quickly initiated into the Society of the Heroes of Faith, whose heritage is thus described by its founder: "In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils... Read More

1. Early Life. James Gilmour was the third of six sons born to James and Elizabeth Pettigrew Gilmour on the Cathkin estate of a half dozen farms in the parish of Carmunnock, about five miles from Glasgow, Scotland. His ancestors were godly people. The grandfather Gilmour and his wife walked regularl... Read More

John Bunyan (1628-1688), author of the "Pilgrim's Progress," "Holy War," "Grace abounding," &c., was born at the village of Elstow, Bedfordshire [England], a little more than a mile south of the town of Bedford, in November 1628. His baptism is recorded in the parish register of Elstow on the 30th o... Read More

Hideous shrieks and unearthly wails shattered the stillness of the night. "Do you hear those horrible cries?" asked the missionary's wife. "Yes," her husband replied. "Someone has died and, after the custom of this dark island, a relative is being strangled." Shortly after dawn, on a beach nearby, t... Read More

John Gibson Paton (1824-1907), missionary to the New Hebrides, born on 24 May 1824 at Braehead, Kirkmahoe, Dumfriesshire [Scotland], was eldest of the eleven children (five sons and six daughters) of James Paton, a peasant stocking-maker, by his wife Janet Jardine Rogerson. Both parents were of cove... Read More

At a summer conference meeting near Chicago it was announced that a "brilliant speaker" was to be present on a certain day for just one address. At the appointed time the chairman introduced the speaker with an extravagant eulogy, whereupon the speaker stepped forward, stood a few moments in silent ... Read More

Philip Paul Bliss is the second most famous Christian song writer in history. Had he lived as long as his peers, Fanny Crosby, Charles Wesley and Ira Sankey, he may have surpassed them all, as the greatest song writer of all time and the most widely used singer of all time, but a tragic accidental t... Read More