WILLIAM CAREY, 1761-1834

“Expect great thing from God: Attempt great things for God”

William Carey, often referred to as the Father of Modern Mission, certainly lived up to his motto which was “To expect great things from God: Attempt great things for God.” By the time of his death in 1834, this Englishman, who was a shoemaker by trade, had seen the Scriptures translated and printed into forty languages, was conferred Doctor of Divinity, had been a college professor, founded a college and written over a hundred books. He had also seen India open its doors to missionaries and the edict passed prohibiting "sati" which was the burning of widows on the funeral pyres of their dead husbands. In addition, he had seen many come to Christ. He accomplished such great things in his adopted country, India, that in 1993 the Government of India issued a stamp to commemorate the bicentennial of his landing in that country.

William Carey was born in Paulerspury, a little village in Northamptonshire, England. His father was a poor weaver who could not afford to give any of his children a formal education. William was however hungry for knowledge and spent much of his time reading. He was saved at a young age and learned Greek so that he could read the New Testament in its original language. He was particularly fascinated by stories of distant lands, especially India, and was determined to one day go there.

At the age of sixteen, he was apprenticed to a shoemaker and later became a shoemaker himself. Though he enjoyed his work, preaching the gospel was his passion. At the age of twenty-one, William Carey joined the Baptist Church and soon preached his first sermon. He became the pastor of a Church in Moulton in 1787. William Carey was preoccupied with the idea of taking the Gospel to the heathen. At that time, the Baptist Church was not interested in missions and William Carey’s ideas to take the Gospel overseas were not well received, but he persisted. In 1792 the Baptist Missionary Society was formed and a year later, William Carey was on his way to India with his wife, sister-in-law and children.

For many years after their arrival in India, life was tough for William Carey and his family. Not only did they have little or no money on which to survive, the East India Company which had full control in India did not favour missionaries. In order to support his family he was forced to take up secular work as the superintendent of an indigo factory, a decision that was not well received by the Board of the Missionary Society in England. But the job afforded him time to study and in the workers at the factory, he had a regular congregation to preach and teach. It was not until seven years after his arrival in India that he baptized his first convert.

William Carey lost his wife and two children to illness in India but refused to abandon the work to which God had called him. He died in 1834 having lived in India for forty-one years.

God uses the lives of those who have gone before us to teach us lessons. The following are a few that we can learn from this servant of God.

“For there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11 KJV)

Despite his lack of formal education, William Carey pursued knowledge and accomplished a great deal academically. By the age of thirty-one, he could read the Bible in Latin, Greek Hebrew, Dutch, French and English and by the time of his death in 1834, he had been elected professor of Sanskrit and Bengali languages in Williams College, conferred Doctor of Divinity by Brown University, USA, and founded the Agricultural and Horticultural Society. Carey was also responsible for introducing the idea of the savings bank so local people could be protected from the money lenders, he advocated for better facilities for lepers and the aged and also introduced the use of the steam engine in India. He published grammar books, dictionaries and also wrote over a hundred books on various topics. There is nothing that God cannot do and there is no one that He cannot use. May we not look at our own inadequacies but learn to look at the BIGNESS of our God.

Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation (Mark 16:15 NIV)

William Carey was convinced that it was the will of God that all men hear the Good News of the Gospel and he would pray the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to the un-reached areas of the world. In those days, people were not interested in such talk and when he would bring it up, he was rebuffed. It was said that on 30 May 1792 at a ministerial gathering, he preached from Isaiah 54:2-3, “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.” (NIV). He also laid down his two general arguments which have become a missionary motto “Expect great things from God: attempt great things for God.” His famous pamphlet entitled “An Inquiry into the Obligation of Christians to use Means for the Conversion of the Heathen” was later published.

It is God’s will that all come to hear the gospel. If it was not so, He would not have written it in His Word. We too are called to share God’s Word. He may not call us to stand behind a pulpit but He will give us our own congregation. It may be our immediate family only or our extended family, our unsaved colleagues or friends. May we obey the Word of God.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power (Ephesians 6:10 NIV)

Although everything that happened to him in the years immediately following his arrival did not testify to it, William Carey was convinced that he was called to India. He could barely put food on the table for his family and they sometimes lived in houses that were a far cry from what they were used to back in England. Even after he lost the first child to illness and his wife begged him to let them return to England, William Carey stood firm on his conviction. He lost a second child and his wife also died after a time of mental illness but William Carey never wavered. He knew God had a plan and in the end God rewarded his faithfulness. May we too learn to stand, even in the face of adversity.

That no flesh should glory in His presence (1 Corinthians 1:29 KJV))

William Carey was a man who knew God and he recognized that everything he had accomplished was the work of God. He knew that God had merely used him as an instrument to accomplish all that he had done. It is reported that on his deathbed he said to one of his missionary friends “Dr. Duff! You have been speaking about Dr. Carey; when I am gone, say nothing about Dr. Carey – speak of Dr. Carey’s God.”

William Carey’s life is beautifully portrayed in the film, "Candle in the Dark.” It is highly recommended.