Earlier this week two colleagues and I were asked to speak about IJM at a local seminary affiliated with Carey Baptist Church, founded by William Carey in the early 1800's. Prior to arriving I had somehow missed (or learned and forgot) that William Carey is frequently referenced as the "Father of Modern Missions." He's also a major figure of Baptist heritage. Someone should have listened more during all those years of G.A. lessons...
Upon arrival we met the college principal. He learned I was from Florida and told me that he visits Jacksonville annually to work with Baptist churches there. I asked if he knew a certain Baptist minister who used to pastor a church in Jacksonville, and he did! This pastor is a good friend of my family's and officiated my parents' marriage. Small world.
The principal and his school:
He took us inside the sanctuary where we would speak and began to tell us about its history. William Carey's original pulpit is still in the room, along with what seemed to be his Bible.
Understanding this to be a Baptist church, I was bemused as I looked in vain for a baptistry. One step ahead, the principal pointed to a row of wooden planks in the floor and told us that the original baptistry was underneath the planks.
As we approached the planks the principal continued sharing about the sanctuary's history. Nonchalantly, he mentioned that Corrie Ten Boom has been baptized in this baptistry. My boss, Don, and I were far from nonchalant in our replies.
I distinctly remember coming upon a copy of The Hiding Place in my home around the age of five. The book is Corrie Ten Boom's memoir of her Christian family's experience concealing Jews in their Dutch home during Nazi occupation, and their subsequent experiences being discovered and imprisoned in concentration camps. I didn't read the text, naturally, but I studied the pictures and insisted on keeping the book on my own shelf for a good while. I was captivated by the realities of human cruelty those pictures conveyed. That book was one of my first points of exposure to human rights atrocities. This sanctuary, then, was a special place to be.
We had a great time sharing with the students. Don is an outstanding speaker.
On the other hand, I bore resemblance to a hobbit.
Just kidding.
William Carey's personal motto was posted above the entrance to the church building:
So many people today ask what's different about Christians than anyone else. They seem skeptical about the desirability of Christianity. As Gandhi famously said, "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." Nothing gives me greater joy than telling a crowd about God's wondrous movement through the people I work for: accepting their human frailty, they live and work to be like Christ. They do not merely believe in him, and they do not merely tell others he exists, but they act like him, lead like him, and take literally the extensive scriptural calls to plead for orphans, defend widows, and to be the light of the world. They fulfill Carey's motto, and in so doing see God move in mighty ways.
Upon arrival we met the college principal. He learned I was from Florida and told me that he visits Jacksonville annually to work with Baptist churches there. I asked if he knew a certain Baptist minister who used to pastor a church in Jacksonville, and he did! This pastor is a good friend of my family's and officiated my parents' marriage. Small world.
The principal and his school:
He took us inside the sanctuary where we would speak and began to tell us about its history. William Carey's original pulpit is still in the room, along with what seemed to be his Bible.
Understanding this to be a Baptist church, I was bemused as I looked in vain for a baptistry. One step ahead, the principal pointed to a row of wooden planks in the floor and told us that the original baptistry was underneath the planks.
As we approached the planks the principal continued sharing about the sanctuary's history. Nonchalantly, he mentioned that Corrie Ten Boom has been baptized in this baptistry. My boss, Don, and I were far from nonchalant in our replies.
Frankly, I was hesitant to believe the story. It seemed too far fetched. Sure enough, though, upon returning to the office I looked up Wheaton College's online Billy Graham Center Archives. The paper records of the Corrie Ten Boom Collection reported a baptismal certificate for Corrie Ten Boom from this church in 1958.
I distinctly remember coming upon a copy of The Hiding Place in my home around the age of five. The book is Corrie Ten Boom's memoir of her Christian family's experience concealing Jews in their Dutch home during Nazi occupation, and their subsequent experiences being discovered and imprisoned in concentration camps. I didn't read the text, naturally, but I studied the pictures and insisted on keeping the book on my own shelf for a good while. I was captivated by the realities of human cruelty those pictures conveyed. That book was one of my first points of exposure to human rights atrocities. This sanctuary, then, was a special place to be.
We had a great time sharing with the students. Don is an outstanding speaker.
On the other hand, I bore resemblance to a hobbit.
Just kidding.
William Carey's personal motto was posted above the entrance to the church building:
So many people today ask what's different about Christians than anyone else. They seem skeptical about the desirability of Christianity. As Gandhi famously said, "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." Nothing gives me greater joy than telling a crowd about God's wondrous movement through the people I work for: accepting their human frailty, they live and work to be like Christ. They do not merely believe in him, and they do not merely tell others he exists, but they act like him, lead like him, and take literally the extensive scriptural calls to plead for orphans, defend widows, and to be the light of the world. They fulfill Carey's motto, and in so doing see God move in mighty ways.
