A Major Figure in Modern Missions
Carey was born into a poor family in
Paulerspury, Northamptonshire, England in the year 1761. His father worked as a
low-level, clerical worker, [and] a member of the Anglican church. In the year
1779, at the age of 18, Carey was converted. He then joined the Baptist church,
becoming a preacher and a school teacher during the day while working at night
as a shoemaker to make ends meet.
Carey was the type of person who loved to study hard and never backed away from
a challenge. He taught himself Greek, Hebrew, Dutch and French. As a minister
who had experienced rebirth, Carey concentrated upon evangelism.
In 1792, Carey instigated the founding of a mission agency named the Baptist
Missionary Society in Nottingham. He kindled the famous slogan, "Hope great
things from God and attempt great things for God." For Carey, the great
commission given by Jesus was to evangelize every living creature, and every
Christian had to be a sharer of the good news.
He became a pastor of the Chapel Baptist Church in Moulton in the year 1786.
Then the Baptist Missionary Society sent him as the first missionary to India in
the year 1792. Together with his family, he left for India as a passenger on a
cargo ship, arriving in Malda, as his first center for missionary activity.
Nevertheless, the East India Company then forbade Carey from evangelizing there
so that he worked in an indigo dye factory there while studying the local
language. After 5 years, he succeeded in learning the Bengali language well and
began translating the New Testament into this language. In the year 1799, the
dye factory where Carey worked went bankrupt, and this forced him to move to
Serampore, the area colonized by Denmark.
In this new spot Carey joined two other Baptist missionaries, namely Joshua
Marshman and William Ward. These three subsequently became known as the "Serampore
Trio." With the help of these two English friends, Carey successfully
published a Bengali translation of the New Testament. In 1801, he opened a
school named "Fort William College" for training Indian nationals as
pastors. "Only with an indigenous evangelist can we hope for this expansive
country to hear the good news," he stated with conviction. Carey was of the
opinion that the Missionary Society needed to immediately train nationals to
become evangelists for their own country. In his school, Carey taught Sanscrit,
Bengali and Marathi for about 30 years.
In addition to this, Carey also was active collecting funds to sponsor research
in agriculture. This work was his effort to seek solutions to the problem of
famine (PANGAN) in the country where the Lord had sent him. His other activities
were to translate the Bible into Bengali and other languages, and structure a
grammar and dictionary for Sanscrit, Marathi, Punyab and Telugu.
Besides being known as the father of missions, Carey was also known as a major
figure of ecumenism. He ignited the idea that every 10 years a conference be
held for all missionary societies in Tanjung Harapan. This idea was never
realized in his lifetime, but was reached in 1910 at Edinburgh [Scotland]. The
modern understanding of "ecumenical" originated with him. William
Carey finally died in the year 1834 at the age of 73. During the British
occupation of Indonesia, Christians in Maluku experienced the work and ministry
of one of William Carey’s children, namely Jabez Carey.
(From a variety of sources)
The Center gratefully acknowledges the translation by:
Dr.
E. Randolph (Randy) Richards
Associate Professor of Biblical Studies and Theology
Ouachita Baptist University
Arkadelphia, Arkansas
Click here to view Dr. Richards's Website
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