A Baptist Page Mission
Brief
William Carey
William
Carey was born in 1761 in the remote village of Paulerspury, Nothamptonshire,
England. Just
as both Bunyan and Spurgeon rose from rural obscurity, so did William
Carey. At the age of fourteen William was apprenticed as a shoemaker
with Clarke Nichols. John Warr, a fellow apprentice led Carey to a realization
of his own sinfulness and need for a Savior. Soon he was saved and seeking
baptism.
Soon after his conversion William Carey began to speak at various Dissenting churches and soon felt called to pastor among the Baptists. Carey often said of himself that his one great strength was that he was a "plodder". He may not have had the greatest skills but he had extraordinary tenacity. So, the young preacher persevered and was finally ordained. In 1781 Carey married Dorothy Plackett. He was only 19 and she was 25. Though they were married for 26 years there was great sorrow in that time and the ending was tragic.
Through his association with Andrew Fuller and others, Carey began to formulate a distinct sense of his calling to missions from God. That calling soon translated into a burden for others to see the same need for missionaries to far off lands. In 1787 the Northamptonshire Baptist Association adopted a resolution concerning missions and the modern mission movement was born. Before long it was William Carey who had been chosen by the new missionary society to head for India with the Gospel. Along with his associate, a Doctor Thomas, William Carey and family arrived in the city of Calcutta in 1793.
In 1796 fever swept through the Carey family and claimed the life of their 5 year old son, Peter. Dorothy never recovered from this and blamed Carey for their son’s death. Mrs. Carey was to become mentally unstable and unable to cope with life throughout the rest of her years on earth. By 1799 more missionaries had arrived and finally the work was established. By 1821 the missionaries had baptized over 1400 new Christians. Working without any kind of a real support system, William Carey had expected great things and attempted great things. God blessed his commitment. During this period, Carey's first wife, Dorothy, passed from this world. He was married again quite quickly to Charlotte. They were to be married for 13 years that would prove to be the happiest of Carey's life. In 1821, William laid another wife to rest in the soil of India. In 1822 he married his third wife, Grace. They would remain together for the rest of their lives.
William Carey was not a formally educated man. He had none of the worldly training of someone with money. Yet, In spite of his poor education, Carey proved to be a brilliant linguist. After 71/2 years of work his first edition of the Bengali New Testament was ready in 1801. The Old Testament was finished in segments by 1809. Carey's translating work was prodigious. By 1837, he and his helpers had translated portions of the Scripture into more than 40 languages. The mission's first school for natives was opened in 1798 and in the next 20 years 102 more schools were opened with nearly 7,000 students. Carey's crowning jewel was the Serampore College which is still in operation to this present day.
On June 9, 1834, William Carey left this earth at the age of 73. Once he left England he never returned to his homeland. At his death he had requested the words of an Isaac Watts hymn be written on his tombstone: "A wretched, poor, and helpless worm, On Thy kind arms I fall." William Carey's influence on Indian society was also felt keenly. Through his papers and efforts the Calcutta government finally outlawed the infanticide of babies being thrown to the alligators in the Ganges River. The practice of sati (widows being burned at their deceased husband's funeral pier) especially horrified Carey. Through his bold stance along with other missionaries, that practice came to an end in 1829.
Most importantly, Carey was a theological missionary. He was a committed follower of the Doctrines of Grace along with Fuller and yet was equally committed to the Great Commission. William Carey once called himself a "plodder for Christ." He just kept on doing what he was called to do and plodded toward the kingdom with sure and measured steps. May we have more plodders!
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