"In what better way could we demonstrate that we are partakers of His (God's) grace than by earnest endeavor to imitate His example..." The words of William Carey, the "Father of Modern Missions," still rings throughout history. Truly one of the most influential and successful missionaries of all time, Carey spent much of his life witnessing to and aiding the Indian people. His work led many people to the gospel of Christ, and their souls to the Kingdom.
Carey was born in Northamptonshire, England, around the same time that the Wesleys and George Whitfield were at the peak of their influence in the United States, writing hymns and spreading the Word of God across the countryside. He was born into a normal family, slightly poor, that belonged to the accepted church in England.
As a boy, Bill developed a skin disease that required him to stay inside the majority of the time. Therefore, he ended up getting into the shoe industry, apprenticing as a shoemaker. While in the process of apprenticeship, Carey worked with a Baptist man who led him to true faith in Christ; Bill was converted and baptized. He grew in the Baptist church and eventually became a minister after over ten years of hard study and tenacious work, for his speaking skills and oratorical mastery were not quite up to par. He married in 1781 to Dorothy Plackett, a woman six years his senior, and stayed with her until her death after 26 years.
Will was an enthusiast for exploration ever since he was a young boy, and, combined with his newfound zeal for God, he became an even stronger supporter in foreign missions. His enthusiasm was looked down on by the Baptist assembly, yet he published An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathen in 1792, and it immediately became a stronghold for foreign mission work.
Combined with the work of an associate, Andrew Fuller, Carey helped to birth the modern mission movement. Not long after a meeting of the Northamptonshire assembly, Carey was commissioned to go to India, along with his wife Dorothy and a man named Doctor Thomas.
They arrived in Calcutta in 1793, having no knowledge of the foreign land, nor having any way of knowing what they were coming into or coming up against. However, Calcutta was a "melting pot" of British and Indian people, prime targets for the gospel. Various troubles, money problems, disease, and a dangerous environment contributed to the early downfall of Carey's work. He lost his son Peter, and the majority of his funding early in the mission, but still persevered. Reinforcements arrived in 1799, and the mission was firmly established. After a mere twenty years, the mission claimed over 1400 new converts, and Carey was blessed.
Dorothy Carey died during the manifestation of God's grace, and Bill remarried twice after her death, once to Charlotte, who died in 1821, and then to Grace, whom he remained married to through the rest of his life.
Will was unable to receive formal training and schooling during his younger years due to his poor status, as well as his skin disease. However, he was able to master Dutch, French, Greek, and Hebrew before he was even twenty years old. All of this experience in foreign language greatly aided him in his translations in India, learning the various vernaculars of the Indians.
This was Bill's true ministry that most people remember him for, his translations of the Bible into over forty Indian languages. His first, a Bengali New Testament, was ready in 1801 after 7.5 years of work. By 1837, he and his team had written and distributed the over forty different versions of the Bible.
Another big aspect of Carey's work was his schools that he established, most notable the Serampore College, which is still in existence. His first school was established in 1798 for the natives, and he opened one hundred and three schools total. There were over seven thousand students enrolled there after only twenty years.
William Carey died in 1934 after never returning to his native England. He devoted the majority of his life to the cause of reaching the Indian peoples, and lost much for this cause. However, his dedication and hard work eventually paid off, with the souls of many Indian people being saved due to his efforts.
His work still reaches us today in many ways. A few of Bill's schools and institutions, such as the college of Serampore, are still standing and functioning, accepting new students every year. His forty-four different translations of the Bible into native Indian tongues paved the way for future generations' work on the Old and New Testament distributions. Did you know that before the American Civil War, Carey's work had made it possible for about three hundred million people to have access to the Word of God? Oh it's true. It's true.
Despite childhood problems and family difficulties, Will grew into a sensational preacher. He wasn't necessarily an evangelist, but his messages cut deep and made the people think. His true expertise was getting people to let him do what he knew God wanted to him do. His catchphrase was, "Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God." He had a faith and a calling like none other before or since him.
Through all his efforts and accomplishments as a foreign missionary, Carey has earned the nickname "Father of Modern Missions." The key word there is earned. Perseverance was a gift of Bill's that very few men can boast of. He was truly a great man, and lived for God with all his heart.
BIBLIOGRAPHY BELOW IN THE LINKS
http://www.cantonbaptist.org/halloffame/carey.htm (William Carey)
http://www.baptistpage.com/Portraits/carey.htm (William Carey - The Baptist Page - Portraits)
http://www.biblebelievers.com/carey (LIFE OF WILLIAM CAREY, Shoemaker & Missionary)