William Carey (1761-1834), a shoe repairman in England, was concerned about people who didn’t know Jesus. As he pounded on shoes, he would pray for the salvation of people in distant lands. He had a map above his workbench where he had written the few facts he could garner from Captain Cook’s Travels and other books.
William Carey went on to become the father of modern missions. He spent 42 years in India, where he and his co-workers translated the entire Bible into 25 languages, and the New Testament or parts of it into 15 more.
William Carey had a little known sister, Polly, who was bedridden with a disability. She and Carey were very close, and he wrote to her from India about all the details and problems of his work. Hour after hour, week after week, she would lift these concerns to the Lord in prayer.
King David understood the importance of behind-the-scenes help. When warriors were taking plunder after a battle, he said, “The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike” (1 Samuel 30:24).
We can have a worldwide impact through prayer, from our workbench or our bed!
D! Adapted from article by Warren Myers, Discipleship Journal, Issue 2, March 1981.
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