Daily Topic for July 03, 2008
Everywhere today men live in bondage, serving their idols in fear and uncertainty. They are ignorant of their Creator-the God who loved them to the point of sending His only Son to die for their sins, that they might be delivered from this bondage. “Whoever will call upon the Lord will be saved. But how can they call on Him…of whom they have never heard, and how can they hear without a preacher…?”
O God, raise up workers from our midst to proclaim the risen Christ to peoples who now worship worthless idols.
After seven years, in 1893, the first chapel in Paoning was dedicated. That Sunday, Rev. Cassels went to the chapel to pray. A man came in with a large basket on his back. Cassels recognized him from meetings that were held without a chapel. He discovered that the fellow had carried the basket full of idols that he wished to publicly destroy. So the first outsider to enter the chapel on the morning of its opening was one who was turning from idols to God!
Bishop Cassels traveled thousands of miles a year, visiting the far-flung stations for which he was responsible. In view of the fact that the average day’s journey was 30 miles over miserable paths, a large proportion of his time was spent on the road. As he traveled, he prayed and wrote letters.
After 34 years in China, in 1920, the Cassels went on their last furlough. Five years later, William celebrated the 40th anniversary of his first sailing for China, and spoke on what God had done during his own lifetime in West China. Had he known that this was the last address he would deliver, he could not have spoken on a more appropriate subject. Cassels soon became ill, and within 10 days he died. Mrs. Cassels died a week later of the same illness. From “W. W. Cassels, First Bishop in Western China,” Marshall Broomhall, China Inland Mission, 1926.
Learn more at joshuaproject.netPray that all missionaries among the unreached peoples experience the joy of exalting His Name above all names.-AL