James Hudson Taylor - a Barnsley hero

James who...?

James Hudson Taylor (JHT) was born 21st May 1832 at 21 Cheapside, Barnsley, Yorkshire, UK, son of a Pharmacist who was also a local Methodist preacher and leader.

JHT was converted at 17 to Jesus Christ, and quickly developed a compelling spirit to take the good news of Jesus Christ to China,, where Christianity was virtually unheard of.  He began to prepare for China e.g. studying a Chinese language, practising medicine and learning to trust God for his every need.  Age 21yrs old JHT sailed to China in a ship called Dumfries.  They encountered the perfect storm in the Irish sea, and only just survived.

1^st March 1854 JHT set foot on Chinese soil, Shanghai, where an ongoing civil war was taking place with European military.  Until then European missionaries were based only along coast at main seaports.  JHT went inland to the masses.

Pioneer: He adopted Chinese customs e.g. dressed as a China man including growing a long pigtail (called a queue), fixing a fake one until the hair was long enough.  JHT learnt the local language and ate their food - at least what was constitutionally possible for an Englishman.  This was a revolutionary change for missionaries to embrace all thing Chinese (which was not sinful).

Surgeon: JHT became a qualified surgeon – performing countless operations.  So he not only improved the spiritual health but also the physical health of the Chinese people.

Linguist: JHT translated the New Testament Bible into a local Chinese dialect.

Strategist: In 1865 JHT formed the China Inland Mission (CIM), recruiting over a 1000 missionaries in his lifetime from UK, USA, Canada, Australia and elsewhere.  This included other men and women from Barnsley and also CT Studd, the former international cricketer.  These missionaries, some of them never to return, were strategically placed in every province in China – which had a population of 250 million people.  Today, the population is 1.3 billion with experts estimating 105 million are Christian (8%) which at current growth rates could change the course of history.  There are more Christians in China alone, than the whole of the UK population. 

Evangelist: JHT had a love for the Chinese people and a love in sharing Jesus with them.  The Church in China today goes back historically, in large measure, to the phenomenal work of this man from Barnsley with his amazing vision and passion to spread Christianity and proclaim the saviour of the world, Jesus Christ.  There were other notable missions in China, but the CIM had the biggest impact.  The CIM was unique in the expansion of Christianity, because it had no denominational backing, nor the support of any strong ecclesiastical body, yet CIM’s work was phenomenal.  It is due to the outstanding commitment and dedication of JHT, one of Barnsley famous son’s, the fruit of Yorkshire Methodism.  Thus a new chapter was written in the history of China and south east Asia, which is still being assessed.

JHT had a total faith in God (Gospel of Mark 11.22, Bible) laying hold of all God’s promises, combined with a tremendous vision for China – to reach every person with the good news of Jesus Christ.  He had an absolute commitment to the Bible as the Word of God and his Saviour Jesus Christ.  He used to say, ‘Christ is either Lord of all, or he is not Lord at all”.

He served China for over 50 years, including several trips back to England.  He died (17th June 1905) and was buried in China, his coffin bought by local Chinese in respect of him with memorial services held in Shanghai, London and around the world.

He never made an appeal for money, yet the financial needs were always met, the equivalent today of millions of pounds.  In 1949 Chairman Mao came to power in China and expelled all westerners inc. missionaries.  But the missionaries of the CIM, instead of returning home, reached out to the Chinese people who had migrated to the other nations of south east Asia with the Overseas Missionary Fellowship succeeding the CIM.  Whilst back in China, the churches (or at least the Christian families, as churches were outlawed) belonging to the JHT movement survived the persecution of Chairman Mao’s regime and continue to thrive today.  So the influence of JHT continued long after he died in 1905.

Be inspired, how God can take hold of an ordinary Christian person from humble beginnings and use him in an extraordinary way to change the world.