Bill Wallace of China
In a chapel sermon at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. Paige Patterson recommended reading “Bill Wallace of China.” Most people know of William Wallace of Scotland through Mel Gibson’s movie “Braveheart,” but relatively few have heard of William Wallace of China. What a shame. . . .
I have had this book in my personal library for several decades but it never seemed to make its way to the top of the “next to be read” stack of books that I keep by my bedside. Like most book lovers I have a problem . . . a big problem . . . well, an obsession – - – I buy more books than I can read. If I started reading right now and read twelve hours a day for the rest of my life I would not be able to read even half of the books in my personal library. So, it is not uncommon for me to own but neglect a book. I regret that I neglected this book as long as I did.
When Dr. Patterson recommended this book I had just finished reading another book (Homer Hickam’s book The Coalwood Way
As a young man in Tennessee Bill Wallace felt called of God to prepare for service as a medical missionary. After completing his preparations he was appointed by the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board (now International Mission Board) to serve in Southern China. Nothing so amazing there, . . . so why the book? Wallace served in China during the Boxer Rebellion, the Japanese invasion during World War II, and in the subsequent revolutionary war when the Communists wrested control from the Nationalists.
The book is full of drama, intrigue, and suspense. Without those elements the book would not succeed. But, what makes the book compelling is that the reader experiences Wallace in a similar fashion as did the Chinese people. The reader, like the Chinese, is introduced to the quiet unassuming Wallace, gradually comes to like Wallace, then respect him, love him and finally finds that Wallace’s life story compels both introspection and committed personal action.
I add my voice to Patterson’s in recommending this book. The book is a quick read, but the reader will take much away from it in terms of clearly defined informational content as well as a tacit knowledge that drives volitional intent.
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If God calls you to be a missionary, don’t stoop to be a king.
~ Jordan Grooms
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
~ Jim Elliot
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A society in South Africa once wrote to David Livingston: “Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, we want tot know how to send other men to join you.”
Livingston replied: “If you have men who will come only if they know there is a good road, I don’t want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all.”
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You have just discovered that the money you have been giving to your church is being used to support those engaging in terrorism – What do you do?
Last October during our church’s missions festival we had a guest pastor in from Russia with whom we have been working. His name was Peter. Well that is what I called him, but every time I turned around someone else seemed to be calling him a somewhat different version of “Peter.” I asked him why people around here, who have known him for much longer than I have, seem to call him by so many different names. However, communication was difficult, so he just said for me to call him whatever I wanted. I did not understand.
Maybe now I do.
In The Penguin Classic Baby Name Book
It’s difficult to keep the names straight in a sprawling novel like Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina even without the added unfamiliarity of Russian names. Compounding the problem is the Russian system of using a first name and a patronymic. Most confusing of all is the fact that Russians are constantly playing with names, creating a string of nicknames from a mere pair of syllables. Finally, a Russian character in high society is likely to bear a French name, owing to the aristocratic affection for Western European habits.
The combination of first name and patronymic is used politely, by acquaintances, so upon meeting someone named Pyotr Ivanovich Lupachkin one might address him as “Pyotr Ivanovich.” (Not all translator render name thus, however.) In a ballroom, he might be know as “Pierre.” And his family might call him, variously, Petya, Petrushka, Petr, or Petinka.
After reading that, I better understand why my Russian friend Peter might be known by so many variations of his name. However, I now feel impoverished because my own family only refers to me by two names, “Kevin” and “Hey, you.”
I was driving through Fort Worth listening to an audio book of Epicenter: Why Current Rumblings In The Middle East Will Change Your Future. I had kind of drifted off into distant thoughts when the book’s author, Joel Rosenberg, who was reading the book said something that caught my attention. He indicated that the mistaken idea that Islam is the worlds fastest growing religion has reached almost “urban myth” status. That Islam is the fastest growing religion in North America and Europe, but that worldwide Christianity is the world’s fastest growing religion.
“Hmmmm,” I thought, and then went back to negotiating traffic.
A few days later I picked up Dinesh D’Souza’s book What’s So Great About Christianity and was again hit with the information that Christianity is spreading quickly through Asia, Africa, and South America.
And, today I read in VirtueOnline about a conversation between Muslim Scholars on Al-Jazeerah in which they express concerns over the large number of Muslims who are converting to Christianity. Specifically, they address the six million conversions which are taking place each year in Africa.
Does anyone good resources on this topic that they would like to recommend?
The magnificent seven, plus three. The first ten graduates from the College at Southwestern should be very proud. They were there at the beginning of something truly great. The College at Southwestern was established in 2005 and “is rooted in the rich history of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
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