C.T. Studd *****
C.T.
Studd was born into a very affluent family, He became a very famous athlete as
well (cricket). Just before graduating College, he surrendered his life to the
Lord Jesus Christ. God called him to
China, and so he made a complete surrender of his life to go to the mission
field of China.
When
his parents died, he inherited a vast fortune, but remembering the words of the
Lord Jesus, in Matthew 10:9-10 Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in
your purses, Nor scrip for your
journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is
worthy of his meat. Remembering also that the Scripture teaches, "if a man
doesn't provide for his own family he is worst than an infidel ", he
quickly gave his money away to missions, and other types of Gods work. With the
exception of a small amount, which he gave to his wife.
He
served the Lord well on the mission fields of China as well as India, and after returning home to England, just about
completely spent, God called him to Africa.
His doctor would not allow him to go, and warned him of the cost, "dying" if he tried to
go to Africa. The Doctor told the
mission board, with the this results,
all of his support was cut off!
But God had called him! And so he went on the appointed day and waited
as the ship to Africa was being loaded.
He had neither funds or mans approval, but he was in the will of
God. One of his friends showed up at
the dock to wish him well, and said to C.T. I want to be a part of your
venture, and gave him the money needed to board the ship and get him into the
interior of Africa.
The
results of this act of obedience of an elderly man, was remarkable, the mission
that C.T. formed is still operating today!
A
quote from C. T. Studd, "I once had another religion: mincing, lisping, bated breath, proper, hunting the
Bible for hidden truths, but no obedience, no sacrifice. Then came the change.
The real thing came before me. Soft
speech became crude salt. Words became
deeds. The commands of Christ became not merely Sunday recitations, but battle
calls to be obeyed. Instead of
saying "Lord, Lord," in a
most reverent voice, many times and yet continuing deaf to the simplest
commandments. If man is willing to obey
and sacrifice, he soon learns what is the blessed reality of the fellowship of God's son Jesus Christ".
A
second view of this man of God
C.
T Studd gave away his family inheritance to help the work of George Muller, D.
L. Moody, Dr. Barnardo and others and spending ten years in China where he
suffered great hardships to reach remote areas where the gospel had never been
heard before. On returning to England he was invited to visit America where his
brother Kynaston had recently arranged meetings which had led to the formation
of the Student Volunteer movement. During this tour he experienced powerful
blessing upon his ministry and the spiritual life in many colleges, churches
and other bodies was radically transformed.From 1900-1906 Studd was pastor of a
church at Ootacamund in South India and although it was a different situation
to the pioneer missionary work in China, his ministry was marked by numerous
conversions amongst the British officials and the local communi
ty.
However, on his return home Studd became concerned about the large parts of
Africa that had never been reached with the Gospel and in 1910 he went to the
Sudan and was convicted by the lack of Christian witness in central Africa. Out
of this concern Studd was led to set up the Heart of Africa Mission and when
challenged as to why he was preparing for a life of inevitable hardship he
replied, "If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be
too great for me to make for Him." On his first venture into the Belgian
Congo in 1913, Studd established four mission stations in an area inhabited by
eight different tribes. Then a serious illness to his wife required his return
to England, but when he returned to the Congo in 1916 she had recovered
sufficiently to undertake the expansion of the mission into the World
Evangelism Crusade with workers in south America, central Asia and the middle
East as well as Africa. Supported by his wife's work of home, Studd built up an
extensive missionary outreach based on his centre at Ibambi and although she
made a short visit to the Congo in 1928 that was the only time they met again
since she died in the following year. Two years later, still labouring for the
Lord at Ibambi at the age of seventy, Charles Studd died, but his vision for
China, India and Africa had expanded to reach the whole unevangelised world.
A
third view of this man of God, C.T. Studd
Charles
T. Studd was a servant of Christ who faithfully served His Saviour in China,
India, and Africa. As Alfred Buxton in the forward to the book intitled C.T.
Studd: Cricketer & Pioneer by Norman Grubb states: "C.T.'s life stands
as some rugged Gibraltar--a sign to all succeeding generations that it is worth
while to lose all this world can offer and stake everything on the world to
come. His life will be an eternal rebuke to easygoing Christianity. He has
demonstrated what it means to follow Christ without counting the cost and
without looking back. C.T. was essentially a cavalry leader, and in that
capacity he led several splendid charges. Three in particular stand out: when
C.T. and Stanley Smith led forth the Cambridge Seven to China, in 1885; ten
years later when C.T. toured the American Universities at the start of the
Student Volunteers; and when in 1910 he initiated the campaign for the region
between the Nile and Lake Chad (the largest unevangelized region in Africa at
the time)..."As a soldier of the Cross, C.T. is remembered for "his
courage in any emergency, his determination never to sound the retreat, his
conviction that he was in God's will, his faith that God would see him through,
his contempt of the arm of the flesh, and his willingness to risk all for
Christ."
Charles
Thomas Studd was born in England in 1860, one of three sons of a wealthy
retired planter, Edward Studd, who had made a fortune in India and had come back
to England to spend it. After being converted to Christ during a Moody-Sankey
campaign in England in 1877, Edward Studd became deeply concerned about the
spiritual welfare of his three sons and influenced them for the cause of Christ
before his death two years later.By the time C.T. was sixteen he had become an
expert cricket player and at nineteen was captain of his team at Eton College.
He was further educated at Trinity College, Cambridge where he was also
recognized as an outstanding cricketer.C.T. was saved in 1878 at the age of 18
when a visiting preacher at their home caught C.T. on his way to play cricket.
"Are you a Christian?" he asked. C.T's answer not being convincing
enough, the guest pressed the point and C.T. tells what happens as he acknowledges
God's gift of eternal life received through faith in Christ: "I got down
on my knees and I did say 'thank you' to God. And right then and there joy and
peace came into my soul. I knew then what it was to be 'born again,' and the
Bible which had been so dry to me before, became everything." His two
brothers were also saved that same day!But there followed a period of six years
in a backslidden state. C.T. relates: "Instead of going and telling others
of the love of Christ, I was selfish and kept the knowledge to myself. The
result was that gradually my love began to grow cold, and the love of the world
began to come in. I spent six years in that unhappy backslidden state."
The Lord in His goodness worked in his life and after a serious illness of his
brother and his going to hear D.L. Moody the Lord met C.T. again and restored
to him the joy of His salvation."Still further, and what was better than
all, He set me to work for Him, and I began to try and persuade my friends to
read the Gospel, and to speak to them individually about their souls."
"I cannot tell you what joy it gave me to bring the first soul to the Lord
Jesus Christ. I have tasted almost all the pleasures that this world can give
... but those pleasures were as nothing compared to the joy that the saving of
that one soul gave me." The Lord continued to work in his life, and led
C.T. to go to China. C.T. seeking to comfort his mother wrote: "Mother
dear, I do pray God to show you that it is such a privilege to give up a child
to be used of God to saving poor sinners who have never even heard of the name
of Jesus." C.T. was one of the "Cambridge Seven" who offered
themselves to Hudson Taylor for missionary service in the China Inland Mission
and in February, 1885, sailed for China. Once there, they followed the early
practice of the Mission by living and dressing in Chinese fashion. He and the
others began at once to learn the language and to further identify themselves
with the nationals by wearing Chinese clothing and eating with them.It was
while in China that C.T. reached the age (25 years old) in which according to
his father's will he was to inherit a large sum of money. Through reading God's
Word and much prayer, C.T. felt led to give his entire fortune to Christ!
"This was not a fool's plunge on his part. It was his public testimony
before God and man that he believed God's Word to be the surest thing on earth,
and that the hundred fold interest which God has promised in this life, not to
speak of the next, is an actual reality for those who believe it and act on
it."Before knowing the exact amount of his inheritance, C.T. sent £5000 to
Mr. Moody, another £5000 to George Müller (£4000 to be used on missionary work
and £1000 among the orphans); as well as £15,000 pounds to support other worthy
ministries. In a few months, he was able to discover the exact amount of his
inheritance and he gave some additional thousands away, leaving about £3400
pounds in his possession.Three years after arriving in China, C.T. married a
young Irish missionary from Ulster named Priscilla Livingstone Stewart. Just
before the wedding he presented his bride with the remaining money from his
inheritance. She, not to be outdone, said, "Charlie, what did the Lord
tell the rich young man to do?" "Sell all." "Well then, we
will start clear with the Lord at our wedding." And they proceeded to give
the rest of the money away for the Lord's work.They served the Lord together in
inland China through many perils and hardships until in 1894 after ten years in
China, ill health forced the Studds to return to England, where they turned
their property over to the China Inland Mission.
From
1896-1897, C.T. toured American universities in behalf of the newly formed
Student Volunteer Movement. C.T. describes one of the meetings at Bucknell
College in Pennsylvania:"Had a splendid student's meeting at 6:30. The
Lord was greatly with us. After some hymns and a prayer, I spoke for about 30
minutes; then all got on knees, and one after another gave themselves to God in
such sentences as 'Lord, take me as I am,' 'I will go with Thee, Lord Jesus.'
There must have been a score of them. Oh, surely that is the sweetest music
that can ever be heard by any ears, and if sweet to us, how much sweeter to
Jesus. Afterwards I got them to sing a hymn: "The cleansing blood I see, I
see,I plunge, and oh, it cleanseth me."In 1900 the Studd family went to
South India where C.T. served as a pastor of a church in Ootacamund for six
years. From the time of his conversion, C.T. had felt the responsibility upon
their family to take the Gospel to India.China, then India, and now the heart
of Africa. After their return home to England in 1906, C.T. was stirred by the
need for missionary pioneer work in Central Africa. But again the path was not
without obstacles. Penniless, turned down by the doctor, dropped by a Committee
of businessmen who had agreed to support him, yet told by God to go, once more
C.T. staked all on obedience to God. As a young man he staked his career, in
China he staked his fortune, now he staked his life. His answer to the
Committee was; "Gentlemen, God has called me to go, and I will go. I will
blaze the trail, though my grave may only become a stepping stone that younger
men may follow." Leaving his wife and four daughters in England, C.T.
sailed, contrary to medical advice, for the heart of Africa in 1910, where he
continued to work until his death in 1931.C.T. bore much fruit for the Saviour
while in Africa as he endured weakness and sickness; loosing most of his teeth
and suffering several heart attacks; but he endured hardness as a good soldier
of the Lord Jesus Christ!
In
a letter home, C.T. gave a last backward look at the outstanding events of his
life:"As I believe I am now nearing my departure from this world, I have
but a few things to rejoice in; they are these: 1. That God called me to China
and I went in spite of utmost opposition from all my loved ones.2. That I
joyfully acted as Christ told that rich young man to act.3. That I deliberately
at the call of God, when alone on the Bibby liner in 1910, gave up my life for
this work, which was to be henceforth not for the Sudan only, but for the whole
unevangelized World.My only joys therefore are that when God has given me a
work to do, I have not refused it."Shortly after 10:30 p.m. on a July day
in 1931, C.T. Studd went home to be with His Lord whom he had loved so dearly
and served so faithfully! The last word he spoke was "Hallelujah"!
[Written by Stephen Ross. A comprehensive biography of C.T. Studd can be found
in the book intitled, C.T. Studd: Cricketer & Pioneer by Norman P. Grubb
from which all quotes were taken.]
A quote from C. T. Studd;
"If Jesus Christ be God
and died for me,
then no sacrifice can be too
great for me to make for Him." --C.T. Studd
And another;
Forward Ever, Backward
Never!
Some wish to live within the
sound
Of Church or Chapel bell;
I want to run a Rescue Shop
Within a yard of hell.
--C.T. Studd