A Glance Backward At Fifteen Years Of Missionary Life In North India

Excerpt from A Glance Backward at Fifteen Years of Missionary Life in North India In October, 1838, the reinforcement to our North India Mission, of which my family constituted a part, sailed from Philadelphia. At this distance from that time it is instructive to turn back and recall our feelings for a moment. Any one, who has left his native land for a prolonged residence abroad, if he were at all accustomed to reflection and feeling, must have felt vividly the uncertainty of his ever again mingling with the associates who had made the scenes of his early days dear to him. A missionary feels that it is highly probable that he will not live to see his friends again. The wrench given to his affections is most exquisite. Even if he be sure of a future visit to his country, he cannot but feel that he is to be separated from relatives, churches, fellow-students, society - all dear to him; and just when his social affections are warmest, and when he most feels the need of the aid to be derived from their proper indulgence. And if he has any proper sense of the magnitude and difficulty of the work to which he is going, his soul will be filled with trembling. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This is a reproduction of the original artefact. Generally these books are created from careful scans of the original. This allows us to preserve the book accurately and present it in the way the author intended. Since the original versions are generally quite old, there may occasionally be certain imperfections within these reproductions. We're happy to make these classics available again for future generations to enjoy!

American Presbyterians have a remarkable heritage of foreign mission work. While today the mission and ministry of the Presbyterian Church and all of mainline Protestantism is in a time of reformation and deep change, it is vital to remember this heritage of world mission. The Presbyterian Mission Enterprise tells this story by highlighting significant mission leaders through the ages. Our story includes Francis Makemie, a colonial-era missionary pastor and church planter who gathered with colleagues to form the first Presbytery in 1706. Tough, old-school Presbyterians like Ashbel Green insisted on a distinctive Presbyterian mission effort, and Presbyterians were among those who heard the call exemplified by William Carey to take the gospel to the whole world. This vision beckoned Walter Lowrie into leadership, and Presbyterians joined the great missionary movement. Robert Speer was a driving force behind this growing movement, negotiating a moderate path through bitter conflicts. After the traumas of World War II, John Coventry Smith worked to reconfigure and redirect the mission enterprise. Now, in an era marked by fragmentation and realignment, leaders like Clifton Kirkpatrick and Hunter Farrell work to continue the Presbyterian mission enterprise as a vital piece of the way forward. Our heritage guides our future.