Back in 1812

 

I subscribe to Today in Christian History and was struck by an occurrence today back in 1812. William Carey is one of the great Baptist missionary pioneers.  I had not heard of this particular incident in his life.  What a challenge to persistence when the going gets tough! March 11, 1812: Fire engulfs missionary William Carey's print shop in Serampore, India, destroying his massive polyglot dictionary, two grammar books, sets of type for 14 eastern languages, and whole versions of the Bible. Undaunted, Carey said, "The loss is heavy, but as traveling a road the second time is usually done with greater ease and certainty than the first time, so I trust the work will lose nothing of real value . . . We are cast down but not in despair." News of the fire also catapulted Carey to fame, bringing in abundant funds and volunteer labor (see issue 36: William Carey).