I love lying every day, every night.
I lie.
All right, team.
Let's gather, if you will.
Stunning news from Cairo, Egypt, hollered the paper boys in the streets of Chicago,
holding aloft the headline, Sudden Death Overtakes William Borden.
The sorrows of such a loss to the missionary cause, read those who took up the copy,
will oppress the entire Christian world.
He was a mere 25 when so overtaken, yet his life had already been one of great impact.
When the news of his fate was cabled home, a wave of sorrow went round the world.
Oh, should have showed you the headline.
No young man of his age, declared the Princeton Seminary Bulletin,
has ever given more to the service of God and humanity.
At his own alma mater, Yale, Henry B. Wright, a revered Christian on the faculty,
remarked in reference to Borden's college days,
no undergraduate since I've been connected with Yale
has done so much for Christ in four short years than he did.
Few had been the days granted him,
and his course seemed to have been cut off in the first dawning of its full bloom.
Yet, as his stunned classmate of Yale would attest,
in his short life, he did more through God than most do in a full lifetime,
and had left a trail of changed lives behind him.
William Whiting Borden was born in Chicago, November 1st, 1887.
His was the blessing of growing up in a godly home with family prayer and Bible reading a staple.
His father's ample wealth provided all the amenities and opportunities that could be desired.
A more enduring wealth came, it seems, chiefly from his mother,
who early in Bill's life sowed the spiritual seeds,
which would later bring so great a harvest.
Her own spiritual life had been stirred up in a series of meetings in Chicago
of the Salvation Army,
conducted by Mrs. Bollington Booth herself.
And little William, ever at her side,
as the word went out,
went out in full conviction into the Holy Spirit,
no doubt in that Salvation Army context.
Their permanent church home became the Moody Church,
where the gospel was faithfully heralded with great power,
in the happy heritage of its namesake, D.L. Moody.
Here the seeds of new life were watered and ripened,
and it was from the Moody Church pulpit,
that as a child of seven,
Bill heard an appeal to dedicate his entire life to the service of the Savior.
At the invitation,
William quietly rose in his little blue sailor suit
and went forward.
From that day, daily prayer went up
as mother and son knelt together
that the will of God
might be wrought out
in his life.
It was in that consecrated Chicago home
that habits were formed,
Bible study and prayer,
which would abide
a lifetime.
Once, when William was six years old,
his mother had him,
with the rest of the children,
write on a piece of paper
what they would most like to be
when they grew up.
William wrote,
in Less Than Perfect Orthography,
I want to be an honest man
when I grow up,
and true,
and loving,
and kind,
and faithful man.
Well, to his last day,
by the grace of God,
the man could have
looked into the eyes of the child
without shame.
We see in the Borden home and family
a cheering example
of how consecration there,
in the first formative stages of childhood,
can set the course of a young life
all the way to its end.
William's spiritual nurture at home
was simple,
faithful,
and sincere,
and its impact upon the boy
was abiding.
This was much the secret
of his strong character
and selfless career.
Upon this foundation at home
was added fine schooling.
University school,
then the manual training school,
Bill loved to work with his hands.
And finally,
the celebrated Hill School.
The glory of the Hill School,
which Borden attended,
or entered at 14,
was not its library
or its athletic fields,
but its headmaster.
As the inscription
on the marble stone
which marks the resting place
in the chapel reads,
John Miggs,
strong,
impetuous,
tender,
servant of Christ,
master of boys,
maker of men.
Here,
young Borden
caught from Miggs
the governing principle
of the reverent
and radiant
use of the body.
That the strength
of manhood
given to the master
is built on purity.
Borden would never waver
in this conviction
and never falter
in its exercise.
He would ever be a vessel
fit and sanctified
for the master's use.
What that use would be
would soon impress itself
upon him.
For after graduating
from the Hill School
and before going up to Yale,
Bill took off the year
and traveled around the world.
He had a traveling companion,
Walter Edmond,
a Princeton Seminary grad
who would himself
go on to become
a missionary in Korea.
Started in Maine
and then
they traveled
across the states.
Across then
the Pacific
to Japan
then on to China,
India and Egypt
circumnavigating
the whole globe.
They loved to
they loved to
climb mountains together.
There they are
I think in the Alps
or something.
Yeah,
got a little
got a little rope
kind of tied around
each of their waist.
One hopes that
that would be effective
in the eventuality
that was needed.
The most striking thing
Bill saw
on this world tour
was not pagodas
or palaces,
the mountains
or marketplaces
though he did love
mountain climbing.
It was rather
the utter
and urgent need
of the world
for the gospel.
And eight weeks
into his travels
Borden wrote home
that he wished
someday to become
a missionary.
By that time
he had reached Japan
and seen the lost
condition of the heathen
as they were then called
and also had a chance
to see the missionaries
at work.
Later when asked
by an incredulous
friend
why he wished
to throw his life away
among the heathen
Bill replied
you have never seen
heathenism.
Upon a student
volunteer
questionnaire
a little questionnaire
that you would fill out
when you were volunteering
to be a student
volunteer.
He filled it out
in 1908
to the question
when and under
what influence
he had purposed
to become a foreign missionary
he had answered
when I had been
in Japan
a short time
and met a few
real missionaries
and seen actual conditions.
This was in October
1904.
To one of these
missionaries in Japan
the young traveler
would give half
his total traveling
allowance.
Neither could his
determination
have been due
to some romanticized
impression
of the missionary life
for shortly after
reaching China
he was laid low
with typhoid fever
and so spent
his first Christmas
away from home
fighting for his life
in a hospital
in Hong Kong.
Certainly
in his decision
his eyes were open
to the dangers.
Surprisingly
he does not count
among the dangers
driving a car
in Paris
for oddly
it was there
that he chose
to take driving lessons.
The claim
that he became
quite proficient
is
well
that was the claim
just how proficient
he became
one wonders
for at least
on one occasion
he had to pay a fine
for running over
a motorcyclist.
So
it happens easily
in Paris
it's almost happened
to me several times.
while crossing
the channel
Borden arrived
in London
and the timing
was providential
for R.A. Torrey
there he is
R.A. Torrey
a famous evangelist
and pastor
of the day
was holding
a series of meetings
and Borden
attended these addresses
and they were used
of God
to renew
his consecration
as he wrote
in his diary
on that day
July 2nd
I was much helped
and surrendered
all to Jesus
at the invitation.
Borden was now
a young man
of 17
and in this
newly made
surrender
Borden
entered Yale
the fall
of 1905
in a
no bad thing
to show up there
with consecrated
life.
In the fly leaf
of his pocket
New Testament
he had written
out Psalm
119
11
Thy word
have I hidden
my heart
that I might
not sin
against thee.
Banners
and placards
were numerous
and various
in the Yale rooms
as they are
today.
Borden had
one up in his
room
it read
Wherewithal
shall a young
man keep
his way pure
by keeping
it according
to thy word.
As one
yearly observed
Borden
soon stamped
himself as a
leader in the
Christian activities
of the college.
In spite of his
age he was
far more mature
in faith
than many
considerably older.
Well though
determined to
hide the word
in his heart
Borden was
equally determined
not to hide
it from his
classmates.
And so
first semester
of his
freshman year
when as
one fellow
student wrote
everywhere about
him were the
hustle and
uncertainty of
freshman beginnings.
Borden sought
out and gathered
up a few
Christian classmates
for a daily
prayer meeting.
Charlie
Campbell
oh no I
don't have a
picture of him
Charlie
Campbell
the first
to join him
later recalled
these meetings
were held in
Bill's room
just before we
went to breakfast.
The time was
spent
in a brief
reading of
scripture and
then predominantly
in prayer.
Our object was
to pray for
the religious
work of the
class in
college and
also for those
of our friends
who we were
seeking to
bring to
Christ.
Determined in
his purpose to
be a missionary
he didn't want
to wait till he
got to foreign
soil to announce
the good news
and to reclaim
the wayward.
No good to
imagine yourself
preaching in
some exotic
far eastern
bazaar if
you were
unwilling to
press the
savior on
the New Haven
Green or in
the college
quad so
thought Borden.
He is a
missionary
first last
and all the
time said
one fellow
student of
Bill.
Another
recalled an
instance freshman
year when
Bill heard
of a student
drifting into
open and
flagrant sin.
Bill set
about reaching
him with
Christ's message
of salvation
writes his
fellow student.
He discovered
the dark and
distant haunt
where this
wayward son of
Eli was
scurulously in
the company of
a woman of
ill repute that
he had engaged.
Well Bill
managed to get
hold of this
prodigal and
somehow drag him
back to New
Haven by what
were described
as strong
armed methods.
What precisely
these were is
not indicated.
Suffice it to
say that it
didn't hurt that
Bill was one of
the toughest on
the wrestling
mat that Yale's
gym could boast
of.
And so many
of the fallen
or the falling
were forcibly
retrieved.
As a professor
of his recalled,
it was
impossible
you would say
to yourself
that anything
could go wrong
in his
neighborhood
if he could
prevent it.
He seemed
like a fixed
beacon light
in the moving
waters,
recalled another,
by which the
fellows could
safely steer
their course.
And he was
so uncompromising
with anything
that he considered
wrong.
And he was
so determined
to carry out
every plan
that he thought
was right.
Bill's very
presence,
wherever he was
on campus,
became,
it seems,
an influence
for purity.
As another
classmate relates,
the shady
story,
the jest,
which had a
little bit of
sacrilege in it,
the remark,
in a slighting
way,
about the Bible
or holy things,
all these were
intolerable
when Bill Borden
was present
or in hearing.
His fellows
knew that it
would not be
tolerated by him
and they
abstained from
that sort of
thing when he
was with them.
He helped us
all to think
more purely
and to live
more purely
because we
knew him.
Now one
might think
that such
aggressive
evangelism
and such
uncompromising
loyalty to
holiness
might grate
upon and
alienate
many a
fellow student
who did not
share his
convictions.
And yes,
this was true
in some cases.
And yet it
seems Borden
was remarkably
respected by
his peers,
even those
who saw
life differently.
As his
roommate of
two years,
Malcolm Villis,
recalled,
many times I
heard Bill
criticized by
men in our
class as being
too religious
and narrow-minded.
But when I
asked if they
didn't like
and admire him,
they invariably
said, oh yes,
of course we
do.
And not
one, but
what was or
would have
been proud
to call him
friend.
And so
proceeded his
evangelistic
efforts.
But by
year's end,
Borden wanted
something a
little more
systematic for
fear that some
might fall
through the
cracks.
Beginning
sophomore year,
Bill inaugurated
a new
strategy.
Writing to
his mother,
he explained,
Charlie,
Jeff,
and I got
together today
and divided
up the
class.
There would
have been
about 300
men in
his class
during that
time at
Yale.
The plan
is for
each of
us to
have a
quarter of
the class.
I'm not
quite sure
how the
fractions
worked out
when he
just mentioned
three,
but nonetheless,
okay,
maybe that
wasn't his
strong suit.
The plan
is for
each of
us to
have one
quarter of
the class
as his
parish and
to know
every individual
man.
It'll take
time,
but I
believe it
will pay
off.
Naturally,
there were
some
Yalies who
were tougher
prospects than
others,
the dancers,
the dicers,
the womanizers,
and whiskey
drinkers.
One of
Bill's
companions
involved in
the divvying
up of that
class later
described the
occasion.
The names
were gone
over one
by one,
and the
question asked,
who will
take this
person or
that?
And when
it came to
one who
was a
hard proposition,
there would
be an
ominous
pause.
Nobody
wanted the
responsibility.
Then Bill's
voice would
be heard.
Ah,
put him
down to
me.
Bill
hunts up
the worst
skunk in
college and
goes after
him,
marveled
another
fellow in
his class,
Joe
Twitchell.
It was
in a
chasing
down skunks
that Bill
became aware
of another
mission.
See,
New Haven,
as a
seaport midway
between New
York and
Boston,
seemed to
gather up
every sordid
sort of
riffraff and
vagrant,
tramp and
hobo,
and to
accommodate
the burgeoning
vice,
saloons,
gambling halls
and brothels
sprang up in
abundance.
Not one
rescue mission
existed to
bring relief
and gospel
to the
melange of
human
wreckage.
Borden
felt something
needed to
be done.
So he
gathered up
his mates
to pray,
rented a
room in
a dive on
the strip,
and began
to hold
evangelistic
meetings to
bring the
hope of
gospel to
drunken
derelict.
There it is.
Yale Hope
Mission.
It started
as a single
room,
but under
Borden's
energy and
influence,
quickly grew.
Soon Bill,
remember he
was extremely
wealthy,
unostentatiously
so, but
extremely
wealthy,
quietly bought
the whole
building for
a halfway
house.
On cold
nights, as
many as
150 men
were present
for meals
and lodging,
and the
challenge and
comfort of the
gospel at
Hotel Martin,
as it came to
be called in the
streets, after
Daddy Martin,
who was a
one-time
drunk,
notorious drunk,
whose life had
been dramatically
changed there at
the Mission.
And like Daddy
Martin, many a
shattered life was
reclaimed for
Christ in that
place.
One of Bill's
early
reclamations,
they called
him, later
reminisced, and I
hasten to note
that the private
grammar is his,
not mine.
This is a quote.
This is found in the
letter that he had
written,
Not till the
books of heaven
are opened will
you know what
Bill Borden done
by opening Yale
Hope Mission.
He'd hasten
through his
address and get
down to work
with us men.
As soon as the
invitation was
given to come
forward, he would
be off his
platform and
right down among
the men.
He had a habit
of putting his
hand on a man's
shoulder, and
they'd almost
always break down
when he spoke to
them.
I never
knowed a
feller just
like Bill.
I like to get
hold of one of
his pictures.
Seems to me, if
ever I saw one, I'd
most likely try to
steal it.
Obviously, the man
had not totally
renounced his
previous lifestyle,
but he could
talk to anyone.
Didn't matter who
they was.
And he'd get
down with his
arms around the
poor burly bum
and hug him
up.
Never knowed his
like in this
world.
I know he
must have done
for hundreds
just what he
done for me.
once a
distinguishing
visiting British
theologian was
asked, of all
that you have
seen in America,
what has
impressed you
most?
Well, expecting to
hear something about
Niagara Falls or the
Manhattan skyline.
The
inquirer was
surprised to
receive the answer.
the sight of
William Borden
on his knees in
the Yale Hope
Mission of New
Haven with his
arm around a
bum.
This ministry
remained close to
Bill's heart.
Not only did he
invest $20,000 into
the Yale Hope
Mission during his
college years, even
afterward, when at
seminary at
Princeton, he would
make the trip up to
New Haven by train
nearly every month
to conduct the
address.
Apparently, they
had no bums
available at
Princeton, so you
have to come up to
New Haven to get
that sort of thing.
I don't know, maybe.
And it's our loss.
And the impact of
this outreach also
was exercised upon
the Yale students
involved.
Indeed, the whole
Yale community.
For it demonstrated
dramatically that the
gospel was indeed
the power of God
unto salvation to
them that believe.
Writes Yale
Professor Henry B.
Wright, it is my
firm conviction that
Yale Hope Mission has
done more to convince
all classes of men at
Yale of the power and
practicability of
Christianity to
regenerate individuals
and communities than
any other force in
the university.
Its influence for
good among the
students has been
utterly inestimable.
This was really
true.
And if you read that
time, there were
waves of German
higher criticism
coming in, lots of
things that were
really eroding the
confidence in the
gospel.
And the students
were really kind
of unanchored as
to answers at that
time.
So going down and
seeing the gospel so
powerful to change
lives was an anchoring
reality for them when
there was a period of
time when they just
didn't have questions to
some of these tough
answers to some of these
tough questions.
students.
During spring term of
his freshman year, the
student volunteer
movement held a
quadrennial conference
in Nashville and
Borden attended as one
of the Yale delegates
to a hall packed with
students, close to
5,000 students.
For one week, the
needs of the world were
passionately presented.
This is Samuel
Zweimer, the famous,
renowned missionary
to the Muslim world at
the time.
And Bill was
particularly riveted by
an appeal which
Samuel Zweimer voiced
for the Muslim world.
He spoke of 15
million Muslims in
China where as yet
not one single
missionary was set
apart to reach
them.
Of course it will
cost life,
concluded Zweimer.
It is not an
expedition of ease
nor a picnic
excursion to which
we are called.
It is going to
cost many a life.
Leadership in this
movement has always
been leadership in
suffering.
Well, Borden
returned to Yale
committed in his
heart to that great
enterprise, to
build where none
had yet laid a
foundation among
the Muslims of
China.
Borden returned to
Yale with a fixed
purpose.
Possessed of this
purpose, he became
the nucleus of the
young missionary
band.
And judging from
the number of books
and pamphlet orders
which came from his
pen, he took
personal responsibility
to keep Dwight Library
missions alcove stocked
with literature.
Bill also became
chairman of the
Connecticut Valley
Student Missions
Conference, arranging
for speakers and
recruiting students.
And while still a
student, he conceived
and carried out an
initiative to elicit from
all American mission
boards their needs and
openings and undertook to
get the intel to a
massive list of
prospective student
volunteers according to
their denominations.
Great organizer also.
Great organizer.
He himself had not
signed the pledge.
When we talk about the
student volunteer
missionary pledge, it
was simply a pledge that
said, it is my purpose
if God permit to
become a foreign
missionary.
And this was a
pledge that the
students would sign.
And Borden committed
to missions, had not
yet signed the pledge
in respect to his
father's wish that he
not do so before he
was 21 years old.
And he respected his
father's wish on that.
Well, it didn't take him
long after that,
however.
Here's his...
Here is...
Here's his...
There's his student
volunteer pledge.
It's...
We have...
By the way, we have
all of the Borden...
All the Borden documents
in the Day Missions
Library collection
here at Yale.
So I've gone through
all these papers.
So this is actually
just a little photograph
of the actual things.
So all of these things
that I'm showing are
actually photographs.
And all of the letters
and all of the personal
accounts that I'm reading
you are actually from
letters and things that
have been written by
his fellow students.
So this is all coming
from documents,
all of this stuff.
That you can see yourself
if you go up there
in the special collections.
Well, there's his...
There was his little
student volunteer flyer
that he had to fill out.
In a letter of November
18th, 1908,
not many days after his
21st birthday on November 1st,
he writes to Mr. Turner.
He was the secretary
of the student volunteer
movement.
I enclose my volunteer card.
There...
We have that too.
We have his little
volunteer card that's still
up there in the archives.
There was a joy
and serenity
for Borden
in relation to this call
that very many
remarked upon.
I shall never forget
a remark which Borden
made in an address
in the first church
during his junior year,
writes a fellow student.
Ah.
I recalled
the sound
of his voice
and I heard him now
as he said,
many men seem
to think it hard
to give themselves
to Christ
for foreign missionary work.
But it never seemed
hard to me.
It seemed to be
the most easiest
and most natural
thing in the world.
or as another
put it
of Bill,
others taught us
the duty
of consecration.
Borden taught us
the blessedness
of it.
As
graduation
approached
and incidentally
all his
extracurricular
gospel activity
didn't keep him
from his books,
he graduated
with high honors
and as president
of the Phi Beta Kappa
Society.
Well,
Borden offered himself
as a candidate
for the China
Inland Mission
and was eager
to get to the field
as soon as possible.
Wise counsel,
however,
encouraged him
to secure
more theological
training.
The wisdom
he heeded
and enrolled
in Princeton Seminary
and there
began Arabic,
the language
of the Quran,
convinced it would
serve him well
among the educated
Muslims
in China.
Borden's
three years
at Princeton
proved very
profitable.
The faculty
there was
outstanding,
including such
instructors as
B.B. Warfield,
who took
so solid
a stand
for the
inspiration
and authority
of the scriptures.
Alas,
in Borden's
day,
the effects
of higher
criticism
were eroding
the confidence
of many
in the Bible
and tragically
even on the
mission field.
Many there
were
who had
given up
the belief
as childish
and hopelessly
outdated.
Borden was
particularly
horrified
and grieved
to discover
that the effect
of such
scientific
criticism
originating
from Western
Christian
scholars
was undercutting
missionary efforts
around the
world.
He refers
to an editor
of a Hindu
periodical
who had
expressed
thanks to
a prominent
member of
the critical
school
for,
having done
away with
the belief
inculcated
by missionaries
that the
Bible was
the book
of books
and having
brought it
down to
the level
of an
excellent
volume of
great antiquity
without any
special claim
to inspiration.
Similarly,
Borden pointed
to Muslim
scholars who
quoted from
the Encyclopedia
Biblica and
thus declared
that,
quote,
leading Christian
writers had
now proved
correct the
statements of
Muslims that
the Bible was
hopelessly corrupt
and unreliable
and calling on
Christian missionaries
to give up
these discredited
books and
accept the
Koran.
Borden took
on the cause
of asserting
the indispensability
of missionaries
holding unswervingly
to the divine
inspiration and
authority of the
Bible.
In his will,
he would direct
his large fortune
to be distributed
among various
missions agencies
but specifically
stipulated,
quote,
that each of
the said
bequests be
used for
missionaries who
are sound in
the faith,
believing in
the fundamentals
as the doctrine
of the divine
inspiration and
authority of the
scriptures,
the doctrine of
the Trinity,
including the
deity of Jesus
Christ,
and in the
doctrine of the
atonement through
the substitutionary
death of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
So Bill was
very,
very precise
in these
indispensable
requirements for
missionaries that
would have any
of his bequest.
As a trustee
of the Moody
Bible Institute,
he ensured
that it would
remain on a
solid biblical
foundation,
drawing up
himself a
confession of
faith which
would guide
trustees in
ensuring all
instruction was
true to the
faith once
delivered to
the saints.
At Yale,
Borden battled
near single-handedly
yet successfully
to keep the
doctrinal basis
of the YMCA,
Young Men's
Christian Association,
which was under
much assault at
that time,
but he was able
to commit their
doctrinal basis,
their commitment,
committed to the
deity of Christ,
which was coming
under subtle and
sustained attack.
much of that,
you had to have
a certain discernment
because at the
times,
much of the
language that
was used in
liberalizing things,
they would use a
lot of the
religious language,
but they wouldn't
really mean the
same thing.
There was one
professor at Yale
who was under
suspicion of denying
the deity of
Christ,
and his response
was,
deny the deity
of Christ.
I deny the
deity of no man,
least of all of
Christ.
Wait a minute.
So,
Borden completed
his seminary
in May 1912,
graduating again
with high honors.
Oh, here's a
completing seminary,
Borden returned to
Chicago for
ordination and
commissioning at
Moody Church,
there it is,
which transpired
to the local
headlines,
Millionaire
Leaves Luxury
to Preach,
and Heathen
Tribes Rob
Chicago Society.
So,
many were the
high society
connections with
the Borden
family that
Moody Church,
on that night of
his ordination
service,
was,
according to
the Chicago
Examiner,
September 21,
1912,
expected to
assume the
appearance of
a social
soiree
there in the
church.
To
incredulous
reporters,
Borden
explained that
in his
estimate,
the rewards
of missionary
effort were
incalculably
greater than
any high
society life
had to
offer.
His
example also
had great
impact upon
the student
world.
For three
months before
he sailed,
he toured
campuses of
the East
Coast,
kindling a
vision for
the world.
In regard
to Borden's
visit to
UVA,
one YMCA
wrote,
Mr.
Borden
has come
and gone.
His visit
was an
inspiring one.
His deep
spiritual life
and his
absolute
dedication to
the missionary
cause has
made a
lasting impression
upon all
of our
leaders.
And great
was the
harvest of
volunteers,
but he
was eager
to turn
to the
harvest,
to be
reaped in
faraway
almonds.
I've got
the fever
in my
bones,
he writes
November
1912.
And I'm
anxious to
be off
to Egypt.
In a
month,
he was
on his
way.
The plan
was to
stop in
Cairo,
Egypt,
to study
Islam and
to perfect
his Arabic.
Then to
head to
Khansu
province in
China,
nestled
there between
Mongolia and
Tibet.
Borden hit the
ground running
when he
arrived.
As Samuel
Vamer,
his missionary
mentor,
writes,
I never
saw a
man come
to Egypt
with eyes
more open
to see
the kingdom
of God.
Other men
come to
see dead
pharaohs,
to study
history,
or to
join the
great company
of tourists
all over
the land,
never once
lifting their
eyes to
see the
fields white
unto harvest.
Borden had
not been in
Cairo two
weeks before
he organized
the students of
the theological
seminary to
attempt a
house-to-house
canvas with
Christian literature
for the entire
city with its
800,000 people.
I've seen one
photograph that
he got a little
bicycle and he
could carry like
three, he had
all these little
packs and bags
hanging with all
these tracks and
he would ride
through and he
could get 3,000
tracks onto his
little bicycle with
his contraption
that he was able
to design.
Well, it was a
grand beginning
but alas, it
was for Borden
nearly the
end.
Little did he
imagine that
this would be
among his
final earthly
labors for
his lord.
Borden would
never reach the
Muslims in
China.
While still in
Cairo mastering
Arabic and to
that end he
moved in with a
Syrian family and
stayed with them,
Borden there
contracted
spirocerebral
meningitis.
For three
weeks he
battled the
dread disease
but on April
9th, 1913
he passed on
through the
night into
the light of
his presence
whom he had
longed faithfully
to serve.
His mother and
his sister on
board a ship
to reach him
arrived just
hours too
late, just
hours, in
time only to
be present at
a small
missionary
gathering at
a graveside.
Here's a
picture of
that graveside.
We've actually
had a group
from Yale
contribute some
money to
fix the thing
up and it
was neglected
and it's
fixed up a
little bit
more now.
So they
were present
there at
this small
gathering at
the graveside.
Samuel
Zvamer was
among those
present.
Fittingly
read from
Bukum's
Progress
of the
death of
Valiant for
Truth.
See if I
can get
through this.
My sword
I give to
him that
shall succeed
me in my
pilgrimage
and my
courage and
strength to
him that can
get it.
My marks
and scars I
carry with
me to be a
witness for
me that I
have fought
his battles
who will
now be my
rewarder.
And so he
passed over
and all
the trumpets
sounded for
him on
the other
side.
A
finished
course but
an unfinished
task?
No.
Far,
I wonder
who will
take it
up.
Far away
in Kashmir,
news of
Borden's
death reached
a young
missionary.
One of his
old friends
and fellow
students
at Yale
and he
entered
these words
in his
journal.
I have
absolutely
no feeling
of a life
cut short.
A life
abandoned
to Christ
cannot be
cut short.
Cut short
means not
complete,
interrupted,
and we
know that
our master
does no
halfway jobs.
We must
pray now
that those
to whom
God wants
this to
appeal
may
listen.
That was
Sherwood
Betty.
Borden's
home
going
seemed to
all a
strange
providence,
to some
a tragic
waste.
These,
of course,
were the
words
uttered over
the woman
when she
poured the
precious
ointment
over the
master's
feet.
What a
waste.
But the
master said,
she has
done a
beautiful
thing.
Was
Borden's
life a
tragedy?
As a
young man,
when his
sense of
God's call
had
crystallized,
Bill had
written two
words in the
back of his
Bible.
No
reserves.
Later,
turning down a
high-paying job
that was
offered to him
upon his
graduation from
Yale, he
added two
more words.
No
retreats.
Shortly
before his
death, he
had added two
more final
words.
No
regrets.
No
regrets.
So my
challenge to
us this
morning is
for us to
discover the
same.
For us to
give our
lives whole
heartedly to
Christ and
his mission,
whatever that
is for us,
with no
reserves and
no retreats,
and then for
us all to
discover, and
each to
discover, that
we will have
no regrets.
No
regrets.
Well, let
me end
there, having
promised to
leave some
time for
questions or
comments.
questions.
Oh, I
should say, one
quick comment.
So when I
was doing this
research, I
found this
postcard.
Well, I
found this
letter from
Samuels
Weimer saying
that he was
writing a
biography of
Borden, and I
looked everywhere
for this for
years and
years, and
just wasn't to
be found.
But I
knew it
existed.
I had seen
a little
mimeograph of
Samuels Weimer,
of an outline of
the different
chapters, and
then I had
found a
postcard written
by a Yale
professor who
had apparently
seen the
manuscript to
edit it and
said, this is
fantastic, here are
a couple of
editorial things, but
I couldn't find
it anywhere.
Couldn't find it
at Princeton,
couldn't find it
here, couldn't
find it, you
know, talked to
all kinds of
artists everywhere.
Couldn't find
it.
Even had
people, had
friends go over
to Egypt and
check there.
Well, last
year, we
found it.
We found the
manuscript.
It ended up
getting buried in
the Presbyterian
Mission Society
archives in
Philadelphia.
They had the
original thing.
It had never
been printed.
So we've just
got the
manuscript, and
I think we're
going to bring
it out.
It's Samuel
Zveimer's
biography of
Bill Borden.
So we have
the manuscript
now, so stay
tuned.
We'll see.
So that's kind
of exciting.
I know it
took years to
find this thing.
John, would
you spell
Samuel Zveimer's
last name?
Yes, Z-W-E-M-E-R.
Zveimer.
Sorry, Samuel
Zveimer.
Yeah.
When Borden
was at Princeton,
was there any
time that he
overlapped with
J. Grish
Mention, or was
it not an
overlapped time
between them?
No, he
would have.
That would
have been
Mention's
time.
Yeah.
Hold on.
20s.
Mention might
have, you
know, he
doesn't mention
Mention.
I'm trying to
remember when
Mention first
arrived there.
He might have
been there by
then, but that
might have been
the time that
he was in
Germany.
Mention spent
some time in
Germany studying,
so I need to
check the
chronology.
So there should
have overlapped,
but I don't
remember him
mentioning Mention,
so maybe Mention
was in Germany
studying then.
Yeah, yeah.
Sure.
Where exactly
is Mention?
So it's in
Cairo, Egypt.
It's the
Foreigner
Cemetery.
The what?
There's a
cemetery for
foreigners there
in Cairo, and
it's, yeah, it's
there, and you
just inquire of the
little caretaker,
and they'll, but if
you're going over
there, let us know,
and we'll put you
in touch with
some people.
I was there last
year.
Oh, you were
there last
year, okay.
Okay, yeah, yeah.
It's worth seeing.
Yeah, yeah.
So there's
probably the best
biography on him,
Zemers is a fun one,
it's good, but the
classic is by Mrs.
Howard Taylor,
descendant of Hudson
Taylor, and it's just
called Borden of Yale,
1909.
Oh, you know, there's
one other picture I
should show you.
This will be
familiar to some.
So at Dwight Hall, if
ever you get a chance
to go into Dwight Hall
on the Yale campus,
there, right when you
go in, there's what's
called the Borden
Fountain.
So it's been
beautiful, beautifully
restored, but
underneath it has,
you can't quite see
it here, but it's
it says, whoever
thirsts, let him
come and drink
freely.
So this is a little
gospel Borden
fountain.
When they
renovated the
building, they
polished it all up
on the outside and
removed the water.
I'm sure that's not
symbolic of anything
at all.
I'm glad that they
renovated it.
We're very
thankful.
Yeah.
For missionaries
today, it
sounds like there
were missionaries
before this time
that denied the
inerrancy of
scripture.
Yeah.
There was a big
push to have
missionaries in the
field that were
supported that had
the doctrines of the
faith.
Yeah.
nowadays, is there
when IMB or
whomever or
whatever organization
is going to support
a missionary to
China or elsewhere,
how much betting is
there for their
doctrinal beliefs and
their beliefs about
the Bible?
Is that something
that is left to
a judgment call by
the organization,
or is that an
imperative that every
missionary that is
sent out in these
fundamental doctrines?
Yes.
Do we have
missionaries out
there today that
are denying the
inerrancy of
scripture and
denying the
trinity?
No.
Not only does one
need to sign the
doctrinal basis,
which you can read,
we probably even have
some on file here,
not only do they
need to sign it,
but you need to
continue to sign it.
So I, as one of
the missionaries,
not with the IMB,
but with other
missions groups and
supporting churches,
so as a missionary
myself of some of
these supporting
churches, I need to
not only read through
all of these
statements, and
they're even, I
need to indicate,
and I do it every
single year, every
single year I need
to say, no, I've
re-read it again
thoroughly, and if I
have any exception or
scruple to anything,
I need to write
extensively about what
that is, and then
they need to continue
to judge every year
whether that's
adequate or compromising.
Has that been a
practice for?
That's been a
practice for quite
some time, yeah, and
especially when people
discover that that has
not been the case.
It was easy to assume
that for a while, but
then when you can't
assume that anymore,
they want to check.
Yeah, yeah.
It's been contentious
because there have
been some who are
frustrated at how
tight it is, but,
but, yeah, the
Baptists are doing a
good job keeping that
tight.
They're good at some
things.
Yeah, yeah.
Yes?
Liz, talk a little
bit about how that
early missionary movement
progressed.
Yes.
Because I believe, you
know, my parents were
born in 08.
Uh-huh.
And then in 34, they
went, but I know it
was a big movement of
some sort.
Yes.
So the student
volunteer movement, I
should give a, if ever I
get a chance, maybe I'll
give another talk about
that, the student
volunteer movement, the
genesis and the development
of the student volunteer
movement.
But, yes, remarkable.
It, it actually went
back, this, this, the
student volunteer
movement pledge was
originally based on what
was called the Princeton
Pledge.
There was a missionary
from China who had come
back in retirement, Royal
Wilder, and he had in
his rooms a little group
of Princeton students in
the 1880s would, would
meet and they had as their
little group what they
called the Princeton
Pledge, which read simply,
it is my purpose if God
permit to become a foreign
missionary.
And they began to start
this.
Well, then D.L.
Moody was having a college
conference up in Mount
Hermon to bring a bunch of
college students in and
Robert Wilder took the
Princeton Pledge up there
and had a real vision for
missions in his day and asked
if he could make a
presentation to the, the,
the complete student body
there and was able to find
10 among the students who
were either born abroad, were
foreigners themselves, or, or,
or, or, so had some sort of
connection to, to, to foreign
lands.
And each, there were 10 and
each made a presentation of
three minutes to the desperate
spiritual needs of some foreign
land and then ended their tongue
in, in their language, their,
their other foreign language
with God is love.
And that, and that called,
it's called the meeting of 10
nations.
And apparently this had very
riveting effects and many of the
students came forward to sign
and by the end of the, that
conference, Moody's conference
up at Mount Hermon, there were
actually 99 that, that, that,
that had been signed and just
before they left as they were
praying there, one more entered
in and got down his knees and
signed the pledge so they were
called the Mount Hermon 100.
And that was the start of the
student volunteer movement of, of,
of the missionaries that went
out and that it began to, to,
to grow remarkably.
And you have some of the more
famous people involved.
There was a John R. Mott from
Cornell who signed the
missionary pledge.
He was about to go, but they
realized, oh my goodness, this
guy is one of the most
organized people that we've
ever encountered in, ever.
So they urged him to stay and
organize the thing rather than go
himself.
And he did that marvelously well.
So literally thousands, Elizabeth,
thousands went to the foreign
fields.
And you would say what, what
changed, it began to peter out.
See, after the First World War,
with all the carnage that there
was, people were so struck by the
material woes of this world that
they began, there began to be a
shift to social action.
That it's, we must desperately get
people food.
And soul work, what they called
soul work, started to take a
secondary place.
And that ended up being functionally
the death of the student
volunteer report.
The numbers began to really peter
out after the First World War into
the 20s.
So, yeah.
And Mount St.
Herman is Connecticut?
So it's in Massachusetts.
Okay.
And that's where Moody, Dale
Moody, had his student conference.
And there in Mount
Herman.
You can still go up there and
there's a little pillar and there are
memorials that you can see that's
wonderful.
I should bring in some pictures
sometime.
Long story and a great one.
Yeah, Mike?
Did Urbana, you know, that, that
Yeah, yeah.
That arise later on of this kind of
same kind of...
Same, yes.
Same sort of spirit.
Yes.
And Urbana really took up the
torch.
Now Urbana connected particularly
with the InterVarsity Christian
Fellowship, which was a slightly
different thing.
That had its origin in England.
Slightly different story, but same
sort of spirit.
Yes.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Oh, I'm sorry.
I'm just noticing the time, team.
I think we better...
Hey, thanks so much.
This has been fun.
Hopefully we'll get a chance to do
some other history, church history
together sometime.
Next week, I believe...
Oh, the topic?
I think it's the arts.
The gospel and the arts, I think,
is what we're going to continue with.
Emily, thank you so much.
Thank you.