This Week - 1806
Henry Martyn
On February 18, 1781, Henry Martyn (1781-1812) was born in Cornwall, England. He was ordained a priest in the Church of England and became a chaplain for the British East India Company. During the 305-day voyage to India from England, Henry learned Urdu and Bengali. Upon his arrival in April 1806, he began Bible translation work. Eventually he produced Bible versions in Urdu, Arabic and Persian. Confessing that ignorance of Islam handicapped his ability to communicate the gospel, he also “read everything [he] could pick up about Mohammadans.”
As he began to suffer physically from overwork and illness, he embarked on a journey through Persia (Iran) to test his Persian translation. After acquiring fever along the way, he succumbed to illness and exhaustion and died in Turkey, while trying to return to England to recruit more missionaries to Persia and India. His legacy inspired a new generation of later missionaries to Islamic peoples. He only lived in India as a missionary for five years but made a huge impact for the Kingdom of God.
Prayer points:
Pray for the Muslim unreached people to come to know Jesus as God and their Savior.
Pray for the disciple makers and churches that are multiplying in modern Iran, even in the face of persecution and imprisonment.
Pray for more workers to reach out to Muslims throughout the Mediterranean area into the Middle East.
Source: https://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/l-m/martyn-henry-1781-1812/
“No copyright is claimed in the images used herein and to the extent that material may appear to be infringed, we assert that such alleged infringement is permissible under fair use principles in U.S. copyright laws. If you believe material has been used in an unauthorized manner, please contact the MRN.”
