About 50 BTJ missionaries in China were training in a factory outside of Shanghai this summer. They were preparing to head out to closed nations in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. After four months of training in an underground Bible school, they came together to sign their last will and testament.
Many of them might not know it, but the last will and testament they sign is not much different than the commitment the missionaries from America and Europe made to China 150 years ago. Many of those first missionaries boarded a boat for China, leaving their home forever, with a strong desire to give their lives on the mission field in China.
In 1898, the first missionaries put together the CHINA MISSIONS HANDBOOK, a basic survival guide to be a missionary in China. The 1898 CHINA HANDBOOK can be found by clicking HERE.
For the first time ever, we are sharing the last will and testament the BTJ missionaries sign today before they head to the field. The missionaries are required to sign three copies. One copy for their family, one for their church, and one for themselves to keep.
BTJ LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT
Dear Mom and Dad. I am your son/daughter (name) ________. I thank the Lord for allowing me to grow up in such a happy and God-fearing family, and I am even more grateful to dad and mom for raising me.
You gave your precious child to God for the sake of His kingdom. Through the cultivation of the Lord’s grace and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I received God’s life and am a partaker of the great commission of God’s kingdom. When I was called by God to leave home, it also meant that I would devote my life to the restoration of the Kingdom of God and could not stay by your side to fulfil my filial piety. But I will pray for you and ask God to give you health. I also hope that you will pray for your child.
If one day I should leave the world on the field for the kingdom of God, please don’t be sad. You should be happy because you have given birth to an excellent missionary for the kingdom of God. It is a special honor given by God to our family to give my life in His service!
If I am in the field, as long as it is for the Lord’s sake, He is my only hope. He only has one requirement, that is, I must give my life completely to His calling.
Please don’t ask after me or worry about my well being. I belong to the Lord. He loves me and laid down his life for me and I am also willing to follow His example and lay down my life for Him.
Don’t carry my body back from the field. Please bury me like a seed on the field where I serve. Let your child become the Lord’s testimony and a blessing to the land.
Yours,
______________________________
Date:
Awesome!
I am wondering…
What are the topics or practices taught in the Shanghai missions school?
Do they differ from those taught in Western schools?
Hey Todd! Yes, they often differ greatly to the topics taught in Western schools as they take into account being a missionary among persecution and working into closed countries. Eugene goes into greater detail of their training in the book, The Underground Church