For those who have ever heard Brother Yun speak anywhere, you will know he begins almost every sermon with a song. The song choice can vary, but you can be 90% sure that the old hymn ‘I have Decided to Follow Jesus’ will be featured. It is one of the few songs he knows completely in English and it holds a special place for him, symbolising the choice he has made throughout his life to follow Jesus no matter the cost.
It is not widely known the origin of this precious hymn, but the story is as powerful as the song.
Wales, though a tiny country, is a giant in the history of revivals. It has seen several in its day, many of which have had a signifcant impact on the world. 150 years ago, revival fire broke out in Wales and it impacted one young man so greatly, he determined he would be a missionary to share the Gospel with those who had never heard it.
He traveled to North-East India to an area called Assam. The villagers were hostile to the Gospel message, but one man, his wife and children accepted Christ as their saviour. The village chief was furious that their long-held religious superstitions were being challenged and called the family out into a public area.
With villagers crowded around, he was determined to make an example of the man and his family. He demanded that they renounce their faith in front of all the villagers, or face execution.
The man stood resolute and answered, “I have decided to follow Jesus.”
The chief flew into a rage and ordered his men to shoot his two young children with arrows. The men folllowed orders. The two young bodies lay lifeless on the ground. Again, the chief turned to him and said, “Will you deny your faith? You have lost both your children. You will lose your wife too.”
Sorrowful at the loss of his children’s lives, the man stood firm and replied, “Though no one joins me, still I will follow.”
The chief was indignant at his rebellion. He shrieked at his men to shoot down the man’s wife and, as swifty as her young children before her, she was struck down. The chief looked at the man directly in his eyes with a cold glare. “I will give you one more opportunity to deny your faith and live.” The crowd was silent, some deep in their hearts hoping the man would deny his faith and be saved.
The man was calm, holding the eye contact of the chief. He answered with only one thing, “the cross before me, the world behind me. No turning back.”
He was struck down with arrows like his family before him, but in the following days, the chief was unsettled. He was so moved by the faith of this one man that he conceded there must be some truth in this God for a man and his family to give their lives for him. In a shocking confession, he proclaimed, “I too belong to Jesus Christ!” When the villagers heard this, the whole village accepted Christ.
The formation of these words into a hymn is attributed to the Indian missionary Sadhu Sundar Singh. An American hymn editor, William Jensen Reynolds, composed an arrangement that was included in the 1959 Assembly Songbook.
Amen!