Bill Borden and the Student Volunteer Movement

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