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The First Christian Missionaries

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                                       In the center of Main Street in Alabama, stands one of the strangest monuments in the world. It's a memorial to an insect! Nicely carved in stone is the image of a boll weevil. In the early days almost everyone in the community grew cotton. But as the years rolled on, a serious weevil infested the area. As a result, it became almost impossible for the crop to reach maturity. George Washington Carver and the scientists became deeply concerned about the situation. Intensive studies began to see if any substitute crop could be grown in that part of the country. Raising peanuts was the answer. In time, cotton gins were forgotten in that region, and it became known as the peanut center of the world. Soon the farmers' profits far exceeded what they had earned from their best cotton yield. The destructive insect they had feared had actually triggered th...
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         A group of blind men came across an elephant. They tried to learn and imagine what the elephant is like by touching it. The first blind man put out his hand and touched the side of the elephant. “How smooth! An elephant is like a wall.” The second touched the trunk. “How round! An elephant is like a snake.” The third touched the tusk. “How sharp! An elephant is like a spear.” The fourth touched the ear. “How wide! An elephant is like a fan.” An argument ensued, each blind man thinking his own perception of the elephant was the correct one. Their guide called out. He said “The elephant is a big animal; each man touched only one part. Each one of you knows only a part. You must put all the parts together to find out what an elephant is like”. The full nature of God is beyond human comprehension and language. He is infinite, unique and incomparable to anything created. Human beings seeking to understand God are like the blind men. They only touch a s...
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I See Jesus

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  The Boxer Rebellion in China was the largest massacre of Protestant missionaries in history, with 188 adults and children being killed. Thirty thousand Chinese Christians also perished during the summer of 1900 at the hands of the Boxers. Among them was Chang Shen, the best known evangelist in Manchuria. Chang had been a notorious character prior to his conversion—a gambler, thief, and womanizer. At midlife he lost his eyesight, and neighbors considered it a judgment from God. Hearing of a missionary hospital in a distant area, Chang traveled hundreds of miles only to find all the beds full. The hospital chaplain kindly gave him his own bed, and over time, doctors partially restored Chang’s vision. In the process they introduced him to Jesus Christ. When Chang asked for baptism, missionary James Webster told him, “Go home and tell your neighbors you have changed. I’ll visit you later, and if you are still following Jesus, I will baptize you.” When Webster arrived in Chang...
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