"THE LORD WILL PROVIDE"

Auckland Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 101, 30 April 1898, Page 4 (Supplement)

"THE LORD WILL PROVIDE"

By the death of Mr George Muller, pf JjvJ-stol, Kngiaiul has lost tlie great? «& pflaiitlirop^t of^^Sfebttftft^. In •this sceptical and advertising'- age, his methods savour of mediaevalism, and the success of his long- career is the more remarkable seeing- that he relied upon, prayer and faith for the funds for. his good work. His early days remind one of Bunyaivs experiences. Born in ISOS of German parents at Kroppenstadt in Prussia, he was a rackety, dissolute youth, and on several occasions was put in gaol for living" at hotels without having the wherewithal to.pay the bill. Though he. was brought up as a clergyman at 'the University of Halle, he continued his irregular habits until his sudden ■conversion at a devotional meeting in ftlWyear of his majority. Now that he ; was enthusiastic for missionary work, his lather refused to assist him, but in response to his prayers and his preaching, a parcel of silver came ifrQHi an anonymous donor, it was the fii st of the many gifts he was to receive. He came over to England, and alter working for some time first as li missionary on probation in London ,;and afterwards as the pastor of an independent chapel at Teignmouth, he settled in Bristol and started an orphanage in a house which he rented. He had no resources, but in his own words, 'trusted in God only for his temporal supplies' feeling 'that he could never overdraw his account on the Almighty.',, The orphans came quickly enough when it was known that a kind-hearted man Avas prepared to iooic after them. Mr Muller turned none away. He only prayed the harder for food foB their mouths, clothes for their backs, a roof over their heads, and the salvation of their souls. The orphaiiage grew with wonderful rapidity until it expanded into the present large orphan asylum at Ashley Downs, Bristol^-a, lasting mon uiiient "of Mr Muller's good AV.or'k'& When lie founded the institution he prayed for premises, for £1,000, and for .persons to take care of the childre.n^ar+d all came in answer to his prayers". He never advertised and he never asked anyone for a penny. His work was his best appeal. Over and over again he' found himself in terrible straits, but his faith never wavered. Many a time he went to bed knoAving that there was no food or money in the house; but the next morning the needful came in the shape of a cheque, a.lpad of flour, a consignment of clothes, or a bundle of linen. In '62, ■fpr>; example, he noted that the expenditui'e"'for the 10th of November was £362 IU/10 and the money received £3 13./6. He began '96 with less than £50, and even in the present year he had for a time a deficit in the receipts. 'The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want,' was his precept, for he read the Bible literally. To-day there stand on the Bristol heights five large .buildings costing, £115,000, uninsured save by Mr Muller's prayers to the Divine Underwriter, Avith accommodation for 2,050,-orphans and 112 assistants, where the inmates, Avho must have' lost both parents, are received irrespective of their creeds, educated, apprenticed to a trade, and started in life. Periodically Mr ■' Muller issued reports couched in quaint but earnest .langiuige. In his '97 report he says: 'Our 'faith has been tried exceedingly during the year in regard 'to pecuniary supplies,; yet Aye have been continually sustained so that,-.without, the least Vviivering,j we have been carried tbrougn the year... '■:■•'. .. In our various schools we had from the'beginning 121,683 pupils.' After stating that in manyF different languages, 281,652 Bibles, 1,448,663 New Testaments, and 222,108 other portions of the Scriptures were circulated by his

'Scriphiral Knowledge Institution for Home and : A;bruacV::.as: well ;as : pne hundred and eleven millions of books, pamphlets and tracts, and referring to the missionary" operations lie . had carried on and the travels he: had made 1.0. countries; in all parts of the globe and the schools that he had established, not only in England, but in Spitin, Italyj the East, IndioS, D|? mernra, and Essequibo, he explains that 'the total amount of money received by prayer and faith for the vario-is objects of the Institution (the Orphan Asylum) since March 6tli, 183 i, is .;£ 1,424,646 6/9*; Note- -the halfpenny, for Mr Muller' was always carerui to have his balance-sheet scrupulously correct and audited by two independent gentlemen. In all some 10,000 men, and women have to thank hjunior their start in life. From the many contributions he received Mr Muller derived no personal aggrandisement, for he and the two wives whom he survived gave all their goods to the poor. He shrank from publicity, except when he was travelling over the [world' pursuing his evangelistic labours and resolutely declined an offer of £500 to allow his jjhotograph to be published. On the celebration of his ninetieth birthday he made a characteristic speech of thanks for a presenvation'-"to him. One statement in it illustrates his almost fanatical belief in a Higher Power. He was a bad sailor, he said, before his conversion, but since he had placed himself at God's disposal, although he had crossed the Atlantic, seven times, the lied Sea five times, the Mediterranean sixteen times, as well as the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, he had never been in the least bit sick.