Union & Communion

Since the life of Paul and the era following Pentecost, few lives have left the legacy and impact among the unreached and unengaged as that of James Hudson Taylor. His unwavering devotion to exalting Jesus "built foundations where there were none" (Romans 15:20) such that millions of Chinese believers trace their lineage in the faith back to this young man from England. Born in 1832, James Hudson Taylor spent the first decade and a half of his life in what he would later term as blasphemy and unbelief until (crediting the prayers of his mother and the grace of his Maker) he met Jesus at the age of sixteen. The Man from Galilee quickly became Taylor's preeminent obsession and preoccupation. By the age of seventeen, driven by a dream for Jesus to be magnified by every man, woman, and child He made, Hudson Taylor committed himself to a life amongst the largest unreached nation of his day: China. He followed through on this commitment and was buried in China in 1905. Taylor's ability to work hard and effectively under duress and difficulty was fueled by his love for Scripture, for the Spirit who breathes upon the Word, and the Son who reminds us to "abide," because one truth will carry a laborer across the threshold between this age and the next, and it is one Hudson Taylor confidently knew: who we are is and will always be more important than what we do.