7 October 1936 A.D. Mr. (Rev.) Jonathan Goforth passes to eternity. A Canadian Presbyterian missionary to the Far East
Dr. Rusten tells the story.
Rusten, E. Michael and Rusten,
Sharon. The One Year Christian History.
Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2003. Available at: http://www.amazon.com/The-Year-Christian-History-Books/dp/0842355073/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393302630&sr=8-1&keywords=rusten+church+history
Rev. Goforth’s motto was
Zechariah 4.6.
Rev. Goforth was born in
1859, one of eleven children, on a farm just outside London, ONT. He was struggling through high school, but a
Presbyterian minister came to the high school to offer Bible studies. After the third Bible study, Mr. Goforth was
moved to “close with Christ,” that is, commit himself to His Majesty.
Mr. Goforth read and was
moved by the testimony of a Church of Scotland minister’s book, The Memoirs of Robert Murray M’Cheyne.” As a result, he contemplated missionary work.
Mr. Goforth attended the
Reformed college of Knox College, University of Toronto (my father’s alma
mater). While in Toronto, he worked in
the slums of Toronto. He also met Rosalind Bell-Smith, a wealthy Anglican. She saw his Bible full of notes from back to
end. They married in 1884.
4 months later, both
sailed to China for missions work. 5 of 11 children died in China.
They carried out missions
work in China, Korea and Manchuria.
He ultimately went
blind. They returned to Canada in 1934.
He was in much demand as
a speaker. In 18 months, he spoke at 481
meetings.
On 7 October 1936 A.D., he spoke at a parish 40 miles from
Toronto. He and his wife retired that
evening. She awoke thinking her husband
was sleeping in. He had passed to glory.
The funeral service was
held at Knox Presbyterian Church, Toronto.
These were the days when
the Presbyterian Church of Canada actually believed in the Gospel and the
Reformed Confession, The Westminster
Confession of Faith. Those days are
now over.
Comments
Post a Comment