Faithful Witness: The Life and Mission of William Carey

Two strengths of this book are that the author presents a realistic picture of Carey's life (from successes to personal flaws) and that the focus of the book is not so much on Carey, but is instead focused on God's use of Carey in bringing about the modern missions movement. First, Carey's life is accurately portrayed without glossing over his faults and failings. The triumphs of Carey, such as his part in the opening of missions in India and other countries, the successful battle against social evils in India, and his translation work, are not told to the neglect of Carey's shortcomings. The most obvious example of this is with his relationship with his first wife. While we must give Carey some grace for living in a time when the modern ministry "priorities" of God, family, and then vocational calling was not widely discussed and accepted as they are now, we cannot turn away from the obviousness that his wife should never have been allowed to enter, and then stay, on the mission field. Second, throughout the telling of Carey's life, Timothy George is careful to examine the sovereignty of God as He is bringing about all of these events to fruition through means of Carey and his associates. As mentioned earlier in this review, Carey's inspiration for missions was God's concern for His people living in darkness, rooted in the "character of God Himself (58)." The reason Carey saw success as a missionary was not because of his abilities and hard work, but instead because of the sovereign, missions-minded God he served. We would do well to learn this from Carey's faithful witness. As George writes, "Today, more than a new program of missionary training or another strategy for world evangelization, the Church of Jesus Christ needs a fresh vision of a full-sized God - eternal, transcendent, holy, filled with compassion, sovereignly working by His Holy Spirit to call unto Himself a people out of every nation, kindred, tribe, and language group on earth. Only such a vision, born of repentance, prayer, and self-denial, can inspire a Carey-like faith in a new generation of Christian heralds (172)." Overall, George is successful in accomplishing his purpose in providing the story of a faithful Christian missionary used by God mightily for the purpose of taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Just as Edward's biography of Brainerd served as inspiration for Carey, we can be confident that just as God will use this biography to inspire current and future missionaries as well. As the church, we should pray that God would raise up more missionaries in the mold of Carey, those who understand that God is sovereign over all aspects of missions and who desire to be used by God as He brings His chosen people from the nations to Himself.