God will...
In 1807 Robert Morrison, a Presbyterian Scot, landed in China. He had travelled via America because the British East India Company was continuing its anti-missionary policy and refused him a berth on any of its ships. While in New York he was taken by his host to a shipowner to arrange passage to China. The shipowner said to him, “And so, Mr Morrison, you really expect that you will make an impression on the idolatry of the great Chinese empire?”. Morrison replied, “No, Sir. I expect God will.”
By 1823 he had translated the whole bible into Chinese (as well as writing a Chinese grammar and Chinese-English dictionary). In 1824 (China was still officially closed to foreigners) he wrote, “What, then, do the Chinese require from Europe? – Not the arts of reading and printing; not merely general education; not what is so much harped on by some philanthropists – civilization: they require that only which St Paul deemed supremely excellent, and which it is the sole object of the Missionary Society to communicate – they require the knowledge of Christ.”
