This is the story of Henry Martyn who was a missionary to India and Persia during the early 1800’s. He was blessed by God with a keen intellect and a gift for languages.
Henry came to Christ while in college. From that point forward, he was dedicated to God’s service. The life of Mr. Martyn is particularly inspiring because he suffered so much with sickness, yet was able to accomplish great things in such a short time.
While on the ship to India, he would preach and teach the word of God, but very few people were concerned for their eternal soul. This was also the same attitude he found in much of India. Many of the native people did not like Henry because he was English.
Henry preached, studied language, and even opened schools. Through it all, Bible translation was Henry’s calling from God. In just a few years, he translated the New Testament into Hindustani, Persian, and Arabic. What eternal value do these translations have today? Only God knows.
‘I know no parallel to these achievements of Henry Martyn … the born translator. He masters grammar, observes idioms, accumulates vocabulary, reads and listens, corrects and even reconstructs. Above all, he prays …’ - Canon W. J. Edmonds
What was Henry Martyn’s secret? As noted in the quote above - he prays.
