APR 8

Philippians 1:20-21
Memorise Philippians 1:21
“Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death”

WHAT IS THE THIRD ROOT?

The third root is a Scottish root. This came about when the English Presbyterians sent William Chalmers Burns, a Scottish missionary to China. This happened at the beginning of the 19th century. He served at the same time as the famous Hudson Taylor (founder of China Inland Mission). While Taylor served in various fields in China, William Burns stayed on in Swatow (Santou) to found a Swatow Presbyterian Church.

The first convert in the Swatow field, by the hand of George Smith, successor to William Burns, was Rev. Timothy Tow’s maternal great grand-father, Tan Khai Lin. He was also the first from amongst all the converts to be ordained a minister of the Gospel in 1882. Some of the Teochew and Hokkien ancestors, converted to Christianity through the Reformed Faith, began to migrate to Singapore and the Malayan States (as Malaysia was then called) in the 1860s and 70s.The English Presbyterian Mission then sent Rev. John A B Cook to organise these emigrants into four churches, one of which was Life Church, Prinsep Street. Rev. Cook also founded E P Mission Church, where Rev. Tow’s grandfather would pastor later.

William Burns had been greatly and mightily used of the Lord in many revival meetings in Scotland for fifteen years. Then God led him to China to bring the gospel to the Chinese people. He donned Chinese clothes in order to gain closer contact with the people and bring them the Word of Life. He exemplified Paul’s motto in Philippians 1:21 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” He greatly glorified God – whether in the pulpits of the churches in Scotland or in the fishing villages of China. William Burns had settled in his heart and mind that God was to be glorified in all the earth.

Dear teen, do you glorify God wherever you are? If at home you are able to obey and honour your parents in the Lord, you do well. If in school, you are diligent, honest and responsible, you do well too. Everywhere you go, remember to glorify God in all that you think, say and do.

Thought: Look after God’s glory and He will look after your comforts.
Prayer: Most merciful Father in heaven, grant me grace to live a life that is more yielded to Thee.