Robert Jermain Thomas was a man of zeal. He preached his first sermon at the age of 17, and later he was ordained as a pastor. He was zealous to take the gospel to the people of East Asia, where most had never even seen a Bible. His wife, Carrie, shared his passion.
Sadly, he and his wife had lost their unborn baby, and then Carrie died within five months of their arrival in China as missionaries. They had been prepared to face anything together, but now she was gone. Robert was so grief-stricken that he stopped being a missionary for a while and got another job in China.
However, when he met two Christian traders from Korea, his commitment to spreading the gospel was renewed. Few Koreans followed Jesus, and the leaders at the time hated people and ideas from other countries. But Robert was more zealous for lost people than he was for his own safety.
When the two Korean Christians set out for their return trip to Korea, Robert joined them. Officials threatened severe punishment for anyone who talked to foreigners, but some listened to Robert's preaching and accepted his gift of a Bible anyway.
Later, Robert found a way to take the gospel to Korea as a translator aboard a Chinese trading ship. On a trip to Korea, the ship's crew fired cannons on hostile Koreans on the shore. Fearing they would lose the battle and the Bibles would be lost, Robert threw the Bibles into the water. He managed to get some of them to the shore himself, in his final effort to reach the Koreans. But just after he reached the shore, he was beheaded by some angry civilians.
Years later, missionaries discovered that Koreans had come to Christ after reading the Bibles. Today, about one-third of South Koreans are Christian, and Christian missionaries from South Korea serve God all over the world.
Robert's passion for reaching the people of East Asia was more important to him than even his own life. Sometimes God is glorified when Christians die for their faith in Him. At other times He is glorified when He delivers people from the hands of their persecutors. No matter what, we can trust that our lives are in His hands, just at Robert Jermain Thomas did.
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