He is undoubtedly one of the richest men in Heaven, though it's possible you have never even heard of him. His story isn't told much in churches today.  Maybe it's because it would put so many ministries to shame. Someday though, we will get a chance to meet and talk with him.  I know that I will count it an honor.  Allow me to share a little bit of his story so you can get a chance to know him now.

 

His name was George Muller.  As a boy growing up in Prussia, he was anything but a saint. By his own account, he was a liar, gambler and a thief.  At the age of 14, while his mother lay dying, he was out carousing, getting drunk and playing cards with other wayward youths.  Convinced the boy would amount to little unless he changed his ways, his father sent him off to get a religious education.  In those days if one had a religious education you could at least get a job in the church and be provided with a liveable income.

 

While studying divinity at the university, he was invited to a prayer meeting.  There at the prayer meeting, young Muller had a conversion experience.  Later that night he knelt and accepted Jesus into his heart.

 

Somewhat later George moved to England.  He had in mind to become a missionary.  In 1828 he began evangelizing Jews under the auspicies of the London Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews.

Though he applied for different posts, he was always turned down.  Discouraged, he eventually wound up in Devon and began preaching at a small church.  While there he renounced his salary of 55 pounds a year and decided to simply trust the Lord to provide for him and his young wife. 

 

In 1832 he moved to Bristol and there he began the work that is his legacy today.  He developed Christian day-schools that laid a foundation of Bible based education.  He founded five schools, distributed tracts and aided missionaries.  Through all of this he only accepted unsolicted charitable donations and did not receive support from either the government or any other institution.   Muller eventually opened orphanges to poor children.

 

During his lifetime, Muller gave away 1,381,171 pounds (approximately $2,718,844) – that's around 90 million pounds today  (I don't know how much that is in dollars today).  Besides running the orphanges, he donated over a quarter of a million Bibles,  nearly a million and a half New Testaments, and hundreds of thousands of religious tracts which were translated into twenty other languages.  The money was also used to support other "faith missionaries" around the world, such as Hudson Taylor.  The work continues to this day.  (source wikipedia)

 

I remember one story about him that sticks out in my mind.  He was seated at a dinner table with his wife and

a bunch of orphans.  There was no food on the table.  It was winter.  There wasn't any food in the whole house and they were all hungry.  He told them all to bow their heads and he led them in a prayer of thanks for the food they were about to receive.  Before the prayer was over, there was a knock at the door.  When they got up to open the door, there in the snow were bundles of food!

 

Sometimes in my own trials and tribulations I think about George Muller.  In my mind I compare him with some other Christian ministries these days and see how short they fall in comparison.  Good grief... I see how far short I fall.

 

YBIC

Bruce Baber