You may have been wondering where in the world have I been, since I haven't been posting many blogs lately. My free time has been consumed with reading a book for my grad studies: The Life and Diary of David Brainerd. It's not the easiest book I have ever read, nor was it it the hardest. But it came close to the latter, because of its 18th century English style. But it has also been an inspirational reading.
David Brainerd was a missionary to Native American Indians in the early 1740's. Brainerds diary and journal gives us a glimpse into a missionary's faith and struggles in early America. He faced depression, loneliness, physical illness, and the physical elements of an unsettled frontier life to bring the Gospel to Native Americans. We discover the power of prayer and the faithfulness of God through one's onbedience and sacrifice on page after page of the book. Brainerd's devotion to God and to the people he was called to minister to, is an amazing and inspiring first person account.
The most meaningful or significant statement for me in the whole book can be found in the words of David Brainerd's prayer. In his diary on Thursday, May 22, 1746, he wrote:
“Here I am, Lord, send me; send me to the ends of the earth; send me to the rough, the savage pagans of the wilderness; send me from all that is called comfort in earth, or earthly comfort; send me even to death itself, if it but in thy service, and to promote thy kingdom.” (195)
Within a few months of this written prayer, he would be forced to say farewell to his Native American friends in the wilderness and return to civilization because of an illness from which he would not recover. Throughout his writings, we discover and rediscover the passion, dedication, and sacrifice that he was willing to forge in order that some might be saved. For nearly three years prior to his prayer, he had been living those words daily by example and deed. Brainerd had lived a simple and often destitute life, without proper nourishment or rest in substandard conditions, even by the standards of his day.
After close to two years of ministry among the Indians, Brainerd’s calling as a missionary was tested. The church at Millington, near his hometown of Haddam, called him, in March of 1744, to come and pastor the congregation. He turned it down, praying that the Lord would raise someone else up to take care of them.
He had another offer to pastor the church at East Hampton on Long Island. Jonathan Edwards called this “the fairest, pleasantest town on the whole island, and one of the largest and most wealthy parishes.” (116) Yet, Brainerd writes in his diary, “Resolved to go on still with the Indian affair, if divine providence permitted; although before felt some inclination to go to East Hampton, where I was solicited to go.” (116)
There were other opportunities too. Each time the struggle was resolved with a sense of burden and call. There was no freedom to pursue a better life for himself. Brainerd’s desire was to see the conversion of his Native American Indians. He was willing to forgo the comforts of life, if it was necessary.
Brainerd’s prayer is a reminder to all of us that are laboring in the Lord’s harvest fields that our call is not to self-centeredness but to servanthood. I would recommend this book to anyone who has a longing to discover the spiritual disciplines that enhances one’s ministry. Brainerd’s account of his missionary endeavors is a testimony of a man’s faithfulness to God’s call and God’s faithfulness to a man.
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