The Quiet Revolution
In 1865, Hudson Taylor did something that horrified the established missions world. He founded the China Inland Mission with a single radical policy: the mission would never solicit funds. No fundraising dinners. No sponsorship appeals. No guilt-inducing letters. They would pray, and trust God to move people's hearts.
The religious establishment thought he was naive. Some thought he was dangerous.
Over the next 45 years, the China Inland Mission became the largest Protestant missionary agency in the world, sending over 800 missionaries into the interior of China and establishing 125 schools.
Faith That Looked Like Recklessness
Taylor's approach wasn't passive. He worked exhaustingly hard — learning Chinese dialects, travelling through dangerous terrain, building relationships with communities that had never seen a Westerner. But he drew a hard line at money.
He once said: "God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supplies." This wasn't a slogan. It was an operating principle he tested against starvation, illness, and the deaths of his wife and several children.
There were times the mission had nothing. Literally nothing. Taylor would gather the team, pray, and wait. And provision would come — sometimes from strangers who felt compelled to give, sometimes from unexpected directions, always at the moment it was needed.
The Principle Behind the Provision
What set Taylor apart wasn't just faith — it was integrity. He refused to manipulate people into giving. He believed that if God wanted the work done, God would fund the work. And if the money stopped, maybe the work needed to pause.
This was deeply countercultural then. It's deeply countercultural now.
Taylor also insisted that missionaries live at the level of the Chinese communities they served. No Western luxury compounds. No financial separation from the people they were there to love. This commitment to simplicity freed the mission from the fundraising treadmill that consumed other organisations.
What This Means for You
Taylor's principle translates beyond missionary work. What if you stopped hustling to make things happen financially and started asking: "Is this the right thing, and will it be resourced if it is?"
That's not passivity. Taylor worked harder than almost anyone in his era. But he separated the work from the worry. He did his part and let God handle the supply chain. Over 800 missionaries and 125 schools later, the supply chain held.