"I Would Rather Preach Jesus"

A few weeks ago I posted a quotation from a gentleman named Rev. Isaac McCoy.  Mr. McCoy was one of the early missionaries to the Native Americans in the Midwest.  As I continue to read his journal and autobiography, I am challenged to live my life more radically.  Here, once again, is a quote from his manuscripts.  This quote is out of a letter McCoy wrote to a man named Samuel Dedman.  Mr. Dedman had been attempting to convince McCoy of the madness of his ways.

"I have patiently heard the advice you gave us to relinquish our missionary pursuits, and have weighed the arguments by which you have enforced it, and must say that what you have said is among the many things which are calculated to make us doubt the correctness of our present and intended movements..... If I live among them I must bear with their uncouth manners and insults, I must be exposed to hunger, wet, and cold.   I must, with small exception, be denied the luxuries of life, the comforts of society, the aid of physicans, and the consoling voice of friends  I shall never herafter lay up, by personal service, a shilling for the widow and orphans which I shall probably in a few years, leave in the wilds of Wabash, or Arkansas, and lastly I must probably die without seeing much fruit of my labours, only that I have prepared the way for others to follow..... I assure you, my brother, that every opposing difficulty, the opposition of the assn. not excepted, has only tended to increase my missionary ardour.  May my merciful God forgive me if I be wrong, and set me right.  I would rather be a missionary to the Indians, than fill the President's chair, or sit on the throne of Alexander, emperour of Russia.  I would rather preach Jesus to the poor Indians in a bark camp, than address the thousands who assemble in Sansom Street meeting house, Philadelphia.  Something has turned my attention towards the Indians, and every feeling of my soul is enlisted in their cause, yet still I may be wrong.  But I feel not the least inclination to turn back, but would drive on with the vehemence of Peter, the meekness of Moses, and the wisdom of Solomon."  -Isaac McCoy, The McCoy Manuscripts, (Kansas State Historical Society), draft of a letter from McCoy to Samuel Dedman, January 12, 1820.

I am continually amazed at Mr. McCoy's dedication to serving his Saviour, and I hope that in some way myself and others will have the courage and faith to follow in his footsteps, preaching Jesus with intense Love.

Blessings,

MN