Book: “A Thousand Lives”


Our Motive

In 1885, Dr. Randal of the China Inland Mission was passing through Canada and gave a copy of China’s Spiritual Need and Claims, written by Hudson Taylor, to a certain young man by the name of Jonathan Goforth. Though Jonathan had previously surrendered to be a missionary to China, this book opened his eyes to the greatness of the need and the importance of a mission board. Won over to the cause of the China Inland Mission, Jonathan bought hundreds of copies of the book at his own personal expense and mailed them to pastors. This practice eventually developed into the practice of mailing out “packets” of books and pamphlets on China and the great need.

“We cannot doubt but this work was an important agency in forwarding and feeding the remarkable tide of interest in foreign missions of this period and also that it paved the way for the visit of Dr. Hudson Taylor to Canada in 1888.” – Rosalind Goforth, wife of missionary Jonathan Goforth

Jonathan Goforth was to become the first North American Missionary with the China Inland Mission and was used greatly of the Lord in China for decades, bringing countless hundreds to a saving knowledge of Christ.


Our Book

It is in this spirit and with this history in mind that the idea for our own book project was birthed. As in the days of Taylor and Goforth, we too live in a day in which many are desirous to be used of the Lord in China and around the world, but few know how to get from where they are to where they’d like to be–being used greatly of the Lord on the mission field.

The Vision For China team is therefore wrote a book entitled A Thousand Lives that is a passionate plea for a pipeline of unashamed believers boldly advancing the gospel in China.

A Thousand Lives is currently out of print, but Lord willing we will be releasing an updated edition in the coming months. Please pray with us about this project.


Our Prayer

Hudson Taylor famously said, “If I had a thousand pounds China should have it. If I had a thousand lives, China should have them. No! Not China, but Christ. Can we do too much for Him? Can we do enough for such a precious Saviour?”

It is our prayer that this book, like China’s Spiritual Need and Claims will stir to action the hearts of a thousand lives surrendered to the Lord’s service and motivate them to join our cause to both raise up more laborers and become laborers themselves in the great harvest field of China and the many other harvest fields around the world.

Lord willing, an army of laborers will be released in our generation.

Thank you for praying with us about this project.