William Burton was one of the greatest missionaries of all time,,,
William FP Burton was one of the greatest missionaries of all time. A multi-talented man of formidable intellect and determination, he oversaw the establishing of more than 2,000 churches in the then Belgian Congo in the first half of the twentieth century. But this remarkable account shows how much his ministry depended on others, far away from the mission field…
William Burton’s life and ministry may have been considerably shorter if it were not for the intercession of one of his prayer partners at home. In the early years of the twentieth century, a journey to a place like Congo was fraught with hazards, not least from disease.
On board a steam ship sailing up the river, Burton’s companions all became ill with blackwater fever. One of them died and was buried under a tree and the ship’s captain strongly advised Burton, for the sake of himself and his companions, to turn back. If he didn’t, he was told, he and the rest of his party would soon be dead.
Burton spent the night in prayer and decided that, if his contemporaries were dying on the fields of Flanders for an earthly king, then he was prepared to die in the service of the King of Kings.
By the time the party left the ship and set off on foot, Burton was unwell, and as he walked the long miles he became weaker and weaker. He suddenly collapsed, feeling he was sinking into blackness and wondering if he would ever wake up. His friends surrounded him, looking on in despair and expecting their leader to breathe his last when, all of a sudden, for no reason anyone could understand or imagine, Burton rose out of a state of death and stood up in perfect health, feeling as well as he ever had.
The reason for this was not discovered until much later when Burton returned to England on furlough. Then, a comparison of diary notes between him and a young woman in Preston showed that on the very day and at the very hour that Burton was given up for dead, the Holy Spirit showed the whole scene by a word of knowledge to the woman in question. Gripped by the power of the Spirit, she prayed long and earnestly in tongues before God until she saw in her vision her beloved missionary get up perfectly healed.
Burton went on to be one of the most influential missionaries of modern times, pioneering in the spirit of St Paul and living into his late 80s. What, however, would have happened if the young woman concerned had not been in the Spirit on her prayer watch that day?
From Heroes of the Faith issue 1.
