The name of Henry Martyn is not very familiar to most Christians but this amazing missionary, who only lived to age 31, accomplished more for the sake of the gospel in his short life than most missionaries who lived to twice his age.
Martyn, born in 1781, in England, by the time he reached college was preparing to become a lawyer, however the Lord had other plans. After reading about the testimony of William Carey in India and a book by David Brainerd, the famous missionary to native Americans, Martyn decided to dedicate his life to missions. God was calling Henry to India but is seemed like the door had closed on him when he was refused appointment by the newly formed Church Missionary Society. But in God’s providence when one door closes another opens and in 1805 he was offered the position of chaplain of the East India Company.
Henry at the age of 24 found himself on a 9 month voyage from England to India and was put in charge of the spiritual condition of a convoy of 150 sailing ships headed for India. Excited to be headed to India, Martyn was warned by the chief officer on board not to share the gospel message with the people of India. Undaunted, Henry went full throttle and shared the Good News with the people of India. It was now 1806 and after moving into the home of a minister in Calcutta Henry became burdened that the 300 million people in India might die without ever knowing Christ. He immediately set about learning one of the local languages, Hindustani, and translated the Bible into this Indian dialect. He dreamed that one day all of India would someday have the Bible translated into its many languages and dialects.
After translating the Bible into Hindustani, Henry would often burn with fever and have chills rack his body. This condition would pursue Martyn for the rest of his life but it never stopped him from preaching the gospel and translating the Scriptures. After finishing the Indian translation, God spoke to Henry about learning Arabic. After this prompting from the Lord, he began to study both Arabic and Persian. This incredible young man was driven by a passion that all might hear the gospel and read the Bible in their native tongue. So, after mastering Arabic and Persian he translated the New Testament into both of these languages in 18 months, even though he had to deal with constant bouts of fever and sickness. He was now 29 and racing against death. While the East India Company saw Henry’s work as a waste, only time and eternity will tell us how many people he reached through his evangelism.
Henry now felt his time in India was complete and decided to sail for Persia (now Iran). He wanted to learn how to make corrections to his Persian translation and felt that he could best do that by being there. So, in 1811 he sailed into the Persian Gulf and settled at Bushire. But the scholars there laughed at his childish translation and told him to travel the 150 miles over the mountains to Shiraz where the scholars there could help him. The Persian
scholars at Bushire knew that Martyn was dying and were amazed he was willing to make the long and difficult trip to Shiraz. They said to the each other what a holy book this book must be if Martyn was willing to risk his life for it.
As if by a miracle Henry made it to Shiraz almost dying on the way. He was the first English clergyman to ever visit Shiraz. Thankfully he recovered and was able to improve his Persian translation of the New Testament greatly. His one great desire now was to travel to see the Shah in Tehran some 400 miles away and place his Persian translation of the Bible into his hands for approval. It took Henry another 30 days, riding a mule, sick and dying to reach the Shah.
Unfortunately, Henry was not allowed to see the Shah and was told to take his book to the British ambassador. More traveling and near death Henry was finally able to get his New Testament into the hands of the ambassador who thankfully was able to deliver it to the Shah. Amazingly the Shah commented that Martyn’s New Testament was an excellent one and that his servant would read it to him from beginning to end.
Overjoyed Henry felt it was time to head back to England but he never made it, dying at the age of 31, in 1812. But his legacy didn’t die for his Bible translations spread all over the world bringing the good news of the gospel to millions. What a wonderful gift to mankind this young man was, who according to the world died much too young, but in the economy of God met his date with death and his promotion to glory at just the right time!