Fool and Fanatic?

FOOL

AND

FANATIC?

"At God's command I left all that is usually thought to make life worth living ...

and have been called fool and fanatic again and again. "

Quotations From The Letters Of

C. T. Studd

Compiled By Jean Walker

WEC Publications, Gerrards Cross

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Foreword

I have just spent hours in the glow of hearing again the inspirer of my earlier years—C.T. Studd. I had lived with him in the Congo for ten years and then, because there was no one else to do it, I collected the records of his life which his mother and his wife had stored up, and wrote his biography, C.T. Studd, Cricketer and Pioneer. It has gone into 28 impressions and 9 languages, and has stirred up hundreds to the same kind of all-out commitment to Jesus Christ that he knew.

But I also had a big trunk of his personal correspondence, written in his small but legible handwriting, in which I knew there would be more of his original sayings that seem to stick like burrs! I had never got down to those, but recently one of the WEC staff, Jean Walker, picked up a few of his sayings from other sources, making from them a sharp-edged, challenging leaflet. I felt that God had so prepared her that I could trust her to do the same again on a bigger scale. So the Lord's guidance came clear to us that she should produce a full-sized book of quotations, and thousands of letters (some 80 pounds in weight) were transported from North America to England.

Jean worked non-stop for two months in a country cottage kindly loaned for the purpose, and she has produced the authentic C.T.! The same fire burns, and burns into the heart of the reader. The fire of his love for Jesus flares up again and again; that reckless abandonment of his life, never to be taken back again, to the One who laid down His life for him; his consuming sense of purpose—so often voiced in his prayers in Africa—to see Jesus Christ running about in black bodies; that uncontrollable humour popping out, so that you jump from total seriousness to hilarious laughter; the tender concern for his younger workers in their tough and lonely corners, with exhortations not to turn back.

His love and admiration for his wife, Priscilla, streams out of his letters to or about her, as she shouldered the burden of the then infant mission in England and they spent the last 16 years of their married life apart for the gospel's sake.

C.T. loved to quote Paul who counted not his life dear unto himself, and gloried in being able to share likewise in Christ's sufferings. Then we catch his joy as he saw the light dawning in the Africans; loving them, joking with them, praying with them, singing and dancing with them as they let loose in the songs of Zion. But combined with this, in letter after letter, is his uncompromising stand on the Bible statement: Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.

I thank God that hundreds will now catch fire from these sayings, as they did from the biography. Those of you who are not familiar with the story may catch on to the man, and the Holy Spirit speaking through him, by reading the biography first. Those of you who have read it can go straight ahead with the quotations. In producing them, Jean has had the invaluable help of Barbara Goodall and Violet Edson in the typing of the manuscript, and is very grateful to them both.

As we see how C.T. travailed in birth for his beloved Africans in those early years, it is good to know that today, having come through severe persecution, thousands are following Christ in some 800 churches. And from his wild-cat scheme in 1913 — to evangelize the unevangelized world in the shortest possible time, starting with the heart of Africa — there are now around 900 WEC missionaries serving Christ in over 40 countries, not including hundreds of our national brethren. Five hundred more are spreading the gospel through print in the Christian Literature Crusade, an out-birth of WEC, and now a sister mission. And who knows how many more, inspired to total dedication by C.T. Studd, are now working with other missions? I can only end with C.T.'s favourite word — which was on his lips when he went to be with the Lord — Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

N. P. Grubb

Fort Washington,

Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

N.B. The material is not arranged in chronological order, and little attempt has been made to set dates to quotations; they range mainly from 1913 to his death in 1931. In extracting various quotations every effort has been made to achieve clarity and continuity.

C.T.'s style is easy, graphic and often humourous. Because he was on intimate terms with those to whom he wrote, he was himself in his letters.

Introduction

Success in playing cricket for Eton and Cambridge, and in County and All-England matches, allowed C.T. to savour the self-glorifying effects of fame, both as a sportsman and as a Christian. Later, when much attention was focussed upon him as a pioneer missionary and co-founder of the Heart of Africa Mission (HAM, now WEC), he ruthlessly avoided the limelight. Here are his feelings in his own words:

"I was distressed that you had a birthday meeting for me at home. Please keep my name out of all such things, for I dread this thing much. Do what you like in the Name of Jesus, but do please keep all other names out of sight, or the mission will be wrecked and deservedly so. 'I. have kept them in THY NAME.' I appreciate the kind thought but I hate my name coming into prominence and I hope nothing will ever again carry my name, only God's. I dread the exaltation of any human name in this venture.

"I was told that I should get a very wonderful reception if I went home. Yes, I guess it would be so, perhaps a bit warmer than I could wish. Ovations are poor things and are bad for one and for the work, and detract from the glory of God. I fear I have lived too long to care for anything this world holds out in the way of happiness. I know some people think I am queer and mad and wrong in my decision to stick by the sheep, and some would laud me to the skies and declare me to be a man full of the Holy Ghost.

Many a time I have been pressed to write the true story of my life (and there has been plenty said that is quite inaccurate about it, on platforms and in the press) but now this cannot be. It is better so, lest there be things for which men might admire and glorify me, as there would be many also of which they would disapprove and for which they would condemn.

I have attempted to respect these, his wishes. I have honestly tried to make this book the continuation of his very challenging ministry; so that C.T., now in company with Abel, by faith still speaks, even though he is dead (Heb. 11:4 GNB). If, as a result, any reader's heart burns, and he is ready to sacrifice himself for Jesus, then C.T. will shout yet another, but purer, Hallelujah! from somewhere near the Throne.

Jean Walker

Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter1—Towards The Heart Of Africa

Chapter 2—New Beginnings

Chapter 3—His Better Half

Chapter 4—Where The Action Is

Chapter 5—God The Fund Raiser

Chapter 6—The Cricketer Speaks

Chapter 7—Mixed Bag

Chapter 8—Rings And Stings

Chapter 9—The Devil And His Den

Chapter 10—Heaven Is Real

Chapter 11—Holy Living

Chapter 12—Extravagant Love

Chapter 13—A Sanctified Funny-Bone

Chapter 14—Apt Illustrations

Chapter 15—Paul-His Hero

Chapter 16—Aches And Pains

Chapter 17—A Call To The Comfortable

Chapter 18—A Farewell Letter

Chapter One

Towards the Heart of Africa

Our dog Joe has a proud stomach. He will eat all sorts of trash but he will not touch the Egyptian army biscuits that Alf and I so much relish on the march. To be sure they have not so far made their appearance at a Lord Mayor's lunch or city company dinner, but when you are on the march they are noble food. You can carry them in your pocket with a knife, a pencil, a whistle, a ring of keys, a compass and other things without the biscuits receiving the slightest damage. Your teeth must be sharp, your jaw strong and your appetite good to tackle them at all, unless a fierce rain wets you through, under which circumstances you find the biscuits have become cakes. I remember in 1911 on trek with Bishop Gwynne in Bahr El Ghazel