GEORGE MÜLLER - Man of Faith

 

GEORGE MÜLLER Missionary Biography George Müller (1805–1898) was a Christian evangelist and director of the Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol, England. He cared for 10,024 orphans throughout his lifetime, based on God's promise found in Psalm 68:5 “God is a Father to the orphans." Known as a man who was wholly involved in the education of the children he cared for, he was even accused of providing an education beyond the usual norm for those times. He founded 117 schools that offered Christian education to 120,000 children, many of them without parents. He said, “If I, a poor man, can build and administer an orphanage without asking anyone for money or assistance, only through prayer and faith, this, together with the blessing of the Lord, should encourage all God’s children about Faith, and is also a powerful testimony to unbelievers about the existence of God." The famous writer Charles Dickens visited the homes of George Müller to see for himself the treatment offered to children. Dickens was so impressed that he wrote articles for several newspapers, an advertisement money can’t buy. After the age of 70, Müller traveled extensively: reaching 42 countries, speaking even to White House authorities, and sharing with others his rich experience with God. On the day of Müller's funeral, the Bristol factories shut down. Thousands of people came to pay their last respects to the man who was transformed by God; from a thief who betrayed his closest friends, to a man who put himself at God's disposal. Müller wrote of his conversion: “When I surrendered myself totally to God, the love of money was gone, the love of a home was gone, the affection of wealth was gone, the Love of worldly things was gone. God has become my everything - I found everything in Him, there is nothing else I wanted. And I stayed with Him, a happy man, a very happy man, seeking to only accomplish the things of God." The work initiated by him still exists: the George Müller Charitable Trust maintains the key principle of seeking money through prayer alone – it actively shuns fund-raising activities. The charity works together with local churches in the Bristol area to enable them to reach out and care for their communities, especially children. “It is sufficient to trust in the living God,” Müller said, “and not worry about earthly things, for the beginning of worry is the end of faith; and the beginning of faith is the end of worry.”