With Francis Xavier and and Channing Williams we may also remember Robert Morrison (1782-1834), a Congregationalist minister who was the first Protestant missionary to China, and a pioneer in the task of translating the Scriptures into Chinese.

One of the missionaries who worked with Morrison was the German Lutheran Karl Guetzlaff (1803-1851), who helped to arouse European concern for missionary work in Asia, and through whose preaching Hudson Taylor was called to missionary work.

James Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) founded the China Inland Mission, an interdenominational undertaking, to preach the Gospel in the interior of China. (Most previous missionary work had concentrated on the coastal area where contact between Chinese and foreign merchants and sailors was relatively common.) Taylor adopted Chinese dress and sought the growth of indigenous churches as opposed to missionary outposts under the supervision of Europeans.

PRAYER (traditional)

Almighty and everlasting God, we thank thee for thy Servants Robert, Karl, and James, whom thou didst call to preach the Gospel to the peoples of Asia. Raise up, we beseech thee, in this and every land heralds and evangelists of thy kingdom, that thy Church may proclaim the unsearchable riches of our Saviour Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

PRAYER (modern)

Almighty and everlasting God, we thank you for your Servants Robert, Karl, and James, whom you called to preach the Gospel to the peoples of Asia. Raise up, we pray, in this and every land heralds and evangelists of your kingdom, that your Church may proclaim the unsearchable riches of our Saviour Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.