Who was C. T. Studd?

Response

Charles Thomas Studd (1860–1931) was a British missionary who served in China, India, and Africa. He also established the Worldwide Evangelization Crusade. Despite being born into privileged circumstances and achieving athletic fame early in life, C. T. Studd (as he was known) gave up everything to live by his motto: “If Christ is God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him” [Bonk, J. J., “Studd, C. (Charles) T. (Thomas),” Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals, ed. Larsen, T. et al., InterVarsity Press, 2003, pp. 648–649].

C. T. Studd was the youngest of three boys born to Edward Studd, a wealthy plantation owner in Wiltshire, England. When C. T. was seventeen, his father underwent a radical conversion to Christianity while attending a revival service led by Dwight L. Moody. Deeply concerned about the spiritual condition of his children, Edward began discussing Jesus with his boys, asking if they, too, wanted to accept Christ as their Savior. He welcomed traveling ministers into his home, hoping they might influence his sons. Within a year, all three boys dedicated their lives to Jesus Christ, but C. T.’s commitment was superficial, and he fell back for the next six years.

By this time, the youngest Studd had become a celebrity in England. After excelling as the captain of his cricket team at Eton College, he went to Trinity College in Cambridge, where he became nationally renowned as Britain’s most talented cricketer. However, fame and wealth left C. T. feeling dissatisfied. He desired his life to have more meaning. After listening to a lecture by Hudson Taylor, the renowned missionary to China, Studd and six fellow Cambridge students formed a significant group known as the “Cambridge Seven.” These young athletes, all from affluent backgrounds, gave up their comfortable lives and promising careers to work as foreign missionaries alongside Hudson Taylor through the Ch

Inland Mission (CIM).

Studd’s determination to heed God’s call as a missionary sparked widespread public interest and enthusiasm. With his focus on making an everlasting impact and all of England watching, he and the Cambridge Seven began establishing the groundwork for the Student Volunteer Movement (SVM), a ministry aimed at recruiting college students to work as foreign missionaries.

Even after his father’s passing and pleas from his mother to remain in England, C. T. Studd made the decision to abandon everything to follow Jesus. In 1885, he and the Cambridge Seven journeyed to China and promptly embraced CIM’s approach of adopting the customs, language, and culture of the Chinese people. He journeyed throughout the country, preached the gospel, and guided numerous individuals to faith in Jesus Christ.

At the age of twenty-five, C. T. Studd inherited a sum of money, most of which he promptly contributed to Christian ministries, including George Mueller’s orphanage at Ashley Down, Bristol. He gifted the remaining ten percent to his wife, Priscilla Livingston Stewart, whom he had wed in China. Sharing a similar mindset, she urged C. T. to also donate that portion. They allocated the funds to the Salvation Army.

In 1894, due to both being in poor health, the couple was compelled to return to England. During this time, C. T. was asked to speak on behalf of SVM in England and the United States, effectively recruiting numerous college students to consider missions work post-graduation. In 1900, C. T. and Priscilla journeyed to India to serve in an English-speaking church in Ootacamund. Once again, they witnessed many individuals coming to Christ. However, after six years and both battling illness once more, they returned home to recuperate. By then, the couple had four daughters.

Upon returning to England, C. T. resumed his speaking engagements but soon felt a calling to Africa. Despite doctors’ warnings and his wife’s desires, who was still unwell, Studd pursued his path despite the health hazards. In 1910, even when his mission boat was at risk, he continued on his mission.ard denied support, the unstoppable Studd sailed alongside another groundbreaking missionary, Alfred Buxton, who later became his son-in-law. The two men established the Heart of Africa Mission, later renamed the Worldwide Evangelization Crusade (WEC).

In 1913, Studd and Buxton went to the Congo and planted four mission stations among eight tribal groups. Alfred married C. T.’s daughter, Edith, in the Congo in 1917. Except for one visit to Africa in 1928, Studd’s wife remained in England until she died in 1929.

Studd’s eighteen years of missionary work in the Congo were plagued with conflict between him and his missionary colleagues, including his son-in-law, who often disagreed with his father-in-law’s stubborn leadership model. C. T. resided in Africa until his passing in Ibambi in July 1931. Another son-in-law, Norman Percy Grubb, who married Studd’s fourth daughter, took over the strife-splintered agency, and under his capable directorship, the ministry began to thrive.

The WEC still flourishes today with the indefatigable and self-sacrificing spirit of its founder, C. T. Studd. The interdenominational, international mission organization focuses on reaching unchurched peoples through the work of more than 1,800 missionaries in over 80 countries.

Here are some quotes attributed to C. T. Studd:

“Some want to live within the sound
Of church or chapel bell;
I want to run a rescue shop
Within a yard of hell.”

“Only one life, a few brief years,
Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;
Each with its days I must fulfill,
living for self or in His will;
Only one life, ‘twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

“Christ wants not nibblers of the possible, but grabbers of the impossible.”

“Let us not glide through this world and then slip quietly into heaven, without having blown the trumpet loud and long for our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Let us see to it that the devil will hold a thanksgiving service in hell when he gets the.”

News of our departure from the battlefield.