David Brainerd

Born in April, 1718 and converted at the age of twenty-one, David Brainerd answered the call to become a missionary under the auspices of the Scottish Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge in 1742. From then until his death in 1747, he took the gospel to the North American Indians of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. He willingly ran any risk and accepted any hardship to fulfil his calling as a missionary. In a life fraught with recurring illness, loneliness, and depression, the amount of work which he achieved in such unpromising and difficult circumstances now seems almost incredible. Moreover his total dedication to the cause of making Christ known inspired the finest of missionaries who followed in his footsteps. He died at the age of just 29, having been a Christian for only eight years and a missionary for only four years; yet probably no one has had more influence on the modern missionary movement than David Brainerd.