During the early days of China Inland Mission (CIM), a watchnight service was held on the eve of the New Year, where members gathered together for a time of fasting and prayer for China and the work.
CIM’s first New Year’s Eve in China saw simmering tensions within the team come to a boil. But through God’s grace, the long watchnight service of prayer and hymns brought the team back together. Hudson Taylor wrote in his diary about that day, “God graciously drew us together and answered prayer in reuniting our party in love and peace.”
In his letter to his mother, Hudson Taylor mulled about his revelation on realizing the cost of saying, “I give up all to Thee and for Thee”. It was with gratefulness and sobriety that he also wrote, “may we live more for Him and with Him during this year.”
*Quotes and source from A.J. Broomhall’s The Shaping of Modern China: Hudson Taylor’s Life and Legacy, 2005.
