Filming Announcement & May 2026 Newsletter

On 25 June 1865, Hudson Taylor stood on Brighton Beach, burdened by the spiritual needs of the three hundred million souls of China’s vast interior. Having served seven years in China, Taylor had returned to England with Maria and their children to recover from illness and exhaustion, and to raise awareness of China’s unreached millions. What happened that day, however, was more than a moment of reflection, it was a decisive act of faith. Taylor knelt and asked God for twenty-four “willing and skillful workers” (1 Chronicles 28:21) to take the gospel where it had never gone before, inland China. That prayer birthed the China Inland Mission (CIM), a pioneering force in Protestant missions. 

In less than a year, on 26 May 1866, the first group of CIM missionaries, sixteen men and women along with Hudson and Maria Taylor and their four children, set sail for China aboard the Lammermuir. The providential hand of God was nowhere more visible during the 128-day journey than near its end. While traveling up the coast of China, back-to-back typhoons unleashed their fury on this seemingly insignificant vessel in the middle of the Taiwan Strait. It seemed that even the forces of Hell were bent on destroying these CIM workers before the mission had even begun. Finally, with broken masts, a badly battered and damaged Lammermuir dropped anchor on 30 September 1866, and the work of the CIM officially commenced. A fact worth noting: the arrival of these sixteen missionaries marked the largest single cluster of missionaries to China up to that time, immediately propelling the CIM into one of the largest mission agencies serving in China.

The CIM and these CIMers were marked by several radical characteristics. First, Hudson Taylor had the conviction that cross-cultural missionary service was not reserved for ordained clergy but open to all who were called to obey the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. In fact, amongst these early CIMers, not one ordained minister was to be found. This did not sit well with the existing missionary community in China and exposed Hudson Taylor to criticism and ridicule. Second, from his earlier experience in China (1854-1860), Taylor recognized the critical role women, single or married, could play in missions, especially within the conservative Chinese society. Thus, this first group of CIMers included nine single women, and two wives. Third, as Hudson Taylor had learned, it was important that all members were to adopt Chinese culture,  including clothing. Men would grow queues, thus earning the CIM the nickname “the Pigtail Mission”. Strong emphasis was placed on learning the language, beginning during the voyage under the tutelage of Hudson and Maria. This cultural adaptation was reinforced by the policy of living among the people rather than in foreign missionary compounds. Last and most importantly, at the core of the CIM was a call to live by faith and a strong confidence of God’s provision for both worker and work.  These are just a few incarnational (and radical) principles that were revolutionary at the time and became a hallmark of CIM’s ethos. 

As the 160th anniversary of the Lammermuir Party approaches in May 2026, we honor not only the courage of those first missionaries but also the countless Chinese believers who received the gospel and took the gospel baton forward. Today, the fruit of CIM’s labor is seen in a vibrant Chinese church worldwide and an exciting emerging missionary movement from Chinese communities.  As we commemorate this milestone, may our passion for all who still wait to hear the good news of Jesus Christ be rekindled; and may we, like Hudson Taylor, be found faithful in prayer, bold in obedience, and joyful in sacrifice.