15 aug 1829 – 29 may 1911
Benjamin broomhall
WHEN HE SAW SUFFERING, NOTHING WOULD STOP HIM FROM TAKING ACTION
Benjamin Broomhall was a great encourager. He was also a staunch advocate of mission and a crusader against injustice of any sort. It was said that he championed the cause of all exploited people, from chimney sweeps to the slavery trade.
Broomhall was a member of Westbourne Grove Church, husband to Amelia Hudson Taylor Broomhall, father of 10 children, and a lifelong friend and supporter of Hudson Taylor, who founded the China Inland Mission.
Benjamin Broomhall
“So much influence has seldom been combined with so little prominence.”
OBITUARY TRIBUTE
Starting life as a farmer’s son he went on to become a draper, and a Methodist preacher. He married Amelia, Hudson Taylor’s sister, and together with their many children they were members of Westbourne Grove Church. Here they were taught by the church pastor Garrett Lewis to take practical action against evil and injustice and to believe that it was possible to influence government and change society. Encouraged by Lewis and inspired by the words of his friend and brother-in-law, Hudson Taylor,
Broomhall worked tirelessly to see changes in British society. When he saw suffering, nothing would stop him from taking action. He served as secretary of the Anti-Slavery Association, became the general secretary of the China Inland Mission and lobbied the British Parliament to end opium trade with China.
Were Broomhall’s hopes and prayers to see an end to the British involvement in the opium trade in China answered?
Read on - don’t miss the inspiring end of Benjamin Broomhall’s story …
General Secretary of the China Inland Mission
Benjamin Broomhall shared Hudson Taylor’s passion for the people of China and served as the General Secretary of the China Inland Mission from 1878 to 1895 as Taylor’s representative in England.
Here his gifts both in administration, journalism and particularly his wise and kind way of dealing with people of all walks of life were used to their full promoting the work of the China Inland Mission in China: raising the necessary funds, selecting suitable co-workers, and publishing books in England.
One of his books, A Missionary Band sold more than 20,000 copies; even Queen Victoria got a copy.
Together with Hudson Taylor, his work contributed to the miraculous growth and popularity of the mission in China.
Although Benjamin and Amelia Broomhall did not go to China themselves, five of their ten children went to China as missionaries, as did one of their grandsons. In all five generations of the Taylor / Broomhall family served in China.
“An answer to the prayers of Benjamin and Amelia –
They had 5 children who were working in China and serving in Chian’s Shanxi province. Miraculously, for a variety of reasons, none of them were in the province during the notorious boxer risings and so they were all spared the terrible massacre and bloodshed that occurred there”
An uncompromising stand against the opium trade.
Benjamin Broomhall had a great concern for social welfare and justice.
Through his work with China Inland Mission and his connections with missionaries working in China, Broomhall became aware of the appalling suffering of the Chinese people being caused by the increasing opium trade with the West.
He realised that the actions of the British government and merchants were responsible for much of this suffering. The following figures illustrate the extent of the growth of the opium trade that he was witnessing. The 1800s saw the British opium trade increase from the export 100 chests of opium / year to over 100,000 chests / year - many British were getting rich through buying opium from India and selling to China.
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”
PROVERBS 14:34:
Inspired by the bible verse “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” Proverbs 14:34, Broomhall formed and became secretary of the Christian Union for the Severance of the British Empire with the Opium Traffic and editor of its periodical, National Righteousness.
He was determined to take an uncompromising stand against the British parliament and their encouragement of the opium trade.
Broomhall understood the role of that the missionaries in China could take in the fight against the opium trade. He had many connections with Protestant missionaries who were working in China with people who suffered from opium addiction. He gathered the medical evidence from the missionaries to demonstrate that opium was a dangerous and pernicious drug and he wrote two books to promote the banning of opium smoking – Truth about Opium Smoking and The Chinese Opium Smoker. In the first book, Benjamin put together the opinions of experienced missionaries in China on opium smoking. In the second, he recorded the true stories of 12 families whose lives were shattered by opium smoking.
Broomhall continued throughout his life to lobby parliament and made persistent efforts to abolish the opium trade.
“Faith is the confidence in things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.”
HEBREWS 11:1
So, did Benjamin live to see the results of all his hand work and prayers?
In his son’s biography of his parents, we learn that, when Broomhall was dying, his son Marshall used to read to him from The Times. One day, just before his death, they read the long hoped-for news, the answer to Benjamin’s prayers …
… an agreement had been signed which would ensure the end of the opium trade within two years! What joy and thankfulness there must have been in the Broomhall household that day! I wonder if he recalled the words of his friend and brother-in-law, Hudson Taylor
“There are commonly three stages in the work of God. First impossible, then difficult, then done.”
HUDSON TAYLOR
