A letter from John McCall serving in Taiwan
October 2014 - Henry John McCall's Story
A full circle - Mission co-worker encounters the mission legacy of his great-grandfather
By John McCall (this article is also posted on the Presbyterian News Service)
Presbyterian (U.S.A.) mission co-worker
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Henry John McCall with his wife Winona Evans from Texas and their four children (my grandfather is on the left)
TAIPEI, Taiwan—In the late 1800s my great-grandfather left Scotland on a ship via the Canary Islands and sailed to the city of Recife on Brazil’s northeast coast. Henry John McCall had been inspired by a talk he heard given in Glasgow by the famous missionary to China Hudson Taylor. So he committed his life to serving God in China. His plans changed, however, after the mission agency said his eyesight was not good enough to learn the Chinese characters. He then accepted the agency’s invitation to serve in Brazil. He arrived in Recife on a Sunday morning and gave thanks to God for safe travel and for the opportunity to share the good news of the gospel with the people of Brazil.
After learning Portuguese he traveled inland to the city of Garanhuns, where he began his evangelistic work. Unfortunately, at that time the Catholic Church of Brazil did not welcome Protestant missionaries. The Catholic leadership saw them as a threat, and in Garanhuns the priest spread the word that the “devil’s servant” had come to town. He got the people riled up and told them to attack the “devil’s servant.”
Not long after his arrival my great-grandfather was preaching to a group in a second-floor room of a house. When the local police officer knocked at the door, they assumed the police officer had come to help them. Instead, when they opened the door, a crowd stormed in and threatened to kill my great-grandfather. A new convert and his seven sons were in the room, and they all had machetes they used in their farm work. This father said, “If you try to harm this man of God, you will first have to deal with me and my seven sons.” The crowd dispersed and my great-grandfather continued to preach God’s Word.
He married another missionary, an American named Winona Evans. They had three sons, one of whom was my grandfather, but unfortunately my great-grandmother died from malaria at a young age. The local priest would not allow her body to be buried in the town’s cemetery, so my grieving great-grandfather found a plot of ground outside of town and as he, his three young sons, and a group of new Christians stood around the grave, some townsfolk shouted that the devil was now dead. My great-grandfather writes that his heart was breaking as he looked down at his motherless sons and heard the shouts of the crowd. Nevertheless, God gave him strength and allowed him to continue his work. He later married another missionary from the United States and they had a daughter.
Many years later, while I was pastor of Black Mountain Presbyterian Church in North Carolina, a member invited me over for dinner. She had a friend visiting from Brazil she wanted me to meet. As we ate dinner, I told this new Brazilian friend the story of my great-grandfather. He listened patiently and when I was done, he said, “That man with the seven sons was my grandfather. One of his seven sons is my father.” I couldn’t believe it. So I said, “If it wasn’t for your grandfather, I wouldn’t be alive today!” He replied, “If it wasn’t for your great-grandfather, I wouldn’t have new life in Christ!”
Three years after that dinner I was called to Taiwan as a Presbyterian mission co-worker, where I teach and preach in Mandarin. My great-grandfather was unable to travel to China to be a missionary, but now his great-grandson is serving in Taiwan operating in Mandarin. I keep a picture of my great-grandfather and his family in my study to remind me of the full circle. The Holy Spirit leads and equips each of us to serve in the places and in the times that God arranges. Thanks be to God!
