What a finger can do in the service of God

"As good stewards of the various graces of God, put each one in the service of others the gift that you have received." 1 Peter 4:10

Samuel Isaac Schreschewsky, later called by his colleagues "brother Sherry" for simplicity, was born in a Jewish family in Lithuania. After studying at the Talmud-Torah school in Zythomyr in Russia, he attended the German University of Breslau; From thence he reached the United States, where a Christian put him in the presence of the Gospel ; The brilliant Israelite student accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior and Messiah, and heard the call for mission in China. He already knew Russian, German, English in addition to Greek and Hebrew. As soon as he arrived in China, he set to work on the Chinese language which he soon had, and as the urgent need for a translation of the Bible into the Mandarin language was felt, he was appointed with six colleagues to undertake the translation Of the New Testament; As for the Old Testament, he assumed the Mandarin translation of it all by himself, and his great knowledge of Hebrew greatly facilitated his task.

With courage, without ever letting down. Sherry revised his translation of the Old Testament.

Less than fifteen years after his arrival in China in 1873, the whole Bible in Mandarin was printed in America. The work of evangelization itself being in full expansion in China, it was necessary to appoint a person in charge and the choice of the Society of the Missions naturally moved on "brother Sherry", charge that accumulated during several years with its works But he asked to be relieved to devote himself more fully to the translation of the Bible into a popular dialect, the "bas-wenli". This was not granted to him, and after a long strain he was attacked by a paralysis which completely immobilized him for 21 years on a wheelchair. He could scarcely move a hand, and only one finger could move: only this finger was destined to continue the transcription of the work begun.

With courage, without ever letting down. Sherry revised his translation of the Old Testament into Mandarin, translated the entire Bible into "bas-wenli", compiled a reference system in both languages, and even began a dictionary of Mongolian language.

Thus a humble unknown Jew believed in the salvation and promises of Jesus Christ and printed them in the Chinese language with one finger, so that a quarter of mankind could believe in his Messiah.

Action for Today

And what do we do for our King, with all our faculties and our gifts ? Let us seek the Lord so that he may reveal to us what our gifts are, and that we may put them into practice for our benefit and that of his church.

Jean-Louis Gaillard

Source (The Thought of the Day)