To this day, missionary Hudson Taylor is considered to be one of the great heroes of the Christian faith. His work in China is legendary, and I remember reading a book about it when I was young.
But what I didn’t know is that he had a vision of the last days. He was shown that two great wars would come (World War I and World War II), and after that he saw that a great spiritual awakening would come to Russia just before the return of Jesus…
Hudson Taylor, missionary to China and founder of the first truly inter-denominational foreign mission, the China Inland Mission, was graced by God to ‘glimpse’ some of today’s events 140 years ago!
On one of his furloughs to England in 1855, Taylor was preaching when suddenly he stopped. He stood speechless for a time with his eyes closed.
When he began to speak again he explained :
I have seen a vision. I saw in this vision a great war that encompasses the world. I saw this war recess and then start again, actually being two wars. After this I saw much unrest and revolts that will affect many nations. I saw in some places spiritual awakenings. In Russia, I saw there will come a general all-encompassing, national SPIRITUAL AWAKENING so great that there could never be another like it. From Russia, I saw the awakening spread to many European countries. Then I saw an all-out awakening, followed by the coming of Christ.
(From an original Russian article titled “Spiritual Revival” published in Finland in 1945, reprinted from “Food for Life International”. Quoted in “Intercessors for America Newsletter”, vol 21, no 7/8, also in the “European Prayer Bulletin”, 3rd quarter 1994.)