The Millionaire Missionary
Born in Chicago, Illinois, on November 1, 1887, William Borden was not born into this world by chance. His family owned a silver mine. He was a millionaire in the 19th century. At the age of 21, he inherited a personal fortune of $1 million (in today’s money, tens of millions of dollars). He is best known in history for his sacrifice and for giving up his family’s vast wealth and luxuries to serve the gospel.
William Borden is a great example of faith, determination, and sacrifice for many young Christians. His decision to give up all that worldly wealth, honor, and success to serve God and his people is one that has made him remembered in history to this day. Especially the short life he lived (only 25 years) and the three principles he wrote on the back of his Bible (“No reserves, I will not retreat, I will not regret”). “No regrets” (when he decided to give up his wealth) “No retreats” (when he confirmed that he would not take over the company’s work) “No regrets” (when he wrote about his missionary work and his choice).
Borden, it was his mother who did the lion’s share of walking hand in glove with the Lord in his infancy; the gospel seed she planted in his good heart in his childhood brought forth sprouts, crops, and full fruit, leading him to give his life, his childhood, and his youth to the Lord. From that time on, prayer and Bible study became the hallmarks of his life. Borden, when he blew out his sixth birthday candle, wrote in his diary, “When I grow up, I want to be a kind, honest, loving, and faithful man.” At the age of seven, he gave his life to Christ and accepted Him as his personal Savior. When he graduated from high school at the age of 16, his family gave him not a bouquet of flowers. It was a ticket to travel the world as a congratulations gift. He is heard saying that this trip instilled in him a love and respect for people and their cultures, and a desire for missionary service.
After graduating from high school, he accepted a scholarship to study philanthropy at a prestigious university in the United States; during his time there, he was active in bodybuilding, rowing, boxing, and track and field and indoor competitions. The Bible study he started while he was a freshman at Yale University grew to 150 in his first year, and by the time he left the university, over 1,000 students were attending the Bible study every week. During his time at the university, he wrote a book about his firm belief that “everyone on campus should be reached by the gospel.” Borden continued his New Haven mission in another way. He gave the gospel to their souls and food to their bodies, and in one year, 14,000 people were fed at the gospel table, 17,000 were given their daily bread, and 8,000 were given a place to stay.
While in college, Borden read the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. When his father died in 1906, it was expected that he would inherit his father’s business. However, at the end of his college years, Borden never returned home. Instead, he went to Princeton Theological Seminary and became involved in student volunteer work. His main goal was to reach the world with the gospel in this generation. He read the daily newspapers that at that time there were millions of Muslims living in China and that they had no chance of hearing the gospel, and that there was not a single minister of the gospel in that area. Borden decided to go to Gansu Province, China, to live with the Muslim Chinese. The difficulty was that it was impossible to enter. This was a region where foreigners were not allowed to enter at all and where China was accused of violating many human rights. Borden, who had left his family’s millions of dollars in silver mining wealth to serve as a missionary, refused to live a life of idleness and luxury, and decided to devote his life to the service of Christ’s mission… Borden, realizing that he needed to know Arabic, the language, and Islamic teachings to help him in his missionary work, left America two years before the outbreak of World War I, when millions were leaving their country and heading for America.
The matter reached the ears of gossipers. “Finally the Millionaire…” became the headline in the Chicago Daily. By the time he was on his way to Syria, he had distributed 800,000 Bibles. To make his dream come true, he arrived in Cairo, Egypt, in mid-December 1912 for three months of training. He soon contracted meningitis. It spread throughout his body; he died 19 days later. While in Egypt, his biological mother was able to visit him before he died. Before leaving Egypt, he received a word from his daughter.
The word he received did not waver, did not retreat, and did not regret what he had written in his Bible. Although his missionary dream could not be fulfilled. His friends translated and published his life’s testimony in a pamphlet in Arabic, Persian, and Hindustani. The number of copies distributed in Chinese was 35,000. This opened the door to missionary work in China and is recorded in the history of missions. As a memorial to Borden, Yale University has erected a statue in Dwight Hall, the place where the study of the Bible began. To this day, the study of the Word of God is held at this place at the university. When his death was announced in the newspaper, Preston Seminary issued a statement saying, “No young man of his age has done more to serve God and to do more good to mankind.” In 2016, a group of alumni came to Cairo and inscribed his favorite phrase in marble on his tomb:
“No reserves… No retreats… No regrets”