However, he and his wife had sadly lost their unborn baby, and then Carrie died within five months of their arrival in China as missionaries.

Grief-stricken

They had been prepared to face anything together, but then she passed away. Robert was so grief-stricken that he quit being a missionary for a while and got another job in China.

Nevertheless, when he encountered two Christian traders from Korea, his commitment to spreading the gospel was renewed.

More than safety

Few Koreans followed Jesus, and the leaders at the time despised people and ideas from other countries. However, Robert was more zealous for lost people than he was for his own safety.

When the two Korean Christians set out for their return trip to Korea, Robert accompanied them.

Officials threatened harsh punishment for anyone who spoke to foreigners, but some listened to Robert’s preaching and accepted his gift of a Bible all the same.

Bibles on water

Subsequently, Robert found a way to take the gospel to Korea as a translator aboard a Chinese trading ship.

On a trip to Korea, the ship’s crew fired cannons on hostile Koreans on the shore. Fearing they would lose the battle and the Bibles would be lost, Robert threw the Bibles into the water.

Robert Thomas was able to get some of them to the shore himself, in his final effort to reach the Koreans. But just after he got to the shore, he was beheaded by some angry civilians.

The Word prevailed

Years later, missionaries discovered that Koreans had come to Christ after reading the Bibles. Today, about one-third of South Koreans are Christians, and Christian missionaries from South Korea serve God all over the world.

A passion most important

Robert’s passion for reaching the people of East Asia was more important to him than even his own life.

Sometimes God is glorified when Christians die for their faith in Him. At other times He is glorified when He delivers people from the hands of their persecutors.

No matter what, we can trust that our lives are in His hands, just as Robert Jermain Thomas did.

We can also trust that our lives are secure in His hands, just as Robert Thomas did.

“Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.” – Rom. 12:11 “I do most firmly believe that I am appointed by God to be a Missionary, and that He has implanted this preference in my heart.” —Robert Thomas