At the Wycliffe Centre, nearly every building is named after someone who was involved in taking God’s word to the nations. One such is Anthony Norris Groves, who died 158 years ago today.
Groves left his work as a well-respected dentist in Plymouth to go to Baghdad, determined to share God’s word. He demonstrated a radical faith, travelling without a supporting mission, funded entirely by his savings and generous gifts. His devotion to living ‘by faith’ led to him being remembered as ‘The Father of Faith Missions’.
Groves experience in Baghdad showed him the importance of sharing God’s story with people in the language they could best understand. He often showed horror at the tendency of local teacher to educate in Old Armenia, a form of the language which neither their pupils or they themselves understood.
His devotion to mother-tongue evangelism and discipleship is particularly clear in a later episode. He ordered more than 400 Bibles and Scripture portions in a variety of local languages from Mumbai, so that he could share God’s word with people. When the order arrives, and he found the Armenian texts to be archaic, he turned to other local missionaries. With his support, they were able to publish the Bible in the language which spoke to the hearts of local readers.
Groves’ life was not easy. After his work became established in Baghdad, his wife and new-born daughter were killed by a city-wide plague. The area was consumed by famine, floods and violence. Even when he travelled to India, he struggled – often under the opposition of other missionaries!
But his dedication to sharing God’s word with people that they might know God’s love was unquenchable. He demonstrated, in his life, the aim of Bible translation. The goal is never just a book — but that people would know God. But how will they know if they never hear?
The Bible is the story everybody needs. Give the Story.
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Tags: Anthony Norris Groves, biography
