The Heart of a Missionary Sender

What marks Christians attuned to cross-cultural missions? They may not serve as full-time missionaries, but they embrace Great Commission responsibilities. The history of missions reveals little-known senders who used their vocations for strategic gospel advance around the world. Captain Benjamin Wickes (1746–1830) was one such man.

‘Old Captain Wickes’

We meet this early American captain of a merchant vessel unexpectedly at a prayer meeting in 1806. The missionaries in Serampore, India, had gathered to send Henry Martyn to a station on the Ganges River where he would begin his work of translation and evangelism. Martyn recorded that they “met at my pagoda this evening for the purpose of commending me to the grace of God before my departure. My soul never before had such divine enjoyment” (The Letters of Henry Martyn, 194).

I would love to have been there. The meeting included both Baptist missionaries — William Carey, Joshua Marshman, and William Ward — as well as evangelical Anglicans David Brown, Daniel Corrie, and Henry Martyn. It represented a substantial collaboration between these earliest English missionaries for the advance of the gospel in India. Since much of India was controlled by the British East India Company, only Anglican missionaries received official recognition and freedom to travel. Even they, however, could pursue missionary work only when not employed in chaplaincy duties to English people residing in India. Amid such challenges, this prayer meeting of gathered co-laborers was a high point for Martyn and a moment he remembered fondly.

To the list of those present, Martyn added “old Captain Wickes.” He mentioned him again in another letter as “the good old Captain Wickes, who has brought out so many missionaries to India” (Letters, 178).

But who was this old American captain so well loved by the English missionaries in India?

Missionaries as Risky Passengers

Captain Wickes was born to a seafaring family in Maryland in 1746. His older brother, Captain Lambert Wickes, fought and died at sea during the American War for Independence. Benjamin first entered the missionary record in 1799, when the Baptist missionaries Joshua Marshman and William Ward sought passage to India from London. The situation was sensitive. The East India Company had forbidden full-time missionaries from entering, so no English ship would give Marshman and Ward passage. Carey had established his home in the Danish port of Serampore, not far from Calcutta, but no Danish ships were available.

“A sender aches and desires to participate concretely in gospel ministry.”

Wickes’s American ship, however, could take the risk of transporting missionaries. When he heard about the situation, Wickes wrote to Baptist leader Andrew Fuller, saying that “he had long cherished the hope of being privileged to convey the messengers of the Gospel to the heathen, and that his fondest wish was about to be gratified” (The Life and Times of Carey, Marshman, and Ward, 110).

The privilege came with difficulties. Although American ships were regularly received in East India Company ports, the presence of missionaries complicated their arrival. When Wickes arrived in Calcutta with Marshman and Ward, East India Company officials refused him permission to sail home unless he took the missionaries with him. By God’s grace, Wickes convinced the authorities of the missionaries’ good intentions. When similar circumstances occurred in 1806, he persuaded officials that detaining his American ship might cause an international incident. Each voyage involved protracted negotiations that certainly distracted from his primary trading business.

Yet Wickes’s service proved invaluable. Every time the missionaries mentioned him, they affirmed their unbridled thanks for his efforts. William Carey wrote about him in 1805, “I, in common with my dear brethren and sisters here, feel much pleasure in hearing of the safe return to you of our much beloved brother in Christ, Capt. Wickes” (Evangelical Intelligencer, 1:201). Marshman and Ward called him “the beloved commander of the [ship] Criterion” (The Life and Times, 214). And Martyn fondly referred to him as “good old Captain Wickes.”

Captain Benjamin Wickes used his position as a ship captain to bring missionaries to India at great potential cost to himself and his business. He serves as a model for us of a committed missionary sender.

Joining in the Journey

I doubt anyone outside their little circle took much interest in that prayer meeting in Serampore in 1806. But it affected and energized Henry Martyn for years to come. It signaled ministry partnership and progress for gospel witness in India. And at age sixty, Captain Wickes made a point of being there.

No doubt he spent the majority of his life working as a sailor and captain. The four-to-six-month voyages from the United States to Asia occupied his time and energy. And yet, from the few instances we know, he lived for more than the safe passage of people and cargo from one side of the world to another. His “fondest wish was about to be gratified” when he took the chance of carrying missionaries to India. Captain Wickes understood participation in the Great Commission as his ultimate task. He took risks and made personal sacrifices to help determined missionaries find a place for ministry.

Missiologist Andrew Walls proposed that, historically, missionary movements needed to meet three conditions for sustainability: (1) an available and eager group of people to go, (2) an organization to send them, and (3) long-term access to a place for ministry. In his own small way, Captain Wickes helped open the door for long-term access. He was ready and willing when Marshman and Ward needed a ship in 1799. He returned to Calcutta several times despite the restrictions on carrying missionaries. He, a Presbyterian, took the risk of delivering more Baptist missionaries in 1806. He then spent four months in Calcutta for his troubles, advocating to free his ship from the British East India Company and helping to see the missionaries safely settled.

When we speak about missionary senders, we mean those advocates, partners, supporters, and friends who remain in their own culture while their heart extends out toward the work of cross-cultural witness. A sender aches and desires to participate concretely in gospel ministry and looks for ways to “send [missionaries] on their journey in a manner worthy of God” (3 John 6). In Captain Wickes, we see how sending work takes more than just “thoughts and prayers.” For him, it meant facilitating their journey by giving them physical passage on his ship.

Missionary Senders Today

What might this type of sending look like today? What project or task of Great Commission significance are you waiting for, eager for, and hoping to take part in? Financial generosity often provides clear opportunities. Generous donors hear about a need they’d love to meet and respond in kind. For example, when I asked a friend to help a Vietnamese church complete their project to install air conditioners, he responded with eagerness. The sender says, “I’ve waited my whole life to help local Christians in another culture!”

But there may be ways to participate in cross-cultural ministry that more closely imitate Captain Wickes. He used his primary vocation to serve the gospel. Today, those with business experience might offer their expertise as consultants. One group invites Christian businesspeople to share insights to a study group of business owners in another country. The meetings provide consulting but also introduce local leaders to intentional Christian professionals.

Many vocations today include international travel. Such trips present opportunities to fellowship with churches in other cultures, perhaps with an English-speaking international church in a global city or, through contact with cross-cultural workers, with a group of local believers. Regular visits of mature Christians who want to see and experience Christian fellowship in another culture both encourage the local church and provide a new look on God’s work around the world.

A passion to be among God’s people as they worship in a place with little to no Christian witness may also provide the chance to participate in crucial kingdom moments. Captain Wickes was present at that prayer meeting because he took a chance carrying missionaries on his ship and sought out the fellowship of believers in another country.

Missionary senders recognize gospel opportunities. Like Captain Wickes, we can respond to missionary needs as the fulfillment of a “long cherished hope” to be used by God for strategic cross-cultural gospel advance. And, holding onto that hope, we can seek out opportunities to gratify our “fondest wish.”