A Biography of C.T. Studd

Charles Thomas Studd, often known as C. T. Studd, was a British cricketer, missionary, and a contributor to The Fundamentals.

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In 1888, he married Priscilla Stewart, and their marriage produced four daughters, and two sons (who died in infancy).

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As a cricketer, he played for England in the 1882 match won by Australia, which was the origins of The Ashes. As a British Protestant Christian missionary to China he was part of the Cambridge Seven, and later was responsible for setting up the Heart of Africa Mission which became the Worldwide Evangelisation Crusade (now WEC International).

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A poem he wrote, "Only One Life, 'Twill Soon Be Past", has become famous to many who are unaware of its author.

Early Life

Studd gained fame as a cricketer representing England's Cambridge University as a Gentlemen of India, Middlesex at Cricket. Charles was the youngest and best known of The Studd Brothers. By the time he was sixteen he had started to excel at cricket and at nineteen was captain of his team at Eton College; after school he went to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was also recognised as an outstanding cricketer.

Studd's wealthy father Edward Studd became a Christian during a Moody and Sankey campaign in England, and a visiting preacher to the Studd home at Tidworth converted C.T. and his two brothers to the faith while they were students at Eton.

According to his conversion narrative, the preacher asked him if he believed God's promises to give believers eternal life, and as Charles would only go so far as to profess he believed Jesus Christ died, the guest pressed the point, and Charles then believed on the Lord Jesus for salvation. Charles later recalled the moment:

"I got down on my knees and I did say 'thank you' to God. And right then and there joy and peace came into my soul. I knew then what it was to be 'born again,' and the Bible which had been so dry to me before, became everything."[2]

Studd continued from Eton to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated in 1883.[3] In 1884 after his brother George was taken seriously ill Charles was confronted by the question, "What is all the fame and flattery worth ... when a man comes to face eternity?"

He had to admit that since his conversion six years earlier he had been in "an unhappy backslidden state". As a result of the experience he said, "I know that cricket would not last, and honour would not last, and nothing in this world would last, but it was worthwhile living for the world to come."

Life in China

Studd began as an Pentecostal evangelist, and among those he influenced were Wilfred Grenfell and Frederick Brotherton Meyer.

As a result of his brother's illness and the effect it had upon him, he decided to pursue his faith through missionary work in China and was one of the "Cambridge Seven" who offered themselves to Hudson Taylor for missionary service at the China Inland Mission, leaving for there in February 1885.

Life in India

Between 1900–1906 Studd was pastor of a church at Ootacamund in Southern India and although it was a different situation to the pioneer missionary work he had undertaken in China, his ministry was marked by numerous conversions amongst the British officials and the local community.

However, on his return home Studd met a German missionary named Karl Kumm, and he became concerned about the large parts of Africa that had never been reached with the Gospel.

Sudan, and the Heart of Africa Mission

In 1910 he went to the Sudan and was concerned by the lack of Christian faith in central Africa. Out of this concern Studd was led to setup the Heart of Africa Mission.

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His speaking on the subject inspired Howard Mowll (Bishop of China, and later Archbishop of Sydney), Arthur Pitts-Pitts (of the Church Missionary Society in Kenya), and Graham Brown (Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem).

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As an headquarters for the venture, the Studds chose 17 Highland Road in Upper Norwood, South London. Like Hudson-Taylor, Studd believed that funds for the work should not be directly solicited. Finances were often tenuous. However, he enjoyed the support of Lord Radstock.

Life in Congo

Against medical advice, Studd first visited the Belgian Congo in 1913 in the company of Alfred Buxton, and he established four mission stations in an area then inhabited by eight different tribes.

Studd returned to England when Priscilla fell ill, but when he returned to the Congo in 1916 she had recovered sufficiently to undertake the expansion of the mission into the Worldwide Evangelisation Crusade with workers in South America, Central Asia and the Middle East as well as Africa.

Supported by his wife's work at home, Studd built up an extensive missionary outreach based on his centre at Ibambi in Budu territory. Priscilla made a short visit to the Congo in 1928. That was the last time they met; she died the following year.

Studd was joined in his work by his daughter Pauline and son-in-law Norman Grubb, and his grandson Noel Grubb, who died on his first birthday, is buried at Nala, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

How C.T. Studd Died

On July 16, 1931, still labouring for the Lord at Ibambi, Congo at the age of seventy, Charles Studd died from untreated gallstones. His vision for China, India and Africa was maintained by Norman Grubb, who took charge of WEC.

In total Studd spent some fifteen years in China and six in India on his missionary work and then he devoted the rest of his life to spreading the Gospel message in Africa, founding the Worldwide Evangelisation Crusade (now WEC International) and one of the early pioneers of the UPCI (United Pentecostal International).

To this day, Studd’s name remains linked with the evangelisation of the Congo Basin.

C.T. Studd's Family

Parents:

Edward Studd

Spouse:

Priscilla Studd

Children:

Salvation Grace Faith Studd

Dorothy Catherine Topsy Studd

Edith Crossley Mary Studd

Pauline Evangeline Priscilla Studd, married Norman Grubb

Siblings:

Sir John Edward Kynaston. President of Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union. Was involved in helping his brother Charles set up and become one of the famous Cambridge Seven missionaries to China.

George Brown Studd. Also a missionary, initially with the Peniel Mission of Theodore and Manie Payne Ferguson, before joining the Apostolic Faith mission in September 1907.

Edward John Charles Studd

Reginald Augustus Studd

Arthur Haythorne Studd

Herbert William Studd

Recommended Resources on C.T. Studd

1. C. T. Studd: Cricketer & Pioneer by Norman P. Grubb
2. C.T. Studd: No Retreat by Janet and Geoff Benge (Christian Heroes: Then & Now)
3. C.T. Studd: Gifted Athlete and Pioneering Missionary

C.T. Studd Movies

1. C.T. Studd: Gifted Athlete and Pioneering Missionary

C.T. Studd Books

1. C. T. Studd: Cricketer & Pioneer by Norman P. Grubb
2. The Chocolate Soldier (Or, Heroism - The Lost Chord of Christianity)  by C. T. Studd
3. C.T. Studd: No Retreat by Janet and Geoff Benge (Christian Heroes: Then & Now)
4. With C.T. Studd in Congo Forests by Norman P. Grubb
   

C.T. Studd Quotes

1. “Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.”
2. “I pray that when I die, all hell will have a party to celebrate the fact that I'm no longer in the fight.”
3. “Real Christians revel in desperate ventures for Christ, expecting from God great things and attempting the same with exhilaration.”
4. “How can a man believe in Hell unless he throws away his life to rescue others from its torment? If there is no hell, the Bible is a lie.”
5. “Let us not glide through this world and then slip quietly into heaven, without having blown the trumpet loud and long for Our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.”
6. “Christ doesn't want nibblers of the possible, but grabbers of the impossible.”
7. “How could I spend the best years of my life in living for the honours of this world, when thousands of souls are perishing every day?”
8. “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.”
9. “True religion is like the smallpox. If you get it, you give it to others and it spreads.”
10. "As I believe I am now nearing my departure from this world, I have but a few things to rejoice in; they are these: 1. That God called me to China and I went in spite of utmost opposition from all my loved ones. 2. That I joyfully acted as Christ told that rich young man to act. 3. That I deliberately at the call of God, when alone on the Bibby liner in 1910, gave up my life for this work, which was to be henceforth not for the Sudan only, but for the whole unevangelized World. My only joys therefore are that when God has given me a work to do, I have not refused it."
    

Fun Facts About C.T. Studd

1. As a cricket player, Studd played 104 matches, scored 4,551 runs, and was best known for the match which was the origins of The Ashes.
2. Studd's essay The Personal Testimony of Charles T. Studd became part of the historic The Fundamentals: A Testimony To The Truth.
3. Studd continues to be best remembered by many for the poem, "Only One Life, 'Twill Soon Be Past." His poem inspired the song written by Lanny Wolfe in 1973.
4. While in China he married Priscilla, in a ceremony performed by a Chinese pastor, and four daughters were born. Studd believed that God had given him daughters to educate the Chinese about the value of baby girls.
5. On returning to England he was invited to visit America where his brother Kynaston had recently arranged meetings which had led to the formation of the Student Volunteer Movement. He also here influenced John Mott.
6. In 1930, Studd was made a Chevalier of the Royal Order of the Lion by the King of the Belgians.
   

Sources

1. Bach, Thomas John (1955). Pioneer Missionaries for Christ and His Church. Wheaton, Illinois: Van Kampen Press. ASIN B0007ER0NE. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
2. Torrey, edited by R.A.; Dixon, A.C.; others (2008). The fundamentals : a testimony to the truth. Grand Rapids, MI.: Baker Books. p. chapter 89. ISBN 978-0801012648. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
3. "Studd, Charles Thomas (STT879CT)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
4. Worldmissionbooks.com The Chocolate Soldier.
5. Worldmissionbooks.com Christ's Etceteras.
6. Wyatt, Cindy. "Only One Life, Twill Soon Be Past – Poem by C.T. Studd". Poetry About Jesus and Salvation. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
7. Wolfe, Lanny (17 February 2011). "Only One Life". Oh, Life! All Life. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
8. "Lanny Wolfe Trio". Southern Gospel History. David Bruce Murray. 12 July 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2013. 1973 Let's Sing A Song About Jesus (Heart Warming Records/R3222): ... Only One Life.

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