“Church history is replete with examples of Christians for whom the proclamation of the gospel is absolutely number one, and yet they are not therefore ambivalent about the poor. George Whitefield and Charles Spurgeon are two great exemplars. No one could question their gospel credentials.
George Whitefield was arguably the greatest evangelist of the eighteenth century, having preached to hundreds of thousands of people in the UK and North America, and yet, in 1740 he founded the Bethesda Home for Boys—an orphanage in Georgia, which still operates today as a boys’ school.
Charles Spurgeon was one of the greatest preachers and evangelists of the nineteenth century, with a church of over five thousand people. And yet, in 1867 he founded the Stockwell Orphanage in London, which still exists as Spurgeon’s Child Care.
These two men were outstanding preachers and evangelists, but they were not too busy to found orphanages. They were not so consumed by gospel strategy that they failed to care for the disadvantaged.”
Recounted by Con Campbell in “The poor are always with you” article in Issue 402 (p. 33) November-December 2012 of matthiasmedia.com/briefing