In Training
In 1908 he visited the lumber camps, the scattered settlements and Indian villages in the far interior of British Columbia (B.C.) and served as home missionary in other frontier areas of Canada. The hardships he encountered gave him a deep compassion for missionaries and this appreciation showed in his lifelong understanding of their difficulties.
During the summer of 1913 he ministered as a home missionary in Cawood, Kentucky where "God saw fit to give him many souls." It was during that time of service, far from home, that he wrote his "three fold dedication:"
- I will think no thought, speak no word, and do no deed unworthy of a follower of Jesus Christ.
- I will give my life for service in any part of the world and in any capacity God wills that I should labour.
- I shall endeavour to do God's will from moment to moment as He reveals it to me.
He prepared for further ministry by study. In 1912 he graduated from Toronto Bible college and in 1915 from McCormick Seminary in Chicago. As part of his ordination service by the Chicago Presbytery, Smith's song "Deeper and Deeper" was sung.
Read more about this topic: Oswald J. Smith
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