07. First Years in India

First Years in India At the first John Hyde was not a remarkable missionary. He was slow of speech. When a ques- tion or a remark was directed to him he seemed not to hear, or if he heard he seemed a long time in framing a reply. His hearing was slightly defective and this it was feared would hinder him in acquiring the language. His disposition was gentle and quiet, he seemed to be lacking in the enthusiasm and zeal which a young missionary should have. He had a wonderful pair of blue eyes. They seemed to search into the very depth of your inmost being, and they seemed also to shine out of the soul of a prophet. On arriving in India, he was assigned the usual language study. At first he went to work on this, but later neglected it for Bible study. He was reprimanded by the committee, but he replied: "First things first." He argued that he had come to India to teach the Bible, and he needed to know it before he could teach it. And God by his Spirit wonderfully opened up the Scriptures to him. Nor did he neglect language study. "He became a correct and easy speaker in Urdu, Punj- abi, and English; but away and above that, he learned the language of heaven, and he so learned to speak that he held audiences of hundreds of Indians spellbound while he opened to them the truths of God’s Word."