 JAMES
GILMOUR (1843-1891)
Gilmour and the Mongols
Born in Scotland, attended
Glasgow University and prepared for missionary service at
Cheshunt College. He was a scholar, teacher, and
writer.
Spiritual foundations were laid by pious parents, in
Gilmour's life who fondly recalled his mother who read
stories of missionaries and classics such as Pilgrim's
Progress.
During his studies he wrote, "Is the kingdom a
harvest field? Then I thought it reasonable that I should seek to
work where the work was most abundant and the worker's
fewest."
Gilmour met with
Mrs. Swan, the last surviving member of the London Missionary
Society's team to Buryatia which left in 1841. Mrs. Swan
believed her prayers answered in this dedicated young man and she
wholeheartedly urged the LMS to reopen the doors of the
first Buriat-Mongol mission located near Lake Baikal. Upon
completion of his studies, to his friends amazement, Gilmour went
off to China to revive the work among the Mongols.
Gilmour traveled throughout the Gobi desert talking
and sharing Christ with nomads. Life was very lonely.
His diary eventually filled 19 volumes and contributed greatly to
the field of Mongolian studies.
In 1874 he proposed to Miss
Emily Prankard, sight unsee, and married. She was said to
have been a true helpmate. During the first twelve years of
his mission work, he saw no conversions. After his wife
died, he sent his sons to England to be educated and wrote them
loving letters filled with his sights and sounds of his work,
which were later published.
Upon the occasion of his death,
one of his coverts wrote to his sons of the widespread love for
Gilmour, "Not only the Christians thank him without end, but
even those outside the church bless him without limits."
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