George Müller was a Christian evangelist who became famous for caring for orphans and providing them with an education. Though a German by birth, he became a naturalised British subject, and for over sixty years was identified with philanthropic work in England. Read on to find out a bit more about his life and work.
He was born on 27th September 1805 in Kroppenstadt near Halberstadt in the kingdom of Prussia. He was a profligate youth and spent his early years stealing, gambling and drinking. However his father still provided him with a religious education which culminated at the University of Halle where he studied divinity. It was here that a change came over his disposition, and he decided to devote himself exclusively to religious work with a view to becoming a missionary.
In June 1828 he was offered an appointment by the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews, but upon his arrival in London in March 1829, he fell ill and was sent to Teignmouth to recuperate. By 1830, he found that he could not accept some of the rules of the London Society and soon left to become the pastor of a small congregation at Teignmouth. During his time as the pastor of the church, he refused a regular salary and also eliminated the renting of church pews, arguing that it gave unfair prestige to the rich.
George Müller's Orphanages
Müller moved to Bristol in 1832 where he remained for the rest of his life. There he began working at Bethesda Chapel and also founded the Scriptural Knowledge Institution for Home and Abroad, whose aim was to provide Christian schools (Day-schools, Sunday-schools and Adult-schools) and Christian education. However it was the work he did among orphans for which he was chiefly known. Beginning with the care of a few orphan children, Müller’s work at Bristol gradually grew to immense proportions, with more than ten thousand orphan children being fed, clothed, educated and cared for during his lifetime.
In 1875, at the age of 70, Müller set out on a world-wide mission, which would span the next seventeen years, travelling over much of Britain and the continent of Europe, America, India, Australia and China preaching the gospel.
Müller died on 10th March 1898 but during the course of his life he received charitable donations of about £1,500,000, primarily using the money to support the orphanages, he educated more than 120,000 pupils and circulated 275,000 Bibles in different languages.