Epilogue
Epilogue
‘Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today . .
Upon the death of Mr Muller in 1898, it was confidently expected and even predicted by many that the work, which had been built up over many years, would soon run to its close. However, Mr James Wright, who had been Mr Muller’s co-worker and who now assumed responsibility for it, declared plainly that the work was not Mr Muller’s but that it was, and always had been, God’s work. Mr Muller had indeed been His chosen servant to initiate and develop the vast Christian enterprise which became known throughout the world as Muller’s Orphanage and the Scriptural Knowledge Institution but this was in God’s purpose and for His glory alone.
Some eighty years have now come and gone since George Muller’s death, but the work continues. The principles laid down by Mr Muller at the start are still those which govern the present work and they have proved to be sufficient for all its needs. These needs are made known only to God in prayer. It is He who has sustained the work through the years of war and peace and who continues to uphold it in years of inflation and economic stress. It is the firm conviction of the present directors that as long as God has a purpose in such a work, He will assuredly maintain it. His purposes, from the earliest days to the present time, have been to declare His faithfulness, to honour the simple trust of His children and to prove the reliability of the Scriptures to those who honour them.
In Mr Muller’s day the orphanage developed along institutional lines, and with the care of more than two thousand children and some two hundred members of staff, there seemed to be no other way to meet the need. Indeed, very few alterations were thought to be necessary until the end of World War II. The inception of the Welfare State brought about many and profound changes in the country, and among these was the method of caring for children. Institutional care belonged to a past age and was swept away by the new order of events. After much prayer the Trustees of the Homes began to replan the children’s work. In the place of the large orphan homes they set up a number of ‘Family Group Homes’ scattered throughout Bristol, Clevedon and Weston-super-Mare. There the children would live in the joy and freedom which is their birthright and which all children should enjoy in their natural parental homes. Our boys and girls are placed in the care of Christian houseparents who become as parents to them. Many of the children coming into care have never experienced a stable relationship and certainly not one based upon Christian devotedness and the love of God. The children are no longer taught in our own schools as formerly, but go out to school and mix with others as freely and naturally as any other child. Our objective is to give deprived children a new opportunity to build life afresh and on firm foundations.
The other objects of the Scriptural Knowledge Institution continue—gifts are sent at regular intervals to missionaries; a school in the West Indies is maintained, home evangelists are helped and the Bible warehouse, which Mr Muller commenced in 1849, has been enlarged in size and scope. Evangelical Christian Literature is the title of a large and busy Christian bookshop in Bristol which seeks to meet the need of the Christian public and others.
The future of the whole work is in God’s hands. It remains for us to seek to discern the mind of God and to follow His ways. The days in which we live are spiritually dark and our constant prayer is that God’s work here shall be as a beacon to lighten the darkness of some seeker after God.
J. J. Rose
Honorary Director and Treasurer
The Muller Homes For Children
Muller House, 7 Cotham Park
Bristol BS6 6DA