Robber of the Cruel Streets: The Story of George Muller (2006) | Full Movie | Adam Stone

[Music] street kids aren't new they've always been around nowadays society tries to help them but 200 years ago in England they were treated like vermin with no parents or relatives to look after them orphans were forced to survive by begging or stealing they had no one to turn to they lived and died in the gutter oh you [Music] but in Bristol help us on its way from someone a national newspaper would later proclaim had robbed the cruel streets of thousands of victims [Music] what have I done my father will kill me George mother lived the life of a playboy spending his time drinking gambling or chasing the ladies but his fondness for women and rich living demanded money and he knew how to get it from before he was 10 mana was stealing money from his tax collecting father and by his teenage years had become an expert cheating and stealing even from his best friends in the towns and villages across this region mala lived in what he later admitted was much sin and there was usually a young lady involved eventually having spent all his money he came here to wolfenbüttel and unable to pay an angry innkeeper he was arrested and this is where they brought him it's still a prison a high-security one with 400 inmates when they March Muller through these actual doors it was a lot smaller although the prisoners were no less dangerous now locked up with thieves and murderers he had plenty of time to reflect on the misery that he'd caused after nearly a month his father reluctantly send the money to pay off his debts and he was free but the experience did little to change his ways not even the wrath of his strictly religious father who gave him a severe beating and the power to change him Muller's life began here in the small village of cropping state in what used to be called the Kingdom of Prussia his birth is recorded in the church's register 27th of September 1805 this is the house where George Muller was born obviously it's been so modernized that any historical evidence is long gone but there is this plaque that commemorates the 200 years since his birth so what happened to this scheming conniving playboy that he should be remembered like this and how did this unlikely German end up hundreds of miles away here in Bristol England and build these which in his lifetime housed over 120,000 orphans they're still used today is the city of Bristol College and also as fashionable private residences and what's more how did this man who lived in relative poverty do all of this without any of the fundraising machinery and publicity techniques that we have today he steadfastly refused to make any Appeals for money and yet in his lifetime he received donations amounting to two and a half million dollars in today's money that's a staggering 180 million dollars how he did it is what this story is about just as in britain german society in the 19th century held the church in high regard it was the place to be seen a career in the church was a top job with prospects a pension and status something that John Frederick Muller desperately wanted for his son George it required rigorous and expensive training and nowhere was better than the University here at Harley today it's known as the martin luther university now when mother arrived here he'd grown up a bit and he desperately wanted to turn over a new leaf and started better kind of life mainly to please his father who was footing the bill but university life was filled with distractions and possibilities not all of them honorable his money-making scams continued and the son hadn't quite set on his playboy days but all of that was about to change at university there was a young man called Christoph Leopold Frederick bata he was a quiet thoughtful young man and Muller took to him instantly he was hoping that he'd be able to help him change his ways which in his heart he desperately wanted beta was also a Christian whose faith had lapsed quite a bit and secretly he was hoping that some of mullahs worldliness would rub off on him now betas faith revived and he started coming to meetings every Saturday night at the home of Johann vogner a Christian businessman who lived here on kleiner Stein and Strasser one night mullah asked if he could go with him bata at first refused mullah was still very much the Playboy but inside he felt empty and miserable bata reluctantly took him along he was sure he'd hate it what on earth would he make of the praying the singing the Bible reading and then the reading of a sermon welcome here please have a seat thank you friends we have a guest tonight here at our Bible study a friend of bata George Miller is a student at the University here in Harlem and he's training for the ministry I believe messages that we continue our Bible studies from last week and turn to 1 John 4 and I will read from verse 7 on and if somebody else then could could continue from verse 13 dear friends let us love one another for love comes from God everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God whoever does not love does not know God because God is love this is how God showed his love among us M'Lynn loved it it was so completely different from the harsh legalistic and heavy religion he'd been brought up in these people obviously had something he had never experienced something which he now realized he'd been longing for all his life for the first time he was really happy this is what I have been longing for all our worldly pleasures ours nothing compared to this it was a turning point in Wally's life he now knew for the very first time the joy and relief of being forgiven and what it meant to really trust in Christ he was on the threshold of a brand new life little did he know where it would lead [Music] Mulla wanted to share his life-changing experience with others and his heart naturally warmed to mission work but for his father John Frederick this was a bitter disappointment gone were the prospects of being cared for by his clergyman son as a result he felt he could no longer let his father pay his university fees or his living costs but he had two more years to go and no money it was a predicament he would know all too well in the years to come and the solution was a foretaste of what he experienced again and again God provided there was no miracle no lights from heaven just a god-given opportunity to teach German to some American students who paid him very well [Music] driven by his new zeal mala spent all his spare time studying the Bible and having meetings in his room his tutor professor Tolec arranged for him to preach in many of the local churches and he soon gained something of a reputation but he also had a dream that one day he could become a missionary so when the professor recommended him to the british-based Continental Society for their work in Bucharest he thought that his dream was about to become a reality but war broke out between Turkey and Russia just as he was about to leave putting an end to his plans but it didn't put an end to God's plans for his young servant to be honest Mulla wasn't all that disappointed because for some time in his heart he felt more and more drawn to work with Jews so when an English based Mission Society invited him to join them doing just that he jumped at the chance thinking that this was from God but there was a problem national military service every male graduate had to serve at least a year in the German army if they were fit and well but because Muller had suffered from poor health as a youth and because he'd recently recovered from a serious illness the army let him go it wasn't the only time that his health would play an important part in the unfolding of God's plan now Muller was free to go to London in 1829 London was the most advanced city in the world when mullah arrived the Georgian era was about to end with the death of King George the fourth a new exciting period of scientific discovery and empire building would soon begin under the reign of someone still just a teenager Princess Victoria Muller made his new home in Hackney in the heart of London's East End his days were filled with learning Hebrew and the rabbinic alphabet and the evenings meeting with fellow German students and the Jews he had come to serve it wasn't long before he collapsed through sheer exhaustion his friends advised him to take a break from London smog and pollution the relative tranquility of Timnath in the West Country seemed the ideal place with it's bracing sea air River estuary and rolling hills once again through illness God was directing the steps of the young molar because what happened here was to shape the rest of his life Muller found a soul mate he was a Scotsman and pastor of the Baptist chapel that nearby Sheldon Henry Creek was the same age as Muller 24 and had also been converted as a student after graduating from st. Andrews University in Scotland he'd moved south to Exeter only 14 miles away and it was there that he met someone whose fresh understanding of the Bible was to have a huge impact on the way mission work was done around the world and it was to change mother's life so tell me about this dentist friend of yours this Anthony Norris grows well I've never met anyone like him or his wife Mary they are the only believers I have met who have actually followed Jesus's command to sell all you have and give to the poor indeed just recently they gave away a huge inheritance to those involved in mission work and he has given up his very lucrative dental practice to go to Baghdad in Persia and they've gone without any financial support whatsoever they believe God will meet all their needs by prayer just as he promised in the scriptures I'd very much like to meet him and discuss these things I'm fascinated by the idea of being more adventurous in trusting God Mulla returned to London a different man a man of vision and passion fired up by groves experience of living by faith but his newfound convictions didn't go down very well with the mission board that had brought into England so by mutual consent they parted company once again mullah headed west Henrique rake had asked him to preach at his church here at Sheldon well the local people loved him so much so they asked him to consider becoming the minister of Ebenezer chapel here at in mirth and Muller agreed on one condition that he be free to preach wherever and whenever God called him and to this the congregation agreed so Muller became no not just locally but across most of Devon and his influence as an effective preacher grew but there was also another influence at work which drew Molitor Exeter again and again this time it was a young woman Mary groves the sister of Antony Norris groans whose writings had so stirred up mala he was head over heels in love Mary was as devoted to Christ as her brother and also shared his convictions some say even more so she was a talented young lady musical artistic and gifted in languages mala didn't waste any time in asking her to be his wife and within three months they married and settled in Sheldon while they worked together in the church across the water at Timnath but it wasn't just grow sister that had swept Muller off his feet many of groves biblical insights had also begun to change the way they lived for instance they took literally Christ command to his disciples to sell their possessions and give to the poor and for the rest of their married life this is what George and Mary did they also decided that from now on they would make their needs known only to God it was a courageous step some would say foolhardy but as Muller was later to recall this has been the means of letting us see the tender love and care of our God over his children even in the most minut things in a way we never experienced before it has made the Lord known to us more fully as a prayer hearing God Henry Craig had also decided to take God at His Word he and Mullah had numerous stories to tell of God's provision which sometimes arrived at the very last minute when there was nothing left so George how's the good Lord treating you these days how's this living by faith working out for you and Mary I've been amazed at how God is looking after us for instance just a few weeks ago Mary and I were right down to 8 shillings so we prayed for some money to come in later that morning we were visiting one of our congregation and she asked me straight out do you need any money well I was tempted but I kept our agreement with the Lord and told him I would only tell God about our needs well she went on and said how a vile ago she had asked the Lord what she could do for him and he had impressed upon her to give me some money then just last Saturday the feeling came back to her most powerfully well I kept my mouth shut so as not to influence her give it wasn't easy but when we left she gave me two pounds so how about yourself like you George finding God to be faithful but sometimes you can leave us waiting until the very last minute but I wouldn't change this way of living for anything just to experience God in such practical ways after two years mullah became Restless he had a growing conviction that he'd finished his time here at Timnath a growing sense that it was God's time for him to move on once again Henry Craik was Keita mullahs next step of faith Craig had already started a new work and when he asked mala to join him mala knew that it was time to go if 10 month was the gymnasium where mala grew and developed his faith muscles then Bristol was the arena where he effectively flexed them and so effectively then not only Bristol would be amazed but the whole world would come to know of his reputation in 1832 Bristol was already being amazed by the daring scheme of one isambard kingdom brunel to build a bridge across the avon gorge when George Muller arrived in Bristol a lack of funding had halted its construction it wasn't completed for another 30 years the halcyon days of Bristol as one of the country's major seaports were over the British slave trade had been dealt a death blow by the campaigning of William Wilberforce and at a stroke one of Bristol's main sources of income was cut off the city itself as a port was losing out to more accessible ports such as Liverpool however Brunel soon to be completed rail link with the capital and his shipbuilding managed to keep Bristol in the Premier League of British cities for Henry craic malas arrival ease the burden of an already busy ministry for the people of Bristol the Scottish and German accents was something of a novelty many came to Bethesda Chapel to hear them preach out of sheer curiosity and left having been presented with the claims of Jesus Christ two years after arriving Mulla and Craig started the scriptural knowledge institution with four aims to distribute the scriptures to support mission work around the world to run Sunday schools and day schools for children and adults and enable the children of poor people to attend the work continues to this day the cold damp and unsanitary conditions of pre Victorian Britain meant children were highly vulnerable to diseases such as pneumonia tuberculosis and cholera with no antibiotics or penicillin they nearly always died for the poor life was especially harsh not just because of the physical conditions but also because of society's attitude in particular its attitude towards street children when Muller arrived in Bristol he could not help but be moved by the plight of these orphaned children they were always coming to his front door there was nowhere for them to go and no one to look after them so they lived on the streets begging and stealing to stay alive all too often their attempts failed regarded as filth the government's response was to put them in the workhouse they were hellish places often run by heartless money-grabbing owners there was no escape young children became prisoners forced to cohabit with mentally ill and violent adults few people knew about the appalling atrocities they endured but one man in particular was to highlight this evil through his regular newspaper column Charles Dickens heart-rending story of the young orphan lad Oliver Twist awakened the conscience of an indifferent nation but the conscience of George Muller had already been awakened a seed planted years before when he was a student in the town of Harley germinated and began to grow for two months mullah had taken advantage of the free lodging provided for poor divinity students here at the orphan house when it was built a hundred years before mullah was born this five-story complex was the largest building in Germany and was virtually a small town within the town of Harley it had its own Hospital Medicine lab print shop school an accommodation for the elderly widows and orphans it was the vision of august hermann franca professor of divinity at the university it housed over 2,000 orphans with a hundred teachers who gave them a good education and trained them in various crafts so that they'd be well-prepared for adult life when mala saw how it was run and the godly principles that franca held to he was deeply affected even moreso when he discovered that it had all been done in dependence upon God in Britain the idea of special homes for orphans was revolutionary it will be another thirty years before Thomas Bernardo opened his homes with the Church of England's homes and then the National children's homes following after but in 1835 there were only a dozen orphan homes in the whole of England and Wales they were all in London and the prosperous South East they all charged fees and only accepted orphans from professional middle-class families the orphans of working-class parents either had to move in with relatives who were often hard pressed to feed their own children or they were forced into the workouts or worst of all left to fend for themselves on the streets we're in the freezing winter months they did not even have the shelter of the workhouse their plight had become a major social issue and one that deeply troubled Muller especially as there was nothing in Bristol to help them he couldn't ignore the need all around him and that's when he remembered professor frankerz orphanages here in Germany and Molly's vision began to take shape Wednesday took tea at a friend's house fair I found a biography on professor Franco they have frequently for a long time thought about laboring in a similar way though it might be on a much smaller scale not to imitate Franco but in reliance upon the Lord today it is very much on my heart to no longer think about starting an orphan house but to actually do it and I have been very much in prayer about it in just a few days the Lord has answered my prayers and given me 50 pounds I had asked for only 40 this has been a great encouragement to me and has stirred me up even more to pray about an orphan house [Music] again yesterday and today I have been much in prayer about the orphan house and I'm more convinced that it is of God may he in his mercy guide me but there was something else that had been eating away at George Muller for many people God if he actually existed was irrelevant life was harsh living conditions were appalling it's terrible deprivation sickness and death were never far away so cynics and skeptics had a field day where was this loving God that the Christian spoke of did he care and many concluded that evidently he did not and for those who did believe having faith meant little more than going to church on a Sunday few people experience God at work in their lives and so they lived in a perpetual state of anxiety and worry Christ promised to his followers of a perfect peace that passes all understanding was not their experience many people had a morbid fear of ending up in the workhouse the state's provision for those in need and if anything it was this that motivated George Muller now if I a poor man can set up and run an orphan house without asking anyone for money or supplies and to do it simply by prayer and faith that would be something which with the Lord's blessing could encourage and strengthen the faith of the children of God it would also be a powerful witness to the unconverted of the reality of God a few days later Mullin laid his vision of a children's home before many of Bristol's Christians and right from the beginning he set out the biblical principles on which he would operate they were the same that Anthony Norris groves had written about a decade earlier and the same that mullah and his wife Mary had been practicing for five years and we cannot as God's people pass by on the other side pretending not to see The Oval plight of our city's orphans my friends I cannot claim to be a follower of the Lord Jesus and not do something to help these children who have no home and know nothing of the warm embrace of family therefore I have called this meeting today to share with you what I believe God has been calling me to do since I came to Bristol I intend with his help and provision to open a children's home as these children of the street can find refuge and welfare and love it will be open only to those who have been bereaved of both parents no one will be turned away on grounds of class or creed as well as receiving a plain education the girls will be trained for domestic service and the boys will be taught a trade under no circumstances will anyone be asked to pay or make a donation the home will be for those who are truly destitute God has freely given to us in our need of salvation and we will freely give to those who are in Meade of course we will need matrons and teachers and all manner of assistance and those who wish to apply need to be qualified for such work and also be true believers in the Lord Jesus the children's home will be established only if God provides the means and suitable staff to run it there will be no going to man for funds or provisions we will not be making any appeals either by prayer requests of sermons or literature we will rely on God alone and I firmly believe that if this is of him he will provide all through December word of Muller's enterprise spread many of God's people were moved to make gifts of money and donate essential items everything from knives and forks and plates to furniture and cloths began to flow in right from the start Mulla kept a record of every single item and every single gift of money received soon people came to his door offering to work in the new home as matrons tutors and assistants it wasn't long before suitable premises were found here at Wilson Street at number six the owner only wanted a small rent for the place but there was one thing missing orphans Mulla had forgotten to ask God to send the orphans he soon put that right and within a short period the very first smaller orphan arrived a little girl of 11 years old who was called Charlotte Hill her story like so many others was tragic it happened during the infamous reform riots of 1831 when a bill to introduce fairer voting had been unexpectedly rejected by the government Bristol was in total chaos and Charlotte's mother afraid that rioters would break in hid all the family's life savings but she became ill and died without telling her husband where she'd hidden them according to this entry in mullahs own writing the husband died as a result whether from suicide or heart failure Muller is too discreet to record Charlotte came to live here with her grandfather it was the plume of feathers then but he just couldn't cope which is how she came to be on mother's doorstep Charlotte was the first of 30 girls to live here at Wilson Street eight months later a short distance away Mulla opened a second home this was for very young boys and girls and seven months after that the same year that a Princess Victoria became Queen Mulla opened a third house this one was for orphan boys so in just over a year Willa had three homes up and running caring for a total of 90 orphans who all needed to be clothed and fed it isn't difficult to imagine the challenge of looking after 30 children in buildings which were quite cramped and Mullah did have his critics but it was still better than life on the streets the first two years were exciting everything that was needed arrived on the doorstep or in the post they even had the services of a doctor free of charge if anything the supply was greater than the need Molly's dependence on God alone to supply without making any appeals was working but these honeymoon years came to an end for the next seven years mullah was to experience what in his own words was severe testing as more and more his faith in God was stretched it wasn't uncommon for the table to be set children waiting for food and for the to be known until at the very last minute that being knock at the door and provisions would arrive just in time I [Music] just had to bring these for you mr. Murrow I know last night I just couldn't get any sleep it seemed as though the Lord Himself was telling me to get up and make some bread for the orphans so I got up at 2 o clock this morning and whoa here you are sir some was certainly looking after you what you're doing here is very noble very noble indeed sir Lord be praised thank you so much god bless you in the late autumn of 1841 when this had been going on for some months Mulla did something he had never done before maybe it was the sheer weight of responsibility that got to him or the continual uncertainty that supplies would arrive on time but Muller broke with his tradition and shared with his staff the reality of their situation for the first time they saw Muller as someone who was just as vulnerable and tempted to doubt as they were themselves I know our situation gives us cause for concern but we must not give way to doubt and anxiety these past years we have seen how faithful God has been and now I believe he waits to see how we will trust him in these trials of our faith but for the time being please do not buy anything we cannot afford this does not mean the children should go without their food or clothing when you return to your stations look for items we do not need and arrange to have them sold now let's pray our Lord and Heavenly Father thank you for your goodness to us for the wonderful ways in which you supply all our needs but now father we turn to you again and ask that you would help us to stand firm in our faith and help us to trust that you will provide what we need to look after our children [Music] mr. Muller it isn't right for me to ask God to provide if I'm not willing to give what I can here's 16 shillings it's all I have but I give it gladly my dear Emily during these years of testing many of the staff themselves gave money or sold articles they didn't need donating the proceeds the were those who criticized Muller that this was a failure of the principles on which he ran the homes but he maintained that unless there was a willingness to give from their own resources they couldn't expect God to provide out of his malo was never a rich man in fact in his lifetime he gave away the equivalent of 700 thousand dollars that was given for his personal needs mullahs faith never did once break and not once did the children go without a meal as Muller wrote in his diary at the time these dear little ones know nothing about this trial because their tables are as well supplied as when there was 800 pounds in the bank and they have lack of nothing in fact after praying for 22 days for guidance Muller opened a fourth home at number 4 Wilson Street just to keep up with a growing number of orphans who now amounted to over a hundred and forty and this became a problem dear mr. Muller it is with considerable reluctance that I on behalf of my fellow neighbors bring to your notice that we continue to be inconvenienced by the orphan houses the noise and disruption have increased and once again the drains have overflowed the third time in one week whilst we understand the difficulty you have in caring for so many children in so small a place we would respectfully ask you to consider what action you could take to alleviate the situation so muller prayed and came to the conclusion it was time to move it wasn't just because of the ladies the work also needed to expand if it was to cope with the increasing number of orphans needing care so with his faith already being severely tested he became convinced God was calling him to take an even greater step of faith but how did he become convinced how did he know that this is what God wanted well for George Amala prayer and the study of God's Word was the key to understanding God's will once he knew that it was just a question of trusting him to do it in his own way and in his own time Muller believed with all his heart that God answers the prayers of his people not as a reward for being good or sincere but because they believe in His Son Jesus Christ everyday he spent hours praying and reading the Bible it was his number one priority sometimes he would pray and study like this for days pouring his heart out in worship and praise often just listening and he'd keep on until he heard God speak to him in the depth of his heart it was five weeks before he knew with certainty that God was calling him not to find new premises but to build them an architect who'd heard of mullahs plans offered his services free of charge nevertheless it was going to be expensive $18,000 that's almost a million in today's money within a week a tenth of that had been given in one single gift which was the largest they'd ever received but where were they going to build there was a lot of property speculation new buildings were going up all over Bristol and land was at a premium sounds familiar but there was a possibility of some open land a bit further out so mala came to see it and immediately he knew it was right it was here on Ashley down seven acres of fresh air and space not far from the city center the land owner who'd heard of mullahs plans was hoping to sell his land for 350 dollars an acre then after a sleepless night he agreed to sell it to Muller for $200 an acre once again Muller saw God's hand in the provision now then as today anybody embarking on this kind of project in buying land would just get a bank loan not mullah he refused to allow any building work to start until all the money to complete the project had come in now in some ways this couldn't have happened at a worse time the country's economy faltered rumors of train companies going bust cause the stock market to plunge and drove up inflation the price of basic items shot up bread rice and oatmeal at least doubled in price and potatoes became a luxury but for Mullah this was one more opportunity to show God's faithfulness so two and a half years after receiving the first gift all the funding was in place and building work begin two years later in June 18-49 the new orphanage opened its doors to 300 children over the next 21 years four more homes were built on ashley dale providing shelter food welfare and love for over 2,000 orphans what was life like on Ashley down mullahs attitude to children was revolutionary at the time as well as giving them a good religious education and that more often by example he made sure that they all had a good general education it was often better than that available in state schools Mulla even had his own school inspectors to maintain these high standards the children were also trained in basic crafts the girls learned domestic science the boys learned how to garden keep house and even how to darn in fact he was criticized for teaching children above their social station mullahs orphans were well set up for adult life by the time they left the homes and did well getting good jobs but there were always the rumors and the criticisms one rumor reached the ears of Dickens he'd heard that the children was starving so he decided to make a surprise visit to find out for himself on his arrival mana sent for an assistant handed him a bunch of keys and requested that mr. Dickens be shown over any of the five orphan houses he chose to see Dickens was impressed so impressed that he wrote it up for the papers it was publicity money can't buy life in the homes continued with just the occasional crisis but mullahs faith always rose to the challenge sometimes with unusual results in November 1857 just as the winter was settling in one of the boilers sprung a leak now this was serious without it home number one was going to be left cold and miserable the children will be exposed to dampness and to disease there was only one solution fix the leak but there was a problem the boiler had been bricked in it was going to be a major job to undo all that brickwork find the leak repair it put it all back together again it was going to take days meanwhile the weather was getting much worse thanks to a fierce north wind so muller prayed for two things first that the direction of the wind would change and second that the builders would work hard and fast on cue right on the day when they switched the boiler off the wind changed direction then the builders decided that they wanted to work through the night so they completed it in 30 hours in all that time a south wind blew making the lighting of fires unnecessary sadly in 1870 Mary died just after the last orphanage was opened everyone was devastated the children and the staff missed her desperately but for Muller it was especially hard their love for each other had steadily deepened over the years yet reading his Diaries there is not one word of complaint against God or any hint of bitterness or self-pity he accepted her death as God's will and knew that one day he would see her again in paradise by now mullahs homes were well-established and running smoothly with thousands of orphans being cared for he now had a right-hand man James right with wise foresight in wala was training him to be a successor when his middle-aged daughter Lydia got engaged to James mullah himself was encouraged to remarry so on the last day of November 1871 Susannah grace Sangha became his second wife she was a governess he'd known for some time and 16 years younger Susanna was a great encouragement to mala and she soon realized that her new husband with all his years of experience had a message that deserved a bigger audience it was a message that the Bible could be trusted and Christians everywhere could be encouraged to practice what it teaches it was a message that needed to be shared and not just with Bristol's believers but with believers everywhere Mulla also had another passion and it was that Christians would put aside their often petty denominational differences and enter into true fellowship it was a plea that needed to be heard and not just here but also across the oceans far away and now they could do it with James Wright able to run the orphanages Suzanna set about organizing international speaking tours for her seventy year old husband on some of these globe-trotting adventures they saw God at work in amazing ways [Music] captain Dutton I have to be in Quebec by Saturday afternoon I'm due to speak that evening do you think we will make it that's now impossible mr. Malla there's no sign of this fog lifting itself in 52 years I have never broken a speaking engagement we must play may we go to the job hole yeah course but have you any idea how thick this fog is I'm not looking at the fog captain Dutton but on God who controls all our circumstances are you a praying man captain Dutton yeah but I don't believe in miracles we could be stuck here for days go ahead mr. Molloy let us pray O Lord our God we thank you that you command the wind and the waves and even this fog we rejoice that our times and our circumstances are in your hands now father in the glorious name of our Savior I ask that you will make it possible for us to reach rebec by Saturday afternoon that your name will be glorified I mean oh God if it be thy will yet do not play captain you don't really believe that God will answer but I know he already has come sir let us see what God has done how they I have known my Lord for 52 years captain Dutton and there is not one single day when the King has not graciously granted me an audience half a head mr. night mullah reached Quebec him on time and began his speaking tour of Canada and the United States mana may have had his daily audience with the king but on this trip he was to have an audience with a president - Rutherford Hayes Muller and Susannah met with the president and described the work in Bristol before being treated to a tour of the White House by the first lady herself everywhere he and Susannah went in North America they spoke to packed theaters stadiums halls and churches people were hungry to hear how they too could have a faith that worked and Muller encouraged them to get back to their Bibles and believe what it says it wasn't until Muller was 87 years old but he and Susannah stopped travelling in 17 years they traveled 200,000 miles they'd experienced temperatures a freezing-cold sweltering heat they'd endured exhausting train journeys sometimes lasting up to a week and had terrifying journeys at c-thru raging typhoons through it all mullahs faith stood strong and with God's help he took his message to 42 countries around the world two years after coming home Susanna died she was 73 it was a hard blow his daughter Lydia at the age of 58 had died several years earlier when he'd been in India she'd had bronchitis so now George Muller was alone again but not lonely his Lord was his companion and gave him the strength to accept his loss he also gave him the strength to carry on preaching and his sermons were if anything even more touched by God my text is lamentations 3 verses 22 and 23 the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases His mercies never come to an end they are new every morning great is your faithfulness while everything changes here on earth Jesus our friend is the same the same yesterday today and forever what he was millions of years ago he is now but he was when he walked in Galilee in Judea and Samaria he is now his heart full of pity of tenderness of compassion I say to you all you may be the oldest the greatest the most hardened of sinners you may have sinned again and again but if you now turn to Christ he will forgive you for there is power in the blood of Christ to take away the greatest sins I know knowledge and education cannot make us happy not truly happy Christ and Christ alone brings real true happiness I know seven languages but I'd still go to hell if it were not for the fact that I know Christ I cannot describe the joy and the peace which comes from being a disciple of the Lord Jesus I am a happy old yes indeed I am a happy old man I walked about my woman I say Lord Jesus I am NOT alone for you are with me I have buried my wives and my children but you are still with me I do not feel lonely or forsaken for I have you on your smile and that is better than life itself [Music] on Thursday the 10th of March 1898 mullah woke up early in the morning as he had all his life he had Sunday sermon to prepare it was never preached in one brief moment he had gone to be with his God [Music] the following Monday was a day the like of which Bristol had never seen businesses and factories closed the city came to a halt as thousands of people lined the streets to pay their last respects to a German immigrant who had won their hearts and as his obituary in Britain's Daily Telegraph said had robbed the cruel streets of thousands of victims the jail's of thousands of felons the workhouses of thousands of helpless waves Bristol Times said that he was raised up for the purpose of showing that the age of miracles is not passed and rebuking the skeptical tendencies of the time for the cynics and skeptics then as now these five buildings and the many thousands of transform lives speak volumes of a God who is there but perhaps the greatest proof of all is mauler himself the swindler the cheat the self-centered playboy who stole from his best friends and who ends up raising a hundred and eighty million dollars in today's money simply by prayer and faith in the one who changed his own life in the mid-50s mullahs closed the five buildings on Ashely down and opened smaller family based homes in the Bristol area there are those who well remember their childhood years in a mullahs home although their memories may be mixed one thing is certain their lives would have been very much different had it not been for the faith and vision of George Muller whose remains lie here in a Bristol grave his soul has long since departed but his message remains God is real and can be trusted now if I a poor man can set up and run an orphan house without asking anyone for money or supplies and to do it simply by prayer and faith that would be something which with the Lord's blessing could encourage and strengthen the faith of the children of God it would also be a powerful witness to the unconverted of the reality of God [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Vision Video

Views: 227,192

Rating: 4.9175653 out of 5

Keywords: Christian Videos, Christian Films, Christian Movies, Religious Movies, Films, Movies, Entertainment, Feature Films, George Muller, Orphans, Prayer, Orphanage, Docudrama, Adam Stone, Andy Harrison, Robber of the Cruel Streets, The Story of George Muller, Robber of the Cruel Streets - The Story of George Muller

Id: D4KZEU7681w

Length: 59min 4sec (3544 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 09 2020