influence, he was ther creator of a total atmosphere. In order to determine the true extent of his sphere of influence is basically impossible, because his name doesn’t occupy large sections of South African historical writing. Still, he left an ineffaceable impression on the character of the South African nation of his time
Most of the studies and articles about his life and work indicate him as a man of the cloth, teacher-devotee, missionary statesman, national figure, preacher and author of stature. In the SA church history the labour and influence of Andrew Murray is highly acclaimed. As spiritual leader on church matters, the education and missions he was a giant. It is staggering to think about what he had accomplished! The number of incisive works which adjudicate the life and work of Murray is however, very few. Different reasons can be attributed to as to why there has up to date been a big lack of variety of the review of Murray. It can be ascribed to the fact that Murray only had a devotional aim with his writings. If you open any of his writings it will deal with one of the following topics: sanctification, uniformity to Christ, daily walking in the ways of the Lord, prayer, Pentocostal power, certainty and mastering of sin. Murray took up his pen with one aim in mind, namely to call up believers all over the world to more dedication, prayer, practise of faith and following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. The theological treatment of his work is made more difficult by the piety of a man who stood head and shoulders above his people. During his lifetime nobody had wanted to get involved in a war of words with him about his theological viewpoints. The spititual power in which Murray acted would have made something like this (the latter) less respectful. Shortly after his death a biography of him by Du Plessis appeared and from time to time different works about aspects of his life and work saw the light, but never again a biography about him / or to adjudicate his work. . The most important work about him was written long ago, and not according to the style of this century. No trained historian has ever researched his life and written about it.
* I’m a schooled historian
* I’ve had a special interest in the 19th and 20th century development of church denominations in South Africa * For longer than 30 years I’ve been a member of the very church in which Andrew Murray had laboured for so long
The search for all the important aspects of Murray’s life made me journey throughout the width en length of our beautiful country and I visited many archives depositories. I visited places where Murray had visited and preached to ensure that I got all the correct information. This made me travel further to Aberdeen in Scotland, where I felt close to HIIM and Andrew. Furthermore, I walked about Utrecht and even found his place of sojourn. My most emotional moment was one evening when my good wife (my spiritual companion) and I attended an evening service in Keswick, England just like Andrew did many decades ago. I’m really blest to have experienced Wellington and all the other beautiful places and also to understand Murray’s life all the more. The book was researched and written for the following three reasons :
1- To make Murray more accessible to people of this century 2- To keep the Murray family’s graves in Wellington in an acceptable condition. No-one is currently looking after the graves and therefore they are in a shocking situation [ PROJECT ONE ] 3- To drive a Murray project in the district of Wellington, to ensure the thousands of disadvantaged children of an excellent education. We would like to accentuate the managing of FASD children. Of the 1 000 children in the five rural schools in the district at least 40% were identified with FASD and there are no special programmes in place for them. [ PROJECT TWO ] The cost of the book will basically be half the price and the other half will then be utilised for the two projects. A council will be appointed to deal with the financial duties of the fund and all necessary documents will be available on the website.
