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George Mueller

George Müller (1805–1898). Born on September 27, 1805, in Kroppenstedt, Prussia (now Germany), George Müller was a Christian evangelist and orphanage director known for his faith-driven ministry. A rebellious youth, he was imprisoned for theft at 16 before converting to Christianity in 1825 at a Moravian prayer meeting in Halle. He studied divinity in Halle and moved to England in 1829, pastoring a chapel in Teignmouth and later Ebenezer Chapel in Bristol. Rejecting a fixed salary, he relied on prayer for provision, a principle that defined his life. In 1836, he founded the Ashley Down Orphanage in Bristol, caring for over 10,000 orphans across his lifetime without soliciting funds, trusting God alone. His meticulous records, published in Narratives of the Lord’s Dealings, documented answered prayers, inspiring global faith. Married to Mary Groves in 1830 and later Susannah Sangar after Mary’s death, he had one surviving child, Lydia. Müller preached worldwide into his 80s, dying on March 10, 1898, in Bristol, and said, “The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.”
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Sermon Summary
George Mueller emphasizes the vital role of community support for children and families in Bristol and Weston-super-Mare, highlighting the various services provided by professional teams and local churches. He outlines a range of activities aimed at nurturing children's well-being, such as daycare, support groups, and educational programs, while also encouraging churches to become more involved in their communities. Mueller stresses the importance of collaboration with other organizations to enhance the effectiveness of these initiatives. The sermon calls for innovative models of care that can be replicated in other needy areas, ensuring that Christian love and support reach as many families as possible. Ultimately, the work continues to evolve, addressing the spiritual and practical needs of children and families in the community.
The Children's Work Today
One of the areas of concern to the Trustees has been the needs of children and families in the most needy parts of Bristol and Weston-super-Mare. Coupled with that the Trustees have sought to support local churches in such needy areas as they respond to the needs of children and families. Therefore, today in Bristol and Weston-super-Mare professional teams of staff seek to provide a range of services for children and families as well as providing support, encouragement and resources for local churches. As we become more community-minded we seek to extend our role in more and more areas. The following type and range of activities are typical:- providing day care for children at a Centre. helping to supervise a church-based parent and toddler group, nursery or creche. running a self-esteem group for children in a local primary school. helping and supporting parent's groups. teaching a Bible study for parents. running a children's bereavement group. organising a play-scheme. co-ordinating an anger management group for parents. monitoring self-help groups for parents. counselling. providing advocacy help for parents. helping in homes including cooking, family management skills, and general home visiting skills. taking an assembly, school club or being a teacher's assistant in community based primary schools. running an after school's club. assessing community needs. meeting with representatives of the statutory agencies. and so on ...... There are many different ways in which Christian love and care may be shared and a variety of different models of care are currently being explored. It is hoped that as those models are tried, models that can be replicated would be extended to needy areas other than those in which the work currently takes place. We are currently working in Weston-super-Mare, and in the Southmead and Lawrence Weston areas of Bristol. We are also exploring ways in which we might provide training for local churches in a variety of ways to enable them to be more effective in their work amongst children and families. The schools work continues to grow and develop. As well as work in primary schools through the work outlined above, schools workers along with volunteer year team members seek to provide Christian teaching and discipling of many young people in Bristol Secondary schools. Schools work can be a very exacting and challenging activity. There is much need in our schools to provide support for teachers and especially in supporting and resourcing the challenge of teaching spiritual values within the curriculum. As this area develops so the work that George Müller began in pioneering provision continues to explore new and exciting areas of work. There are currently three schools workers and each year a year team seeks to support the work in education and community care. Training is given to year team members each Wednesday and the work links with a number of other projects which work with young people. A number of other organisations are working in similar areas of care and for the last few years the work has developed relationships with some of those organisations. Usually called Associated Ministries, such relationships have been very beneficial for both the children's work and also for those other Charities.
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George Müller (1805–1898). Born on September 27, 1805, in Kroppenstedt, Prussia (now Germany), George Müller was a Christian evangelist and orphanage director known for his faith-driven ministry. A rebellious youth, he was imprisoned for theft at 16 before converting to Christianity in 1825 at a Moravian prayer meeting in Halle. He studied divinity in Halle and moved to England in 1829, pastoring a chapel in Teignmouth and later Ebenezer Chapel in Bristol. Rejecting a fixed salary, he relied on prayer for provision, a principle that defined his life. In 1836, he founded the Ashley Down Orphanage in Bristol, caring for over 10,000 orphans across his lifetime without soliciting funds, trusting God alone. His meticulous records, published in Narratives of the Lord’s Dealings, documented answered prayers, inspiring global faith. Married to Mary Groves in 1830 and later Susannah Sangar after Mary’s death, he had one surviving child, Lydia. Müller preached worldwide into his 80s, dying on March 10, 1898, in Bristol, and said, “The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.”