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Charles E. Cowman

Charles Elmer Cowman (1868 - 1924). American missionary and co-founder of the Oriental Missionary Society (now One Mission Society), born in Toulon, Illinois. Raised Methodist, he worked as a telegraph operator from age 15, rising to a high-paying role in Chicago by 19. Converted in 1894 after hearing A.B. Simpson at Moody Church, he married childhood friend Lettie Burd in 1889. In 1901, they moved to Japan, co-founding the society with Juji Nakada and Ernest Kilbourne, establishing Bible training institutes in Tokyo by 1903. Cowman led the Great Village Campaign (1913-1918), distributing Gospels to 10 million Japanese homes across 161,000 square miles. Known for holiness preaching and organizational zeal, he authored no books but inspired Streams in the Desert by Lettie. They had no children. Health issues forced his return to Los Angeles in 1917, where he continued guiding the mission. His work sparked revivals and trained thousands of native evangelists.
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Charles E. Cowman emphasizes the importance of solitude and prayer in growing in grace, highlighting how the soul often makes more progress in one quiet hour of prayer than in days spent in the company of others. He encourages taking time apart from the busyness of the world to find strength and rest in God's presence, sharing that God knows our victories, failures, hopes, and fears, and offers His love and sustenance to those who seek Him.
Alone in the Desert
"And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place" (Luke 9:10). In order to grow in grace, we must be much alone. It is not in society that the soul grows most vigorously. In one single quiet hour of prayer it will often make more progress than in days of company with others. It is in the desert that the dew falls freshest and the air is purest.--Andrew Bonar "Come ye yourselves apart and rest awhile, Weary, I know it, of the press and throng, Wipe from your brow the sweat and dust of toil, And in My quiet strength again be strong. "Come ye aside from all the world holds dear, For converse which the world has never known, Alone with Me, and with My Father here, With Me and with My Father not alone. "Come, tell Me all that ye have said and done, Your victories and failures, hopes and fears. I know how hardly souls are wooed and won: My choicest wreaths are always wet with tears. "Come ye and rest; the journey is too great, And ye will faint beside the way and sink; The bread of life is here for you to eat, And here for you the wine of love to drink. "Then fresh from converse with your Lord return, And work till, daylight softens into even: The brief hours are not lost in which ye learn More of your Master and His rest in Heaven."
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Charles Elmer Cowman (1868 - 1924). American missionary and co-founder of the Oriental Missionary Society (now One Mission Society), born in Toulon, Illinois. Raised Methodist, he worked as a telegraph operator from age 15, rising to a high-paying role in Chicago by 19. Converted in 1894 after hearing A.B. Simpson at Moody Church, he married childhood friend Lettie Burd in 1889. In 1901, they moved to Japan, co-founding the society with Juji Nakada and Ernest Kilbourne, establishing Bible training institutes in Tokyo by 1903. Cowman led the Great Village Campaign (1913-1918), distributing Gospels to 10 million Japanese homes across 161,000 square miles. Known for holiness preaching and organizational zeal, he authored no books but inspired Streams in the Desert by Lettie. They had no children. Health issues forced his return to Los Angeles in 1917, where he continued guiding the mission. His work sparked revivals and trained thousands of native evangelists.