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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 following the Lord wholeheartedly, as seen in Deuteronomy 1:36, where those who wholly follow the Lord receive blessings. He encourages facing hard duties and challenges, as they often lead to hidden blessings and victories that enrich our lives. The sermon highlights the need to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, even on difficult paths, as they ultimately lead to blessings that we cannot attain otherwise. Every battle we face presents an opportunity for victory and growth, and every burden we carry holds a secret source of strength within it.
The Path to Blessing
"To him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon because he hath wholly followed the Lord" (Deut. 1:36). Every hard duty that lies in your path, that you would rather not do, that it will cost you pain and struggle or sore effort to do, has a blessing in it. Not to do it, at whatever cost, is to miss the blessing. Every hard piece of road on which you see the Master's shoe-prints and along which He bids you follow Him, surely leads to blessing, which you cannot get if you cannot go over the steep, thorny path. Every point of battle to which you come, where you must draw your sword and fight the enemy, has a possible victory which will prove a rich blessing to your life. Every heavy load that you are called to lift hides in itself some strange secret of strength. --J. R. Miller "I cannot do it alone; The waves run fast and high, And the fogs close all around, The light goes out in the sky; But I know that we two Shall win in the end, Jesus and I. "Coward and wayward and weak, I change with the changing sky; Today so eager and bright, Tomorrow too weak to try; But He never gives in, So we two shall win, Jesus and I. "I could not guide it myself, My boat on life's wild sea; There's One who sits by my side, Who pulls and steers with me. And I know that we two Shall safe enter port, Jesus and I."
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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.