Pacific Union Recorder - December 2016

NO REGRETS GERALD CHRISTMAN, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY

William Borden had, as a child, a seemingly bright future. William was intelligent and a millionaire — an heir to the Borden dairy fortune. Borden took a year off after graduating from high school in the early 1900s to travel the world. He visited intriguing places and experienced diverse foreign cultures from Europe to the Middle East and throughout Asia. Borden was increasingly touched by the poverty and desperate needs that surrounded him. So Borden wrote to his parents and announced he was devoting his life to mission service.

One of Borden’s close friends felt William was throwing his life away by, essentially, renouncing his family’s wealth and social standing. William, upon making this decision, wrote two words in his Bible: NO RESERVES. Borden returned to the United States with a clear purpose in life. He enrolled at Yale University in the fall of 1905. William was soon disappointed with the lifestyles and values of both students and faculty, so he and another student began praying and studying the Bible every morning before breakfast. Three were soon praying — and then four, five and six. One hundred fifty students were studying the Bible and praying before breakfast by the end of William’s freshman year. Borden, during this time, wrote the following in his personal journal: “Say ‘no’ to self and ‘yes’ to Jesus every time.”

William’s father died during his freshman year. He and his siblings, as a result, were soon given access to their family’s fortune.

One friend wrote, “No one would have known from Borden’s life and talk that he was a millionaire, but no one could have helped knowing that he was a Christian.”

Yale University continued experiencing a spiritual revival. One thousand of Yale’s 1,300 students were attending Bible fellowships by Borden’s senior year. Borden did not, however, confine his ministry to Yale campus. He was burdened by the drunks, widows, orphans, disabled, and down-and-outers. He

provided rehabilitation and refuge to these individuals by establishing Yale Hope Mission. William was often found at night on the streets in the lower parts of the city, or, perhaps, helping someone in cheap housing and leading them to the Lord.

William received prestigious job offers when he graduated in 1909. He, however, turned them all down and enrolled in theological studies at Princeton Seminary.

His intention for mission service did not waver. Borden felt called to work among the Muslims in northern China. So, after his seminary studies, he bought a oneway ticket to Cairo, Egypt, where he intended to learn Arabic. He wrote two more words on the flyleaf of his Bible: NO RETREATS.

Borden was buried in Cairo, Egypt.

William did not throw his life away. He gave it to God. Jesus gave His life for us so our lives are never wasted when we give them back to God. William’s life was short, full, and committed. Here is what he wrote in one of his notebooks: “In every man’s heart there is a throne and a cross….

If Christ is on the throne self is on the cross…. If Jesus is on the throne you will go where He wants you to go….”

Here is my summary of Borden’s life: Say “no” to self and “yes” to Jesus every time – with No Reserves and No Retreats. You will, as a result, have No Regrets.

Borden quickly immersed himself in mission work upon his arrival in Cairo, but he soon became very weak. He was stricken with spinal meningitis. Twentyfive-year-old William Borden was dead within a month.

Was his life a waste? Borden did not think so. Underneath the words NO RESERVES and NO RETREATS, Borden penned two more words in his Bible in labored handwriting: NO REGRETS.

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