Wesley

Early in his days of ministry John Wesley travelled from London to Georgia in the new world. There he hoped to minister among the Indians and settlers, and he desired to see many conversions among the people. His ministry did not go well . . . as Dallimore remarks, "he was in bitter dejection, for his whole person was shaken by the realization that salvation was not to be gained by any programme of human effort." He fled back to England, and confessed, "What have I learned? Why, what I the least of suspected, that I who went to America to convert others, was never myself converted to God."

Wesley had been first taught this truth by Moravians, a German evangelical group. At sea he noticed that when ship was hit by a violent storm, that "a terrible screaming began among the English." The Moravians, however -- men, women and children -- calmly sang a hymn of trust and praise. Wesley was startled because he realized that these Christians possessed something he did not have, and that amidst the storm he admitted, "I was afraid to die." Later, the Moravian leaders continued to ply Wesley with questions, such as "Do you know Jesus Christ?" and "Do you know if he has saved your soul?" These were Wesley's first contacts with evangelical Christianity and "they left a lasting mark."