Anthony Norris Groves

Anthony Norris Groves was born on February 1, 1795, in Newton Valence, Hampshire, England. His family had some means, and in his youth he was trained as a dentist. He moved to Plymouth and built a successful practice. He married Mary Thompson, and they lived comfortably. He was a member of the Church of England and had a sincere interest in religion. In his late twenties he read the words of Jesus about laying up treasure in heaven, and he decided to take them seriously.

He set aside a large portion of his income for the Lord's work and began to give away a tenth, then a quarter, and then more. He wrote a short book called Christian Devotedness, which argued that believers should hold their wealth loosely and be ready to give it all away. It was a radical book for its day, and it made a deep impression on many who read it, among them the young George Müller, who later married Groves's sister Mary. In Exeter, Groves joined a small group of Christians who met to break bread and pray without any ordained clergy. This was among the earliest gatherings of what became known as the Brethren.

He began to feel a call to be a missionary. He gave up his dental practice and his home, and in 1829 he set out for Baghdad, in Mesopotamia, which was then under the Ottoman empire. He had no mission society behind him and no promise of a salary. He trusted that God would supply his needs through the gifts of His people. He was one of the first to practice what came to be called faith missions, a pattern in which a missionary does not ask for money but prays and trusts God to provide. This approach shaped the work of Hudson Taylor and of many other missionaries who followed.

The years in Baghdad were hard. He lived in a land where Christians were few. In 1831 the city was struck by a deadly plague, and then by a flood that destroyed many homes. His wife Mary died of the plague, along with his infant daughter. He was left to care for his two sons. He lost nearly everything. In the midst of these disasters, he kept his faith and wrote letters of trust in God.

He went on to India in 1833 and settled in the south, and he spent many years there. He worked among the Indian people and encouraged other missionaries. He believed that missionaries should live simply, learn the languages and work in cooperation with other believers, without regard to denominational labels. He was generous to those who disagreed with him. He supported the work of men from many traditions and counted them as brothers in Christ.

He had his disagreements. His broad spirit sometimes clashed with the more rigid tendencies that grew among the Brethren in later years. When the Brethren divided in the 1840s over how strictly to separate from other Christians, Groves was grieved, and he pleaded for unity. His appeals were not always welcomed.

He died on May 20, 1853, in Bristol, in the home of George Müller, where he had gone for rest and care. He was fifty-eight. His life shows what a man can do when he takes the words of Jesus at face value. He gave up his comfort, trusted God for his needs and set a pattern for the great missionary movements of the next century.