J. Christy Wilson Jr.

James Christy Wilson Jr. was born in 1921 in Tabriz, Iran, to American missionary parents. His father, J. Christy Wilson Sr., was a Presbyterian missionary who taught in the American school in Tabriz and was known for his work among the Persian people. Young Christy grew up speaking Persian and English and was raised in the Christian faith. He was sent to the United States for his education and studied at Princeton University and at Princeton Theological Seminary. He graduated with a strong interest in missions.

In 1951, he went to Afghanistan, a land that was closed to Christian missions. The government did not permit any evangelism, and converts could be put to death. He was invited to teach at Kabul University, as a teacher of English, and he went with his wife, Betty. In Kabul, he led a small group of foreigners in worship. In 1955, the government agreed to allow a church for foreigners in the capital, and he became the pastor of the International Christian Fellowship in Kabul. It was the only Christian church in the country, and it served the community of expatriates.

He worked as a teacher and a pastor. He taught at the university and later at the Afghan Institute of Technology. He was well liked by his students and was often invited into the homes of Afghans. He was a quiet and humble man who was willing to serve. He did not preach to the Afghans, as the law forbade it, but he lived a life of witness. He built friendships and helped to start a school and a hospital. He also took part in the translation of the Bible into Dari, one of the languages of the country.

He wrote a book about his experiences, Afghanistan: The Forbidden Harvest, which told of the difficulties and opportunities of the work. He also became a spokesman for what he called tentmaking ministry, the practice of serving as a missionary while supporting oneself with a secular job. He argued that this was a way to enter countries that were closed to missionaries. In 1979, he published a book, Today's Tentmakers, which has been used as a guide for those who wish to follow this path. The idea has been widely adopted by mission groups.

In 1973, after twenty-two years, he was forced to leave Afghanistan. The government, under pressure from religious conservatives, banned the church and expelled the foreign Christians. He went back to the United States and became a professor of missions at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts. He served there for many years and trained a generation of students for the work. He was also a supporter of the Afghan people during the years of war and exile, and helped refugees.

He had his struggles. He was a man of gentle temperament who did not like conflict. He had difficulties with his health in later life, and he faced the sorrow of seeing the country he loved fall into war. He did not have the opportunity to return to Afghanistan, and it was a grief to him. He kept praying for the people. He died in 1999, at the age of seventy-eight.

His life shows how a man can serve in a land that is closed, and how a faithful witness over many years can open the way for others. The tentmaking ministry that he promoted has become a major method of mission in the twenty-first century.