Gallery of Influential Lives – George Muller 

George Müller was a most remarkable man. He established the first orphanage in England. He lived a life of such faith in God that he would even sit down for the next meal when there was no food in the house because he knew that God would provide. And God did. Always. The children never went hungry, they always had what was necessary. There were always the right people to look after the orphans. They always had the money to buy the necessary land. There was always enough money to complete the buildings. Müller had faith in God and God honoured that faith.

And how did such a kind and wonderful man start in life? He must have been the product of a close, loving family. He must have been such a kind, loving, caring child to develop such compassion and concern for orphaned children. I don't suppose that I would be asking these questions if George Müller had come from such a background. Instead he was a thief and a liar. He stole from his own family, he was a selfish child who was only interested in himself. In his early teens he was immoral and a drunkard, spending other people's money like water.

At the age of sixteen he was arrested and jailed. His father left him there, prisons were horrible places at that time, for three weeks to teach him a lesson. It did not work, George still spent his time lying and deceiving everybody around himself. But in 1925, three and a half years after he was released from prison, George Müller found himself in a prayer meeting listening to the Bible being taught. A few hours later, when he left the house he was a changed person. Everything that he had liked to do before this meeting no longer drew him. And he could no longer tell lies!

Müller felt the need to be involved in missionary work. He left Halle and went to London to train as a missionary to the Jews. But he was ill and went to Devon to recuperate. There he became the pastor of a small church and later married. In 1832 they moved to Bristol, and Müller transformed a local, failing Brethren church into a thriving church. In 1834 Müller set up the Scriptural Knowledge Institute and by 880 it was responsible for 72 day schools with 7000 students in Bristol as well as in countries overseas.

However, as Müller worked amongst the poor in Bristol he saw the need to help orphans. The mortality rate amongst children was very high and many men and women were dying of overwork, disease and alcoholism. As a result many children left to fend for themselves and there was no state help. If they couldn't find food then they died!

Müller started by buying a house but quickly bought the street. He soon realized that he needed a site on which to build a proper orphanage.

At the age of seventy, George Müller toured the world, preaching and lecturing. He collected the funds necessary to run the orphanage and demonstrated all over the world how Christianity should achieve great things. He gravelled 250,000 miles and preached to 3 million people in forty-two countries. He died in Bristol at the age of 93. Huge crowds turned out in Bristol for the funeral and churches all over the world held special services to honour a son of God.