Here are some quotes I have gathered. They are not all Baptist. Some of them I don't even have the original source. I hope they may be of some benefit.
When someone asked General Booth the secret of his success, he said, "God has had all there was of me to have! From the day I got the poor of London on my heart, and a vision of what Jesus Christ would do for them, I made up my mind that God would have all there was of William Booth. God has had all the adoration of my heart, all the power of my will, and all the influence of my life."
John Wesley said, "Give me a hundred men who fear nothing but God, and I will shake the world: I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; and such alone will overthrow the kingdom of Satan and build up the Kingdom of God on earth."
Livingstone literally spent himself in untiring service for those whom he had no reason to love except for Christ's sake. Stanley wrote in his journal, "When I saw that unwearied patience, that unflagging zeal, and those enlightened sons of Africa, I became a Christian at his side, though he never spoke to me one word."
There has never been a time when missions was more vital than today. As Arden Almquist has indicated in Missionary Come Back, Africa is at a time of decision. "A hundred million animists in Africa alone will decide in our lifetime whether to become Christian, Muslim or agnostic."
David Livingstone wrote in his journal on one occasion concerning his "selfless" life:
People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that be called a sacrifice which is simply paying back a small part of the great debt owing to our God, which we can never repay? Is that a sacrifice which brings its own blest reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind and a bright hope of glorious destiny hereafter? Away with the word in such a view and with such a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege.
-- Giving and Living, by Samuel Young, Baker Book House, p.71
How They Prayed (from the Wesleyan Methodist)
George Whitefield: "O Lord, give me souls, or take my soul!"
Henry Martyn: "Here let me burn out for God."
David Brainerd: "Lord, to thee I dedicate myself. O accept me, and let me be Thine forever. Lord, I desire nothing else, I desire nothing more."
Thomas a'Kempis: "Give what Thou wilt, and how much Thou wilt, and when Thou wilt. Set me where Thou wilt and deal with me in all things just as Thou wilt."
Dwight L. Moody: "Use me then, my Saviour, for whatever purpose and in whatever way Thou mayest require. Here is my poor heart, an empty vessel; fill it with Thy grace."
Martin Luther: "Do Thou, my God, do Thou, God, stand by me against all the world's wisdom and reason. O do it! Thou must do it! Stand by me, Thou True, Eternal God!"
John McKenzie (missionary candidate): "O Lord, send me to the darkest spot on earth!"
("Perhaps Today," Prophetic Newsmagazine by Jack Van Impe, Many/June 1982 Vol. 3 No. 1)
