George Muller

He married Mary Groves in 1830. He was very devoted to his wife and the two were perfect partners in establishing the orphanages and caring for the children. She died in 1870.

He married Susannah Grace Sanger in 1871. Together with her he traveled all over the world, covering 42 countries to give sermons.

He lived till the age of 92 and died of natural causes.

He was born in a village in the Kingdom of Prussia. His father was a collector of taxes. He lost his mother when he was just 14 years old.

As a teenager he acquired the bad habits of lying, stealing and drinking. In fact he was out with his friends indulging in his vices while his mother was dying. He lacked a conscience and stole government money from his father.

His father sent him to the cathedral classical school at Halberstadt so that he could study to become a clergyman, a lucrative profession during those times. Later on he went to the University of Halle to study divinity. There he started attending Christian prayer meetings and began reading the Bible regularly.

After having realized the power of God and prayer, he left behind his life of sin and asked God to help him in his life. He now sincerely wanted to become a missionary and began preaching in nearby churches.

He went to London in 1829 to work with Jews in England through the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews. However, the society did not allow him to preach and he went to Teignmouth and preached there. He was asked to become the minister of the Chapel of Ebenezer Chapel on a salary of �55 per annum.

He became a preacher for serving the people and not for monetary gains. Thus he renounced his regular salary. He also put an end to the practice of renting church pews.

He moved to Bristol in 1832 to work at Bethesda Chapel. He founded the Scriptural Knowledge Institution for Home and Abroad for aiding Christian schools and missionaries in 1834.

There were five branches of this organization, each dealing with a distinct area. These included Bible schools for children and adults, Bible distribution, missionary support, book distribution and care for orphans.

In 1836, he began to get deeply involved with orphans. He along with his wife began taking in orphaned girls into their rented house. Soon more houses were being used for the purpose of housing orphaned boys and smaller children.

He is most respected and remembered for establishing the Orphan Houses at Ashley Down which could accommodate around 2,000 children at any one given time. Children in the orphanage were well cared for and educated. More than 10,000 children were taken care of by him during his lifetime.