“American patriots! American philanthropists! American Christians! great are your privileges! great your duties! How much you owe to God, and to the cause of Christianity, and to the world! How much too you owe yourselves! Keep pure your own fountains — not because you owe nothing to other nations, but on the contrary, that you may be able to give them to drink abundantly of your sweet and healthful waters.

Strengthen your stakes, and lengthen your cords at one and the same time. Be anxious for the advancement of Christ’s kingdom, both at home and abroad. Let ALL THE WORLD of which this country is a part, be the object of your Christian beneficence.” — John B. Adger, Farewell Letter Before Leaving for the Mission Field (1834), p. 30