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George Müller (1805-1898) is known in the history of the revival movement as the "Father of Orphans of Bristol." In 1836, he founded institutions for more than a thousand orphans in Bristol, England – single-handedly and without any capital. A distinctive characteristic of him was that he never solicited donations. His faith in God was never disappointed.
Today I was strongly urged not to merely think about setting up an orphanage, but to actually do something about it. And I prayed a great deal about it, to be certain of the will of the Lord Jesus Christ. […]
It seemed to me that the best way to achieve this was through the construction of an orphanage. It had to be something visible, even to the naked eye. If I, a poor man, could obtain the means to build and maintain an orphanage simply through prayer and faith, without asking anyone, then there would be something there that, with the Lord's blessing, could be an instrument for strengthening the faith of God's children and, moreover, would bear witness to the consciences of the unconverted about the reality of God's things.
That, then, was the main reason for the establishment of the orphanage. […]
The first and main goal of the work was (and still is) this: that God may be glorified by the fact that the orphans under my care are provided with everything they need, solely through prayer and faith, without anyone being asked by me or my colleagues, so that it can be seen: God is still faithful, and he still answers prayer.
With God's help, this will be my argument in times of need regarding the orphans before you. He is their Father, and therefore He has, so to speak, committed Himself to providing everything for them and caring for them. I only need to remind Him of the needs of these poor children so that they may be met […].
The phrase "a father to orphans" contains enough encouragement to throw 1000 orphans with all their needs onto the loving heart of God.
Excerpts from the autobiography
…as if he saw the invisible man – Autobiography” by Georg Müller.
(CLV Publishing)