William Moore was born on December 8, 1821 in Ohio. At the age of twenty he was born again. Six years later he was ordained to the gospel ministry. He and his wife sailed for Burma and arrived there on this day in 1849. For five years the couple labored unceasingly for the Lord – until William’s health broke and he lost his voice. For the rest of his life, he could hardly speak above a whisper, so they returned to America. He served as a faithful deacon in a Baptist church, working in the commercial world and supporting missions as best he could. He died on September 29, 1880.
Like everyone else, a sense of humor is always a good quality for a missionary, and William Moore had the wonderful ability to laugh at himself. He told the story that while still in Burma, riding an old, solid-tire bicycle along a dusty road near Nowgong, Assam, coming around a corner he ran over a snake. Looking back he couldn’t see it. But then he heard it – swish, thump, swish, thump with every turn of his tires. Swish, thump, swish, thump. The snake was caught up in the spokes of the rear wheel. Knowing that the country was filled with highly poisonous snakes, and unable to stop to see what kind it was, because that would endanger him, Bro. Moore decided to ride as fast as he could, hoping the snake would fall or jump out of the spokes. In the hottest part of the day, the missionary rode for several miles. Swish, thump, swish, thump swish, thump, swish, thump. He pictured his ankles within inches of the fangs of the snake every few seconds. Swish, thump, swish, thump. Under the broiling sun, Moore was becoming exhausted. There were no lakes or rivers into which to ride. Finally, going down a steep hill, he decided to jump off the bike. He crashed into the gravel, and the bike rolled further down the hill finally, coming to a stop. He was safe.
After dusting himself off, he cautiously crept up to his battered bicycle. The snake had no head, and the beating had shortened its body by six inches. And of course, it was one of the beautiful, but none deadly species of Burma.