William Ward was born on this day in 1769. In the spring of 1793, his cart got in front of his horse, so to speak. Ward, who was living in Derby at that time, had become a printer. One day William Carey providentially happened to come up beside the young man walking down the street, and began to tell him of his desire to go to India as a missionary and to translate the Bible. Laying his hand on Ward’s shoulder as they parted, he said, “I hope, by God’s blessing, to have the Bible translated and ready for the press in four or five years… You must come and print it for us.” William Ward at the time was not a Christian. Then, three years later, the Lord saved his soul. He was thereafter baptized and united with the Baptist Church in Hull. While studying for the ministry under John Fawcett, Ward’s heart heard God’s call for missionary service, and he offered to go to India. Before leaving England he wrote a letter to Missionary Carey. “I know not whether you will remember a young man, a printer, walking with you from Rippon’s Chapel one Sunday, and conversing with you on your journey to India… It was a happy meeting… It is in my heart to live and die with you, to spend and to be spent with you. I trust I shall have your prayers for a safe journey to you, and be refreshed by your presence. May God make me faithful unto death, giving me patience, fortitude and zeal of the great undertaking.” Brother Ward was faithful. In 1811, he published the first edition of the Bible for the Hindus. He continued to serve the Lord with William Carey and Joshua Marshman until his death in 1823, in this fifty-fourth year.
– Source: This Day in Baptist History III, Cummins