William Carey arrived in India in 1793 as a missionary. But what you might not know is the true scope of his work, all done for the sake of the gospel and glory of God. The back cover of The Legacy of William Carey: A Model for the Transformation of a Culture brings this out:
He was an industrialist. An economist. A medical humanitarian. A media pioneer. An educator. A moral reformer. A botanist. And a Christian missionary.
And he did more for the transformation of the Indian subcontinent in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries than any other individual before or since.
It goes on:
Many know of William Carey. Some know about the specifics of his work and ministry. But few understand the profound contemporary significance of his life. Few realize how much we owe the increasing globalization of Christianity to the silent revolution he initiated. Fewer still are aware of his legacy of sensitivity to the variety of issues confronting true gospel witness in any culture.
[Carey’s example] is a charge to all Christians to respond in kind within our own cultures, and to use Carey’s example as our model for taking the light of the gospel into every corner of society. If we follow in his footsteps, not only will lives be bettered this side of heaven, but hearts will be changed for eternity — and entire cultures transformed for Christ.