John Nelson Hyde
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John Nelson Hyde (November 9, 1865-February 17, 1912) was an American missionary who preached in the Punjab.
Born in Illinois, the son of a Presbyterian minister. This minister prayed that God would raise up more missionaries. John Hyde passed college and became a member of the faculty. Nevertheless resigned and entered into McCormick Theological Seminary. His elder brother Edmund was also in the seminary. Edmund dreamt of being a preacher, in pursuit of this dream he went to preach in Montana but suddenly died of a fever. He wondered if he would take his place. In his senior year he asked a fellow student, Mr. Konkle asking for his argument supporting missionary work. That night he decided to become a missionary.
He came to believe that God was calling him to India. He departed to India in 1892 to preach in the Punjab. When he was on the ship he read a letter from a friend who said he would pray to God to fill him with the Holy Spirit. Angry at the suggestion that he did not already have the Spirit he threw it away. However he then humbled himself and prayed to God for help.
As he was partially deaf he struggled to learn the native languages. Also while in India he continued to focus his study mostly on scripture. His mission at first gained few converts, and endured persecution. So he began to pray very intensely. From 1899 he began to spend entire nights in prayer to God. Starting in 1904 he began to attend a conference at Sialkot. He formed the Punjab Prayer Union, the members of which set aside half an hour a day to prayer for spiritual revival. In 1908 he told the conference his dream that there would be one conversion a day. A year later over 400 more converts had been made. He came to be called 'Praying Hyde' for his passionate prayers to reached lost souls.
[edit] References
Carrie, E. G. (1987), Praying Hyde: Apostle of Prayer, Bridge-Logos Publishers. ISBN 978-0882705415.
