William Whiting Borden

William Whiting Borden (November 1, 1887 – April 9, 1913) was a Christian missionary to northern China and an heir to his father's real estate fortune. He died in Egypt before reaching his chosen field, Gansu province in China.

Early years

William Whiting Borden was born on November 1, 1887, into an affluent family in Chicago, Illinois to William Borden and Mary Degama Whiting. He was the third child of his parents. His mother was born in Detroit on August 31, 1861, to John Talman Whiting and Mary Sophia Hill. His father was born in August 1850, and his parents were married on December 28, 1882. Borden had three siblings: John (May 21, 1884 - July 29, 1961), Mary Borden Spears (May 15, 1886 - December 12, 1968), and Joyce (April 21, 1897 - October 15, 1971). Mary was a well-known novelist and poet.

Borden's family was wealthy and his father had made a fortune in Colorado silver mining, but the family was unrelated to the Borden Condensed Milk Company—an advantage for Borden since if asked about his wealth, he could honestly reply that his family was often mistaken for "the rich Condensed Milk firm that bears the name of Borden."

After his mother converted to Christianity in 1894, she began taking him to Chicago Avenue Church (now the Moody Church). He soon responded to the gospel preaching of Dr. R. A. Torrey, turned to Christ, and was baptized. From then on, prayer and Bible study became hallmarks of his life. After graduating from the Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, at age 16, he traveled to Europe, Africa, and Asia. He entered Yale University in 1905.

Education

Borden entered Yale University in 1905, and with the encouragement of young classics tutor Henry Burt Wright, Borden began daily prayer groups that within two years reached the entire university from the freshman class to the senior. At Yale, he was elected president of Phi Beta Kappa and was active in several collegiate sports, especially wrestling and crew. He also became the master of his own sailing yacht. Borden refused to join a fraternity fearing "it might set him apart from the body of the class," but he was elected to the Elihu society. 

He graduated from Yale in 1909, and later attended Princeton Theological Seminary, graduating in 1912. Professor Charles R. Erdman wrote that no other student had exerted a greater personal influence over him than Borden. 

Borden later decided to become a missionary to the Muslims of northern China but died of cerebral meningitis in Egypt during his training there on April 9, 1913. He was 25. Samuel Marinus Zwemer conducted his funeral. He is buried in the American Cemetery in Cairo. At the time, his mother had just arrived from America to vacation with him in the mountains of Lebanon, and she was present for the funeral in which Samuel Zwemerparticipated. Other services were held at Yale Hope Mission, at Moody Church, at Marble Collegiate Church in New York, and in Japan, Korea, India, and South Africa.

Borden is buried in the American Cemetery in Cairo. 

He bequeathed $1 million to the China Inland Mission and other Christian agencies. The Borden Memorial Hospital in Lanzhou, China, was named after him.

Some say that after his death, Borden's Bible was found and given to his mother. In it, she found in one place the words "No Reserve" and a date placing the note shortly after he renounced his fortune in favor of missions. At a later point, he had written "No Retreat", dated shortly after his father told him that he would never let him work in the company ever again. Shortly before he died in Egypt, he added the phrase "No Regrets."

A man in Christ

He arose and forsook all and followed Him,

Kindly affectioned with brotherly love,

Fervent in spirit serving the Lord,

Rejoicing in hope,

Patient in tribulation,

Instant in prayer,

Communicating to the necessity of saints,

In honor preferring others,

Apart from faith in Christ,

There is no explanation for such a life.

-Epitaph of William Whiting Borden (1887-1913)