Bill Ascol is the pastor of Bethel Baptist Church in Owasso, Oklahoma. Before coming to Owasso in 2005, he ministered for 28 years in Louisiana Baptist churches. Currently, he serves as the Chairman of the Board of Founders Ministries and is the Coordinator of the Saved By Faith Youth Challenge Camps for young people. He received the M.Div. degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Bill Ascol is presenting a biographical paper on the life and missionary work of Issac McCoy. Due to the nature of the presentation, I am going to provide some summary points of his presentation. There are several website available online concerning the life of Isaac McCoy (for example, here, here, here, here, and here), and a number of books were recommended by Ascol, including:
Isaac McCoy – Apostle of the Western Trail by George Ella
Isaac McCoy and the American Indians by Carol Spurlock Layman
History of Baptist Indian Missions by Isaac McCoy
Annual Register of Indian Affairs – 1835-1838 by Isaac McCoy
Early Indian Missions by Dr. Edward Roustio
As I listen to the labors, sacrifices, and theological convictions of McCoy, I am reminded of missionaries like John G. Paton and David Brainerd who dedicated their lives to reaching Indians and cannibals for the glory of Jesus Christ. I am also reminded of the humanitarian efforts of William Wilberforce to abolish slavery in England as McCoy represented and defended the Indians both locally and nationally. If your soul has been enlarged by the lives of Paton, Brainerd, and Wilberforce, then I am confident that your soul would be enlarged, your passion for missions would be heightened, and your love for the lost.
His legacy:
1. His example in that he loved Jesus Christ more than life itself. He is a wonderful example of what it will take to reach hostile people groups to Jesus Christ.
2. His tireless, uncomplaining zeal is a rebuke to us.
3. His Calvinism informed and inflamed his evangelism. He had the same convictions of Adoniram Judson to Burma and of Wiliam Carey to India.
4. He is a wonderful example of the Founders of the SBC who gathered in Augusta in 1845. He was an evangelistic Calvinist.
His effect:
He was the subject of much evil by friend and foe alike, yet he believed God meant that evil for good to rescue the Native Americans from almost certain extinction of the red man from the face of the earth. Many Native Americans are followers of Jesus Christ by the life and labors of Isaac McCoy, one of the greatest men and philanthropists of God. Indeed, he is to be remembered as one of the greatest missionaries of all time.
Thank you SO much for posting this–most unexpected AND greatly appreciated! My ancestors (Cherokee) were among the “first families” in Indian Territory (eastern Oklahoma) and I’ve often wondered about the delivery and impact of the gospel in those days. I’m really looking forward to reading more! Thanks!