John Williams was a preacher in Massachusetts (1664-1729). He lost his wife and 2 children to an Indian raid on their small town during the French and Indian War. The death of his family wasn't the end of the misery this Puritan preacher endured.
He was a captive of the Indians for 8 weeks, and a captive of the French for 2 years. He and his remaining 5 children travelled with their captors thru harsh winter weather. Every night, John would wring the blood out of his socks.
The beauty in this story is in the heart of his captors. Slowly, his captors began to be influenced by God. They made him snowshoes. They fed him good food. They gave him and Bible, and never interrupted him when he read or prayed.
When they arrived at their destination in Canada, they were sold to the French. All that is, except his youngest daughter who ended up marrying an Indian and forgetting how to speak English. John tried many times after his release to redeem her, but the Indians would not let her go. He was told that the Indians would rather cut out their own hearts than part of their adoptive captives. Many of the younger captives were adopted into the tribe. You can read about her life in the book The Unredeemed Captive by John Demos. This book, however, is a novel and not a biography.
During his French captivity, the French tried to force the captives to convert to Catholicism. They separated families, deprived food, and even physically tormented them to try to achieve this goal. John remained strong and encouraged the other captives whenever possible.
After 3 years, he returned to Massachusetts as a hero. John Williams wrote about his ordeal in The Redeemed Captive Returning To Zion. He also published many sermons. His words "For some of us, moved with fear, set apart a day of prayer, to ask of God, either to spare, and save us from the hands of our enemies, or to prepare us to sanctify and honour him in what way soever he should come forth towards us" make me remember that our lives can bring glory to God no matter the circumstance if we just surrender ourselves to his will.
John spent the rest of his life as a minister in Deerfield, Massachusetts, and served as a commissioner to Canada for the return of English prisoners. He and the other surviving captives encouraged each other to keep going not only in life, but in service to The Lord Jesus Christ.
Three of his sons became ministers. And even the missionary Jonathan Edwards was influenced by reading his Uncle William's book.
