Born in 1761 near Northampton in the English Midlands, Carey worked as a shoemaker from age 16 to 28. Following his conversion at 18 he became a pastor among the Calvinistic Baptists.
In 1792 Carey published an 87 page pamphlet entitled "An Enquiry into the Obligation of Christians to use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens." In it he argued the case for action regarding areas of the world yet unreached by the gospel.
In May the same year, at a ministers' meeting in Kettering, Carey preached a famous missionary sermon on Isaiah 54.2-3: "Enlarge the place of thy tent...lengthen the cords and strengthen the stakes." "Expect great things from God" he exhorted his colleagues, "attempt great things for God." Four months later what is now the Baptist Missionary Society (B.M.S) was founded.
Carey became the Society's first missionary, travelling to Kolkata in 1793. He studied Bengali and began translating the Bible into that language. In 1800 he set up his mission at Srirampur (Serampore), 20 kilometres north of Kolkata. There he established a printing press, a school and eventually a college for tertiary study.
Carey's missionary work was many-sided, but at its heart, was the presentation of the gospel through the Christian Scriptures. To this end he supervised and edited translations of the Bible into numerous languages.
In that the B.M.S. was the first missionary society supported entirely by the voluntary efforts of ordinary Christians, Carey has generally been regarded as the "Father of Modern Missions."
