William Whiting Borden

===Brief career===
After graduating from Yale in 1909, Borden attended [[Princeton Theological Seminary]] before graduating in 1912.  Professor [[Charles R. Erdman, Sr.|Charles R. Erdman]] wrote that no other student had exerted a greater personal influence over him than Borden. "His judgment was so unerring and so mature that I always forgot there was such a difference in our ages. His complete consecration and devotion to Christ were a revelation to me, and his confidence in prayer a continual inspiration."<ref>Taylor, 177.</ref>  Meanwhile, Borden's reputation was such that he became a board member of the National Bible Institute in New York City and at one point temporarily took charge of the whole ministry, including office management, oversight of student practical training, and the operations of four rescue missions.<ref>Taylor, 196.</ref> He also became a director of [[Moody Bible Institute]] and, at age 22, a member of the North American Council of the [[China Inland Mission]].  (He was asked to withdraw from the meeting when the Council officially passed on his own fitness to become a probationer of the Mission.)<ref>Taylor, 180-81.</ref>

Borden's intention was to become a missionary to Hui Muslims in northwestern China's Gansu Province, but he decided first to study Islam and Arabic in [[Cairo]], boarding with a Syrian family there so that he would hear Arabic spoken as much as possible. He also spent time distributing on the streets Christian sermons written in a Koranic style.<ref>Taylor, 241-42.</ref>

In March 1913 he contracted [[cerebral meningitis]], exhibiting symptoms on March 21 and dying less than three weeks later.<ref>Samuel M. Zwemer, typescript biography of William Whiting Borden, September 1913, pp. 186-7. NCC RG 9, Box 73, Folder 12; Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia, PA.</ref> He was 25. Ironically, his mother had just arrived from America to vacation with him in the mountains of Lebanon, and she was present for the simple funeral in which Samuel Zwemer participated.  Borden is buried in the American Cemetery in Cairo. On his grave were inscribed words suggested by Charles Erdman: "Apart from faith in Christ, there is no explanation of such a life."<ref>Taylor, 275. Borden's full epitaph reads: "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 honour preferring others./Apart from faith in Christ,/There is no explanation for such a life."</ref> Memorial services were conducted for Borden at Princeton University and at a little African Methodist church where Borden had taught [[Sunday school]] for two years. 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.<ref>Taylor, 266-72.</ref> 

Borden bequeathed $800,000 to the [[China Inland Mission]] and other Christian agencies.<ref>"$800,000 for Church Work," ''The New York Times'', April 26, 1913, 11.</ref> China Inland Mission named [[Borden Memorial Hospital]] in [[Lanzhou]], [[Gansu]], in his memory. <ref name=Casper>[http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/topics/missions-world-christianity/forgotten-final-resting-place-of-william-borden.html Jayson Casper, "The Forgotten Final Resting Place of William Borden," ''Christianity Today'', February 24, 2017]</ref>