Charles H. Welch, An Autobiography

Charles H. Welch, An Autobiography 
It was the writer's hope that his experiences under the hand of God would encourage others to follow the gleam.  This gleam is of course the Mystery revealed to and through the Apostle Paul.

Mr. Welch was born on April 25, 1880, in Bermondsey, England.  His parents were atheist, but were honest, kind and excellent parents with the exception that the Word of God was not read in their home.  He was the oldest child and he had six sisters.  However, he was not shown any favoritism and was required to do the same tasks that his siblings performed.

Mr. Welch had no college training or social status as his parents were poor and were not able to provide the things that would appear to make one qualified to write and teach the Bible.  As he compared his status to the Apostle Paul he seemed to fall short in every way.  These facts however did not keep him from doing what he referred to as "The Work".

Mr. Welch had several secular jobs as he provided for himself and his family.  He worked with leather to make handbags, as Secretary of the Bible Training College, he trained to be an artist, did construction work, he owned and operated a green house.  He did these various tasks for the "The bread that perishes".  Then the real work, writing articles for the "The Berean Expositor" as well as sharing the Word of God where ever there was an open door.

Mr. Welch was saved when he was twenty years old in November 1900.  An American by the name of Dr. Munhall was the speaker at the meeting he attended.  The text that was used was taken from the Gospel of John, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life."  He states that "I passed from death unto life upon believing that simple testimony."

Another interesting point that I want to mention is that as a result of financial hardship Mr. Welch was engaged to his future wife for 12 years before they could afford to be married.  Mrs. Welch was very supportive of her husband's work and always found ways to help him serve God and The Work that was their life.

The last topic I want to share is the meeting that took place between Mr. Welch and Dr. Bullinger, concerning the dividing of the Apostle Paul's Epistles written before and after Acts 28.  They agreed that Paul's writings should be divided this way and Dr. Bullinger asked Mr. Welch to begin writing a series of articles in "Things to Come" as a result of this meeting.

Mr. Welch's life has been an encouragement and a challenge to me to do a better job of sharing and living for the truth of the "Mystery" given to the Apostle Paul.