June 9, 2026

  • Gemma Edeki

    Essex and Erica Broadaway
Short-term mission trips now form an important part of the Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship’s international work. There are regular mission trips to our longstanding partners in East Africa, run by the LCF’s International Team, in countries like Uganda and Rwanda. However, it has not always been this way. In fact, for its first 50 years, there is no well-kept record of international work done by the LCF. So, where did the LCF’s passion for international missions come from?The LCF, formerly known as the Lawyers Prayer Union (LPU), celebrated its fiftieth ‘Jubilee’ year in 1902. The Jubilee year also marked a turning point where the group decided to become actively involved in overseas mission work and appoint a missionary.There was one man the LPU considered named Mr. Thomas Guant. He was born on 31 May 1875 in Stixwould, Lincolnshire. He received a BA from Magdalene College, Cambridge in 1897. He was then accepted as a missionary for C.M.S at Church Missionary College the next year. He worked in China as a missionary and a school principal. It was in China where he met his wife, Helen Wood of Tiverton. She was born in a missionary home and attended The Olives Training Institution (a women’s missionary school.)Although never officially a member of the LCF, Mr. Thomas Gaunt was “appointed as the LPU’s own missionary”Citation in 1902. They must have found the work he was doing to be inspiring and wanted to support him and pray for his endeavours. Only a year after appointing Gaunt, Mr. Albert Large, a lawyer member of the LPU, also went on mission with the China Inland Mission.

Large’s journey took him in 1902 to the inland south-westerly province of Sichuan, China, to the missionary station of Paoning. Just a few years prior in 1900, the CIM was severely impacted by the losses suffered during the Boxer Rebellion. Despite this, we see Large committing to serving others as a missionary and dedicating his life to spreading the Good News.

By 1905 he was one of 9 missionaries working at the station, and there were 23 other stations within the region. At this time the population of Sichuan was approximately 68 million peopleCitation – a huge mission field! Perhaps he was influenced after hearing of the work Gaunt had done.

Gaunt’s story doesn’t end with him getting married and can still inspire us today. In 1904, Mr. and Mrs. Gaunt had their only son, John Arthur Gaunt in December 1904. They sent him to school in England and continued their mission efforts, moving between England and China. Tragically, in 1928, Helen Wood passed away, leaving just her husband and son.

Their son John had a passion for physics and modernly has a dimensionless quantum mechanical correction named after him! He was a research student and got offered to be a fellow at Trinity, but he turned it down as he was going to China to be a missionary and teacher as his parents did. Like his mother, John also passed away in China after dying of malnutrition while being kept as a prisoner of war in 1944. He never lost his passion for physics and was often seen practicing the skill in his free time.

Not everyone is called to go and be a missionary in China, but the LCF now keeps a longstanding commitment to being practically involved overseas and the Gaunt family has a large impact on this commitment. This is underpinned by the LCF constitution which states that one of the fellowship’s objectives is “to promote, encourage and support the work of Home and Overseas Christian Missions.”Citation The constitution also very clearly sets out suggestions for specific subjects for prayer, the fourth of which being prayer “for all missionary activities (particularly those of our own Missionary members). ‘We are ambassadors for Christ’. (2 Cor. 5:20).”Citation

Since the LCF’s 50th Jubilee in 1902, supporting overseas mission work has been an integral part of the LCF’s core, and our prayer is that this important work will continue into the future with the support and prayers of our members.

If interested in finding out more about current LCF international opportunities, please contact international@lawcf.org!