Jonathan had not thought of going home, and the letter itself did not persuade him to do so. There was still plenty of work to be done in Manchuria. However, a second letter arrived from another prominent Canadian pastor, also urging Jonathan to consider coming home. Again it was not enough to sway him. Then Rosalind became very ill, and the local doctor told Jonathan that she would die without special medical help. Finally, Jonathan Goforth knew it was time to move back to his homeland.
The farewell to all their friends and coworkers was long and drawn-out. Thousands of people from the forty-eight churches that Jonathan had helped start in Manchuria came to catch one last glimpse of their beloved pastor. Jonathan could not see the dazzling array of hand-embroidered silk, satin, and velvet banners that decorated the Szepingkai church. Tears rolled down his cheeks as Rosalind described each one to him in great detail. The banners were emblazoned with messages such as “A True Pastor Leaves Love Behind” and “Faithful Servant of Jesus Christ.”
When the time finally arrived for the train to depart, it was almost too much for Jonathan to bear. Rosalind stood him at the carriage window and described the scene to him. A sea of Manchurian Christians, many of them converted as a direct result of Jonathan’s preaching, stood hoping for one last glimpse of the man they loved so dearly. Although the windows were shut and the crowd was huge, Jonathan wanted some way to communicate to them one last time just how much he loved them. He bowed his head and touched his heart, and then he lifted his face upward, as if he were looking to heaven, where they would one day all be together again. As he did this, the entire crowd burst out weeping and continued to weep as the train chugged away from the station.
On his return home, Jonathan Goforth was in great demand as a speaker throughout Canada and the United States. With Rosalind, her health now improving, at his side he spoke an average of ten times a week, both in small churches and at large interdenominational gatherings. His message was always the same: The door is open and more people are needed to carry the gospel to the ends of the earth. Jonathan challenged everyone who listened to him with the question “Why can’t you go?” It was the same question that had challenged him over fifty years before when he sat listening to Dr. Mackay describe the opportunities that existed and the need for more workers in Formosa. The challenge had ultimately led Jonathan to the mission field and a life of fruitful service there. Now he hoped his question would challenge other young people to go.
October 7, 1936, was like so many other days in Jonathan Goforth’s life. He spoke at a church service that was about forty miles away from where he was staying and arrived home late that night. He was exhausted but glad to have been able to speak to so many people. He climbed into bed and fell quickly into a deep sleep from which he would never wake up. His heart stopped beating sometime in the early hours of the next morning. He was seventy-seven years old.
Jonathan Goforth’s funeral service was held at Knox Church in Toronto, where forty-nine years before he had stood at the same altar and dedicated his life for service in China. Seldom had the church seen such a large funeral service. Speaker after speaker spoke of the great work Jonathan had done. They also reminded the gathered crowd of his generosity, love, and grateful attitude, something that even blindness could not rob him of. Jonathan had seen an open door for missionary service in China, and he had walked through it. In the process he became one of China’s greatest evangelists, leaving behind as his legacy many thousands of Chinese Christians.
