They were Pilgrims is the story of four remarkable men who shared a common spiritual aim and ideal. They were David Brainerd, Henry Martyn, Robert Murray M'Cheyne and Ion Keith-Falconer. Their average life span was only thirty years, but they left a spiritual impact on their generation which was altogether out of the ordinary.

Their lives covered the period of history from 1718 to 1887. A clear line of spiritual descent can be traced from David Brainerd to Henry Martyn, from Brainerd and Martyn to Robert Murray M'Cheyne, and from Martyn to Ion Keith-Falconer.

They were all linked to the missionary movement which had its birth in the great spiritual awakening of the eighteenth century.

They were pioneers in this missionary movement: Brainerd with the Red Indians, M'Cheyne with the Jews of Palestine and Central Europe, Martyn and Keith-Falconer in the Muslim world of Persia and Arabia.

Their contribution to missionary work would be enough in itself to invest their lives with outstanding interest.

But the greatest single feature in their lives was their unqualified self-surrender to the claims of God.

This book tries to pull up the blinds so that readers can see through the window and can trace their inner spiritual development.

It is the freshness and clarity of this record of personal devotion which makes the story of their pilgrimage so relevant for the whole- hearted disciple of Christ today.

The Right Reverend Sir Marcus Loane (1912-2009) was formerly Anglican Archbishop of Sydney and Primate of all Australia. He wrote many theological, devotional and biographical works.