Willibrord was born of devout parents. Since his earliest years, he grew in God’s grace, with intelligence and a powerful character, as his father had given him to the church so that he could see nothing but what was virtuous and hear nothing but what was holy. Indeed, Willibrord was an effective missionary since he was full of self-control and intelligence. Self-control characteristics enabled him to follow his desire to travel abroad to pursue a more active mode of life without distractions.
Moreover, Willibrord was an effective missionary since he dedicated his life to preaching the good gospel to others, benefiting them. In the northern parts of the world, there was plenty of harvest but limited workers. Hence, Willibrord decided to follow his purpose and fulfill his mother’s dream. As a missionary, he identified the need that people in the northern regions faced, and he decided to travel to those parts to give the light of the gospel message to those individuals. Preaching the gospel to people without expecting any form of payment is a great character that shows Willibrord enjoyed his calling. He was selfless. Willibrord served the people he visited with humility and love (Orchard, 2020). In the Blessed Trinity fountain, he baptized three people and later instructed that some of the cows should be slaughtered as meals for his company. Baptizing the three men was a show of selflessness, while providing a healthy meal to his company was a show of kindness. Therefore, Willibrord was an effective missionary as he dedicated his life to preaching the gospel and was kind and selfless when serving individuals.
Furthermore, Willibrord was an effective missionary since his character resembled Jesus Christ’s. He treated everyone he met with humility and kindness and did not judge people regardless of their actions. He would be found in the group of all people, including the pagans. Just like Christ interacted with everyone and forgave without remembering the sins again, Willibrord forgave and believed that no human was of more value than the other one. Also, Christ healed the sick, and Willibrord healed a man who had reviled him. This man could not swallow anything for a long time, but after he approached Willibrord, he confessed his sin and told him what he had endured; Willibrord forgave him for the love of Christ and released him from suffering (Orchard, 2020). Therefore, having a character representing Jesus Christ by forging and healing the sick was a great sign to show that Willibrord was an effective missionary.
Prayers, fasting, and worship were common in Willibrord’s life. His personal life was guided by prayers, fasting, and singing of psalms. He devoted most of his time to worshiping and communicating with God. He was friendly to everyone he met, and he would encourage people to fast and pray so that they could please God (Orchard, 2020). He had so much zeal when preaching, praying, fasting, and singing to God that it got most people’s attention, even those who did not believe in the lord. Therefore, Willibrord spent most of his time preaching, praying, fasting, and signing Psalms to the lord, a solid characteristic of his being an effective missionary.
In conclusion, Willibrord was effective since he was brought up when hearing what was only holy and seeing what was only virtuous since he was young. He had self-control and was kind to everyone he met. He treated everyone with the same respect no matter where they came from. He had a character like that of Jesus, where he healed the sick and forgave people without judging them. Besides, Willibrord spent most of his time praying, preaching, fasting, and worshiping.
Reference
Orchard, A. (2020). Alcuin and Cynewulf: The art and craft of Anglo-Saxon verse. Journal of the British Academy, p. 8.
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