The young Arthur Guinness was walking in his native Dublin, Ireland and was so moved by the sight of all the drunks that he was weeping. They were drunk on cheap, home-made hooch, which was both enslaving them - around 50 % of the population - and killing them.
Arthur asked God for a formula for a drink that the men would actually drink and that would do them good!
His testimony is that God gave him one: Guinness beer! The slogan for years was, "Guinness is good for you" - they actually used to give it to expectant mothers in UK hospitals for strength.
In his lifetime, he saw the rate of alcoholism decrease by something like 40%. They liked it - can you blame them? He became very successful.
Some years later, while out walking again in Dublin, Guinness met a young man crying. After inquiring the problem, the young man said that he was appalled by the number of orphans on the streets.
Guinness asked him that if he had the resources, would he and could he do something about it. Young Dr. Barnardo replied, "Yes!" Guinness sponsored Barnardo's Homes all over UK and Ireland, and all over the world. Guiness was one of the most famous names in all of orphan-recovery history.
Although it's rumored that Guinness met up with Hudson Taylor and funded his missionary efforts to China, it's questionable whether or not that happened. The dates don't seem to line up. However, well-known speaker and writer Os Guinness is descended from Arthur, and the Guinness family continues to do many good works today.
God can use anyone and anything for his purposes. And he does. I like what one guy said about this period of history:
"In the time of revival, at the turn of
the last century in Britain, it was as if God poured out an
entrepreneurial gift on his church and people started doing things that
were unheard of. These are the people, normal people in the pews, that
God got a hold of and helped them to use their entrepreneurial skills
to change society."