Born into a missionary family in Bedford, England on 3 November 1911, Adeney decided to become a missionary to China, following the path of his parents who had worked in Romania with the London Jews' Society.[4] He was educated at Monkton Combe School, Somerset, UK,[5] and completed an MA in theology and history at Queens' College, Cambridge, UK in 1933.[5] Before moving to China in 1934, he spent a year at the CIM training school in London.
Between 1934 and 1914, he involved in church planting in rural villages in central China. and left for the United States due to the attack on Pearl Harbor. During his stay in the U.S., he worked in InterVarsity for a year, before moving back in China and being appointed as the associate general secretary of China InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.[4]
In 1956, Adeney was appointed the associate general secretary for the Far East of IFES, whose office was located in Hong Kong. He led the student ministry until 1968 when the Cultural Revolution started.[6]
He founded DTC in Singapore, an institution first initiated by the CIM, to train university graduates in theology.[4]
^ abcdKwok, Wai-luen (July 2009). "Keeping tradition and Introducing Innovation: David Adeney's Student Ministry as a Case for Studying the Interaction and Changes of Hong Kong Church and Society". Jian Dao (32): 123–152.
^Adeney, David H. (1967). Before Missionary Service (First ed.). Inter-Varsity Fellowship. ISBN9780851102108.
^Adeney, David H. (1 June 1973). China: Christian Students Face the Revolution. London: Inter-Varsity Press. ISBN9780851103709.
^Armitage, Carolyn (1 October 1993). Reaching for the Goal: The Life Story of David Adeney Ordinary Man, Extraordinary Mission (First Printing ed.). Wheaton, Ill.: Harold Shaw Pub. ISBN9780877887126.
