Celebrating 200 Years of Mission

William Carey

The modern mission movement dates back to 1792 and to William Carey, a motivator and apologist for missions in his native England. His writings and teaching were influential in bringing missions to the forefront of the church. Later, as a missionary in India, he inspired many who would enter the mission force after him. In the last decade of the 18th century and the first decade of the 19th century, numerous mission boards sprung up in England and new missionaries were volunteering and being sent out.

Christians in the United States who were awakening to the task of world evangelization were influenced by the modern mission movement in Europe. Both denominational mission boards and faith missions began recruiting and sending new missionaries. Large crowds gathered for commissioning services for these volunteers embarking on missions to new and exotic lands.

We can look back to the haystack prayer meeting in 1806 as a major catalyst for the modern mission movement in the United States. A group of students at Williams College in Massachusetts met regularly for prayer and to discuss theology. One summer day their prayer meeting was interrupted by a thunderstorm. They retreated to a haystack for cover, and as they prayed, waiting out the storm, they committed themselves to mission service.

Two years later, in 1808, these mission-minded students at Williams College formed the Society of the Brethren as a means to involvement in world evangelism. Among the leaders was the son of a minister, Samuel Mills. He carried his leadership in missions from Williams College to Andover Seminary (also in Massachusetts), where he met another student committed to mission service, Adoniram Judson. Together they formed a new Society of the Brethren, which also was committed to world evangelism.

In 1810 Mills, Judson, and several other Andover students petitioned the General Association of Congregational Churches to create a missionary society. The result was the formation of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. By 1812 the ABCFM was ready to send its first missionaries. Adoniram and Ann Judson, along with Samuel and Harriet Newell, set sail for India in February 1812. When the Judsons reached India, the powerful East India Company would not allow them to stay, and they eventually settled in Burma, believing this was God”s place for them to spread the gospel.

Primitive, Complex, Difficult

Judson”s life and work were typical of the missionary experience in the early years of the modern mission movement. Life was hard. The land was exotic and dangerous. Living conditions were primitive.

The Burmese language was complex and difficult to learn, and cultural norms were very different from his previous life experiences. He endured political, physical, emotional, and spiritual hardship.

Not only was it a difficult language, but communicating concepts of an eternal and loving God seemed an insurmountable task. Faith and grace were important theological themes that didn”t translate well into Burmese culture.

Judson”s first wife, Ann, received her own calling to mission service. Adoniram and Ann were married just 13 days before they sailed for India, and ultimately to Burma. In spite of the hardships they endured, Ann became proficient in the language and was able to assist in the translation of the Scriptures.

During the war between the British and the Burmese, Western foreigners””Americans and Englishmen, including Judson””were arrested as spies. Judson and others were imprisoned under the most horrific conditions of filth, squalor, torture, and mental anguish. They were kept in ankle chains, and at nighttime the chains were hoisted up toward the ceiling, leaving their shoulders on the floor. To the warden, the ideal chain height provided maximum pain but just short of imperiling the lives of the prisoners.

At one point, Judson and other prisoners were forced into a death march from one prison to another. Since their treatment in prison included the lack of nourishment and physical exercise, they were not prepared for the long, hard march. They were treated so harshly that some of the prisoners died during the journey.

Judson”s captors recognized his fluency in the Burmese language, and he was conscripted into service as a translator for negotiations between the Burmese army and the British forces. After a successful conclusion to the discussions, Judson was allowed to return home.

Ann was often sick with tropical diseases. She had to care for her children and husband while they were sick. Death came too early too often for foreigners living in Burma.

The Judsons” first child, a boy, died after just a few months, and Ann died when she was just 38 years old.

In addition to the hardships and losses, Judson also experienced the joy of being faithful and accomplishing things he believed would further the kingdom. The legacy of converts, churches, and the Burmese translation of the entire Bible are recognized as the beginning of the Christian church in modern-day Myanmar.

The first half of the 19th century was alive with missionary activity. Both in Europe and the United States, missionary societies were being formed and missionaries were traveling to the far corners of the earth. Stories of exotic lands and peoples were flowing back home. Stories of conversions and the establishment of mission churches excited Christians, giving them a newfound interest in the lost peoples of the world.

How Christian Churches Got Involved

The Christian churches became involved in foreign missions some time later; the American Christian Missionary Society was formed in 1849. It was not a great beginning. In The First Fifty Years, David Filbeck wrote, “Not much was accomplished in the early years of the ACMS.” The first venture was to commission and send Dr. J.T. Barclay to Jerusalem in 1850 as a missionary among the Jews; his task was to present the gospel and practice medicine. Although there were converts, the work was largely unsuccessful. James Deforest Murch wrote in Christians Only, “The mission was quite barren and closed.”

The second venture into overseas mission was to send Alexander Cross to Liberia, a West African colony that was established by former slaves. Cross, a former slave himself, became the first African-American of the Christian churches to serve as a missionary. However, as was true of many missionaries going to West Africa during those years, he lived only a short time in the harsh conditions, and there were no lasting results of his work.

The third venture was to resend Dr. Barclay to Jerusalem in 1858. However, Barclay was a slave owner at a sensitive time in United States history. Although the ACMS was neutral on slavery, some would not support the society because it sent out a slave owner as a missionary. Consequently, the Christian Missionary Society was formed in 1859 to recruit and send missionaries. Unlike the ACMS, the CMS was opposed to slavery.

However, even after this less than stellar foray into missions, the Christian churches had a firm commitment to world evangelization. Over the decades they have used various types of mission organizations for cooperative ventures between churches, resulting in hundreds of missionaries being commissioned and sent out.

Thousands of Missionaries

Today the Christian churches have one of the largest mission forces sent out from the United States; thousands of missionaries are serving in dozens of countries. Evangelists, preachers, Bible translators, medical doctors, schoolteachers, college professors, literacy specialists, pilots, mechanics, nurses, businessmen, agricultural workers, administrators, and other kinds of skilled workers are all part of the modern mission work force.

In addition, former mission churches in some of these countries are now healthy indigenous churches and are sending out missionaries within their own countries, as well as to other parts of the world. Churches in southern India are sending missionaries to northern India; churches in Brazil are sending missionaries to Angola and Mozambique.

For the past 200 years churches have obeyed the Great Commission, the mandate of Jesus Christ to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. Today, that commission rings stronger than ever in the heart of the church, as we see the continuing efforts to evangelize the world.

Bill Weber served as a missionary to Johannesburg, South Africa, and is a former missions professor at Nebraska Christian College and Cincinnati Christian University.