The world has seen many changes since the beginning of time; and missionary work is not exempt from this phenomena. The latest edition (Issue 149) of Christian History is entitled: “Revival: The first thousand years.” We certainly cannot deny the effects of this time in history, but a church historian named Kenneth Scott Latourette coined the phrase: The Great Century. History reminds us that the late 18th century ushered in a humanitarian spirit movement in Europe that caused various Christian organizations to venture out to start missions around the world.
Latourette said, “Never before had Christianity, or any religion, been introduced to so many different peoples and cultures.” And he also said, “Never before had so many hundreds of thousands contributed voluntarily of their means to assist the spread of Christianity or any other religion.”
History records that no one contributed more to the Great Century than a man named William Carey. Carey (1761-1834), a cobbler and pastor, made a remarkable breakthrough in understanding our Lord’s command to bring the gospel to all the world. He challenged the church (at-large) in its efforts into church planting. He authored a small book called, “An Enquiry into the Obligation of Christians to Use Means.” While some objected, the book had its impact on expansion of the gospel. He is called, “Father of the Modern Missionary Movement.”
Carey’s personal and corporate impact was tremendous – as one stated – he brought the gospel literally to the ends of the earth. His individual impact in India included multiple Bible translations. He also impacted significant social reform in India. Carey’s efforts in India were likely affected by the efforts of the Danish-Halle Mission that was established by the Danish king, Frederick V. Most of their missionaries were sent to Tranquebar, on the east coast of India.
These efforts were the genesis of the “Second Great Awakening” that started in America. And it led to the formation of numerous mission societies – including the American Bible Society. The press was also reporting on missionary efforts worldwide, including India. This led to a group of five theological students to set sail to India. One such man was Adoniram Judson who arrived in India in 1812. History reports it took him twelve years to reap eighteen convers for the LORD in Burma (now Myanmar). By 1823, membership of the little church had grown to eighteen. At his death (1850), there were a hundred churches and over 8,000 believers.
As I close on this chapter in Uncharted Waters, it is important to note that in 1800 only about 2,000 of the nearly 13,000 distinct ethno-linguistic peoples in the countries of the world had been reached with the gospel. The same source reports, that from 1850 onwards the proportion of non-Caucasian Christians in the world has grown rapidly. And by 1900, over 4,100 of these people groups had received the gospel. Future data regarding people groups (heart languages) will be covered later.
Bibliography:
- A Tribute by an Indian Woman, New Delhi, India, Good Books, 1993.
- The Church is Bigger Than You Think, Ross-shire, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications/WEC, 1998.
- Wikipedia, various articles