8 Pioneers of the World Christian Movement

Studying this lesson will help you:

• Describe the commitment and zeal of “First Era” missionaries.
• Describe how Carey, Taylor, and Townsend mobilized others to complete world evangelization.
• Explain the rationale that William Carey used to argue that the Great Commission was a binding mandate for believers in the present day.
• Explain how Carey’s motto, “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God,” helps explain the attitude and actions of the mission movement pioneers.
• Explain why Hudson Taylor founded a mission agency.
• Explain why Cameron Townsend began translating the Bible.
• Describe the ways that women have been an important part of mission efforts throughout history.
• Explain how the Moravian community is exemplary to the church today in areas of motivation and persistence.

In this lesson we will meet some of the key figures of the past two hundred years. These people did not wait for someone else to go first; they opened the way for others. The best word that describes them is “pioneers.”

Why should we examine the lives and words of these pioneers? One reason is that they have given something of value to believers who came after them: a world almost evangelized—a nearly complete task. It would be foolish for us to respond to the needs of the world as if it had been our idea to evangelize it. God Himself initiated the movement. Many worthy people throughout the generations have each finished their part. Some knew that they were laying down their lives, knowing that others would complete what they began.

One notable pioneer, David Livingstone, said to an assembly of people who had gathered to hear him tell of his ventures in Africa: “I go back to Africa to open a path for Christianity Carry out the work which I have begun. I leave it with you.”

Each of the people you will meet in this chapter were people of prayer. They prayed that others would join them. No doubt, they prayed for those who followed them years later. It may be possible that you are part of God’s answer to their prayers.

In this lesson we’ll learn how one of the Second Era leaders specifically called his contemporaries to continue the task that earlier missionaries (from the First Era) left to them. We’ll read the original writings of some of the key instigators of the Three Eras of Protestant mission history. We’ll meet some who came before them, such as the Moravian movement. We’ll get acquainted with some of the women who have carried an enormous part of world evangelization. Pioneers are not solitary heroic figures. We’ll meet some of the companions who co-labored with them. They often formed lasting apostolic movements.

I. Pioneers of the Movement

In the last lesson we read the words of Donald A. McGavran, one of the four key leaders mentioned by Winter as being largely responsible for spearheading the Third Era of Protestant missions. In this lesson, we’ve selected some key writings of the other three leaders. As you read, take note of several common factors. First, each of them displays a confidence that world evangelization will be completed. Second, they call for others to be involved in specific parts of the world as a strategic step toward completing the entire task. Each of them displays an awareness of the demographic details of the challenge. Third, each of them went to the field themselves, and while doing so, formed mission organizations for ongoing work. Fourth, their efforts are grounded in Scripture, which they are convinced is the word of God. And finally, each leader calls for prayer.

A. William Carey. Probably no piece of literature has motivated so many in such crucial ways as Carey’s Enquiry. He offered a challenge to do at least as much as commercial ventures were doing, traveling to distant lands to proclaim the gospel. His exposition of the commission of Christ exposed the inadequate but common view at that time that Matthew 28:18–20 pertained only to the first apostles and thus was no longer applicable.

B. Hudson Taylor. In the following selection, Taylor recounts the development of his sense of calling to serve as a missionary and how he felt motivated by the hope of Christ’s appearing. He describes how he pursued China as a field and how he prepared for that service. He radically simplified his lifestyle because doing so enhanced his work to serve the poor. He then describes how and why he began the China Inland Mission.

C. Cameron Townsend. Several friends argued against Townsend’s plans to translate the Bible for a tribal group (one group of many thousands of languages that would follow). Despite the opposition of his friends, he showed incredible resolve to launch a new kind of mission for an overlooked kind of people. Take note of the biblical grounds he found for establishing the mission and the biblical basis for his expectation that every tribe and tongue would be reached.

II. Women in Mission

Marguerite Kraft and Meg Crossman recount the tremendous record of women in missions. The women of earlier generations present us with marvelous examples to be admired. Kraft and Crossman tell the story in a way that effectively challenges faulty notions regarding the value and role of women in the mission enterprise. The patient leadership that women have offered in the past continues today. Women and men can find in this brief account many practical insights for how the entire body of Christ can continue to work together to complete the task.

A. Pre-Reformation. Before the Protestant Reformation, women had always been a part of mission efforts. The monastic tradition gave women a way to exert leadership in mission.

B. The First Era. A significant slowing down of women missionaries took place because of the policy that single women could not be sent alone, following the assumption among Protestants that missionaries should be married. Still, the women went.

C. The Second Era. In the United States, women’s participation in missions during the Second Era was spurred by the Civil War, which wiped out a whole generation of men. Women, forced to emerge in leadership, began to organize their own mission boards. Gradually, however, the boards were absorbed into other mission structures, and women lost the opportunity to direct the efforts.

D. Women Excel. There is no mission task that women have not accomplished. Women are uniquely suited for several specific endeavors. In many tasks and roles, they are essential.

E. A Mostly Female Force. For most of Protestant mission history, as much as two-thirds of the mission force has been female. Recognizing the wide range of roles in which women are excelling may release an even greater number and enhance the effectiveness of women in mission.

III. Moravians: A Pioneer Movement Colin A. Grant enables us to examine the Moravian movement in which we will clearly see that obedience to the mission mandate is not a matter of individual heroics. Pioneering is always accomplished by working together.

A. Communal Obedience. As Grant describes it, the Moravians were the first clearly Protestant mission “order.” They lived as a community of obedience. Everyone shared a ready eagerness to obey as directed by the Holy Spirit.

B. Passion for Christ. Singular devotion to Christ did not sideline Moravians into passive contemplation. Worshipful passion for Jesus moved them into steady mission obedience.

C. Courage in the Face of Danger. Moravians articulated their mission motivation in this way: “May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering.” Since Christ suffered and died, they did not think it was out of line for his servants to enter difficult or painful situations.

On October 8, 1732, a Dutch ship left the Copenhagen harbor bound for the Danish West Indies. On board were the two first Moravian missionaries; John Leonard Dober, a potter, and David Nitschman, a carpenter. Both were skilled speakers and ready to sell themselves into slavery to reach the slaves of the West Indies. As the ship slipped away, they lifted up a cry that would one day become the rallying call for all Moravian missionaries, “May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering.” (David Smithers, “Zinzendorf and the Moravians,” The Revival Library)

Most of the early missionaries went out as “tentmakers,” working humbly by colonial-era standards, among the people they were trying to reach in trades such as artisans, craftsmen, and farmers.

D. Responsibility of the Church as a Whole. The approach of the Moravian church may not be out of reach for many of our churches today. A sense of shared ownership filled the entire community.

E. The Hundred-Year Prayer Gathering. The perseverance of the Moravians may have been cultivated in their diligence in prayer. They prayed in an organized, intentional way for spiritual awakening and world evangelization. Jason Hubbard tells the story of one of the most fruitful prayer endeavors. It started with twenty-four men and twenty-four women, each praying one hour each day. The prayer chain continued for over one hundred years. They developed a way of praying with Scripture. They prayed and worked under the motto: “Our Lamb has conquered. Let us follow Him.”

IV. Overlooked Pioneers

Many accounts of early mission endeavors were incomplete and often entirely overlooked. Linda Saunders offers an interesting account of three Black leaders from the Americas who served fruitfully as mission workers. Saunders recounts the stories of Rebekka Protten, George Liele, and John Stewart. Each learned new languages to communicate the gospel to people who were unevangelized. Each formed new churches in ways that were relevant to the people responding to the gospel.

A. Rebekka Protten learned to read and became a believer as a young slave. She was given freedom and began her work to proclaim the gospel to slaves on a Caribbean island. Some Moravian missionaries from Germany arrived on her island. They recognized the effectiveness of her work and ended up joining her. Protten planted the kind of churches that met at times and in places where enslaved people could easily gather. She joined with the Moravians, eventually going to Africa as a Moravian missionary.

B. George Liele was born into slavery in the United States. He attended a mostly White church with his master. He began to preach to slaves living nearby. The people of his church recognized his gift for proclaiming the gospel and ordained him. Liele knew that Blacks had a different culture and would respond well if they had their own congregations that could gather at times and places convenient for slaves. He formed new churches, and thousands followed Christ.

C. John Stewart was not a slave when he was born in the United States (a time when most Blacks were enslaved). He sensed God’s call to preach the gospel to the Wyandot people, a Native American people group. He endured opposition from both Whites and Native Americans. When he recognized that the Wyandot people were fond of music, Stewart began to present the gospel in song. Others joined him and formed a new mission society to prolong the work. The last words of John Stewart were, “Be faithful,” the key word for this lesson.

Conclusion of Certificate Readings for this lesson.

After studying this section you should be able to:

• Describe African American involvement in missions before and after emancipation.
• Describe the work of “Bible women” in parts of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
• Explain why it is important for the global church to understand the present state of the evangelization of the world.

V. African Americans in World Missions

David Cornelius recounts the little-known history of African Americans in world mission. The relatively small number of African Americans in foreign missions may seem to suggest that this part of the church has not been responsive to the Great Commission. But the actual story reveals a substantial heritage of stalwart obedience.

A. Early Pioneers Before Emancipation. Just about every denominational stream of the African American church has a history of mission obedience. It was in the hearts of African Americans, even while they were slaves, to obey the Great Commission.

• Freedom Used for the Gospel. Several of the pioneers of this period worked for decades to purchase their freedom and then used that freedom to serve as missionaries.
• Back to the Fatherland. They were most often sent to Africa and other places where African Americans were originally enslaved, such as the Caribbean.
• Another Pioneer Named Carey. One outstanding African American missionary was Lott Carey. He organized the African Baptist Foreign Missionary Society, the first organization established by African Americans for mission purposes.
• Sacrifice and Partnership. The mission ventures were funded with great sacrifice. There were requests for financial assistance from wealthier White Christians. Some were honored; others were turned down.

B. After Emancipation. African Americans suffered illness and death in Africa in the same way as their White counterparts. The Baptist Foreign Mission Convention spearheaded many efforts. Decline came around the turn of the century as a result of hardships on the field and the diversion of attention to problems in America. Jim Crow laws mandating segregation and slowing the progress of African Americans toward economic and social prosperity made the struggle for human rights in America a high priority for many of the best leaders. For African Americans, the definition of missions came to include efforts for racial justice, hence the need for the term “international missions.”

C. Recent Resurgence. Recently, there has been a renewal of interest in international missions among African Americans.

VI. Women Often Led the Way in Mission

Mary Ho tells the story of how women quite often led the way in presenting the gospel in unevangelized places. In many settings, cultural and social dynamics excluded men from contact or influence, but women could speak freely. Many of these women, sometimes called “Bible women,” were local, indigenous women, fluent in local languages and at ease with local customs. In many parts of Africa and Asia, women have often been the first to bring the gospel. Women continue to be effective emissaries for the gospel in many settings.

VII. The State of Gospel Progress at the Present Hour

Each of the pioneers we’ve highlighted worked to discover how far the gospel had spread in their day. They were particularly looking to recognize the remaining, overlooked parts of world evangelization. In the same spirit, shortly after the turn of the millennium, Jason Mandryk presented “The State of the Gospel.” Enjoy this readable and exciting manifesto. It can help motivate you to fulfill the part of the task that God is giving to you.

A. Global Christianity. We no longer see Christianity as primarily a Western phenomenon. Our faith is truly global. Evangelical Christianity is growing faster than any other religion. Our faith is truly prolific. Christianity flourishes in thousands of cultures on all continents. Our faith is truly diverse.

B. Christianity in the West. While there are encouraging signs, Christianity is in decline in Europe and other places considered Western.

C. Christianity in the Majority World. Over two-thirds of those who consider themselves to be Christian or Christ followers are not from the West. Mandryk provides a few summary representations of each of the continental areas of the Majority World.

D. The State of Global Mission. Mission from the Majority World has dramatically increased. No longer is mission “from the West to the rest.” Some of the most effective missionaries are being sent from the Majority World in ever-increasing numbers.

E. The Remaining Task. While there are Christians in every country and every geographical area, there remain billions of unevangelized people. Even though “every human being is a valid mission field,” Mandryk says it’s not hard to identify where the greatest concentration of unreached peoples is. He highlights the five countries of Pakistan, India, China, Nepal, and Bangladesh as containing the most unreached peoples.

At the same time, there is an imbalance of sending. By Mandryk’s analysis, 28 percent of the world’s population should be considered “unevangelized.” Only 2.5 percent of the world’s foreign missionary force is allocated to these unreached, while 80 percent of the world’s foreign missionaries go to peoples who are already predominantly Christian.

F. To Get the Job Done. Mandryk highlights five essentials to finish the Great Commission soon:

1. Priorities shaped by the reality of the task.

2. Sacrifice to lay down careers, time, and perhaps our lives.

3. Partnership with churches and movements all over the world.

4. Unity in working in multicultural teams.

5. Prayer that is united, informed, and persistent.

G. A Symphony of Diverse Efforts. Examine this chart to get a sense of how many different “tools” or approaches are now underway. The overall goal is to fulfill the task of communicating the gospel to every people and language to bring about church-planting movements in every people group. Each of the many approaches is important. We can celebrate that God has been empowering each of them. There is great hope that in the generations and days to come, Christ will be followed and served in every people on earth.