Century of Baptist Missions

A Century of Baptist Missions offers a summary of the work of American Baptist Missions from their foundation up to around 1890. It covers their work in Burma (Myanmar), India, China, Japan, Africa, Brazil, Cuba, France, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Greece, Spain and Turkey. This book is in the Public Domain.

Sophie Bronson Titterington [1846-?], A Century of Baptist Foreign Missions. An Outline Sketch. Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, 1891. Hbk. pp.300. [Download complete book in PDF]

Contents

  1. The Dawn in England
  2. Beginnings in America

    Burman Missions

  3. A New Gold Mine
  4. Early Lights and Shadows – Martyr Sufferings
  5. Rewards and Results
  6. Varied Experiences – Enlargement
  7. Helping Hands
  8. Sorrow and Joy
  9. Later Years

    Karen Mission

  10. A Fire Kindled
  11. Jungle Victories
  12. Success in Adversity
  13. Sunshine and Shadow
  14. Looking Beyond
  15. Trial and Victory

    Missions in Assam

  16. Lenthening Cords
  17. Progress in Assam
  18. The Kohls, Nagas, and Garos

    Shan Mission

  19. Mountain Heathen
  20. Sowing and Reaping

    Missions in China

  21. The Chinese Mission at Bangkok
  22. From Macoa to Swatow
  23. Results
  24. The Canton Mission
  25. Quiet Growth in China
  26. Central China Mission
  27. Northern China or Shantung Mission
  28. Western China Station

    Telugu Mission

  29. The Seed Planters
  30. Early Sheaves
  31. Later Harvests

    Missions in Japan

  32. Open Doors in Japan
  33. Promise and Perplexity
  34. The Crisis in Japan

    Missions in Africa

  35. The Old and the New
  36. Light in Darkness
  37. Missions of the Southern Board

    Missions in Western Hemisphere

  38. Missions in Brazil
  39. MIssions in Cuba
  40. Missions in Mexico

    Missions in Europe

  41. The Mission in France
  42. The Mission in Germany
  43. The Mission in Sweden
  44. The Mission in Italy
  45. Missions in Denmark, Greece, Spain
  46. The Publication Society’s Work in Turkey
  47. Our Century

History of the Universities’ Central Mission to Africa

A.E.M. Anderson-Morshead [1845-1928], The History of the Universities' Mission to Central Africa 1859-1898, 2nd ednThe Universities’ Central Mission to Africa (c.1857 – 1965) was set up by Anglican graduates from the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Cambridge, Durham and Dublin. It’s work was concentrated on Nyasaland (now Malawi) and Zanzibar (now a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania). For more information about the mission, see this Wikipedia article (which does not link to this book yet). This history covers the years 1859-1898 and is now in the Public Domain.

A.E.M. Anderson-Morshead [1845-1928], The History of the Universities’ Mission to Central Africa 1859-1898, 2nd edn. London: Office of the Universities’ Mission to Central Africa, 1899. Hbk. pp.494. [This material is in the Public Domain]

Contents

Author’s Preface
Preface
Chronological Table

  1. The Call to the Work
  2. The Shiré Highlands
  3. War, Famine, and Pestilence
  4. New Ground
  5. A Fellow-Worker
  6. The Church in the Slave Market
  7. Daily Work in the Island and on the Mainland
  8. On the Edge of the Wilderness
  9. Lake Nyasa
  10. Last Days of Bishop Steere
  11. The Mission on the Lake
  12. Christian Villages on the Rovuma
  13. Magila in the Bondé Country
  14. The Usambara Group of Missions
  15. The Years in Zanzibar
  16. The Chief Pastors
  17. A Parting View of the Mission
  18. After Two Years
  19. Slavery

Appendices

  1. Methods of Home Work
  2. Methods of Mission Work
  3. Constitutional History of the Mission
  4. Synodical Action
  5. English Members of the Mission

Alexander Mackay – Missionary Hero of Uganda

Andrew Melrose [1836-1901], Alexander Mackay. Missionary Hero of UgandaAlexander Mackay [1849-1890] was a Scottish pioneer engineer missionary to Uganda and worked with the Church Missionary Society. John Roxboxborough notes that: “Mackay’s spiritual depth and practical skills were popularized by his sister’s biography and admired for generations.” [Evangelical Dictionary of World Missions, 589]. This biography written by Andrew Melrose [1836-1901], who also wrote under the name E.A. MacDonald, and is in the Public Domain.

Andrew Melrose [1836-1901], Alexander Mackay. Missionary Hero of Uganda. London: Sunday School Union, n.d. Hbk. pp.144. [Download entire book in PDF]

Contents

  1. A Good Beginning
  2. Chossing His Life Work
  3. On African Soil
  4. Dangers and Difficulties
  5. A Visit to Lkonge
  6. Arrival at Uganda
  7. King Mtesa
  8. Disappointment
  9. Labour and Results
  10. Strange Tasks
  11. Building the ‘Eleanor’
  12. King Mwanga
  13. Uganda Martyrs
  14. Good-bye to Uganda
  15. Friends and Fellow-workers
  16. Last Days

Preface by The Rev. T. C. Wilson (C.M.S.)

It was in the early part of 1876 that I made the acquaintance of A. M. Mackay, when, having offered for the mission to Uganda, I went up to London to meet those who were to be my fellow-missionaries in the ‘Dark Continent.’ He sailed before me to Zanzibar, but we met again / there for a short time. Then I left the coast with our first caravan, and a long time was to elapse before we were to see each other again.

Two years passed; Lieutenant Smith and Mr. O’Neill had been murdered in December 1877, when in the summer of 1878, having been nearly a year alone in Uganda, I heard from Mackay that he was sending up some stores to Kagei (at the southern end of the Nyanza) in charge of a native. Mtesa allowed me to go to meet this man, and after a voyage of more than a month in native canoes, one evening a point near Kagei came in sight. The canoe-men were weary, and wanted to stop for the night where we were; ‘it was too far,’ ‘it was getting dark,’ ‘they did not know the bay.’ I over-came their scruples, took a paddle and guided the canoes. [Continue reading]

Zenana Missions in India

What were Zenana Missions? Zenana refers “…to the part of a house belonging to a Hindu or Muslim family in South Asia which is reserved for the women of the household.” These women were almost completely isolated from wider society and had no access to any kind of medical care. Male missionaries could not preach the Gospel to them, but female missionary doctors could – hence the growth in the late 19th Century of Zenana medical missions. This little book provides some stories from the life of one of these pioneering ladies. It appears by kind permission of the Church Missionary Society.

Charlotte S. Vines, A Woman Doctor On the Frontier. London: Church of England Zenana Mission, 1925. Pnk. pp.78. [Click to download in PDF format]

Contents

The Avalache

  1. A Jigsaw Puzzle
  2. Our Hospital
  3. Our Road
  4. Fatama
  5. Martha and Mary
  6. The Cripple
  7. Zargulla
  8. A Frontier Village
  9. Little Jewel
  10. A Sunday Case
  11. The Village of Eggs
  12. Witchcraft
  13. The Donkey Woman

The Cross

The Avalanche

In a lovely upland valley, one of the hillsides was covered with a forest of great trees. The view was very beautiful; on this side of the valley snow-on that, a wooded slope. We wandered into that wood; it was damp and dark, the sun could scarcely penetrate it, and many dank weeds flourished.

We went up another year and, looking towards our forest, saw but a great bare hillside; all down the valley huge trunks of trees lay scattered and the hill was cropped and brown as if some giant had reaped it with a mighty scythe. Our view was spoilt; our hill all scarred and ugly. What had happened?

Said the hillmen: “In the winter, when no man may live here, there was a mighty avalanche; it swept down the valley and everything in its course was torn up-even the earth was ploughed bare.” Our servants, who cared nothing for the view, said: “Great good fortune has come to us! See. the wood for lighting our fires and for burning has come down right to our very tents! We have but to step out and there is our wood.”

Next year again we went up and looked toward our mountains. Oh, the change! New life had come; the whole hillside was a tender, lovely green. We climbed, and lo! the hillside was covered with wonderful flowers-green grass and flowers. An old shepherd pointed upwards and said: “That snow did us a great benefit; now our animals can feed well and we can watch them easily.”

Yet we, with our short sight, had said: ” Oh, how cruel-why do such things happen?” [Continue reading]

Story of the London Missionary Society by C.S. Horne

C. Silvester Horne, The Story of the L.M.S. with an Appendix Bringing the Story up to the Year 1904, new ednI cannot think of the London Missionary Society without their work in the Pacific Ocean coming to mind. The transformation of the people of the Pacific Islands by the power of the Gospel was truly dramatic and accounts found their way into popular culture through such books as The Coral Island. Much of the information in R.M. Ballantyne’s book was drawn from accounts of missionary’s working there, as Ballantyne had never travelled in the Pacific.

The L.M.S.’s innovative use of missionary ships is noteworthy and their legacy can be found today in such ministries as Mercy Ships and Operation Mobilisation. The work of the L.M.S. however was truly global, reaching Africa, Asia and South America. This book provides a comprehensive account of its work up to 1904. It contains a great many pictures which I wanted to include in greyscale to preserve their quality, so the file size of this book is much higher than usual (22MB).

C. Silvester Horne, The Story of the L.M.S. with an Appendix Bringing the Story up to the Year 1904, new edn. London: London Missionary Society, 1908. Hbk. pp.460. [Click to download in PDF]

Contents

  1. Laying the Foundation
  2. The South Seas
  3. South Africa
  4. India
  5. China
  6. British Guiana
  7. Madagascar
  8. Expansion in Polynesia
  9. Southern and Centra; Africa
  10. Progress in India
  11. Further Work in China
  12. Developments in Madagascar
  13. North China and Mongolia
  14. New Guinea
  15. Summary

Appendix
Index

The London Missionary Society Steamship "John Williams"

 

George Smith’s Short History of Christian Missions

George Smith [1856-1942], Short History of Christian Missions From Abraham and Paul to CareyGeorge Smith’s Short History of Christian Missions provides an overview of Missions from Abraham up to 1901. The treatments are necessarily brief, but should prove of interest to students. The fact that it went though eight editions indicates at the very least that it was considered useful in its day. This book is now in the Public Domain.

George Smith [1856-1942], Short History of Christian Missions From Abraham and Paul to Carey, 8th edn, Livingstone, and Duff. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, n.d. Hbk. pp.252.  [Click to download complete book in PDF]

Contents

Introduction

Part 1: Jadaic Preparation, B.C. 2000 to A.D. 70

1. The Missionary Covenant – Foundation of the City of God in History

2. Judaism the First Missionary Religion

3. Christ the King of the Missionary Host – the Missionary Charge

4. The Holy Spirit the Leader of the Missionary Host

Part 2 – Latin Preparation, A.D. 70 to 1792

5. The Roman Empire Subdued by the City of God

6. The Conversion of the Scots and English

7. The Conversion of the Goths and Franks

8. The Conversion of the Teutons and Northmen

9. Mission to Slavs, Mohammedans, and Jews

10. The Reformation Only Indirectly Missionary

11. The Dawn of Modern Missions – The Danish-Halle and Moravian Missions

12. The Dawn of Modern Missions – The English in North America and in India

13. The Missionary Compromise of the Latin Church with Heathenism

Part 3 – English-Speaking Universal Evangelization, 1792-1913

14. Foundation of English Missions – William Carey the First English Missionary to India, 1791-1834

15. The Great Missionary and Bible Societies, 1792

17. The Churches Become Missionary, 1830

18. Evangelical Missions and Mankind

Index

 

Mary Slessor The Dundee Factory Girl by J.J. Ellis

J.J. Ellis [1853-?], Mary Slessor. The Dundee Factory Girl who became a Devoted African MissionaryThe story of Mary Mitchell Slessor’s [1848-1915] work in Calabar, Nigeria was truly remarkable, as Andrew C. Ross notes in the Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions. [p.624.]:

Her life is an example of Christian inculturation, but regrettably it was trivialized by a romantic “white queen of Okoyong” attitude toward her in Britain.

J.J. Ellis [1853-?], Mary Slessor. The Dundee Factory Girl who became a Devoted African Missionary. Kilmarnock: John Ritchie, n.d. Hbk. pp.80. [Click to download in PDF]

Contents

Foreword

  1. A Young Christian who was old enough to win souls
  2. A Loyal Missionary with Ideas and Visions of her own
  3. A Bold Pioneer who greatly dared for Christ; A Call for Courage in our Work for God
  4. A Good “Ma” who was also a Great Queen. A Proof that Love always conquers
  5. A Poor Woman who was enriched by what she gave above; A Sure method of securing True Wealth

Chapter 1

“One of the deepest instincts of our ·nature teaches the preciousness of severity,” said John Addington Symonds, but it is hard to believe him while the soul stings with injustice, hardship, or pain. Mary Slessor born at Gilcomston by Aberdeen, 2nd December, 1848, was educated under the harshest conditions, but she was kept sweet by the love of God in her frail mother. She had few advantages, and many crushing difficulties, but she shows what can be done by those who have few chances, but who are Christ’s, and are willing to be nothing, that He may be glorified. First the lassie was brought out of nature’s darkness and at once set to work to carry the light to others, and all her days she went forward carrying the lamp to show everyone the way to happiness and peace.

Her father was a shoemaker, and at times sober, kindly and tender. But he lacked a saving interest in Christ, and before long became a victim of the drink sin. Gradually the octopus arms tightened their grip, and the more they grasped the less the deluded man desired to be free. Mary’s mother was one of those sweet, frail women for whom a bad man has a fascination. The mothering instinct is useful but it can be perverted as it was in this case, for that husband grew the worse the more he was loved.  [Continue reading]

Reflections of a Pioneer Missionary by William R.S. Miller

Reflections of a Pioneer Missionary by W.R.S. MillerWilliam Miller [1872-1952] was a Church Missionary Society Missionary to the Hausa people of Northern Nigeria. He spent 50 years working in that country and assisted in the translation of the Bible into the Hausa language. My thanks to the Church Missionary Society for their kind permission to place this book on-line.

W.R.S. Miller [1872-1952], Reflections of a Pioneer. London: Church Missionary Society, 1936. Hbk. pp.227. [Click to download complete book in PDF]

A bibliography of other works by and about William Miller is now also available.

Contents

  1. Introductory
  2. The Team and Their Preparation
  3. The Situation in 1900
  4. Slavery in Northern Nigeria
  5. Seeking a Foothold
  6. Hausa, Fulani, and Pagan
  7. The System of Indirect Rule
  8. The Beginnings of the Misison at Zaria
  9. Mission and Government at Zaria
  10. The Story of an Experiment
  11. Aliyu: Prince, Emir, and Exile
  12. Building for the Future
  13. Marriage Customs and Problems
  14. Moral Standards
  15. Racial Relationships
  16. Language and Literature
  17. Conclusion

Epilogue
Index

Foreword

Dr. Miller has asked me to write a foreword to this book, and I do so with very real pleasure.

To those who have lived and worked for any length of time in Northern Nigeria, as missionary or government official, no introduction of its author is necessary. Indeed, his name will long be remembered by Africans and Europeans alike.

By some he may be remembered chiefly as a great linguist. He says that he conceived it to be his duty to learn to speak Rausa so that some day he should not be detected, when speaking in the dark, by a native of the country. He was commonly reputed to have achieved that standard of proficiency in Hausa-speaking, and he is probably the only European of whom it could ever truly have been said. Others may have had as great or even greater knowledge of the language from a philological standpoint, but he, to an extent achieved by no other European, had the power to express his thoughts in the Rausa manner, to clothe them with the appropriate words and phrases, using just the right tone and faultless pronunciation. [Continue reading]

The Story of Clifford Harris of Persia [1904-1930]

Ronald West Howard [1887-1960], A Merry Mountainer. The Story of Clifford Harris of PersiaThis little book tells the story of the work of Clifford Harris [1904-1930] in Persia, modern day Iran. It is reproduced by kind permission of the Church Missionary Society.

Ronald West Howard [1887-1960], A Merry Mountainer. The Story of Clifford Harris of Persia. London: Church Missionary Society, 1931. Pbk. pp.93. [Click to download in PDF]

Early Days

On a beautiful stretch of Sussex upland, two miles from the town of Horsham, stand the stately buildings of Christ’s Hospital -the ancient school for boys in the new setting to which it was moved from London early in the twentieth century.

Here, on October 24, 1904, Clifford Harris was born; and some account must be given of his early days and of the family life that was to mean so much to him.

He was the youngest of the three children of the Rev. George Harris, a master at the school. Himself of Irish ancestry, the father always made friends by his quick sense of humour and ready fund of enthusiasm. These gifts his youngest son inherited to the full. His mother was a cousin of that famous medical missionary, Dr. Theodore Pennell, who spent his adventurous life of service among the frontier folk of the North-West Frontier Province of India. Something of his mantle was destined
to fall upon his young kinsman.

From his earliest days Clifford, with his brother and sister, knew the happiness of an undivided family life. His sister Ruth, a year older than himself, was his constant companion throughout all his childhood and his best friend in youth. When apart, they wrote regularly to each other every week. Jordan, the elder brother, always exercised a strong inspiration and influence for good over the younger brother. All through Clifford’s career this happy, undivided family life strengthened and moulded his character and service. Those who had most to do with him as a small boy found him delightfully unselfish ; this, and his natural gaiety of spirit endeared him to all who knew him. But he was wholesomely mischievous, too. A governess who had the early management of him-and found the task none too easy-tells how, on the death of her own father, Clifford showed his practical sympathy by saying : ” I am so very sorry your father has died ; and I really will try to behave better now.” Some days afterwards, however, the strain proving heavy, he warned her: “I don’t think I can keep it up much longer “! [Continue reading]

Pandita Ramabai Sarasvati – Educating the Child-widow of India

Clementina Butler [1820-1913], Pandita Ramaabai Sarasvati. Pioneer in the Movement for the Education of the Child-widow of IndiaThis is brief account of the life and work of Pandita Ramaabai Sarasvati [1858-1922], an “Indian social reformer, a champion for the emancipation of women, and a pioneer in education”.

Clementina Butler [1820-1913], Pandita Ramaabai Sarasvati. Pioneer in the Movement for the Education of the Child-widow of India. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1922. Hbk. pp.96. [Download complete book in PDF]

Contents

Introduction

  1. Ramabai’s Vision
  2. Thus Saith the Law!
  3. Home Touches
  4. Life Stories
  5. Scholar, Saint and Servant

List of Officers of American Ramabai Association

Introduction

A widow without resources, a Hindu widow burdened with the handicap of religious fanaticism and superstition which weighed down any aspirations for betterment, and hedged about in all avenues of effort, and yet a valiant spirit which, recognizing a vision and a command, went forth for its fulfillment. This was Pandita Ramabai, the courageous soul who first saw the crying need of the child-widow, who realized the economic loss to the nation of setting apart a great class by ostracism to enforced inaction; the one who realized the right of the child to live, to work, and to have development of her powers in spite of the supposed curse of the gods upon her life.

It was in 1886 that this little woman, coming unknown and unsupported save by her own strength of conviction, landed on these shores and made her appeal for the child-widow of India. Modern, bustling America hardly knew that such a class existed, and the missionary folk who did know were not fully aware of the weight upon the girl-child heart of feeling condemnation because of the belief that the curse of the gods was the cause of the death of the boy or man to whom she was betrothed.  [Continue reading]