Pioneers of the Modern Missionary Movement
Although they would never know it, at that moment, the two men became the pioneers of the great modern missionary movement of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. A trip through Denmark proved to be the Lord’s open door for the young pioneers. The Danish court took up their missionary cause, and the king’s sister, Princess Amalie, paid their passage to the West Indies. The court’s cupbearer even located a ship sailing to the Americas. There was no doubt that God’s hand was upon them and their mission!
Four More Missionaries Sent
“My call from the Lord is to spread the word of the blood and the cross of Jesus to the world,” Zinzendorf wrote. “I am not concerned what happens to me as a result. This call was on my life before I knew the Moravian and Bohemian Brethren.”
Within a year, four more missionaries were chosen to be sent out from Herrnhut. This time, Matthaus and Christian Stach, John Beck, and Friedrich Bohnisch were sent to minister to the Inuit natives of Greenland. They established a Christian village named New Herrnhut on the western shores of Greenland. It was through the Greenland missions that the Moravians discovered the key to bringing Christ to the lost. When missionary John Beck shared lengthy explanations about the existence of God and the established Christian church, the natives were uninterested. They already believed there was a God. However, when he read the story of Christ’s suffering and sacrificial death to save them for all eternity, they responded, “Tell us that again; we are ready to be saved!”
Guidance for Missionaries
From that point, Zinzendorf counseled all of the prospective missionaries, saying, “Don’t be blinded by the notion that the heathen must be taught first to believe in God, and then, afterwards, Jesus Christ…. They know already that there is a God. You must preach to them that God has a Son…preach of Jesus Christ who was crucified for their sin. You must tell them that the way to salvation is belief in this Jesus, the eternal Son of God.” Soon after, Zinzendorf sent missionaries to Suriname in northeastern South America and to Lapland (Finland). In 1733, Tobias Leopold left with fifteen missionaries to assist in the growing work in St. Thomas. The following year, two men were sent to the Guinea coast of Africa, and eleven more missionaries to St. Croix, some to replace those who had died of malaria.
Dedication Under the Moravian Banner
The Herrnhut Christians’ dedication and willingness to sacrifice their lives for Christ was without equal. As soon as word that one missionary had fallen to disease reached Herrnhut, two more rose to take his place. Together they consecrated their lives under the Moravian banner: “Our Lamb has conquered; let us follow Him.”
To be continued…
Tale Tuesday 114
Date: 28th January , 2024
Title: : COUNT NIKOLAUS LUDWIG VON ZINZENDORF (The Founder of The Moravian Community) (Part 11)
Source: God’s generals- The Missionaries
Author: Roberts Liardon
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