William Judson And The Father Of The Foreign Mission Movement

(When it was started) The Foreign Mission Board (IMB) was the start of an organized mission movement to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth. This organization has grown and changed over the last few centuries with influences from many God-fearing men and women. These people have shaped the mission board that we have today and have helped carry out the Great Commission that each Christian is called to

They were 3 of the most influential men during the start of the missions movement in its early formations from early to mid 1800s. The Father of the Great mission movement is usually known as William Carey. In 1792, Carey called his “reluctant Baptist brethren to action.” (pg6 Whole Gospel). He reminded Christians that “the call to missions
was not a recent innovation but the essence to Christian faith.” (pg 6. ) Carey’s call to missions and his direction were based on those same beliefs as the Moravians (Moravian Influence) “He was central to the transition from Hyper-Calvinism to evangelical and missionary Calvinism.”, says James Garrett. (Bap theo 173). Carey’s call to missions was not adapted quickly and easily. After asking for a ministers’ meeting he was shot down; and his proposal was seen as an “impossible dream.” Despite the lack of support, Carey continued his call to missions. On June 1 1792, a Ministers’ meeting was proposed, with the help of Andrew Fuller, to form a Baptist Society to share the Gospel. (pg 9). This year, 1792, marked the birth of the modern mission movement. It was decided that a committee, the Baptist Missionary Society, would be formed which would include Andrew Fuller as secretary, Carey on the committee, and others appointed as secretaries and part of the committee. The first call of the committee was to Calcutta, India in which Carey accompanied another missionary that was seeking support. With family struggles, and battles against nature, the voyage to and throughout India was difficult. Carey’s very being was centered around sharing the Gospel. Even with Carey’s zeal for the Lord and commitment to the mission, he and his companion John Thomas, saw little progress among the indigenous people in India. However, they did see fellow Englishmen come to Christ. From Calcutta, Carey went to Serampore. While in Serampore, Carey worked with other missionaries like William Ward and Hannah Marshman, in which they established boy’s and girl’s schools and also translated the first Bengali Bible. At Serampore, is where the mission’s committee received its first Hindu convert: Krishna Pal. Persecution against the missionaries heightened after this. The impact of the mission did not go unnoticed among Hindu society,in their opposition to the misson’s efforts. In 1812 a fire broke out destroying manuscripts of the Bible that had been translated by Carey. At news of this, the missions committee was reluctant to send more missionaries to Serampore and this created controversy within the committee. After overcoming this issue, the influence of Carey and his colleagues began to kindle the fire for missionary interest that the church needed ( Whole world 25). The start of the Baptist Missionary society that Carey and Fuller started, helped give birth to a number of local missionary societies in the U.S. before 1814. Not only did their work impact Baptists, but all Christians and their work. Carey made it possible to form the English Baptist Missionary Society and even more importantly, the Foreign Misison Board. (p 28 whoole World) The many missions societies that were formed quickly had to realize that mission work involved more than learning a new language and proclaiming the gospel. (Whole 45). Also furthering the Great missions movement was Adoniram Judson. Judson was saved in early 20s. Through his struggle of turning away from God and then returning back to Him, Judson found the call to missions on his life after reading the accounts of William Carey in India. Judson decided to voyage to India. At this point, no American had been sent out of the U.S. On February 6 1812, Judson and friends were commissioned and sent by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to India. During their voyage, Judson was converted to Baptistic ideas, and had to sever ties with the ABCFM. He then sought support from the newly formed Baptist Board of Foreign Missions. Judson served in Ragoon for 10 years from 1813-1823. In 1824, he was taken prisoner as a suspected spy. He was released in 1826 and continued his work near Ragoon. After Ragoon, Judson moved on to Burma where he finished a dictionary project and remained there until 1849. Judson was buried at sea in 1849 on a voyage back to the states after he contracted an illness.
Through his lifelong physical ailments, Judson carried out God’s work in his life and his call to missions. He died doing what God had called him to do. His story shows a lifelong commitment to missionary service, which is what many long to be said about themselves (124 Int. Bulletin). Through illness, death of his wives, death of his children, and imprisonment, Judson never gave up on missions. He helped form the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Through his works and his commitment to God’s call, Judson furthered the mission movement and helped propel the movement toward the later known Foreign Mission
Board. Along with Judson and Carey as possible the most influential men to the early stages of missions in America is Luther Rice. Rice attended Williams College and later Andover Seminary. He was a missionary along with Adoniram Judson. Rice also became a Baptist during his missions work. Judson and Rice went to India together. After they both dedicated themselves as Baptists and separated from the Congregational Board, Rice decided to return back to the states to find support from the Baptists. Rice’s goal was to help form a national denominational organization to support foreign missions. This was already initiated by Judson, but Rice furthered this formation. Rice met with Baptist leaders and organized missionary societies in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, and South Carolina, encouraging Baptists to join together for support in starting a program for foreign missions. Rice wanted the convention to be a national body of Baptists to “unite the churches, associations, and missionary societies in a concerted effort to extend the kingdom of God” (pg 71 Rice). All groups that he met with agreed and in May 1814, the Triennial Convention was formed. The original effort of the Triennial Convention was for foreign missions and later incorporated efforts for home missions, Christian education, and religious publications. Rice never returned to the mission field, but he presented the missionary cause to the Baptists of America. With his efforts in helping form the Triennial Convention, the program later was named the The Baptist Board of Foreign Missions, and would become the International Mission Board that we have today. Rice was responsible for bringing Baptists together for a common interest to work together for Christ. Women’s involvement in missions was not greatly encouraged in the beginning stages of the missions’ movement. Furthering women’s involvement in missions during its early start were Edmonia and Lottie Moon. Before their involvement, Harriet Baker was the first woman sent to China as a single woman missionary. This was perplexing to many people at that time, with Harriet being a woman and single. During that time, woman were seen as lesser beings, so for women to be sent as missionaries was a hard thing for people to grasp. Even after sending Baker, the board still decided that women were not suited for mission work. The Moon sisters challenged the board’s ideals about woman’s involvement in missions. Edmonia Moon was an educated woman and was appointed to the board in 1872. She decided she would support herself in missions, because the board’s funds were depleted at the time. Women of Richmond supported Edmonia through prayers and offerings. Following in Edmonia’s footsteps, encouraged by her efforts, Charlotte (Lottie) Moon felt the call to missionary service. Also introducing Lottie to the mission field, was John Broadus, a professor at Virginia’s Baptist College that she attended. (International Bull 146-150) As Lottie announced her call to missions, churches in South Carolina rose up and supported her. Woman’s missionary societies in South Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia were brought together by these single women missionaries and helped support these women. Lottie followed Edmonia and sailed to China in 1873. Lottie became saturated with the Chinese culture and customs to further minister to the women she was working with. She was able to help start and work in girl’s and boy’s schools during her ministry. During her ministry, she contributed greatly to the board, to the people in China that she ministered to, to women at that time, and to future missionaries. (
Lottie was seen as a true missionary to her colleagues with her dedication in learning the culture and language of the people she tried to reach.
With their call to mission, more and more women were stepping up to become missionaries as well. All of these efforts were carried out by the Foreign Mission Board with whom she kept regular contact with. Theses woman’s involvement in missions helped people realize that women in the mission field could help reach other women for Christ in a way that men cannot; William Carey even realized this but the board would not allow women to be sent at that time. Lottie Moon and her sisters were God-fearing woman that sought to reach the world for
Christ.

Women continued to show their involvement in missions. Over the many years, the Foreign Mission Board faced growing indebtedness. During this time around the early 1900s, the Woman’s Missionary Union contributed greatly “in raising funds for projects for the board and in circulation of missionary information” (195 Whole). The Woman’s Missionary Union was brought about by the leadership of Fannie Heck. She was president of the union for 29 years. Her vision encompassed the way in which women could give their efforts to missions. She led the union to an interest in mission studies for young people and women. She also helped found the Woman’s Missionary Training School, which still exists today. (194-195 Whole). Fannie Heck’s contribution to the Foreign Mission Board lead to women’s greater interest and a new found commitment to missions. She also helped raise funds for the board to continue their missions work. Milledge Rankin was the first foreign missionary to become an executive secretary of the Foreign Mission Board. This opened up positions within the board to missionaries. This gave the option with former missionaries being on the board, that they have insight and direction for the Foreign Mission Board. Rankin was a missionary in China “promoting the indigenous principle among the Catonese Baptists.” (253 Whole) Rankin worked with and helped grow the Graves Theological Seminary in Hong Kong. He even served as president of the seminary for a year. During his time there at the seminary, he made a decision for missionaries to discontinue operating the Graves Seminary and allow the Chinese leaders to be in control. This allowed for a Chinese president at the seminary, a change of the seminary’s name, and the new Chinese president to be the first national president of any seminary associated with the FMB. (4 Newsletter) While in China Rankin faced persecution, imprisonment, and the aftermath of warfare. After escaping from prison in China in 1942, he was elected after his return as executive secretary of the Foreign Misison Board two years later. Rankin decided that “Southern Baptists must do more to help save the world than we have been doing.” (257 Whole) He believed that more missionaries should be going out into the world and into new countires. This mission of his known as “advance”. (5 Newsletter) To start his advance, he challenged Southern Baptists to reach a goal of 1750 missionaries to be sent out. Rankin’s passion to advance the FMB led to what the IMB is able to do today. They are able to send thousands of missionaries to numerous countries around the world; this started with the push from Milledge Rankin.