Orthodox missions
The Eastern Orthodox Church, under the Orthodox Church of Constantinople was vigorous in its missionary outreach under the Roman Empire and continuing Byzantine Empire, and its missionary outreach had lasting effect, either founding, influencing or establishing formal relations with some 16 Orthodox national churches including the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Churchand the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (both said to have been founded by the missionary Apostle Andrew), the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (said to have been founded by the missionary Apostle Paul). The two ninth century saints Cyril and Methodius had extensive missionary success in Eastern Europe. The Byzantines expanded their missionary work in Ukraine after a mass baptism in Kiev in 988. The Serbian Orthodox Church had its origins in the conversion by Byzantine missionaries of the Serb tribes when they arrived in the Balkans in the 7th century. Orthodox missionaries also worked successfully among the Estonians from the 10th to the 12th centuries founding the Estonian Orthodox Church[disambiguation needed].
Under the Russian Empire of the 19th century, missionaries such as Nicholas Ilminsky moved into the subject lands and propagated Orthodoxy, including through Belarus, Latvia, Moldova, Finland, Estonia, Ukraine, and China. The Russian St. Nicholas of Japan took Eastern Orthodoxy to Japan in the 19th century. The Russian Orthodox Church also sent missionaries to Alaska beginning in the 18th century, including Saint Herman of Alaska, to minister to the Native Americans. The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia continued missionary work outside Russia after the 1917 Russian Revolution, resulting in the establishment of many new dioceses in the diaspora, from which numerous converts have been made in Eastern Europe, North America and Oceania.
[edit]First Protestant missions
Among the first Protestant missionaries were John Eliot and contemporary ministers including John Cotton and Richard Bourne, who ministered to the Algonquin natives who lived in lands claimed by representatives of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the early 17th century. Quaker "publishers of truth" visited Boston and other mid-17th century colonies but were not always well-received.[6]
The Danish government included Lutheran missionaries among the colonists in many of its colonies, Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg in Tranquebar India in the late 17th century. However, the first organized Protestant mission work was carried out beginning in 1732 by theMoravian Brethren of Herrnhut in Saxony Germany (die evangelische Brüdergemeine). While on a visit in 1732 to Copenhagen for the coronation of his cousin King Christian VI, the Moravian Church's patron—Nicolas Ludwig, Count von Zinzendorf--got to know a slave from the Danish colony in the West Indies. When he returned to Herrnhut with the slave, he inspired the inhabitants of the village—it was fewer than 30 houses then—to send out "messengers" to the slaves in the West Indies. The first missionaries landed in St. Thomas in December 1732. Work soon was started in another Danish colony, Greenland. Within 30 years, there were Moravian missionaries active on every continent, and this at a time when there were fewer than 300 people in Herrnhut. They are famous for their selfless work, living as slaves among the slaves and together with the native Americans, the Delaware (i.e. Lenni Lenape) and Cherokee Indian tribes. Today, the work in the former mission provinces of the worldwide Moravian Church is carried on by native workers. The fastest growing area of the work is in Tanzania in Eastern Africa. The Moravian work in South Africa inspired William Carey and the founders of the British Baptist missions. Today, 7 of every 10 Moravians are in a former mission field and belong to a race other than Caucasian.
[edit]Evangelical church missions
With a dramatic increase in efforts since the 1900s, and a strong push since the Lausanne I: The International Congress on World Evangelization in Switzerland in 1974, [7] evangelical groups have focused efforts on sending missionaries to every ethnic group in the world. While this effort has not been completed, increased attention has brought larger numbers of people distributing Bibles, Jesus videos, and establishing evangelical churches in more remote, less Christianized areas.
Internationally, the focus for many years in the later 20th century was on reaching every "people group" with Christianity by the year 2000. Bill Bright's leadership with Campus Crusade, the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, The Joshua Project, and others brought about the need to know who these "unreached people groups" are and how those wanting to tell about the Christian God and share a Christian Bible could reach them. The focus for these organizations transitioned from a "country focus" to a "people group focus." (From "What is a People Group?" by Dr. Orville Boyd Jenkins: A "people group" is an ethnolinguistic group with a common self-identity that is shared by the various members. There are two parts to that word: ethno and linguistic. Language is a primary and dominant identifying factor of a people group. But there are other factors that determine or are associated with ethnicity.)
What can be viewed as a success by those inside and outside the church from this focus is a higher level of cooperation and friendliness among churches and denominations. It is very common for those working on international fields to not only cooperate in efforts to share theirgospel message but view the work of their groups in a similar light. Also, with the increased study and awareness of different people groups, western mission efforts have become far more sensitive to the cultural nuances of those they are going to and those they are working with in the effort.
Over the years, as indigenous churches have matured, the church of the "Global South" (Africa, Asia and Latin America) has become the driving force in missions. Korean and African missionaries can now be found all over the world. These missionaries represent a major shift in church history.
Brazil, Nigeria, and other countries have had large numbers of their Christian adherents go to other countries and start churches. These non-western missionaries often have unparalleled success because they need few western resources and comforts to sustain their livelihood while doing the work they have chosen among a new culture and people.
[edit]The British missionary societies
Main articles: London Missionary Society, Church Mission Society, China Inland Mission, Church's Ministry Among Jewish People, andBaptist Missionary Society
One of the first large-scale missionary endeavours of the British colonial age was the Baptist Missionary Society, founded in 1792 as the Particular Baptist Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Amongst the Heathen.
The London Missionary Society was an evangelical organisation, bringing together from its inception both Anglicans and Nonconformists; it was founded in England in 1795 with missions in Africa and the islands of the South Pacific. The Colonial Missionary Society was created in 1836, and directed its efforts towards promoting Congregationalist forms of Christianity among “British or other European settlers” rather than indigenous peoples.[8] [9] Both of these merged in 1966, and the resultant organisation is now known as the Council for World Mission.
The Church Mission Society, first known as the Society for Missions to Africa and the East, was founded in 1799 by evangelical Anglicans centred around the anti-slavery activist William Wilberforce. It bent its efforts to the Coptic Church, the Ethiopian Church, and India, especially Kerala; it continues to this day. Many of the network of churches they established became the Anglican Communion.
In 1809 the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews was founded, which pioneered mission amongst the Jewish people; it continues today as the Church's Ministry Among Jewish People. In 1865 the China Inland Mission was founded, going well beyond British controlled areas; it continues as the OMF, working throughout East Asia.
[edit]Jehovah's Witnesses missionaries
Typically, all Witnesses spend time every week "witnessing" in their area. Depending on the civil law in the respective country, this may take the form of proselytizing door to door, distribution of magazines and other literature such as The Watchtower and Awake! or responding to the questions of passersby. They also conduct free home Bible studies with interested persons. While all baptized Jehovah's Witnesses engage in preaching work, the branch office of the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, will appoint full-time missionaries. Regular Pioneers are appointed in local congregations and spend an average of 70 hours a month preaching. Missionaries and Special Pioneers are appointed to serve in isolated areas where preaching might be limited. Foreign missionaries are appointed to serve after they have completed a five month course at the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead in Patterson, New York. They devote an average of 130 hours a month. They consider this activity as a privilege as well as an obedience to the teachings of Jesus Christ in (Matthew 28:19–20).
[edit]Latter-day Saint missionaries
Main articles: Missionary (LDS Church) and Mission (LDS Church)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has an active missionary program. Their purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Young men between the ages of 19 and 25 (usually beginning at the age of 19) are encouraged to prepare themselves to serve a two-year, self-funded (the LDS Church pays for transportation, health and dental care, etc. the missionary pays a monthly amount), full-time proselytizing mission. Young women and retired couples may serve missions as well. Young women who desire to serve as missionaries serve at an older age, 21 or older, and often for only one and a half years. Missionaries typically spend one to three months in a Missionary Training Center where they study the scriptures, learn new languages, and otherwise prepare themselves to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and understand the culture in which and the people among whom they will be living. The LDS Church has about 53,000 missionaries worldwide. They testify and teach of Jesus Christ and His restored gospel.[10]
[edit]Islamic missions
Main article: Islamic missionary activity
Dawah means to "invite" (in Arabic, literally "calling") to Islam, estimated to be the second largest religion next to Christianity. From the 7th century it spread rapidly from the Arabian Peninsula to the rest of the world through the initial Muslim conquests, and subsequently with traders and explorers after the death of the Prophet Muhammad.
Initially, the spread of Islam came through the dawah efforts of Muhammad and those who followed him. After his death in 632 CE, much of the expansion of the empire came through conquest, such as that of North Africa and later Spain (Al-Andalus), and the Islamic conquest of Persia putting an end to the Sassanid Empire and spreading the reach of Islam to as far East as Khorasan, which would later become the cradle of Islamic civilization during the Islamic Golden Age and a stepping-stone towards the introduction of Islam to the Turkic tribes living in and bordering the area.
The missionary movements peaked during the Islamic Golden Age, with the expansion of foreign trade routes, primarily into the Indo-Pacificand as far South as the isle of Zanzibar and the South-Eastern shores of Africa.
With the coming about of the tradition of Sufism, Islamic missionary activities increased considerably. The mystical nature of the tradition had an all-encompassing aspect, a property many societies inAsia could relate to. Later, with the conquest of Anatolia by the Seljuk Turks, missionaries would find easier passage to the lands then formerly belonging to the Byzantine Empire. In the earlier stages of the Ottoman Empire, a Turkic form of Shamanism was still widely practiced in Anatolia, which soon started to give in to the mysticism offered by Sufism. The teachings of Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, who migrated from Khorasan to Anatolia, are good examples to the mystical aspect of Sufism.
During the Ottoman presence in the Balkans, missionary movements were also taken up by people from aristocratic families hailing from the region, who had been educated in Constantinople or any other major city within the Empire, in famed madrassahs and kulliyes. Most of the time, such individuals were sent back to the place of their origin, being appointed important positions in the local governing body. This approach often resulted in the building of mosques and local kulliyes for future generations to benefit from, as well as spreading the teachings of Islam.
The spread of Islam towards Central and West Africa has been prominent but slow, until the early 19th century. Previously, the only connection was through Transsaharan trade, of which the Mali Empire, consisting predominantly of African and Berber tribes, stands as a strong proof of the early Islamization of the Sub-Saharan region. The gateways prominently expanded to include the aforementioned trade routes through the Eastern shores of the African continent. With the European colonization of Africa, missionaries were almost in competition with the European Christian missionaries operating in the colonies.
The Muslim population of the US has increased greatly in the last one hundred years, with much of the growth driven by widespread conversion.[11] Up to one-third of American Muslims are African Americans who have converted to Islam during the last seventy years.Conversion to Islam in prisons,[12] and in large urban areas[13] has also contributed to its growth over the years.
An estimated US$45 billion has been spent by the Saudi Arabian government financing mosques and Islamic schools in foreign countries.Ain al-Yaqeen, a Saudi newspaper, reported in 2002 that Saudi funds may have contributed to building as many as 1,500 mosques and 2,000 other Islamic centers.[14]
There is evidence of Arab Muslim traders entering Indonesia as early as the 8th century.[15] Indonesia's early people were animists, Hindus and Buddhists.[16] However it was not until the end of the 13th century that the process of "Islamization" began to spread throughout the areas local communities and port towns.[15] The spread, although at first introduced through Arab Muslim traders, continued to saturate through the Indonesian people as local rulers and royalty began to adopt the religion, subsequently their subjects would mirror their conversion. The "Islamization" process continued as Muslim traders married the local women, with some of the wealthier traders marrying into the families of the ruling elite.[17]
Recently, Muslim groups have engaged in missionary work in Malawi. Much of this is performed by the African Muslim Agency, based inAngola. The Kuwait-sponsored AMA has translated the Qur'an into Chichewa (Cinyanja),[18] one of the official languages of Malawi, and has engaged in other missionary work in the country. All of the major cities in the country have mosques, and there are several Islamic schools.[19]
Several South African, Kuwaiti and other Muslim agencies are active in Mozambique, with one important one being the African Muslim Agency. The spread of Islam into West Africa, beginning with ancient Ghana in the ninth century, was mainly the result of the commercial activities of North African Muslims. The empires of both Mali and Songhai that followed ancient Ghana in the Western Sudan adopted the religion. Islam made its entry into the northern territories of modern Ghana around the fifteenth century. Mande speakers (who in Ghana are known as Wangara) traders and clerics carried the religion into the area. The northeastern sector of the country was also influenced by an influx of Hausa Muslim traders from the 16th Century onwards
Islamic influence first came to be felt in India in the early 7th century with the advent of Arab traders. Trade relations have existed between Arabia and the Indian subcontinent from ancient times. Even in the pre-Islamic era, Arab traders used to visit the Malabar region, which linked them with the ports of South East Asia. According to Historians Elliot and Dowson in their book The History of India as told by its own Historians, the first ship bearing Muslim travelers was seen on the Indian coast as early as 630 AD. H.G. Rawlinson, in his book: Ancient and Medieval History of India[20] claims the first Arab Muslims settled on the Indian coast in the last part of the 7th century AD. Shaykh Zainuddin Makhdum’s “Tuhfat al-Mujahidin” also is a reliable work.[21] This fact is corroborated, by J. Sturrock in his South Kanara and Madras Districts Manuals,[22] and also by Haridas Bhattacharya in Cultural Heritage of India Vol. IV.[23] It was with the advent of Islam that the Arabs became a prominent cultural force in the world. The Arab merchants and traders became the carriers of the new religion and they propagated it wherever they went.[24]
Islam in Bulgaria can be traced back to the mid-ninth century when there were Islamic missionaries in Bulgaria, evidenced by a letter from Pope Nicholas to Boris of Bulgaria that the Saracens must be extirpated.[25]
Pioneer Muslim missionaries to the Kenyan interior were largely Tanganyikans, who coupled their missionary work with trade, along the centres began along the railway line, such as, Kibwezi, Makindu and Nairobi.
Outstanding amongst them was Maalim Mtondo, a Tanganyikan credited with being the first Muslim missionary to Nairobi. Reaching Nairobi at the close of the Nineteenth Century, he led a group of other Muslims, and enthusiastic missionaries from the coast to establish a ‘Swahili village’ in the present day Pumwani.
A small mosque was built to serve as a starting point and he began preaching Islam in earnest. He soon attracted several Kikuyus and Wakambas, who became his disciples.[26]
In 1380 Karim ul' Makhdum the first Arabian Islamic missionary reached the Sulu Archipelago and Jolo in the Philippines and established Islam in the country. In 1390 the Minangkabau's Prince Rajah Baguinda and his followers preached Islam on the islands.[27] The Sheik Karimal Makdum Mosque was the first mosque established in the Philippines on Simunul in Mindanao in the 14th century. Subsequent settlements by Arab missionaries traveling to Malaysia and Indonesia helped strengthen Islam in the Philippines and each settlement was governed by a Datu, Rajah and a Sultan. Islamic provinces founded in the Philippines included the Sultanate of Maguindanao, Sultanate of Sulu and other parts of the southern Philippines.
