1. The Great Century By Howard Norrish16
The Great Century
By Howard Norrish

2. The Roots of the Great Century
“Effective mission is birthed out of revival and good theology”
JohnElliot – apostle to the American Indians
David Brainerd – influenced many future missionaries
his diary led to the “haystack prayer meeting” – the birth of American foreign missions
Also influenced William Carey (India) and Robert Morrison (China)

3. The Great Evangelical Awakening
Began in Germany among the Moravians (1727)
Spread throughout the English-speaking world
Focus on individual heart change, not intellectual assent
Evangelism was innovative – preaching in fields and anyplace a crowd could be gathered
Founding preachers: Whitefield, Wesley, Jonathan Edwards among many others

4. Early Missionary Pioneers
Brief Biographical Sketches
Early Missionary Pioneers

5. William Carey (1761-1834) “Pioneer to Hindu Peoples” He was
a cobbler by trade,
self-taught in Greek,
fascinated by the journals of Captain Cook about his travels in the South Seas
He pastored a small church and continued to study languages: Hebrew, Greek, French, Italian, and Dutch…and mastered them all

6. William Carey – Missionary
Was appointed the first missionary of the Baptist Missionary Society
Moved to Bengal in India; never returned to England
Greatest passion – translation and distribution of the Bible
Teamed with William Ward (printer and educator) and Joshua Marshman
The three are known as the “Serampore Trio”

7. William Carey – his values
The Bible as the foundation of the church and key to the transformation of India
Radical discipleship
Biblical worldview
A personal, rational Creator
Bi-vocational ministry
Advance through spiritual warfare

8. Henry Martyn (1781-1812) “Pioneer to the Muslim peoples”
Brilliant mathematician and linguist
Mastered 17 languages
Radically converted at death of father
Chaplain to British troops in India
Studied with William Carey
Moved to Patna in Bihar and began to learn the Muslim culture and tried to serve them

9. Martyn’s Life-work Started schools for Indian children
Studied Islam to gain an understanding of their worldview and life ways
Completed and excellent Urdu translation of the New Testament – still used today
Contracted tuberculosis which slowly weakened him
Moved to Shiraz in the Persian Empire.
Completed an excellent, idiomatic translation of the New Testament into Farsi.
Died soon after as he tried to return to England

10. William Burns (1815-1868) “Pioneer to the Chinese people”
Saved in 1832, studied for the ministry, tried to go to India as a missionary…rejected
Gifted preacher and a prayer warrior
Ordained in 1847 and left for China
In Hong Kong – moved to Chinese quarter to learn the language
1849 crossed into mainland China and began a traveling preaching ministry

11. Burns – Impact
1854 he began to see conversions in Amoy, left two disciples to pastor the church and moved to Shanghai
When Hudson Taylor arrived, he took him on preaching tours; both dressed and lived as Chinese
Planted many house churches, though the converts were frequently persecuted
He died in China as he continued his work

12. The Ebb and Flow of the Great Century
The first wave ( )
A European era marked by good missiology
Missionaries were frequently “tent-makers”
A time when the coastlands of the world were reached
The tide recedes ( )
The gospel mingled with “civilization”
Colonialism compromises missions
The second wave
Second Evangelical Awakening – revivals from 1830’s through 1860’s in the US
Americans become more involved in missions

13. Second-era Pioneers James Hudson Taylor (1832-1905)
Born in England, trained in medicine, arrived 1854
1866, founded a faith mission society (CIM)
Noteworthy:
Strategy was rapid evangelization.
Settled preaching teams in government center cities; eventually had 260 teams deployed
Made use of single women missionaries to reach women
Lost 91 adults in the boxer rebellion
Saw mass movement to Christianity afterwards

14. Other Pioneers Mary Slessor (1848-1915) – Nigeria
Went as a single woman to places no one else could
Greatly respected as peacemaker by tribal people
Died after 40 years of ministry. Fruit was about 10,000 converts from Okoyong and Ibo people
Samuel Zwemer ( ) – SVMM
Evangelized in Bahrain for 9 years
Know more for raising awareness of the need for Muslim evangelism

15. Conclusion Lessons Missions has ebbs and flows
Spiritual decline in churches leads to spiritual decline in missions
The Word of God is central in effective missions, so good translation work is fundamental
Telling the story of God at work in the world stirs people in the churches to embrace missions