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May.16.10


All the missions once served by Europeans are now self governing and mostly staffed by their own people. On the West Bank in Palestine a building once used by the Moravians as a Leper Home, Star Mountain, is used to care for handicapped Arab children. There is a revival of the work in Estonia. Original mission provinces are themselves now engaged on mission outreach, sometimes in partnership with other denominations, as in Mexico and the Alaskan mission to Siberia. Other countries recently added to the list are: Cuba, Albania, Venezuela, Assam (a state in India) and Nepal. The vision of the 'World for Christ' is still before us and in His name the work continues.

 

Moravian Missions were an inspiration to others. At a meeting of Baptist ministers in Kettering (October 1792), William Carey said, 'See what these Moravians have done! Can we not follow their example, and in obedience to our Heavenly Master go out into the world and preach the Gospel to the heathen?' When the question of the abolition of slavery was being debated in Parliament it was Christian Ignatius La Trobe, Secretary of the Moravian Mission Board, who provided information about the condition of the slaves to his personal friend William Wilberforce who used it to good effect in Parliamentary speeches.

The London Association in Aid of Moravian Missions was formed in 1817 by members of several denominations in Britain to assist in the work and still continues to raise funds. Notable persons who supported the Association in the past were William Wilberforce, Rowland Hill, Lady Walpole, General Gordon and Mrs. Gladstone.

The above is a brief outline of the way Moravian Missions started. The full story is one of heroism, dedication and faith in Christ that is almost unbelievable. Maybe one day an up to date history will be written, telling of the part the Moravian Church played, and is still playing, in Christian mission.