The congregation of the United Brethren, otherwise known as the Unitas Fratrum or Moravian church, found a haven on the estate of Count Zinzendorf at Berthelsdorf in Upper Lusatia following a period of religious persecution. These mostly poor exiles referred to the place as Herrnhut and determined to send some of their 600-strong membership as missionaries elsewhere. The first two of these were Christian and Matthias Stach, who left for Greenland in 1732, passing through Denmark in order to receive permission for their venture from its king. They arrived at their destination in April, constructed an abode from wood and named the place New Herrnhut. Finding themselves wholly unsuited to sustaining themselves by fishing and hunting, the pair turned to spinning as a source of income. They learned the native language, being taught by Hans Egede, a Lutheran missionary for whom they had been given a letter of introduction while in Denmark; this process was complicated by the need first to learn Danish so as to communicate with Egede - how they accomplished this is not recorded.[1]
The initial impact of the Greenland mission was disheartening and the men considered abandoning it, faced as they were with a substantial language barrier and an apathetic populace that had been much depleted by a smallpox epidemic. However, their numbers were boosted in 1734 with the arrival of John Beck and Frederick Böhnish, along with an assurance that they continued to have the utmost support of the brethren in Herrnhut. Egede obliged them by translating religious texts such as the Ten Commandments and their perseverance in disseminating these through readings to the Greenlanders began to have an impact, although many of those who came to accept the missionaries did so less for reasons of religious instruction than for more practical concerns of acquiring goods from the mission or selling food at exorbitant prices to it. Some remained hostile and the missionaries were attacked from time to time; those who were most willing to accept their presence were children.[2]
The numbers involved in the mission were further enhanced in 1736 by the arrival of the widowed mother of Stach and his two sisters, aged 22 and 12.[a] This event followed a dreadful winter during which some shipped supplies failed to arrive and those present had come close to starvation. It was hoped that the women would shoulder the burden of domestic duties, with the sisters also expressing a desire to proselytise among female Greenlanders.[2]
More bad winters followed, which severely affected both the missionaries and the native people. A chance encounter in 1738, when a group of natives saw the missionaries writing a biblical translation and enquired what was going on, led to the first conversion among the Greenlanders. This man, called Kayarnak, was so affected by the notions of sin and salvation as explained to him by the brethren that he came to live with them and in turn attracted others. He and his family were baptised in March 1739, this being a rite of passage that the missionaries subsequently performed for others only after conviction had been demonstrated over a fair period of time because they recognised a tendency for those among the populace to have a somewhat transient relationship with their teachings.[4] The missionary historian Thomas Smith noted a change in method among the missionaries following this initial conversion:
They had previously been in the habit of directing the attention of the Greenlanders to the existence and attributes of God, the fall of man, and the demands of the divine law; hoping thus, by degrees, to prepare the minds of their hearers for the more mysterious and sublime truths of the gospel. As this plan had been tried, however, for five years with no success, they now [in 1740] resolved simply and in the first instance to preach Christ crucified to the benighted Greenlanders; and not only were their own souls set at peculiar liberty in speaking, but the power of the Holy Ghost evidently accompanied the word spoken to the hearts and consciences of the hearers, so that they trembled at their danger as sinners , and rejoiced with joy unspeakable in the appointment and exhibition of Christ as a Saviour from the wrath to come.[5]
A church building manufactured from wood supplied by supporters abroad was erected in 1747, In 1748 it was recorded that 230 Greenlanders were living at New Herrnhut, of whom 35 had been baptised during that year; the congregation at church services around that time could exceed 300. Being better organised and with the construction of additional buildings for storage, the settlers were in a position not only to fend against inclement conditions and shortages but also to offer charitable aid and shelter to others in times of need. This charitable aid was particularly apparent in the winter of 1752, the condition of which surpassed in their harshness the travails experienced by any native in living memory and which were followed by a period of famine and of disease, the latter resulting from an ailment brought to the area by the crew of a Dutch ship.[6]
A second mission was begun in Greenland in 1758. This again involved Matthias Stach, who had left Greenland some time previously but now returned and took with him two assistants from the brethren and four Greenlander families who had been converted at New Herrnhut. Situated near to Fisher's Bay at a place that they named Lichtenfels, this new venture aimed to satisfy a demand among native people in that area, from which some of the already-converted had come.[7]
References edit
Notes
Citations
- ^ Smith (1824), pp. 1–4
- ^ a b Smith (1824), pp. 4–8
- ^ Smith (1824), p. 12
- ^ Smith (1824), pp. 9–10, 13
- ^ Smith (1824), pp. 11–12
- ^ Smith (1824), pp. 14–15
- ^ Smith (1824), pp. 18–19
Bibliography
- Smith, Thomas (1824), The History and Origin of the Missionary Societies, London: Thos. Kelly & Richd. Evans, pp. 18–19