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Foochow Missionaries Project |
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All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. -- 2 Timothy 3:16 |
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The missionaries did not come to Foochow to acquire property, learn the language, or even to establish amicable relations with their Chinese neighbors. Nor, although Welton, White, and Wiley practiced medicine, was the relief of suffering itself their goal. Even though the missionaries established schools in the 1850s it cannot be said that they had come to promote education. Nor, although they loaned books and showed gadgets to curious officials, was their aim the promotion of intercultural understanding. Their objective in coming to the mission field was amazingly simple and straightforward. It was to make converts to Christianity. > Ellsworth C. Carlson The story of the Foochow Missionaries starts on January 2, 1847, when Stephen Johnson, the first missionary sent by the American Board, set foot on Nantai Island, and ends on December 11, 1951, when Carleton Lacy, the last China Methodist Bishop, died friendless and alone at Union Hospital. During that century (105 years) which saw the greatest collision in history between East and West, these Foochow Missionaries lived a life full of love and pain, of adventure and sacrifice, and of joy and heartbreak. Their story is a soul-stirring one, and needs telling. For years I have been seeking and reading materials about the Foochow Missionaries, about the native converts, and, last but not least, about God himself too, collecting the bits and pieces that are still available and trying to make them fit together into a big picture. I call this work “Foochow Missionaries Project”, hoping it will slow down the rapid process in which these precious memories are slipping into oblivion. Yes, their story must not be forgotten; their story is God’s story. Look at these pictures below (please be reminded that this is far from a complete list). Do you know any of them? Maybe one of them was/is your ancestor, relative or friend; or maybe you are a scholar or a historian who has made research on some of the persons below, or maybe you are just someone who accidentally stumbles upon this page and finds it of some interest. For whatever reason you came here, I am in bad need of your help. What you have about these Foochow Missionaries, such as photos, documents, publications, family letters, journals and biographies, etc., will certainly enrich our knowledge greatly. Please feel free to contact me at American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (Congregationalist)
American Methodist Episcopal Mission (Methodist)
Church Missionary Society (Anglican)
Local Churches and Independent Preachers
Geographical Origins of the Foochow MissionariesBelow is a map that shows the geographical origins of most Foochow missionaries, each placemark representing a person. Click on a mark and you will see the name, the birthplace, and the birth and death years of a certain missionary, and some of them are hyperlinked to their Wikipedia entries. As most of the Foochow missionaries came from the Northeastern United States, I have centered the map in this area. But drag it to the United Kingdom, Ireland, China, and other parts of Europe and you will find more missionaries. In the map, red marks stand for those who were connected with the American Methodist Episcopal Mission, yellow for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, blue for the Church Missionary Society, purple for the Lutheran Church of Sweden, and green for the Catholic Church.
Last updated: 2011/11/15 |
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