ALFA AND OMEGA BIBLE INSTITUTE

MISSIONOLOGY

SISTER MARIA ISABEL FUENTES MARTINEZ

BIOGRAPHIES OF MISSIONARIES

JHOEL ALBERTO LEON HERNANDEZ

David Livingstone
British doctor and missionary who began the exploration of the interior of Africa (Blantyre,
Scotland, 1813 - Chitambo, Zambia, 1873). Coming from a poor family, he completed his medical
studies at the University of Glasgow and enrolled in the London Missionary Society motivated by
religious feelings (he was ordained a Protestant priest in 1840).

At his own request, he was assigned to southern Africa in 1841. From there he headed north into
present-day Botswana, preaching the Christian religion and exploring unknown territories in the
midst of grave dangers. In 1852-54 he crossed the Kalahari Desert to connect the Cape with
Luanda, capital of the Portuguese colony of Angola; From there, rejecting invitations to return to
England and, despite his health problems, he began a new crossing from the Atlantic to the Indian
Ocean, linking Angola with Mozambique through the Zambezi River (1854-56).

During his subsequent stay in England he was awarded and received by the queen, becoming a
popular hero. His writings and conferences aroused interest in the mysterious African continent
throughout the world, inciting the subsequent colonial race for the distribution of its dominion
among the European powers; However, Livingstone's own intentions were always peaceful,
promoting scientific knowledge of the continent, the establishment of friendly relations with
indigenous peoples, and the eradication of slavery.

The British government financed a second voyage to explore the Zambezi as a route into the
interior of Africa in 1858-64; but the multiple waterfalls he discovered frustrated the project. A
third voyage, funded by the Royal Geographical Society in 1865-73, took him to explore the
regions around Lakes Nyasa and Tanganyika.

In 1871 the news circulated in the West that Livingstone had gone missing and two newspapers
sent Henry Stanley in search of him; He entered East Africa and found Livingstone in Ujiji, on the
shores of Lake Tanganyika. But he could not convince him to return and, after supplying him, they
both separated in 1872. While Stanley continued his exploration of the Congo River, Livingstone
continued on his way and died a natural death a year later.

Amy Wilson
Amy Wilson Carmichael was born in the small town of Mullingar , Westmeath , Ireland . Her
parents, Uriel and Vasti Carmichael, were devout Christians of the Presbyterian denomination and
she was the eldest of seven children.

Amy's father died when she was 18 years old. Carmichael founded the Welcome Evangelical
Church in Belfast , following a donation of £500 and a donation of land from one of the owners of
a nearby factory.

Amy continued at Welcome until she received a call in 1889 to work for a factory girl in
Manchester , before moving on to missionary work. In many ways he was an unlikely candidate for
missionary work since he suffered from neuralgia , a nerve disease that makes the body feel weak
and sore and often puts him in bed for weeks.
It was in 1887 at the Keswick Convention that he heard James Hudson Taylor , founder of the
China Inland Mission ( OMF International ), speak about missionary life. Shortly after, she was
convinced of her calling to work. She set out to go with the China Inland Mission and trained in
London at a women's training house, where she met the author and missionary to China, Mary
Geraldine Guinness , who encouraged her to pursue missionary work. She was ready to set sail for
Asia at one point, when it was determined that her health made her unfit for work. She postponed
her missionary career with the MIC and later decided to join the Church Mission Society . She
created a group called "The Cluster of Stars" made up of Indian women and evangelical
missionaries.

David Brainerd
David Brainerd, American missionary to the Indians, was born in Haddam, Connecticut, on April 20,
1718, and died in Northampton, Massachusetts, in the home of Jonathan Edwards (to whose
daughter Jemima he was engaged), on October 9, 1747.

He was the son of Hezekiah Brainerd, of Her Majesty's council, and Dorothy Hobart, daughter of
the Reverend Jeremiah Hobart and granddaughter of the Reverend Peter Hobart, who, expelled
from Hingham, England, when the Puritan persecutions, settled in Hingham, Massachusetts. Since
childhood David was very sensitive, introspective, scrupulous and subject to periods of dark
depression. Although worried for his soul, terrified by the thought of death and driven to perform
religious duties at the age of seven, it was only after many terrible battles with his severe Calvinist
background that he was converted on July 12, 1739. In the fall of that year he entered Yale College
to prepare for the ministry, but three years later something occurred that led to his expulsion from
the college. These were the times of the Great Awakening and Brainerd sympathized with the
'New Lights' ( Whitefield , Tennent and their followers), attending their meetings when it was
forbidden to do so, in addition to criticizing one of the school tutors saying that 'he was less funny
than a chair.' This statement reached the ears of Rector Clap, who ordered that he apologize to
teachers and students. When he refused to do so and was attending meetings not authorized by
the school, he was expelled; Although in 1743 he offered to apologize if he received his degree, it
was denied, an act that some of the clergy disapproved, there being a tradition that affirms that
this refusal was the catalyst for the founding of Princeton College, whose first three presidents
were among the most steadfast Brainerd defenders.

After studying with the Reverend Jedediah Mills of Ripton, Connecticut, he was licensed to preach
by the ministers' association of Danbury, Connecticut, on July 29, 1742, and the same year he was
approved as a missionary by the New York representatives of the Society. in Scotland for
Propagating Christian Knowledge on November 25, working among the Indians at Kaunaumeek, a
settlement in the woods between Stockbridge and Albany, from April 1743 to March 1744, under
the Rev. John Sergeant. He was ordained as a missionary by the New York Presbytery at Newark,
New Jersey, on June 12, 1744, and ten days later he began work on what was to be his permanent
field, the fork of the Delaware River, near Easton, Pennsylvania. . In October he visited the Indians
on the Susquehanna and on June 19, 1745, he began preaching at Crossweeksung, which would be
the scene of his great achievements. In May 1746 he moved with all the Indians to Cranberry,
about 80 miles away. He endured his life among them with admirable strength and dedication,
consuming his health and finally having to leave the work on March 20, 1747 due to exhaustion
and dying a few months later. His missionary position was taken by his brother John . The portions
of his diary that have to do with his work in Crossweeksung and cover from June 19 to November
4, 1745 and from November 24, 1745 to June 19, 1746, were published before his death. by the
commissioners of the Society (Mirabilia dei inter Indicos: or the rise and progress of a remarkable
work of grace among a number of the Indians in the provinces of New Jersey and Pennsylvania and
Divine Grace Displayed: or the continuance and progress of a remarkable work of grace, etc., both
published in Philadelphia, 1746, and commonly known as "Brainerd's Journal"). All of his papers,
including an account of his early years and the original copy of his diary, were kept by Jonathan
Edwards, who compiled An Account of the Life of the Late Rev. David Brainerd (Boston, 1749),
omitting the parts of the diary already published. The life and the entire diary, with his letters and
other writings, were edited by S. AND. Dwight (New Haven, 1822) and by J. M. Sherwood (New
York, 1884).

Brainerd was always directed by his conscience towards God and duty, indifferent to any task or
risk that his devotion posed, although eminently practical in his missionary program. His religious
experiences, elevations and depressions of spirit, physical weakness, travels and work, doctrinal
teachings and work methods, are in his diary, classic reading that has inspired others to go on
missions, such as Henry Martyn . Jonathan Edwards in his An Account of the Life of the Late
Reverend Mr. David Brainerd... chiefly taken from his own Diary describes Brainerd thus:

Philip James Elliot

Philip James Elliot was born on October 8, 1927, in Portland, Oregon, to Fred and Clara Elliot. He
grew up in a family of three brothers. His father was an evangelist in the Puget Sound area and his
mother was a chiropractor. As he grew up, the missionaries who visited his home proved to be an
important influence in his life. When he was eight years old, he accepted the Lord Jesus Christ into
his heart.

Jim attended the Polytechnic School, majoring in architectural drawing. He was also a talented
actor; his teachers urged him to enter professional theater. But most of all, Jim developed his
talent in preaching during his high school years. In his senior year he was elected class president.

When Jim graduated from high school, he applied to Wheaton College, which he entered in 1945.
He and his roommate, Pete Fleming, dedicated their lives to Christ. He was awarded a scholarship,
but had to work part-time to support his studies. A statistic shook his heart: “There is one Christian
worker for every 50,000 people abroad, while there is one for every 500 in the United States.”

One summer when he visited Mexico, he stayed with a missionary family to learn Spanish. Thus,
he felt that his missionary calling was to South America.

In his junior and senior years of college, he began to pay attention to a girl named Elizabeth, who
also wanted to be a missionary. However, he still did not feel a confirmation for marriage. They
both decided to pray separately.
Shortly after, Jim went on a mission trip to Mexico and his interest in Latin America began to grow
rapidly.

In 1948, he was elected president of the Fraternity of Foreign Missions. In one of his notebooks he
wrote: “God, I beg you, Use my life, my God, because it is yours. I am not looking for a long life,
but a full one, may you like it, Lord Jesus.” He graduated with high honors in 1949. Jim returned
home to live with his family, focusing on Bible study and his relationship with the Lord.

In June 1950, Jim spent a lot of time with a returned missionary who evangelized the Quechua
Indians of Ecuador from the feared Auca tribe. Immediately, Jim felt the call and after ten days of
prayer, he wrote a letter to the person in charge of the missions in Ecuador, asking if he could
come help with the missionary work. Shortly after they agreed to receive it. However, Jim's
decision to go to Ecuador was postponed for a year.

After some time, Jim proposed to Elizabeth and then continued their relationship through letters.
Jim worked with youth in Indiana and Illinois, where he had a radio show called “The March of
Truth.” Jim convinced a friend to leave law school and enter the mission. He, along with his friend,
decided to go to Ecuador.

On February 4, 1952, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming left for Ecuador and arrived in Quito on the 21st.
They both stayed there for six months with a missionary family. In April of the same year, Elisabeth
arrived to work as a doctor. Even though he went to the opposite side of Ecuador to work with
another tribe.

In February 1953, Jim and Elisabeth met in Quito and were married on October 8, 1953. The only
witnesses were his fellow evangelists.

Of her first year of marriage, she wrote, “It has been the happiest and busiest year of my life.”
Elliot's daughter, Valerie, was born February 27, 1955. Jim and Elisabeth worked together
translating the New Testament into the indigenous Quechua language at the new mission called
Shell Mera.

To get to the town of Shandia, Jim had to take a plane to the nearest village. Once he landed he
had to take a two-hour walk through the jungle and swamps to reach his destination.

In Shandia, Pete and Jim made contact with the Quechua Indians. Together with other
missionaries they built a mission station, a first aid post and a small landing strip, a task that took
about a year.

During the rainy season, a flood came that destroyed everything they had built. While Jim was
working in Shandia, he remembered that he had studied the Auca tribe. One thing he
remembered was that they were violent and had never had contact with the outside world. He
wanted to bring the Gospel there, so he began a plan called Operation Auca. In addition to him
and his wife, his team consisted of two missionary couples.

The men discovered the first cabins of Auca, with the help of a pilot. Plans for contact with the
Aucas continued. A volunteer would fly through the village shouting words of friendship in the
Auca language through a loudspeaker and descend with a basket of gifts such as grain, clothing,
machetes and a photograph of each missionary. The Aucas realized that they were very friendly
and allowed them to land on an island.

Unexpectedly after a week, four aucas arrived in Palm Beach. The men gave them food and gifts as
a sign of peace. The missionaries were always ready for the visits of the Aucas and for safety
carried firearms, but they reached an agreement not to use them unless necessary.

Four days later, two Auca women and a man appeared on the other side of the river at the edge of
the jungle. The missionaries began shouting phrases in the Auca language. The man responded.
Jim jumped into the river and swam across it. Finally, after some persuasion, he was able to
convince the men to enter his camp.

The youngest Auca woman boarded the plane and began making movements with her hands. The
man also moved towards the map and examined it carefully. The missionaries soon understood
that the Indians were interested in a ride, so they left and placed them in the back of the plane.
The Auca was crazy with joy, hanging from the plane window and shouting phrases to his
countrymen.

When they returned to their camp, the missionaries had lunch with their visitors. They showed
signs that they wanted to spend the night at Jim's house. They hospitably agreed to let them stay.

Encouraged by this visit, Jim felt that it was time to go and preach to the Aucas. One morning on
January 8, the missionaries informed their wives by radio that they were going to enter the town.

That same day their wives returned to the United States. On the plane they saw twenty or thirty
Aucas heading to their husbands' camp. The men believed that this group came in peace. What
the men did not know is that those would be their last hours of life.

The women only asked God to keep their wives safe. The lack of response to radio calls put them
in a state of alarm. An hour later, helicopters and planes from the Ecuadorian Air Force and the US
Army swarmed along the Curray River in search of the missionaries.

Finally, one of the helicopter crew called to say that they had found the missionaries. Jim Elliot's
body was found downstream along with the other three missionaries. Their bodies had been
brutally pierced with spears and severed by machetes.

Their wives received the news and said, “The Lord has closed our hearts to pain and hysteria, and
filled it with His perfect peace.”

These martyrs are known throughout the world and continue to be an encouragement to many
missionaries. After this tragedy, there were many conversions to Christianity among the
indigenous tribes of Ecuador. After Jim Elliot's death, Elisabeth Elliot and her daughter Valerie
continued working with the Quechua Indians and later moved to work with the Auca Indians who
once murdered her husband.

Jim Elliot lived with honor and sought God in everything he did. He once said, “He is not a fool who
gives what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot lose.” He gave everything in faith to
the Auca people and did not lose the Kingdom of Heaven.
James Hudson Taylor
ENGLISH MISSIONARY IN CHINA. HE SPENT 5 YEARS TRANSLATING THE NEW TESTAMENT INTO
THE NINGPO DIALECT. AT HIS DEATH IN 1905, THERE WERE 205 STATIONS WITH 899
MISSIONARIES AND 125,000 CHINESE CHRISTIANS IN THE CHINA INTERIOR MISSION.

“He must move men through God—by prayer,” that was the philosophy of Hudson Taylor, the first
missionary to the interior of China and founder of the interior mission to China. From that day in
December when he heard from heaven as a teenager “come get me to China”, this young
Englishman set out to test his philosophy. What he did successfully and miraculously creates some
of the most exciting reading in the records of evangelism.

James Hudson Taylor was born on May 21, 1832 in a Christian home. His father was a pharmacist
in Barnsley, Yorkshire (England), and a preacher who in his youth had a strong charge for China.
When Hudson was only four years old, he amazed everyone with this phrase: "When I am a man, I
want to be a missionary in China." The father's faith and the mother's prayers meant a lot. Before
he was born, they had prayed to consecrate him to God for precisely that purpose.

William Carey
William Carey ( Paulerspury , 17 August 1761 – Serampore , 9 June 1834 ) was an English
Protestant missionary and Baptist minister , known as the father of modern missions. Carey was
one of the founders of the Baptist Missionary Society . As a missionary to the Danish colony
Serampore in India , he translated the Bible into Bengali , Sanskrit , and other languages and
dialects. There are at least four academic institutions with his name, William Carey International
University in Pasadena, California , Carey Theological College 1 in Vancouver, British Columbia ,
Carey Baptist College, William Carey University , Hattiesburg , Mississippi Colegio Guillermo Carey
in Barranquilla-Colombia. Guillermo Carey School

Carey served for forty years evangelizing, founding schools and translating the Bible into different
languages of the country. He is considered one of the greats of evangelism and modern missions.
He developed a mission plan and encouraged many to join such work.

Before leaving England he was a Baptist minister . He dedicated a lot of time to reading and
languages. At 21 years of age he already mastered Latin , Greek , Hebrew and Italian , and was
beginning with Danish and French .

One day, in a quiet moment at his job (selling shoes), he heard God's call. He heard: “If the duty of
every man is to hear the gospel… then it is the duty of those who have been entrusted with the
gospel to aspire to bring it to all nations” and he whispered: “Here am I, send me to my" .

At that time there were no mission agencies, not even interest in the topic of missions. However,
he persisted that “we had to go.” Reading and searching, he understood the need of many to
know about Christ and the distance and hostility of India against the missionaries did not stop him.
In 1793 , he and his family (his wife Dorothy and two children at the time) went to India . After a
five-month trip by boat they arrived in the country.

His beginning was not easy, starting with the trip, during which he experienced a very strong
storm, and then disease and famine. His ministry was not easy. However, he knew that God had
called him and he was persistent in evangelization in the midst of idolatry and indeference. He
spent years of working without seeing fruit (not one Hindu convert in seven years), debts, mental
deterioration of his wife, death; Only by the grace of God did Carey persist in the calling of Christ.
He was the one who said the famous phrase: “Expect great things from God and attempt great
things for God.”

Among the things he experienced and faced was the caste division. This marked social division
hurt his heart and he considered it useless in the eyes of God. In his letters he expressed his pain
and his opinion on the matter.

Another thing that bothered him, and for which he spoke out strongly, was the tradition of
burning widows alive at their husband's funeral. Moved by this, he implored the English Governor
to prohibit this horrible action. For some reason, the custom was not canceled until 1828 , when
William Bentinck was appointed Governor General. One of his first actions was to stop this cruel
act. In December 1829 the edict was signed and Carey had the privilege of translating it into
Bengali .

Idolatry in India: in his letters he spoke of the many gods and rites he saw. In the streets they
made large altars with their idols and brought their offerings of food and flowers, along with music
that he classified as "horrible." These rites lent themselves to further enriching the rich (who were
the ones who "set up the altar") and the poor were the ones who brought the offerings.

He states that he openly "spoke to them about the evil of idols, and the folly of worshiping them,
about the true nature of God, and the way of salvation through Christ." On one occasion he had
the opportunity to see a very interested and persuaded man from the upper caste. The crowd
yelled at this man to silence Carey (because due to his social position he had to), but he couldn't.
He remained silent and perplexed.

Another ritual that he witnessed many times, and spoke against, was the ritual of throwing small
children into the river as a sacrifice to the gods.

He preached in many places in India. He went to isolated areas, full of wild animals. He
commented that sometimes he walked for kilometers, and when he arrived, he had to put aside
his fatigue to share Christ. In the midst of snakes, sometimes tigers (which he did fear) and jackals,
his feet traveled many places and for years, he did not see a single convert.

1800 was a year of change for Carey. A harvest year: the first Hindu convert was baptized and the
New Testament was printed in Bengali. The first copy was placed on the main table of the church
(where the Holy Supper was placed) and a thanksgiving service was held for having completed this
work.

With the new testament made, the next step would be to teach people to read it and in a short
time, he and the missionary team he had managed to establish, had approximately one hundred
schools in Bengali. As a missionary, he demonstrated great love for people and perseverance in
preaching the gospel. He died very poor, despite large donations he received, but he did not spend
them on himself. He always invested those moneys in missionary work.