Pages from History: Fire engulfs missionary William Carey’s print shop in Serampore (1812)
11 March, 1812: Fire engulfs missionary William Carey’s print shop in Serampore, India, destroying his massive polyglot dictionary, two grammar books, sets of type for 14 eastern languages, and whole versions of the Bible.
Undaunted, Carey said, “The loss is heavy, but as traveling a road the second time is usually done with greater ease and certainty than the first time, so I trust the work will lose nothing of real value . . . We are cast down but not in despair.” News of the fire also catapulted Carey to fame, bringing in abundant funds and volunteer labour.
William Carey: The Shoemaker Who Became the Founder of Modern Missions; John Brown Myers; London 1887
Pages from History: George Muller Passes away (1898)
10 March. 1898: George Muller dies at the age of 93. George Muller (born on 27th Sep, 1805) was an ordinary man. His father was a tax collector. He was a man of faith. His life continues to be an inspiration and witness to all who commit their lives to God. By faith and prayer he opened many orphanages in England and he could support and take care of more than 18,000 orphan children during his lifetime. His work still continues through George Muller Foundation.
George Muller of Bristol by Arthur T. Pierson; New York; The Baker and Taylor Company; 1899
Pages from History: 8 March 1835, Freedom for slaves. (Munro Island- Travancore)
Slavery was a social evil which prevailed all over the world including what is now the state of Kerala in India. According to the 1836 census there were 164,864 slaves in Travancore vis-à-vis a total civilian population of 12,80,668.
Slaves were treated like animals and the cost of one slave was that of an ox, cost of an ox was 5 (big para) measures of Paddy or Rs. 10/- only. Slaves were chained and sold like animals in markets.
Kottayam, Changanasserry, Thirunakkara, Alleppey, Kayamkulam, Kollam, Attingal, Chirayinkizh, Kaniyapuram, Pettah and Kovalam were the notorious slave trade markets of the time. Churches in Cochin were used as godowns for the slaves except for Sundays. Slaves were exported out of the kingdom. There was no one to speak on behalf of these unfortunate people.
With the arrival and the teachings of the CMS (Church Missionary Society) missionaries, people became aware of this social evil. In 1819, Munro Island was given to the missionaries, by the then Travancore Government along with the slaves residing there on the Island. Munro Island is located at the confluence of Ashtamudi Lake and the Kallada River, in Kollam district, Kerala, India.
In 1833, England passed the Slavery Abolition Law. CMS missionaries, Benjamin Bailey and Joseph Peet made a historic declaration on 8th March 1835, giving freedom to the slaves in Munro Island.
The declaration read as follows:
“We the undersigned, acting as trustees of Munro Island, do hereby declare that… who has hitherto been a slave of the soil, is from this time liberated by us and made a free man and that his wife and offspring are wholly and forever free and are regarded by us only as hired servants and that no one has any right to bring them into servitude again. At the same time we declare that we do not consider ourselves as released from any claim which he or his wife or offspring may have upon us according to custom, privilege or law in consequence of their having been slaves.”
8 March 5. Sd/- Benj Bailey Sd/- Josh Peet,
In 1847, Uthram Thirunal Marthanda Varma became the King of Travancore. The same year CMS missionaries submitted a memorandum to the King requesting him to stop the slavery in Travancore. In 1853, by royal declaration slavery was abolished in Travancore forever. In 1864, the Kingdom of Cochin also made a similar declaration abolishing slavery.
Slaves
Pages from History: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (S.P.C.K.)
8 March, 1698: British missionary Thomas Bray and four laymen founded the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (S.P.C.K.) “to advance the honour of God and the good of mankind by promoting Christian knowledge both at home and in the other parts of the world by the best methods that should offer”. S.P.C.K. started its work in India in 1711 and is now one of the leading Christian publishing Houses in India. It is known in India as Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (ISPCK).
“Over the years, SPCK has distributed over 30 million books and has provided the means for translating the Book of Common Prayer into more than 200 languages. SPCK sent the first printing presses to India, opened the first British schools for poor children, gave equal education to girls, sent the first printed books to Australia, established libraries for clergy and missionaries in many countries, and published the first Braille books.” ~ www.spck.org.uk
SPCK
Thomas Bray
Pages from History: Rev. John Varghese of Sihora Ashram passes away (1997)
7 March, 1997: Rev. John Varghese of Sihora Ashram (b.5 July 1915) passes away. Rev John Varghese B.A., B.D. was a member of the Valethu Thoppil Family of Puthencavu, near Chengannur. After his education in the Trivandrum Maharajas College, he became a teacher in Perumbavoor Ashram School.
Deeply influenced and inspired by Rev. Dr. C. E. Abraham, he went to Sihora in Madhya Pradesh in 1942. He is remembered today as one of the co-founders of the Sihora Ashram of the Mar Thoma Church.
Rev. John Varghese
Pages from History: Very Rev. P. J. Thomas passes away (1990)
7 March, 1990: Very Rev. P. J. Thomas passes away.
Rev. Thomas was a deep scholar and gifted linguist, besides being an ardent evangelist. He passed his B. D. degree examination from United Theological College, Bangalore with distinction and joined the ministry of the Church. The call came to him to take up the mission work in Ankola when he was Vicar of the Kottayam Jerusalem Mar Thoma Parish.
He readily accepted the challenge and went to Ankola with his family and established the Ashram there with two young graduates as fellow workers, Mr. Philip Oommen (now Philipose Mar Chrysostom Valiya Metropolitan) and Mr. John Thomas (late Rev. P. John Thomas). Rev. P. J. Thomas was designated Vicar General in 1976 after he came back to Kerala. He passed away on March 7, 1990.
Very Rev. P. J. Thomas
Valiya Noyambu – Lent begins on Sunday 2nd March 2014
Lent starts on Sunday 2nd March 2014 and ends with Easter Sunday on 20th April 2014. We are expected to set apart a time for serious reflection, self-examination and renewed commitment with fasting and prayer during the Lent season. Our Church observes 50 days as the Lent period including the 40 days in which our Lord fasted and 10 days commemorating His passion and crucifixion.
Lent (Illustration from jesuitinstitute.org)
Pages from History: Malayalam Bible translator reaches Kottayam (1817)
March, 1817: The Great Bible Translator, Benjamin Bailey, reaches Kottayam.
Rev. Thomas Norton, was the first missionary of the Church Missionary Society to reach Kottayam on 19 June, 1816. A year later the second missionary, Benjamin Bailey and his wife Elizabeth, reached Kottayam on March, 1817. Benjamin Baily translated and printed the New Testament into Malayalam in 1829, and the full Bible was translated and printed in 1841-42. In 1846, he also published the first English-Malayalam dictionary. He returned to England on 20 March, 1850 after 33 years of mission work in Kerala.
Benjamin Bailey
Pages from History: Death of John Wesley (1791)
2 March, 1791: Founder of Methodism, John Wesley (b.17 June 1703) dies in London. Thanks to his organizational genius, we know exactly how many followers he had when he died: 71,668 British members, 294 preachers, 43,265 American members with 198 preachers and 19 missionaries. Today the Methodists number about 30 million worldwide.
“John Wesley,” by the English artist George Romney, oil on canvas. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Pages from History: CSS (Christava Sahitya Samithy) Tiruvalla (1925)
March, 1925: Establishment of the Malayalam wing of the Christian Literature Society. The Malayalam Language wing of the Christian Literature Society (CLS) was established in March, 1925.
Rev. V. P. Mammen, Mr. K. K. Kuruvilla and Mr. T. K. Kuruvilla were Mar Thoma Church members who co-operated with the Anglican Church leaders for the establishment of the Malayalam wing. After many years the name was changed from CLS to CSS (Christava Sahitya Samithy).
Christava Sahitya Samithy
Nalloor Library 