12 May, 1921: V. Nagel, author of “Samayamaam radhaththil” passes away. (Rare Photos)
12 May, 1921: V. Nagel, author of “Samayamaam radhaththil” passes away. Born in Germany on 3 November, 1867, he came to India in 1893, as a missionary. Along with his wife Harriet, he worked in Kunnamkulam, North Paravur, Trichur and Kumbanadu.
He has written more than 100 hymns in Malayalam that is still sung by all denominations and churches in Kerala.
Hymns written by him in the Kristheeya Keerththanangal (Hymn Book of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church) are – Nos. 57, 144(135), 153(143), 155(145), 203(392), 214(199), 223(208), 238(216), 239(217), 242(220), 244(222), 287, 294(280), 298(284), 300, 301, 325(319), 374(257), 380(260), 382(262), 390(269), 402(294) ,405(353) and 411(354).
The song has been translated into 17 languages though it was originally written in Malayalam and even incorporated in a film.The song depicts the journey of ones life…but it is mistakenly interpreted as many as just a funeral song…but actually its just a song about ones journey from birth …to home ie heaven.
Read below about the great hym writer Volbrecht Nagel from an account by his son Karl Heinrich Nagel.
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The Story of Volbrecht Nagel
By his son, Karl Heinrich Nagel
This account of Volbrecht Nagel was found in an exercise book belonging to Karl Heinrich Nagel and was probably written in the early 1980s when Karl was in his 70s, was ill and his memory was failing. It has been written up by Karl’s daughter, Pauline Munns. February 2007
Volbrecht Nagel
Volbrecht Nagel was born to Heinrich Peter Nagel and Elisabeth May Nagel on the 3rd November 1867 in the village of Stammheim, Hessen, Germany. He was baptised on November 17th in the Lutheran church and Volbrecht Nagel II was his godfather. He appears to have lost his parents at a young age and to have been taken over by a Mr and Mrs Bindewald, who educated him. He was brought up according to the Lutheran Church. He appears to have been ordained as a Pastor at the early age of 20 and to have been sent as a Lutheran missionary to Cannanore, Malaba (now Kerala State). He served the Lutheran Church until about 1892 when he left them owing to doctrinal differences. He had no money at the time and began to walk barefoot, trusting the Lord to lead him to the place where he could start a work for Him.
Volbrecht Nagel
Harriet Sabina Mitchell Nagel
Eventually he came to a place called Kunnamkulum, in Cochin State, where he met a small group of Christians, who called themselves Brethren, and worshipped God in a simple manner without a pastor. He believed that this was where the Lord would have him work for the time being. It was while he was here, building up the church, that he met and married Harriet Mitchell, on 1st April 1896, who gave him his first two sons, Samuel Frederick (1.1.1898) and Theodore Ernst (10.3.1899).
When he saw that the believers were well established and capable of carrying on by themselves, he moved with his wife and two sons, to a place called PARUR, also in Cochin State, and began a work for the Lord there. Here his third son, Gotlob Volbrecht was born on 8.8.1900 and his first daughter Olive Margaret on 31.12.1901. About this time my mother decided that she should take a nurse’s training so that she may be more qualified to work as a missionary’s wife, so she went to Madras and qualified in a short midwifery course, and returned to the family at Parur.
Considering that the believers were well established in the faith, my father moved, with his family, to British Cochin. Here his fourth son, Karl Heinrich was born on 17.11 1905. Two [other]children were also born, Wilfried Adolf and Elsa Hope but they died as infants and were buried in Hosur Road cemetery, Bangalore.
The Volbrecht Nagel Family
With Harriet’s sister, Josephine Mitchell
Seeing that the work was well established at British Cochin, my father decided to move, with his family to Trichur in Cochin State. The time had now come for the education of his children, and as there were no English schools in Trichur, he made arrangements for the four older children to go to Bangalore for their education. I was sent to school in Bangalore in January 1914. During these years my father developed the work at Trichur. Besides the assembly work, he opened a girls’ orphanage, which still flourishes.
As my brother Samuel and Theodore’s futures had now to be considered, my father took them to London, presumably about March 1914, to apprentice them there as engineers. That was the last his three younger children saw of him. On his way to London he called at Stammheim with my brothers for a few days. After seeing that they were settled in London, he went to the Bible School at Berlin, intending to visit his relatives once more before returning to India. Unfortunately for him, World War 1 broke out, and, being a German, he was not allowed to return to India. The problem now arose of joining the German army, which was compulsory, a thing he said he would never do, being a Christian. He prayed about the matter and asked the Lord to open the way for him to cross over into Switzerland, which was neutral. He made the attempt one night, and the Lord undertook by making the frontier guards very sleepy, so that they carelessly examined his passport and allowed him through.
Volbrecht Nagel
When the war ceased in November 1918 my father sought permission to return to India but was refused. He therefore went back to the Bible School. (The Bible School had moved [from Berlin] to Wiedenest. He obtained a position on the staff until about February 1921 when he had a stroke of apoplexy. They cabled to my mother in India and she left immediately. Ironically the English government gave him permission to return to India just then but it was too late. My mother nursed him until he passed away on May 12th, 1921. He was buried in the cemetery adjoining the Bible School. My brothers Samuel and Theodore went from England to attend his funeral. Mr and Mrs Bindewald,who brought him up also attended because, they said, he was the means of their salvation.
A Mr. Kocher, a missionary from India, also attended as he was in charge of a girls’ orphanage at Irinjalakuda, very close to Trichur, during my father’s time there. After the funeral my mother visited his relatives at Stammheim and stayed with them for a short while before returning to India.
Ted, Harriet, and Sam @ Volbrecht’s funeral
Reproduced with kind permission from https://revisitingthepast.wordpress.com/2010/07/24/the-story-of-volbrecht-nagel/
This post reflected an error that incorrectly stated 21st May as the day of death. The correct date is 12th May 1921.
Thank you to @schneid9 for pointing out the error and providing the following sources:· Echoes of Service 50 (1921), p. 144
We welcome our readers for helping us fact-check and provide more accurate information.
· Varghese Mathai: “The Malabar Mandate: A Life of Volbrecht Nagel”
· Johannes Warns’ diary (forthcoming; Warns was head of Wiedenest Bible School, where Nagel died)
17 May, 1889 Birth of Military Chaplain Rev. T. M.Mathai
For Illustrative Purposes – Military Chaplain Father John McGovern gives mass in France during World War II. (U.S. Army Signal Corps)
Maramon Convention 1922: The price of meals
One British Rupee 1920
Fourteen meals for One rupee. During the early years of the Convention, restaurants and hotels were not in existence. Kappi Kadas (coffee/tea shops) and Chottu Kadas (rice shops) were the only available eateries at the Manalpuram (river bed) venue of the convention.
One of the famous chottu kada’s was managed by Kunjan Varkey Chetten from Edathua. He would serve 14 full meals for just one rupee and 228 full glasses of black coffee (Chakkara Kappi) also for Rs.1 in the early 1920’s.
Having lunch at Maramon Convention. (Photo courtesy Facebook Group)
Chai shop
(www.chaiwallahsofindia.com)
1921 -1970: World renowned missionary Dr. E. Stanley Jones at Maramon Convention (See Rare Photos)
E.Stanley Jones (right) with Alexander Mar Thoma Metropolitan (middle) with an unidentified friend at Sat Tal Ashram, India. (Photos from E. Stanley Jones FB page)
Dr. Eli Stanley Jones was born in Baltimore, Maryland, USA on 3rd January 1884. He was a faculty member at Asbury College, Kentucky, USA when he was called to missionary service in India in 1907 under the Board of Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
He was one of the main speakers of the Maramon Convention from 1921-1970. His messages combined evangelistic challenges with social concerns. The Maramon Convention is one of the largest Christian convention in Asia, and is held at Maramon, Pathanamthitta, Kerala, India annually in February. The venue is on the vast sand-bed of the Pampa River next to the Kozhencherry Bridge. It is organised by Mar Thoma Evangelistic Association, the missionary wing of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church. The 124th Maramon Convention is happening in 2019.
“For more than half a century Dr E. Stanley Jones proclaimed the Gospel of Christ and applied it to people’s personal, social, national, and international problems. He moved among statesmen and among leaders without portfolios as counselor, friend and worker for peace and goodwill.
Dr Jones became a friend of Mahatma Gandhi and wrote an appreciative biography of Gandhi. In 1950, Dr. Jones provided funds for India’s first Christian psychiatric center, and clinic currently known as Nur Manzil Psychiatric Center and Medical Unit at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
~ http://www.facebook.com/SattalAshram”
In 1946, with the help of friends in USA, he donated the first loud speaker setup to the Maramon Convention. He is also the founder of the Sat Tal Christian Ashram movement, Nainital, Uttarakhand, India. He died on January 25, 1973 in his beloved India.
In the 1920s, India began to develop greater appreciation for its own history and culture and greater pride in its own unique contributions to world civilization. Stanley Jones was one of the very first to realize the possibilities that this change in India’s intellectual and spiritual culture created for Christianity and especially for Western Christian missionaries. But he could not fully understand the astounding scope and depth of the possibilities without experiencing the history and culture of his adopted country for himself. So, what better way to immerse himself in the ethos of India than to visit Indian ashrams?
This is exactly what he did. In 1923, he spent two months at Santiniketan, the ashram of the world-famous poet, Rabindranath Tagore. Three years later in 1926 he visited Gandhi’s ashram at Sabarmati.
It is no exaggeration to say that Jones’ visits to these ashrams changed the course of his life. In fact, in 1930, he established his own ashram as a spiritual retreat for Christians modeled on his experience with Ashrams in India. But this was only the first of hundreds of Christian ashrams that would eventually be established throughout the world. These ashrams are truly the work of the Holy Spirit as they continue to inspire, refresh, and renew thousands of Christians in many nations today.
~ From “Ordinary Man, Extraordinary Mission: The Life and Work of E. Stanley Jones” by Stephen A. Graham
Rev. E. Stanley Jones giving one of his sermons at Sat Tal Ashram, India. (Photo from E. Stanley Jones FB Page)
Bishop T. S. Joseph speaking at the Maramon Convention while Bishop Alexander Mar Theophilus (Metropolitan Alexander Mar Thoma), E. Stanley Jones and Mr. Ramenpillar listen. (Photo from E. Stanley Jones FB page)
Rev. Stanley Jones with Mar Thoma Church members in Kerala, India. (Photo from E. Stanley Jones FB page)
Dr. Stanley Jones with Dr. Rajendra Prasad, first President of India 1950 (Photo from E. Stanley Jones FB page)
E. Stanley Jones (right) at the Maramon Convention with Bishop Abraham Mar Thoma Metropolitan (middle) and an unidentified friend. (Photo from E. Stanley Jones FB page)
3rd September, 1889 – Birth of Sadhu Sunder Singh (Special Video Feature)
Sadhu Sunder Singh the renowned Indian Christian missionary was a member of an ancient, aristocratic, and wealthy Sikh family from the village of Rampur in the State of Patiala (present day Punjab). He was a very religious and God fearing person. Jesus appeared to him in a vision in the early hours of 18th December 1904. Like Paul in the New Testament, he heard a voice “Why do you persecute me? Remember that I gave my life for you upon the Cross”. On Sunday, the 3rd of September, 1905, on his sixteenth birthday, he was baptized in St. Thomas Church at Shimla according to the rite of the Anglican Church.
Sadhu Sundar Singh
A month after his baptism, Sundar Singh donned the yellow linen robe that celibate Indian Sadhus wore and set out to preach the gospel, carrying nothing but a New Testament. From now on he would have no permanent home and no income.”I am not worthy to follow in the steps of my Lord,” he said, “but like Him, I want no home, no possessions. Like Him I will belong to the road, sharing the suffering of my people, eating with those who will give me shelter, and telling all people of the love of God.’ He also authored eight books.
Sadhu Sunder Singh was one of the speakers of the Maramon Convention in 1918. He spoke in Hindi and the translation was done by Mr. M. O. Oommen, Chief Conservator of the then Travancore Kingdom.
Sadhu Sunder Singh drew crowds greater than any previous conventions, so much so that before the end of the week the pandal (covered area) had to be enlarged. It is estimated at the final meeting about 32,000 people gathered to hear his message.
Sadhu Sundar Singh
He is believed to have died in the foothills of the Himalayas in 1929 on his way to Tibet. His body was never found.
Journey to the Sky – Sadhu Sundar Singh (1977)
15 May, 1857: Birth of Hymn writer Rev. T. Koshy (Aatmopakari Achen)
Kristeeya Keerththanangal
15 May, 1857: Birth of Rev. Thomas Koshy (Aatmopakari Achen), author of Hymn “Ennullil ennum vasichchiduvan”. Born as a member of the Mukkadavu family of Kallada, he became a priest in 1896. He was a gifted artist, hymn writer and publisher. He was a speaker of the Maramon Convention for many years.
Hymn Nos. 10(9), 37(35), 190(179), 216(201), 20(205), 221(206), 246(224), 297(283), 316(311), 344, and 352 in the Hymn Book Kristheeya Kerthanagal are written by him.
Read more in our Short Biographies: Rev. Thomas Koshy (Aatmopakari Achen) (Free PDF)
18 April, 1929: Sadhu Sunder Singh disappears
Sadhu Sundar Singh
18 April, 1929: Sadhu Sunder Singh (b.3 Sep 1889) disappears on his way to Tibet. The mystery of the disappearance of Sadhu Sunder Singh after leaving Sabathu-near Tibet on 18th April 1929 has never been solved. The route he was to have taken was one he had often traveled before. Reports of his disappearance appeared in newspapers all over the world.
No one knows what happened to him and how he died. By whatever means God took His servant home, He evidently did not intend it to be known. Sunder manifested into his life the verse written in Mark 8:35 which says, “For whoever wants to save his own life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for me and for the Gospel will save it.”
Read more in our Free PDF Ebook:
https://nalloorlibrary.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/sadhu-sunder-singh.pdf
Rare 1986 Documentary on the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church
A Must Watch Special Documentary with rare footage on the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church – (English/Malayalam) produced in 1986. It offers a peek into the history, rich culture and heritage of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church.
A Malaysian presentation in conjunction with the 150th Anniversary of the REFORMATION in the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church. (Please watch and share).
1 March, 1854: Pioneer missionary Hudson Taylor lands in Shanghai, China
Hudson Taylor
1 March, 1854: Pioneer missionary Hudson Taylor lands in Shanghai, China. Hudson Taylor founded the China Inland Mission in 1865, and popularized the idea that missionaries should live and dress like the people they seek to evangelize.
I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize the Lord is able to carry out His will, and His will is mine. It makes no matter where He places me, or how. That is rather for Him to consider than for me; for in the easiest positions He must give me His grace, and in the most difficult, His grace is sufficient. ~ Hudson Taylor
Many Christians estimate difficulty in the light of their own resources, and thus they attempt very little and they always fail. All giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on His power and presence to be with them. ~ Hudson Taylor
1898 -1912: Rev. Thomas Walker inspires Mar Thoma Missionary projects
Rev. Thomas Walker – Church Missionary Society
Rev. Thomas Walker was one of the main speakers at the Maramon Convention from 1898 to 1912. He was a Church Missionary Society (CMS) missionary from Tirunelveli. He emphasized the importance on studying the Word of God (Bible) and to promote the missionary work of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church. His inputs were instrumental in inspiring and the beginning of many Mar Thoma Missionary projects across India.
Nalloor Library 