William Carey, the Father Of Modern Missions and a Tentmaker

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Johnny Chun / Executive Secretary of TI

- Tentmaking Missions in history -

   In modern movement, we all know the great influence of William Carey, the father of Modern missions.

  William Carey who was impressed by early Moravian missionaries and was increasingly dismayed at his fellow

Protestants' lack of missions interest of his day insisted that Jesus' Great Commission was given to all Christians of all times. 

And he urged his fellow believers saying "Multitudes sit at ease and give themselves no concern about the far greater part of their

fellow sinners, who to this day, are lost in ignorance and idolatry."

   After that, he organized a missionary society , and at its inaugural meeting preached a sermon with the call, "Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God!" Within a year, Carey, John Thomas (a former surgeon), and Carey's family (which now included three boys, and another child on the way) were on a ship headed for India.

   In 1793, upon his arrival in India, he worked as an indigo plantation manager for several years while studying the local language for Bible translation. Then he worked as a professor of Bengali for 30 years at Fort William College, where he trained British officers and influenced them

as civil servants. He was able to use his income to support his church planting and Bible translation ministries. Carey built the largest printing

press of the time, not only to print Bibles, but also books on science and natural history to counter the influence of superstitions. He built schools for girls and children of all castes. He founded the first college in Asia and the first newspaper in an oriental language. He worked to introduce legislation that ended the practice of burning widows and drowning babies in the Ganges River as sacrifices. The list goes on.

   In Carey’s 40 years of service, his work and ministry were one and the same mission, bringing holistic spiritual and societal transformation to the 

people of India.

The merchant city that became the center of gravity in Chinese missions

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by Steinar Opheim from Tentmaking Today

   60 years ago, the mountainous harbor city Wenzhou in China

was declared a “Christianity-free place” by the Chinese authorities.

Today it is the epicenter of missions in China.

   A big share of the cities’ mission activities happen through

businesspeople and professionals, concludes the Chinese mission

leader Qing Quan in an article that has been translated to English and

published by ChinaSource. Today Wenzhou is called

“the Jerusalem of China” due to its many churches.

   People from Wenzhou, often referred to as Wenzhounese,

are known for their entrepreneurial skills. A high share lives

abroad where they have started numerous restaurants and

wholesale businesses. Qing Quan explains how many

Wenzhounese emigrants became tentmakers and business as mission people without even knowing the terms.

[ Merchants planting churches]

   “Merchants and students were two main groups of Wenzhou people leaving the area between 1980 and 2010. While there was no lack of Christians 

among them, most Christians did not move away for the sake of the Gospel. These Wenzhou Christian merchants did, however, begin establishing 

churches wherever they went for the simple reason that they needed a place to worship. Fortunately, many churches began using Mandarin in their 

gatherings, naturally attracting non-Wenzhou people to join the church,” writes Qing Quan.

   In addition, he describes how young Christian students left Wenzhou to get higher education. They also brought the Gospel with them. By 2010

The Wenzhou Christian Churches’ college ministry group alone oversaw more than 30 student fellowships.

[ Migrant workers]

   According to Qing Quan the churches in Wenzhou are also very active in reaching out to migrant workers coming to their city. Mobile white-collar 

workers is one specific group that the churches focus at.

   Brent Fulton, the president of ChinaSource, underlines how business is influential.

   “Business provides natural means of financial support and a legitimate platform for entry into a culture. It can also open doors for influence,”

he writes in ChinaSource.

   Fulton warns that not everyone will be able to follow the patterns of what is now getting known as the “Wenzhou model” for missions.

   “The success story of Wenzhou is the product of its unique geography, history, and culture. These have combined to create a particular entrepreneurial 

spirit that enables Wenzhou Christians to go anywhere and thrive anywhere, to find and exploit opportunities, to operate with political savvy, and to 

support one another through a global network of relationships,” writes ChinaSource’s president.

   You can read several articles about Wenzhou missions at https://www.chinasource.org/resource-library/chinasource-quarterlies/doing-missions-with-chinese-characteristics/