Missionaries and The Pilgrim Count
Zinzendorf's interest in missionary work was sparked by meeting two Inuit children converted by Hans Egede's mission in Greenland and a freed slave, Anthony Ulrich, who told of terrible oppression among the slaves in the West Indies. In 1732, the community began sending out missionaries among slaves in the Danish-governed West Indies and the Inuit of Greenland. Zinzendorf's personal and familial relation to the court of Denmark and to King Christian VI facilitated such endeavors. He saw with delight the spread of this Protestant family order in Germany, Denmark, Russia and England.
In 1736, accusations from neighboring nobles and questions of theological orthodoxy caused Zinzendorf to be exiled from his home in Saxony. He and a number of his followers moved to Marienborn ((near Buedingen) and began a period of exile and travel, during which he became known as the "Pilgrim Count."
The missionary work in the West Indies had been hugely controversial in Europe, with many accusing Zinzendorf of simply sending young missionaries off to die. Zinzendorf decided to place himself on the line, and in 1739 left Europe to visit the mission work on St. Thomas. Convinced that he himself might not come back, he preached his "last sermon" and left his will with his wife. The visit was a huge success, however, and enabled him to free some of the missionaries who had been illegally jailed. However, the missionaries' mistreatment by the plantation managers established their credibility with the slaves, and after Zinzendorf's visit the mission work was much more successful.
In 1741, Zinzendorf visited Pennsylvania, thus becoming one of the few 18th century European nobles to have actually set foot in the Americas. In addition to visiting leaders in Philadelphia such as Benjamin Franklin, he met with the leaders of the Iroquois and, with the assistance of Conrad Weiser reached agreements for the free movement of Moravian missionaries in the area.
In 1749, Zinzendorf leased Lindsey House, a large manor in Chelsea built on the estate of Sir Thomas More to be a headquarters for work in England. He lived there until 1755.
Missionary colonies had by this time been settled in the West Indies (1732), in Greenland (1733), amongst the North American Indians (1735); and before Zinzendorf's death the Brethren had sent from Herrnhut missionary colonies to Livonia and the northern shores of the Baltic, to the slaves of South Carolina, to Suriname, to the Negro slaves in several parts of South America, to Tranquebar and the Nicobar Islands in the East Indies, to the Copts in Egypt, to the Inuit of Labrador, and to the west coast of South Africa.
Read more about this topic: Nicolaus Zinzendorf
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