Part I, Chapter V — The Founding of the Guntur Mission
Rarely in the history of mission work has a foreign mis- sion had such an auspicious and promising beginning as the one which Heyer estabHshed in Guntur. In many cases pioneer missionaries in heathen lands have been obhged to pass through a more or less lengthy period of antecedent effort, meeting and overcoming hostility, facing danger and death, and even suffering martyrdom, before the slightest indications of success appeared. In the case of the American Evangelical Lutheran Mission in India a certain amount of preparatory work had been done by the English Collectors and other officials and residents in Guntur, before Heyer came, so that, when he began there, he found that some soil had already been broken and prepared for the seed of the Word of God.
Henry Stokes, Esq., the good and godly Collector of Guntur, deserves to be remembered by our American Lutheran Church with feelings of gratitude and expressions of esteem, because of his staunch friendship for Heyer and of his liberal and con- tinued benevolence in support of the Mission. Others whose names are mentioned by Heyer as friends and benefactors are Mr. Newill, the first Assistant Collector, Dr. Evans, Judge Walter, General Buckel, Judge Wood, Dr. Smith, Captain O'Neil, and Assistant Collectors Hutway and Barlow.
In his first report to the executive committee of the Mis- sionary Society of the Pennsylvania Ministerium, after his arrival in Guntur, written September 17, 1842, five weeks after the formal beginning of the work,^ he stated that he regularly conducted English, services every Sunday morning and every Wednesday evening for the English officials and residents and for others in the employ of the East India Company or
1 It appears that Heyer wrote a letter immediately after his arrival in Gun- tur, reporting his decision to remain there, which, however, was lost in transit.
52 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA otherwise engaged in civil, military and commercial pursuits. The average attendance at these services was thirty. At the Sunday morning Telugu services there was an average attendance of about seventy, most of them being the older pupils in the school. Furthermore, there assembled at his door every morning, between five and six o'clock, a motley crowd of some seventy poor, blind, lame and deformed objects of charity, to whom the missionary dispensed alms, amount- ing to $14 or $15 a month, generously contributed for this purpose by Mr. Stokes and Mr. Newill. Heyer improved this opportunity to preach the Gospel and to teach them hymns and Scripture passages. In a few months a num- ber of them had memorized a morning hymn, a number of Scripture passages, the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer.
Besides the English school which had been transferred to his charge and which enrolled thirty pupils, he at once organized two purely Telugu schools in which were enrolled, respectively, twenty-seven and thirteen pupils. For the school-work he employed four native teachers, all heathen, whose salaries amounted to about twenty dollars a month, the greater part of which was contributed by the EngHsh residents interested in the Mission.
Soon after beginning the Mission, he took a twelve-year-old orphan boy, named Kotalingam, into his house, gave him clothes, board and lodging, and taught him, hoping that he might be converted and become a mission worker. His hope, however, was not realized. This was the first feeble attempt at a boarding school for the training of native workers in the Mission.
Strenuous, indeed, was the daily round of the mission- ary's duties. After the early morning meeting with the poor at his door, he conducted, at seven o'clock, in the school- room, an hour of devotion in the Tamil language for the bene- fit of the domestics of Mr. Stokes' household, several of whom were baptized Christians. Of David, his interpreter, Heyer testified that he was a man who had really experienced the power of the Gospel in his soul. At eight o'clock the mis-
THE FOUNDING OF THE GUNTUR MISSION 53 sionary went to the English school and taught the first class for an hour. Between nine and ten o'clock he breakfasted. At ten the Telugu munshi came and four hours were spent with him in the study of the vernacular. At three he partook of a light luncheon (tiffin). The later afternoon and early evening were spent in rest and recreation. Sometimes he would indulge in a walk with his Telugu teacher. At other times he would ride or drive with one or the other of his Eng- lish friends. At seven in the evening he was Mr. Stokes' guest at dinner. At nine he conducted the family devotion for the family and guests of Mr. Stokes. At ten o'clock he retired. It does not surprise us, therefore, to read in one of his letters: "I have more to do now than when I had charge of a pastoral district in America."
The mission schools, in particular, made rapid and sub- stantial progress. Heyer was an excellent disciplinarian and a good instructor. By the middle of October he had estab- lished and was supervising six schools, enrolling 150 pupils and employing seven teachers. The two principal schools were conducted in the building in Mr. Stokes' compound, set apart for that purpose. A third was held elsewhere in the town, Heyer paying the expenses out of his private purse. The fourth was located in Prattipadu, twelve miles south of Guntur. This he called St. John's Lutheran School, because he supported it with the money that St. John's Sunday School and Missionary Society in Philadelphia had given him before leaving America. The other schools were located in Nallapadu, five miles west of Guntur, and in Kottapetta, a suburb of the town. These were supported out of the synodical mission funds at a monthly expense of ten dollars. All of these schools, except the original English one, were purely Telugu schools, attended by children of the low castes and outcasts. At first a number of Brahmin boys came to the Guntur school and to the one in Prattipadu ; but when the parents realized that the missionary aimed, above all things, to inculcate the truths of Christianity, they not only withdrew their sons from the schools, but also showed considerable hostility toward the missionary and his work. In November, 1842, Heyer organ-
54 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA ized the first Hindu girls' school with an enrollment of fifteen pupils. For a year, until the time of her death, this school was supported by Mrs. Walker, the wife of Judge Walker, whom Heyer described as a most pious woman. Desirous of secur- ing efficient teachers, Heyer selected five of the more promis- ing pupils in the English-Telugu school and devoted himself to their instruction in a normal class. By the end of the year 1842, the number of pupils in the Guntur schools had increased to 135, 20 of whom were girls. The examination held on the last day of that year in the large hall of Mr. Stokes' house showed that, besides adding pupils, Heyer had also developed the efficiency of the schools. The program rendered at this public examination greatly pleased the audience. After an opening prayer the children recited from memory, in English and in Telugu, Psalm 115, Luke 2:8-20, and John 4:21-26. Then a number of hymns which had been memorized, were sung in both languages. Catechetical exercises, conversation and an examination in geography were followed by a distribu- tion of books and small coins.
Before the end of the year 1842, Heyer had begun a Sunday school with the children who attended the daily instruction, and had instituted weekly meetings in his house with his teachers, in order to increase their efficiency and, if possible, to win them for Christianity. He also began the erection of a small building in Mr. Stokes' compound to be used as a school-house, finishing it at a total cost of $15. This little school-house, built at the expense of the Missionary Society of St. John's Church, Philadelphia, was opened and occupied January 4, 1843. "For the friends of the mission in America," wrote Heyer, "this day would have been a high day had they been able to attend the exercises; and January 4, 1843, may well be regarded as the day of the actual beginning of the American Evangelical Lutheran Mission in Guntur." For the first nine months of the year 1843 ^^ letter or report was received from Heyer, insomuch that the Executive Committee, supposing that he had neglected to write, felt con- strained at the annual meeting of the missionary society in June, 1844, to recommend that he be directed to report more
THE FOUNDING OF THE GUNTUR MISSION 55 frequently and to submit a copy of his journal every six weeks or every three months.^ That the mission work had made substantial progress during this period appears from a letter dated October i6, 1843, which may be regarded as the mis- sionary's first annual report. The actual result should by no means be judged by the number of converts, for these never are numerous during the first years of a mission. Indeed, many decades frequently elapse in a foreign mission before converts may be numbered by the hundred each year. Had Heyer been able to report only a single convert for the first year, it would have been sufficient to call for further effort. As it was, he reported three adults instructed and baptized, who, together with two Tamil Christians employed in Mr. Stokes' household, had received the Lord's Supper. The most encouraging feature of the first year's work was the prog- ress of the mission schools. Their number had risen to seven, employing ten teachers and assistants and enrolling 158 boys and 22 girls. In the English school grammar, geography, history and a Scripture catechism of proof passages had been added to the curriculum. The regular Sunday morning Enghsh service was attended by an average of thirty persons. The attendance at the Telugu service on Sunday had in- creased to nearly two hundred. Heyer's account of the expen- ditures of the first year exhibits both the Hberality of the Guntur benefactors and the meagre support of the Missionary Society
English and Telugu books and tracts, paid by Judge Walker Rs. 350 Books, paid by Mr. Stokes Rs. 225 Books, on account of Dr. Mayer's congregation, Philadelphia Rs. 50 Munshi, books, etc., paid by the Missionary Society Rs. 129 School-teachers paid by Guntur friends Rs. 516 Teachers, paid by Dr. Mayer's congregation Rs. 200 Alms distributed, paid by Guntur friends Rs. 350 Articles of clothing, paid by Guntur friends Rs. 120 School-house, built at expense of Dr. Mayer's congregation . Rs. 30
Total Rs. 1970 $98s.oo« Missionary's salary, paid by Missionary Society 600.00
Total expenditure $1585.00 ^ It seems that Heyer did write several letters during the period in question, but that they were lost on the way to America.
2 Heyer estimated a rupee to be equal in value to 50 cents.
56 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA It is unfortunate that Heyer failed to give an itemized account of his income for the first year. We know that when he left America he took with him $705.40 of the synodical missionary society's money and $60 that had been given him by the Juvenile Missionary Society of St. John's Church in Philadelphia for the establishment and support of schools. His travelling expenses to India amounted to about $300. It appears that the treasurer of the synodical missionary society sent him, some time during the first year, the balance due on his salary and a little, a very httle, more, forwarding also about $100 contributed by St. John's Church in Phila- delphia. It is evident from the expense account, given above, that the chief sources of income for the current mission expenses were the gifts of the Guntur friends who are credited as having paid $780 (Rs. 1561) of a total expenditure of $985 (Rs. 1970). St. John's Church in Philadelphia is credited with $140 (Rs. 280) and the synodical missionary society with $68 (Rs. 129), apart from the missionary's salary. Including the salary the Guntur friends paid $112 more than the Missionary Society of the Ministerium for the work of the latter's mission. In a letter dated September 11, 1842, Heyer acknowledged the receipt of $500 sent by the missionary society of the Synod of South Carolina through the treasurer of the General Synod, the Rev. Isaac Baugher. It was intended for the purchase of a printing-press but was subsequently used for another purpose. Meanwhile Heyer kept it on deposit with Mr. Van Somering in Madras. The regular bankers of the mission funds from the very beginning, however, were Arbuthnot and Co., in Madras.
In the list of the Mission's early benefactors the American Bible Society and the Madras Auxiliary Society should not be omitted. The latter sent Heyer, during the first year, 800 copies of the Gospels, Genesis and the Psalms separately bound, 500 in Telugu and 300 in Tamil. The former promised to furnish the mission with Telugu Testaments as soon as they should have been printed. Not only did Heyer himself liberally distribute these books, but he also engaged a colpor- teur at a monthly salary of $2.50.
THE FOUNDING OF THE GUNTUR MISSION 57 In what we have termed his first annual report, he wrote an appeal for funds to print Luther's Small Catechism in Telugu and made the important announcement that a lot of ground containing two acres had been secured for an annual ground-rent of $1.25, on which he was commencing the erec- tion of a brick building which was planned for use as a chapel, schoolhouse and missionary's dwelling.
The lack of proper support from America for the growing mission work added a note of anxiety to some of Heyer's earliest expressions of joy and hope; and in later letters this note sank to one of keen disappointment. He realized that the liberality of the Guntur friends could not continue indefinitely, because the English officials were frequently trans- ferred from place to place ; and he did not hesitate to say that unless the support sent from America would be considerably increased, the Mission must, at some time, be abandoned. As early as October, 1842, less than three months after his arrival in Guntur, he wrote: "In case the Church in America is not wilHng to do more than pay the salary of the missionary, I cannot remain in Guntur." Again, in December of the same year, he said, "There should be a draft already on the way to India. I have only a small balance remaining of the synodical society's money. You can easily imagine how uncomfortable my position would be in a strange land without money. In case the Lutheran Church in America is not willing to support this mission properly, you must notify me as soon as possible, and recall me." A month later, though expressing his joy in the work of a foreign missionary and his sincere gratitude for the friendship and support of Mr. Stokes, he intimated that the meagre support from America caused him to feel uncomfort- able, for he wrote: "It seems wrong and unjust that the American Lutheran Mission should depend so much for support on a member of another ecclesiastical body." Several times he suggested that attempts should be made to enhst the co-operation of missionary societies in Germany. Once he mentioned as possible contributors the Breslau and Koenigsberg societies, which had formerly helped to support Rhenius. Later he drew attention to the North German Society which
58 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA contemplated a mission among the Telugus. What he urged especially, however, was a union of the whole Lutheran Church in America in behalf of the Guntur Mission, suggest- ing that the General Synod's Missionary Society, as well as the Pennsylvania Ministerium's Society, each might support its own missionary or missionaries, subject to its own control. He proposed a division of the expense connected with the main- tenance of schools and the erection of buildings. In January, 1843, he elaborated this plan, estimating that it would cost between $1000 and $1500 to build a mission house, $600 a year to support each missionary, several hundred dollars for the salaries of native teachers and about $2000 for the other mission expenses. This plan was actually adopted when the General Synod sent out its first missionary, but it soon proved to be impracticable.
During the closing months of 1843 ^.nd the opening ones of 1844 the Mission continued to make commendable progress. On January 15th of the latter year Heyer baptized three per- sons, a man, a woman and a child, Isaac, Ruth and Prakasam, making six baptisms in all since the beginning. Meanwhile events transpiring in America had already started another Lutheran missionary, the second from America, the Rev. Walter Gunn, on his way to Guntur.