A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

the Mennonite Brethren today: The sun never sets on the M.B. Church! It was the missionary vision and commitment of the M.B. churches in the Old World (Europe) and the New World (North America) that led to the establishment of Mennonite Brethren congregations in the Third World (Asia, Africa, Latin America) during the last eighty years. Through "obedience in partnership" the sending brotherhood, the missionaries, and the national workers have been able, under God, to plant churches in twelve countries and render special services in several others (e.g. radio ministry over HCJB, Quito, Ecuador). A brief summary account of the founding and development of Mennonite Brethren churches in the "regions beyond" follows. ASIA In Asia, the continent with the largest land area and with more than one half of the world's population, Mennonite Brethren have established churches in India, China and Japan. (The M.B. churches established in Asiatic Russia have been considered in Part One and will not be treated here.) India constitutes the chronological starting point for this story. 400 MENNONITE BRETHREN AROUND THE WORLD 401 Mennonite Brethren in India Occupying the Field Mennonite Brethren mission work in India dates back to 1890, when Abraham and Maria Friesen began their ministry among the Telegus at Nalgonda in the state of Hyderabad. As mentioned in chapter seven, the Friesens were accepted by the Baptist Missionary Union of Boston, but were virtually independent in the administration and operation of the mission, receiving their full financial support from the M.B. churches of Russia. The Mennonite Brethren Church in India was officially organized on January 4, 1891. 3 When the Friesens left for their first furlough in 1897, the church numbered 700 baptized members. Two years later, in 1899, the M.B. Conference of North America sent out its first missionaries to India. The party, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. N.N. Hiebert and Elizabeth Neufeld, was joined in India by Anna Suderman, who had already been working for a year in a mission in the Bombay Presidency. The composition of this group, according to A. E. Janzen, made it possible for the missionaries to employ the methods of Jesus and thus initiate a most fruitful ministry. Janzen writes: The initial group of four M.B. missionaries to India was made up of a preacher and his wife, a teacher, and a nurse. By way of preparation and divine calling this group had embodied within its number the potential of the Lord's method — preach, teach, heal; a preacher, a teacher, a nurse were in the staff. 1 Because the Baptists felt that their territory south of the city of Hyderabad was too extensive for their staff and resources, they gladly agreed to share the missionary task among the Telegus with the Mennonite Brethren. The American M.B. Mission thus eventually assumed responsibility for an area of 10,000 square miles, with approximately 1,500,000