TL;DR:
Explore one notable event from global missions history for each day of April. These milestones include the 1901 deaths of missionaries James Chalmers and Oliver Tomkins in New Guinea, the 2001 shooting down of a missionary family’s plane in Peru, and the 1841 martyrdom of French missionary Peter Chanel on Futuna.
Missionary History, World Evangelism, and Christian Missions
This April timeline highlights missionaries, movements, and milestones that have shaped Christian missions and world evangelism across the centuries.
"We have learned about many people who trusted God long ago. They are like a very big crowd all round us, and we should copy their example. . ." — Hebrews 12:1 (EasyEnglish Bible)
Missionaries, Movements, and Milestones
April 1, 1999 — About 17,000 religious groups and institutions were required by Russian law to re-register with the government by December 31, 1999. However, on this date, a prominent Russian expert revealed at a briefing for American diplomats, religious leaders, and Russian officials that between 1997 and February 1999, only 300 (or less than 2% of the total) had completed their paperwork. Describing the re-registration as "a logistical nightmare" for the bureaucracy, the expert predicted that the task would not be completed and that most groups would be left in legal limbo.
April 2, 2003 — The Russian Evangelical Alliance, which had been inactive for a century, was re-established near Moscow by representatives of churches, organizations, missions, and alliances. The delegates agreed to designate an annual prayer week, organize joint Bible conferences and evangelistic campaigns, and establish various social and political programs.
April 3, 1988 — A Wesleyan-Holiness denomination of 39 churches in Nigeria, which had originated in the 1940s, formally united with the international Church of the Nazarene. The group had already adopted the name and used an older edition of the denomination’s Manual for its doctrinal statements.
April 4, 1923 — Missionary scholar William Smalley was born. As a missionary in the hills of Laos, he helped develop a Romanized writing system for the Hmong language, which remains the standard today.
April 5, 1885 — On Easter Sunday, Methodist missionary Henry G. Appenzeller and Presbyterian missionary H.G. Underwood arrived in Korea to "bring the Korean people to the light and liberty of God's children." One month later, W.B. Scranton and his mother also arrived.
April 6, 1947 — The Lutheran Hour began broadcasting in Brazil.
April 7, 1541 — On his 35th birthday, Francis Xavier, co-founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), set sail from Lisbon, Portugal, for Goa, India. He later ministered in Japan, Sri Lanka, and other Asian nations. While early estimates claimed up to one million conversions, modern scholars suggest the number was closer to 30,000.
April 8, 1901 — After nearly 30 years of church planting in New Guinea, Presbyterian missionary James Chalmers and missionary Oliver Tomkins were killed and cannibalized. London preacher Joseph Parker responded, "Such a mystery of Providence makes it hard for our strained faith to recover. Yet, Jesus was murdered. Paul was murdered. . . I feel our noble-minded friend has joined a great assembly."
April 9, 1934 — Louisa Lee became the first missionary assigned under the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions. Formerly serving in India under the main Presbyterian board, she severed ties due to theological differences. Lee would serve a total of 59 years in India.
April 10, 1912 — Annie Funk, a 37-year-old Mennonite missionary to India, boarded the Titanic in England after receiving news of her mother’s illness. She perished when the ship sank. Some accounts say she may have given up her seat in a lifeboat for another passenger. Her school in Janjgir was renamed the Annie C. Funk Memorial School.
April 11, 1933 — J. Gresham Machen requested that the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions maintain doctrinal integrity. When his position was rejected, the resulting controversy caused a schism among American Presbyterians.
April 12, 1850 — Adoniram Judson, pioneer Baptist missionary to Burma (now Myanmar), died at sea. He and his wife Ann were among the most revered American missionaries of their time.
April 13, 1835 — George Stott was born in Scotland. Despite having had one leg amputated, Stott joined Hudson Taylor’s China Inland Mission. Beginning in 1866, he pioneered Protestant work in Wenzhou, China, where Christian teaching had previously been virtually unknown.
April 14, 1775 — John Philip, a Scots Congregationalist missionary, was born. He moved to South Africa in 1819 and opposed the racial injustice that would later become apartheid.
April 15, 1889 — Father Damien, a Roman Catholic missionary who served among people with leprosy on Molokai, Hawaii, died of the disease.
April 16, 1944 — Dorothy Ahleman felt a call to missions at an evening service at Olivet Nazarene College. She later served 37 years in Argentina.
April 17, 1937 — As Mussolini's troops occupied Ethiopia, missionaries from Sudan Interior Mission were forced to leave. Upon returning in 1943, they found that the church had grown from 48 to 18,000 members despite persecution.
April 18, 1942 — Jacob DeShazer, one of sixteen B-25 bomber crewmen from the Doolittle Raid on Japan, was captured and held in a prisoner-of-war camp. After the war, he became a missionary to Japan and China for 30 years.
April 19, 1997 — Betty Greene, a World War II pilot and founder of the Christian Airmen's Missionary Fellowship, died. She later flew for Wycliffe Bible Translators and served in Peru, East Africa, and Sudan.
April 20, 2001 — A Peruvian Air Force jet mistakenly shot down a missionary family's plane, killing the mother and infant daughter. The family was traveling between Colombian and Peruvian towns near the border.
April 21, 1783 — Samuel John Mills, an influential organizer of early American missionary efforts who helped establish the American Bible Society, was born in Connecticut. He also helped explore sites for the Liberia Colony.
April 22, 1951 — At St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City, guest preacher John L. Peters gave an impromptu message urging the congregation to serve the world's poor through a self-help ministry. The sermon led to the founding of World Neighbors in 1952. The organization currently works in 14 countries and has served communities in 45 countries during its history.
April 23, 1858 — Horace Newton Allen was born in Delaware, Ohio. A missionary to Korea, he also served as a medical officer to the Korean Court and is considered the pioneer Protestant missionary to Korea.
April 24, 1982 — William Cameron ("Uncle Cam") Townsend, founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators, died. His organization has since worked with nearly 750 minority language groups.
"A dream of young William Cameron Townsend turned into one of the most effective evangelization resources ever created. . . . Townsend's faithfulness and passion for God and for humanity produced great fruit in and for the Kingdom of God." — Jeremy Wooley, Northwest Nazarene University student
April 25, 1799 — Ephraim Weston Clark, missionary to Hawaii and Micronesia, was born in New Hampshire. A Bible reviser and translator, he also helped initiate mission work in Micronesia in 1852.
April 26, 1832 — Dr. Christian Frederich Henize died of malaria in Ghana five weeks after arriving. His death, along with others, prompted the Basel Missionary Society to temporarily withdraw from Ghana.
April 27, 1775 — Moravian bishop and missionary Peter Boehler died in London. He had profoundly influenced John Wesley’s understanding of justification by faith and Christian assurance.
April 28, 1841 — French Catholic missionary Peter Chanel was martyred on Futuna, now part of the French territory of Wallis and Futuna, after a local chief’s son asked to be baptized. His death led to widespread conversions on the island.
April 29, 1819 — Eduard Raimund Baierlein was born in Poland. He later served as a missionary to the Chippewa in Michigan and then in India with the Leipzig Evangelical Lutheran Mission.
April 30, 1595 — Abraham George, the first of eight Roman Catholic Jesuit martyrs in Ethiopia, died.
