Mission150

This episode considers the beginnings of Adventist mission in the vast territory formerly known as Rhodesia, today's countries of Zimbabwe and Zambia. You will learn more about how Adventist related to colonial powers in the era of European imperialism. You will also hear the moving stories of the many who gave their lives to the cause of Adventist mission work, and how the famous mission station Solusi (now an Adventist university) and other institutions were founded.

Mission to South Africa began with diamonds! An Adventst layman moved from the USA to Southern Africa to prospect for diamonds––he shared his faith and those he influenced appealed to the GC for missionaries. The first party of Adventist missionaries to South Africa arrived in 1887. They soon founded institutions and began to work widely. And they worked for all the different ethnic groups, black and white.

This episode explores early Adventist mission to the Caribbean. While the early message spread thanks to the distribution of Adventist literature, a vital role was played both by missionaries and by their indigenous converts who took the message beyond what missionaries could. This was essential, because the prevalence of yellow fever in the Caribbean during these early years of Adventist mission meant missionaries suffered an appalling death toll - they offered themselves up as living sacrifices

In West Africa, the Adventist presence pre-dates the first missionaries sent by the Adventist Church. This episode explores how this came about and the early history of Seventh-day Adventist mission in West Africa. It brings out the importance of literature in spreading the Adventist message where missionaries had not yet gone, and the crucial role of indigenous believers in propagating the three angels' messages, but it also highlights the self-sacrificial commitment of missionaries to the region, who regularly suffered serious illnesses for which there was then no cure, and had a high death toll.

Starting in 1902, the Seventh-day Adventist Church committed to mission to China in a substantial way, sending large numbers of missionaries and committing sizeable funds to China. This episode considers some of the early missionaries, the strategies the church used, and why the early history of mission in China is worth remembering today.

This episode tells the remarkable story of Abram La Rue, self-supporting missionary first to Hawaii and then to Hong Kong - the first Adventist missionary to Asia. A simple man, but one of incredible faith, his example is an inspiring one for Seventh-day Adventists today.

In 1885, a large party of Adventist missionaries travelled from the United States to Australia. This episode tells the stories of that first group of missionaries and the early years of the Adventist mission in Australia and the South Pacific.

While Mission 150 marks 150 years since John N. Andrews and his family went as missionaries to Europe in 1874, other missionaries soon followed them. This episode considers the successors to Andrews and those who worked as his colleagues, especially John Matteson, John Loughborough, and Ludwig Conradi.

In 1874, John Nevins Andrews and his two children, Charles and Mary, travelled from the United States to Switzerland, the first missionaries sent by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This episode explores the situation John found when he arrived in Switzerland, the difficulties he faced in confronting new cultures, his work to establish the first cross-cultural mission in Adventist history, and how both Mary and he came to die. It ends by considering Andrews's legacy.

M150 Ep5 - John N. Andrews: The Church's First Missionary

John Nevins Andrews was the person the Seventh-day Adventist Church sent as its first overseas missionary. But who was he? This episode explores the life of John N. Andrews up to the point when the Church took the major decision to send him. It considers his background, his family, and the skillset he brought to being the Church's first missionary.