Missions in India

The Missionaries

Who carried the work — and what kind of work it was. Each profile gives the social impact, a personal timeline, the institutions left behind, and page-cited sources, written in our own words.

Alexander Duff 1806–1878 Pioneered English-medium Christian higher education in India. Education Amy Carmichael 1867–1951 Rescued children from temple servitude and raised them in the Dohnavur Fellowship. Child rescueWomen’s upliftmentIndigenous church Bakht Singh 1903–2000 A Sikh-born convert who built a self-supporting Indian church movement and drew great crowds to his 'holy convocations.' Indigenous churchMass movement Charles Freer Andrews 1871–1940 An Anglican priest who became Gandhi's close friend and a tireless champion of Indian dignity and workers' rights. Social reform E. Stanley Jones 1884–1973 Sought to present Christ as Indian, not Western — through Round Table Conferences and Christian ashrams. Indigenous churchSocial reform Henry Martyn 1781–1812 A brilliant young translator who rendered the New Testament into Urdu and Persian before dying at 31. Bible translation Ida Scudder 1870–1960 Built Vellore's great medical centre and a school to train Indian women as doctors. MedicalEducationWomen’s upliftment John Scudder Sr. 1793–1855 The first American medical missionary, and the founder of a dynasty of medical missions in India. Medical Joshua Marshman & William Ward Marshman 1768–1837; Ward 1769–1823 Carey's partners at Serampore — the printer and the schoolmaster behind India's great translation, printing and education mission. Bible translationEducation Mary Reed 1854–1943 Stricken with leprosy herself, she gave her life to the lepers of the Himalayas at Chandag. Leprosy care Paul Brand 1914–2003 Pioneered reconstructive surgery for leprosy and proved its damage comes from the loss of pain. Leprosy careMedical Reginald Heber 1783–1826 The travelling Bishop of Calcutta and hymn-writer, who ordained India's first Anglican clergy and died young. Indigenous church V. S. Azariah 1874–1945 India's first Anglican bishop, who led village mass movements and put mission in Indian hands. Indigenous churchMass movement Verrier Elwin 1902–1964 A missionary who gave his life to India's tribal peoples — and, convinced the mission was doing harm, left both it and the faith. Tribal / frontier mission William Carey 1761–1834 A self-taught cobbler who became Bengal's great Bible translator and pressed colonial India toward social reform. Bible translationEducationSocial reformIndigenous church