History of Christian Missions

Timeline of Christian Missions

This is far from complete...I'm just randomly filling in missionary events as I research...

c. 29 - Pentecost and birth of the church
c. 39 - Peter preaches to the Gentiles
c. 48 - Paul (formerly known as Saul of Tarsus) begins his first missionary journey to modern-day Turkey.
c. 51 - Paul begins his second missionary journey, a trip that will take him through Turkey and on into modern-day Greece.
c. 52 - Apostle Thomas arrives in India and founds church that subsequently becomes Indian Orthodox Church (and its various descendants).
c. 54 - Paul begins his third journey.
c. 60 - Paul journeys to Rome.
c. 180 - Pantaenus preaches in India
c. 300 - Ulfilas goes to the Goths in present-day Romania
328 - Frumentius takes gospel to Ethiopia
386 - Augustine of Hippo converted
410 - New Testament appears in Armenian language
432 - Patrick goes to Ireland as missionary
496 - Conversion of Clovis I, king of Franks in Gaul, along with 3,000 warriors
c. 528 - Benedict destroys pagan temple at Monte Cassino (Italy) and builds monastery
c. 563 - Columba sails from Ireland to Scotland.
596 - Gregory the Great sends Augustine to England
631 - Conversion of the East Angles
635 - First Christian missionaries (Nestorian monks from Asia Minor and Persia) arrive in China; Aidan launches crusade into heart of Nurthumbria (England)
637 - Lombards become Christians
692 - Willibrord and 11 companions cross the North Sea to become missionaries to the Frisians (in modern Holland)
697 - Muslims overrun Carthage, capital of North Africa
722 - Boniface goes to Germanic tribes
823 - Anskar goes to Sweden
830 - Scotch-born Erluph, Bishop of Werden is evangelizing in Germany when he is killed by the Vandals.
869 - Cyril and Methodius go to the Slavs
864 - Conversion of Prince Boris of Bulgaria
1000 - Leif the Lucky evangelizes Greenland
1219 - Francis of Assisi presents the Gospel to the Sultan of Egypt
1266 - The Khan sends Marco PoloÃÂÃÂs father and uncle, Niccolo and Maffeo Polo, back to Europe with a request to the Pope to send 100 missionaries (only two responded and they turned back before reaching Mongolia)
1276 - Raymond Lull opens training center to send missionaries to North Africa
1289 - Franciscan friars begin mission work in China
1294 - Franciscan John of Monte Corvino goes to China
1329 - Nicea falls to Muslim Ottoman Turks
1368 - Collapse of the Franciscan mission in China as Ming Dynasty abolishes Christianity
1382 - Bible translated into English from Latin
1453 - Constantinople falls to the Muslim Ottoman Turks who make it their capital
1500 - Franciscans enter Brazil with Cabral
1510 - Dominicans begin work in Haiti
1526 - Franciscans enter Florida
1537 - Pope Paul III orders that the Indians of the New World be brought to Christ "by the preaching of the divine word, and with the example of the good life."
1542 - Francis Xavier, having two years previously launched the missionary work of the Society of Jesus, goes to Portuguese colony of Goa in South India; Franciscans reach what is now New Mexico
1555 - John Calvin sends Huguenots to Brazil
1564 - Legaspi begins Augustinian work in Philippine Islands
1582 - Jesuits begin mission work in China, introduce Western science, mathematics, astronomy
1577 - Dominicans enter Mozambique and penetrate inland, burning Muslim mosques as they go
1597 - Twenty-six Japanese Christians are crucified for their faith by General Toyotomi Hideyoshi in Nagasaki, Japan. By 1640, thousands of Japanese Christians had been martyred.
1601 - Matteo Ricci goes to China
1605 - Roberto de Nobili goes to India
1612 - Jesuits found a mission for the Abnakis in Maine
1614 - Anti-Christian edicts issued in Japan
1622 - Pope Gregory VI founds the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith
1628 - College of Propaganda established in Rome to train "native clergy" from all over the world
1644 - John Eliot begins ministry to Algonquin Indians in North America
1649 - Society for the Propagation of the Gospel In New England formed to reach the Indians of New England
1651 - Count Truchsess, prominent Lutheran layman, asked the theological faculty of Wittenberg as to why Lutherans were not sending out missionaries in obedience to the Great Commission
1658 - Paris Foreign Missions Society established by Jesuit Alexander de Rhodes
1661 - George Fox, founder of the Society of Friends (Quakers) sends 3 missionaries to China (although they never reached the field)
1664 - Justinian Von Welz goes to Dutch Guinea (now called Surinam)
1670 - Jesuits establish missions on the Orinoco River in Venezuela
1698 - Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge organized by Anglicans
1701 - Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts
1705 - Danish-Halle mission to India begins with Bartholomew Ziegenbalg and Henry Plutschau
1719 - Isaac Watts writes missionary hymn "Jesus Shall Reign Where'er the Sun"
1722 - Hans Egede goes to Greenland
1723 - Robert Millar publishes A History of the Propagation of Christianity and the Overthrow of Paganism
1732 - Moravians launch missionary outreach in Caribbean
1733 - Moravians go to Greenland
1735 - John Wesley goes to Indians in Georgia as missionary with the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
1736 - Anti-Christian edicts in China
1743 - David Brainerd starts ministry to North American Indians
1746 - From Boston, a call is issued to the Christians of the New World to enter into a seven-year "Concert of Prayer" for missionary work
1747 - Jonathan Edwards appeals for prayer for world missions
1750 - Jonathan Edwards, preacher of the First Great Awakening, having been banished from his church at Northhampton, Massachusetts goes as a missionary to the nearby Housatonic Indians.
1750 - Christian Frederic Schwartz goes to India with Danish-Halle Mission
1776 - The first baptism of an Eskimo by a Lutheran pastor takes place in Labrador.
1782 - Freed slave George Lisle goes to Jamaica as missionary
1786 - John Marrant, a free black from New York City, preaches to "a great number of Indians and white people" at Green's Harbor, Newfoundland. Marrant's cross-cultural ministry led him to take the Christian gospel to the Cherokee, Creek, Catawar, and Housaw Indians.
1792 - William Carey writes Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to use means for the conversion of the heathen and forms the Baptist Missionary Society to support him in establishing missionary work in India.
1795 - The London Missionary Society is formed.
1797 - London Missionary Society enters Tahiti
1799 - The Church Missionary Society (Church of England) is formed; John Vanderkemp, Dutch Physician goes to Cape Colony, Africa; Religious Tract Society organized
1804 - British and Foreign Bible Society formed; Church Missionary Society enters Sierra Leone
1806 - Haystack prayer meeting at Williams College; Henry Martyn lands in Calcutta
1807 - First Protestant missionary to China, Robert Morrison, begins work in Canton
1809 - National Bible Society of Scotland organized
1810 - The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions is formed.
1811 - English Wesleyans enter Sierra Leone
1812 - First American foreign missionary, Adoniram Judson, arrives in Serampore and soon goes to Burma
1813 - The Methodists form the Wesleyan Missionary Society.
1814 - First recorded baptism of a Chinese convert, Cai Gao; American Baptist Foreign Mission Society formed; Netherlands Bible Society founded
1815 - American Board of Commissioners open work on Ceylon; Basel Missionary Society organized
1816 - Robert Moffat arrives in Africa; American Bible Society founded
1817 - James Thompson begins distributing Bibles throughout Latin America
1819 - John Scudder, the missionary physician, joins the Ceylon Mission; Wesleyan Methodists start work in Madras, India; Reginald Heber writes words to missionary classic "From Greenland's Icy Mountains"
1820 - Hiram Bingham goes to Hawaii (Sandwich Islands)
1821 - African-American Lott Carey, a Baptist missionary, sails with 28 colleagues from Norfolk, VA to Sierra Leone.
1822 - Paris Evangelical Missionary Society established
1823 - Scottish Missionary Society workers arrive in Bombay, India
1825 - George Boardman goes to Burma
1826 - American Bible Society sends first shipment of Bibles to Mexico
1828 - Basel Mission begins work at Christiansborg, Accra (Africa); Karl F. A. Gutzlaff of the Netherlands Missionary Society lands in Bangkok, Thailand; Rhenish Missionary Association formed
1830 - Alexander Duff arrives in Calcutta; Baptism of Tauta'ahau Tupou, King of Tonga, by a western missionary
1831 - American Congregational missionaries arrive in Thailand, withdrawing in 1849 without a single convert
1833 - Baptist work in Thailand begins with John Taylor Jones; American Methodist missionary Melville Box arrives in Liberia
1834 - American Presbyterian Mission opens work in India in the Punjab
1835 - Rhenish Missionary Society begins work among the Dayaks on Borneo (Indonesia)
1836 - Plymouth Brethren begin work in Madras, India
1839 - Entire Bible in Tahiti published
1840 - David Livingstone is in present-day Malawi (Africa) with the London Missionary Society; American Presbyterians enter Thailand and labor for 18 years before seeing their first Thai convert
1844 - Swiss Johann Krapf begins work on Zanzibar
1852 - Zenana (women) and Medical Missionary Fellowship formed in England to send out single women missionaries
1854 - London Missionary Conference; New York Missionary Conference
1856 - Presbyterians start work in Colombia with the arrival of Henry Pratt
1857 - Bible translated into Tswana language
1858 - John G. Paton begins work in New Hebrides; Elizabeth Freeman martyred in India; Basel Evangelical Missionary Society begins work in western Sumatra (Indonesia)
1859 - Protestant missionaries arrive in Japan
1860 - United Lutheran Church begins work in Liberia; Liverpool Missionary Conference; Cyrus Hamlin establishes Robert College in Constantinople
1861 - Sarah Doremus founds the Women's Union Missionary Society; Episcopal Church opens work in Haiti; Rhenish Mission goes to Indonesia under Ludwig Nommensen
1862 - Paris Evangelical Missionary Society opens work in Senegal
1864 - Baptists enter Argentina
1865 - The China Inland Mission is founded by James Hudson Taylor.
1867 - Methodists start work in Argentina; Scripture Union established
1868 - Robert Bruce goes to Iran
1870 - Clara Swain, the very first female missionary medical doctor, arrives at Bareilly, India.
1871 - Henry Stanley finds David Livingstone in central Africa
1872 - First All-India Missionary Conference with 136 participants
1873 - Regions Beyond Missionary Union founded in London in connection with the East London Training Institute for Home and Foreign Missions
1876 - Mary Slessor goes to the Calabar region of Nigeria
1877 - James Chalmers goes to New Guinea
1881 - Methodist work in Lahore, Pakistan starts in the wake of revivals under Bishop William Taylor; North Africa Mission (now Arab World Ministries) founded on work of Edward Glenny in Algeria
1882 - A.B. Simpson founds missionary training school in New York
1883 - Salvation Army enters West Pakistan
1885 - Horace Underwood, Presbyterian missionary, and Henry Appenzellar, Methodist missionary, arrive in Korea; Scottish Ion Keith-Falconer goes to Aden on the Arabian peninsula; "Cambridge Seven" (C. T. Studd, M. Beauchamp, W. W. Cassels, D. E. Hoste, S. P. Smith, A. T. Podhill-Turner, C. H. Polhill-Turner) go to China as missionaries.
1886 - Student Volunteer movement launched as 100 university and seminar students at Moody's conference grounds at Mount Hermon, Massachusetts, sign the Princeton Pledge: "I purpose, God willing, to become a foreign missionary."
1888 - Jonathan Goforth sails to China; Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions officially organized with John R. Mott as chairman and Robert Wilder as traveling secretary. The movement's motto, coined by Wilder, was: "The evangelization of the world in this generation"; Scripture Gift Mission founded
1890 - Central American Mission founded by C. I. Scofield, editor of the Scofield Reference Bible; The Scandinavian Alliance (now The Evangelical Alliance Mission) founded; Methodist Charles Gabriel writes missionary song "Send the Light"
1891 - Samuel Zwemer goes to Arabia
1892 - Redcliffe Missionary Training College founded in Chiswick (London)
1893 - Eleanor Chestnut goes to India as Presbyterian medical missionary; Sudan Interior Mission founded
1895 - Africa Inland Mission formed by Peter Cameron Scott
1897 - Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. begins work in Venezuela
1899 - James Rodgers arrives in Philippines with the Presbyterian Mission; Central American Mission enters Guatemala
1900 - American Friends open work in Cuba; Ecumenical Missionary Conference in Carnegie Hall, New York (162 mission boards represented); 189 missionaries and their children killed in Boxer rebellion in China
1901 - John Diaz goes to Cape Verde Islands; Maude Cary sails for Morocco; Disciples of Christ open work in northern Luzon (Philippines); Oriental Missionary Society founded by Charles Cowman (his wife is the compiler of popular devotional book Streams in the Desert)
1902 - Swiss members of Christian Missions in Many Lands enter Laos; California Yearly Meeting of Friends opens work in Guatemala
1903 - Church of the Nazarene enters Mexico
1904 - The Azusa Street Revivals
1906 - The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM) opens work in Venezuela with T. J. Bach and John Christiansen
1907 - Harmon Schmelzenbach sails for Africa; Presbyterians and Methodists open Union Theological Seminary in Manila, Philippines; Bolivian Indian Mission founded by George Allen
1908 - Gospel Missionary Union opens work in Colombia with Charles Chapman and John Funk
1910 - C.T. Studd establishes Heart of Africa Mission (now called Worldwide Evangelization Crusade); Edinburgh (Scotland) Missionary Conference
1911 - Christian and Missionary Alliance enters Vietnam
1912 - Conference of British Missionary Societies formed
1917 - Interdenominational Foreign Mission Association (IFMA) founded
1920 - Church of the Nazarene enters Syria
1921 - Founding of International Missionary Council (IMC); Norwegian Mission Council formed
1924 - Bible Churchman's Missionary Society opens work in Upper Burma; Baptist Mid-Missions begins work in Venezuela
1927 - Near East Christian Council established
1928 - Cuba Bible Institute (West Indies Mission) opens; Jerusalem Conference of IMC
1929 - Christian and Missionary Alliance enters East Borneo (Indonesia)
1930 - Christian and Missionary Alliance starts work among Baouli tribe in the Ivory Coast
1931 - HCJB radio station started in Quito, Ecuador by Clarence Jones; Baptist Mid-Missions enters Liberia
1932 - Assemblies of God open work in Colombia; Laymen's Missionary Inquiry
1933 - Gladys Aylward (subject of movie "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness") arrives in China
1934 - William Cameron Townsend begins the Summer Institute of Linguistics
1935 - Dr. Frank C. Laubach, American missionary to the Philippines perfects the "Each one teach one" literacy program, which was used worldwide to teach 60 million people to read in their own language.
1938 - West Indies Mission enters Dominican Republic; Church Missionary Society forced out of Egypt; Madras World Missionary Conference held; Dr. Orpha Speicher oversees construction of Reynolds Memorial Hospital in central India
1940 - Marianna Slocum begins translation work in Mexico
1941 - Joy Ridderhof founds Gospel Recordings
1942 - William Cameron Townsend founds Wycliffe Bible Translators; New Tribes mission founded
1943 - World Gospel Mission (National Holiness Missionary Society) enters Honduras; 5 missionaries with New Tribes Mission martyred
1945 - Mission Aviation Fellowship formed; Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC) founded; Evangelical Foreign Missions Association formed by denominational mission boards
1946 - First Inter-Varsity missionary convention (now called "Urbana"); United Bible Societies formed; Missionary Aviation Fellowship purchases its first aircraft, a 1933 four-place Waco biplane
1947 - Conservative Baptist Foreign Mission Society begins work among the Senufo tribe in the Ivory Coast
1948 - Alfredo del Rosso merges his Italian Holiness Mission with the Church of the Nazarene, thus opening Nazarene work on the European continent; Don Owens goes to Korea
1949 - Southern Baptist Mission opens work in Venezuela
1950 - Paul Orjala arrives in Haiti; radio station 4VEH, owned by Oriental Missionary Society, starts broadcasting from near Cap Haitien, Haiti
1951 - World Evangelical Fellowship organized; Bill and Vonette Bright create Campus Crusade for Christ at UCLA
1952 - Church of the Nazarene enters New Zealand
1954 - Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities opens work in Cuba
1955 - Donald McGavran publishes Bridges of God; Brother Andrew makes first Bible smuggling trip into Communist Eastern Europe
1956 -Edward McCully, Peter Fleming, Jim Elliot, Roger Youderian and Nate Saint die in Ecuador at the hands of Auca Indians on the Curaray River; Assemblies of God open work in Senegal
1958 - Rochunga Pudaite completes translation of Bible into Hmar language (India)
1959 - Radio Lumiere founded in Haiti by West Indies Mission (now World Team)
c. 1960 - Kenneth Strachan starts Evangelism-in-Depth in Central America
1962 - Don Richardson goes to Sawi tribe in Papua New Guinea
1963 - Theological Education by Extension movement launched in Guatemala by Ralph Winter and James Emery
1964 - In separate incidents rebels in the Congo kill missionaries Paul Carlson and Irene Ferrel as well as brutalizing missionary doctor Helen Roseveare; Carlson is featured on December 4 TIME magazine cover.
1966 - Red Guards destroy churches in China; Berlin Congress on Evangelism; Missionaries expelled from Burma; God's Smuggler published
1970 - Frankfurt Declaration on Mission
1971 - Gustavo Gutierrez publishes A Theology of Liberation
1973 - Church of the Nazarene enters Indonesia and Portugal; first All-Asa Mission Consultation convenes in Seoul, Korea with 25 delegates from 14 countries; founding of American Society of Missiology
1974 - Ralph Winter talks about "hidden" or unreached peoples at Lausanne Congress of World Evangelism
1975 - Nazarene missionaries Armand Doll and Hugh Friberg imprisoned in Mozambique
1976 - U.S. Center for World Mission founded; 1600 Chinese assemble in Hong Kong for the Chinese Congress on World Evangelization; Islamic World Congress calls for withdrawal of missionaries; Peace Child appears in Reader's Digest.
1977 - Evangelical Fellowship of India sponsors the All-India Congress on Mission and Evangelization
1979 - Production of JESUS film commissioned by Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ; Mother Teresa awarded Nobel Peace Prize
1980 - Philippine Congress on Discipling a Whole Nation; LCWE Conference in Pattaya
1981 - Colombian terrorists kidnap and kill Wycliffe Bible Translator Chet Bitterman
1982 - Third World Theologians Consultation in Seoul; story on "The New Missionary" makes December 27 cover of TIME magazine; Andes Evangelical Mission (formerly Bolivian Indian Mission) merges into SIM (formerly Sudan Interior Mission)
1984 - STEM (Short Term Evangelical Mission teams) ministries founded by Roger Petersen
1986 - Entire Bible published in Haitian Creole
1987 - Second International Conference on Missionary Kids (MKs) held in Quito, Ecuador
1988 - Wycliffe Bible Translators complete their 300 New Testament translation (Cotabato Manobo language of the Philippines)
1994 - Church of the Nazarene enters Bulgaria
1995 - Nazarene missionary Don Cox abducted in Quito, Ecuador
1999 - Radical Hindus murder veteran Australian missionary Graham Stewart Stains and his two sons as they are sleeping in a car in eastern India.