No takers
On September 27th, 1840, the first Telugu person Venkappa was baptised in the Penna river near Nellore. Nothing much is known of him in the subsequent years. He was not from Nellore, but lived somewhere beyond Ongole, and perhaps an itenerant trader. In the next several years that followed, the missionaries learnt the language, got Telugu translations of the Bible wherever they were available, and struggled preaching the gospel on the streets, on the highway, or wherever people gathered. One of the places, people gathered in large numbers in those days were temples and their surroundings. Some seven kilometers from Nellore town, there was hill called Narasimha konda, and there was a temple on the top of the hill. At the foot of this hill was a village called Jonnavada. Once a year there used to be a big festival in this temple where thousands of people came. Day and his team thought that this was a great opportunity to preach the gospel. It so happned that when Samuel Day stood and began preaching and his assistants distributing tracts and pamphlets, a Brahmin came charging, took out his chappal and started violently beating Day on his head and shoulders. Day and his assistants had to literally run away from the scene.
Once when Day reached a village called Karatampadu to preach, the villagers screamed athim and drove him out with sticks in their hands. He was not allowed to preach. Only after he reached the highway, the angry villagers left him. There were some onlookers, and Day turned to them, opened his Bible and began his preaching. In the face of such resistance from the Telugu people, the missionaries while continuing to preach, also began to concentrate on establishing and running day schools and boarding schools schools for both boys and girls.
The Nellore church was formally organized in 1844 with 8 members including two missionary couples, two other Americans and only two local persons: Christian Narsu and Elisha. Apart from the stiff resistance from the local population, the missionaries faced further problems in terms of their poor health and severe shortage of funds. Husen’s health failed in 1845, and the very next year Day’s health also failed, and both had to return to America. It was not until 1849 that Day returned with another missionary couple Lyman Jewett and his wife. With missionaries being altogether absent, the mission’s work done so far was literally brought to nothing. With the arrival of Jewetts, a fresh energy was brought to the mission.
The first local person to be ordained as a priest by the mission was Kanakiah. He was from the Naidu caste and a native of Visakhapatnam. His father was a sepoy posted in Bangalore. When Kanakiah was eight years old, his father took an early retirement and was heading to his native place. On his way, he stopped in Nellore to visit a relative who was a retired subhedar who while in service in Burma converted to Christianity. During this brief visit to Nellore, unfortunately, Kanakiah’s father suddenly died. Kanakiah stayed back with his uncle, and was admitted into the boarding school run by Mrs. Day. In 1855, when he was eighteen years old, he took baptism. Soon after he completed school, due to shortage of staff, he was asked to teach in the school for a time, after which he became a full-time evangelist. In 1856 he married Julia, another boarding school student who converted, and in 1860 he became the first ordained native pastor of the Nellore church.
In the first 25 years, the highest rate of baptisms that the mission ever reached was in 1858, when in the whole year thirteen people were baptized. At the beginning of the year 1866, the mission was praying that they should close the year with at least one hundred members in the congregation of the Nellore church. By the end of the year, only about 11 new people were baptised. The total number of believers in the congregation was only 38. The mission could not penetrate into the villages. It was mostly from amongst the inquirers who came to visit the missionaries out of curiosity, seekers who had heard of new religion, and the students from the schools run by the missionaries that the conversions to Christianity took place.
From the point of view of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Board in Boston, the Telugu Mission was a failed project with hardly much progress to justify its existence. The Board, in at least three of its annual meetings -1848, 1853 and 1862- concretely proposed to abandon the mission altogether and divert the resources to Burma where the mission amongst Karens was successful and promising. On all the three occasions, the proposal to abandon was withdrawn and the mission was reinforced, actually for no particular reason apart from the appeal of the resident missionaries, Day and Jewett.
In 1862, in the annual general body meeting of the mission, in Providence (US), the resolution to abandon the Telugu mission was nearly ready. By now, Jewett's health deteriorated and he was on his way back to America, and he was to attend the general body meeting in Providence. When the resolution was about to be passed, the secretary of the mission pleaded the Committee to wait until Jewett came so that his opinion also could be minuted. The next day, Jewett attended the meeting and read the resolution with a heavy heart. He protested and replied with an emphatic "No". He declared before the Board that if encouragement and aid were not given him by the Union, he would return alone and unaided, except by God's promise and spirit, and spend his remaining days among the Telugu people, and if need be, die there.
The secretary of the Board replied: "Well, brother, if you are so resolved to return, we must send somebody with you to bury you. You certainly ought to have a Christian burial in that heathen land".
John Clough was the man chosen for the job. He was a young engineer from Iowa state who had just joined the mission. He accompanied Jewett. Both of them reached Nellore in April 1865.
Once when Day reached a village called Karatampadu to preach, the villagers screamed athim and drove him out with sticks in their hands. He was not allowed to preach. Only after he reached the highway, the angry villagers left him. There were some onlookers, and Day turned to them, opened his Bible and began his preaching. In the face of such resistance from the Telugu people, the missionaries while continuing to preach, also began to concentrate on establishing and running day schools and boarding schools schools for both boys and girls.
The Nellore church was formally organized in 1844 with 8 members including two missionary couples, two other Americans and only two local persons: Christian Narsu and Elisha. Apart from the stiff resistance from the local population, the missionaries faced further problems in terms of their poor health and severe shortage of funds. Husen’s health failed in 1845, and the very next year Day’s health also failed, and both had to return to America. It was not until 1849 that Day returned with another missionary couple Lyman Jewett and his wife. With missionaries being altogether absent, the mission’s work done so far was literally brought to nothing. With the arrival of Jewetts, a fresh energy was brought to the mission.
The first local person to be ordained as a priest by the mission was Kanakiah. He was from the Naidu caste and a native of Visakhapatnam. His father was a sepoy posted in Bangalore. When Kanakiah was eight years old, his father took an early retirement and was heading to his native place. On his way, he stopped in Nellore to visit a relative who was a retired subhedar who while in service in Burma converted to Christianity. During this brief visit to Nellore, unfortunately, Kanakiah’s father suddenly died. Kanakiah stayed back with his uncle, and was admitted into the boarding school run by Mrs. Day. In 1855, when he was eighteen years old, he took baptism. Soon after he completed school, due to shortage of staff, he was asked to teach in the school for a time, after which he became a full-time evangelist. In 1856 he married Julia, another boarding school student who converted, and in 1860 he became the first ordained native pastor of the Nellore church.
In the first 25 years, the highest rate of baptisms that the mission ever reached was in 1858, when in the whole year thirteen people were baptized. At the beginning of the year 1866, the mission was praying that they should close the year with at least one hundred members in the congregation of the Nellore church. By the end of the year, only about 11 new people were baptised. The total number of believers in the congregation was only 38. The mission could not penetrate into the villages. It was mostly from amongst the inquirers who came to visit the missionaries out of curiosity, seekers who had heard of new religion, and the students from the schools run by the missionaries that the conversions to Christianity took place.
From the point of view of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Board in Boston, the Telugu Mission was a failed project with hardly much progress to justify its existence. The Board, in at least three of its annual meetings -1848, 1853 and 1862- concretely proposed to abandon the mission altogether and divert the resources to Burma where the mission amongst Karens was successful and promising. On all the three occasions, the proposal to abandon was withdrawn and the mission was reinforced, actually for no particular reason apart from the appeal of the resident missionaries, Day and Jewett.
In 1862, in the annual general body meeting of the mission, in Providence (US), the resolution to abandon the Telugu mission was nearly ready. By now, Jewett's health deteriorated and he was on his way back to America, and he was to attend the general body meeting in Providence. When the resolution was about to be passed, the secretary of the mission pleaded the Committee to wait until Jewett came so that his opinion also could be minuted. The next day, Jewett attended the meeting and read the resolution with a heavy heart. He protested and replied with an emphatic "No". He declared before the Board that if encouragement and aid were not given him by the Union, he would return alone and unaided, except by God's promise and spirit, and spend his remaining days among the Telugu people, and if need be, die there.
The secretary of the Board replied: "Well, brother, if you are so resolved to return, we must send somebody with you to bury you. You certainly ought to have a Christian burial in that heathen land".
John Clough was the man chosen for the job. He was a young engineer from Iowa state who had just joined the mission. He accompanied Jewett. Both of them reached Nellore in April 1865.