Rev. John Rangiah, the Unsung Hero of World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh, 1910

According to the recorded statistics of those registered delegates at the Edinburgh World Missionary Conference in 1910, there were about 1,215 delegates participated from across the world. Among them there were about 17 participants from Asia either called as Natives or participants from younger churches. Out of which there were 8 Indians who participated in this conference either as representatives of the mission boards or as guests by the executive committees.

Bishop V.S. Azariah (then a reverend) was one of the prominent delegates who made a famous speech on “Give Us Friends” in the Conference, for which he has been ever cherished and remembered for. Rev. K.C. Chatterjee, the then recently elected Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of India from Punjab, was among the two Asians upon whom an honorary doctorate was conferred upon by the University of Edinburgh then, in 1910. He also led an opening devotion in the Commission IV of the Conference and also explained his experiences as the only Hindu convert among the delegates. Rev. Thang Khan Sangma was the other Indian who attended the conference, and was a Baptist Evangelist from Tura, who was serving the Garo Tribes in Assam (then) in North East India. He was pursuing his higher studies in Newton Theological Institution in Massachusetts, USA. He also made a courageous speech countering the British stance in the discussions on “Missions and Governments.” Twelve of the seventeen delegates from Asia were given chance to speak to the conference.

It has been a known fact that there has been an absence of African delegates in the Conference. However there were some African American Missionaries who attended. Rev. Dr. Alexander Camphor, who was born in Louisiana was serving as a missionary in Liberia was one of them. Besides Camphor, there was also a non-African missionary serving in South Africa who attended the World Missionary Conference, and he is none other but Rev. John Rangiah.

Rev. John Rangiah (1866-1915) was a Telugu Baptist Christian who was sent from Andhra Pradesh, India to Natal, South Africa in June 1903 by Telugu Baptist Home Missionary Society, representing the America Baptist Foreign Mission Society. He was a Headmaster of a girl’s high school in Nellore, Andhra Padesh prior to be sent as a missionary. He was probably the first overseas missionary sent out by any missions of American Baptists. He was sent as a missionary to work among the Telugu immigrants, who were taken as labourers to work in the sugar plantations in Natal, South Africa. The Baptist missionaries felt that this immigrant Telugu community were like a ‘sheep without a shepherd’, and therefore had to sent Rev. John and his wife to serve them. By his pioneering missionary works, he established a first church on 27th December 1903, just after the Christmas celebrations, with about 63 members. It has been recorded that by 1910, Rev. John was pivotal in establishing 10 churches in Pietermaritzburg, Durban and Natal, where a strong Indian Baptist community was established. Rev. John Rangiah attended the World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh as one of the five Asian representatives of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society. Though he had not made any speech or public contribution at the Conference, but his benign presence had an impact in mutual learning to him as well as to the other missionaries participating there. It was even said that Rev. John Rangiah attended the Conference in Scotland bare-footed, for he has always been a bare-footed missionary, probably bare-footed in every sense of the word. That would have made the other participating missionaries in the Conference to discuss about “mission on bare-foot.”

In a country of ours, where Willaim Carey, Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg, and others are hailed for their contributions, Rev. John Rangiah may not have the sufficient space in the history of missions in India. However, as we gear up towards celebrating the 2010 centenary of the Edinburgh World Missionary Conference, it is time for us Indian Christians to pay rich tribute to these unsung heroes from India who attended the Conference. These heroes history to the mission of the Church would have been unnoticed and neglected, but time is ripe that we need to bring into light their histories, their contributions and need to thank God for their life, witness and mission. Let us draw inspirations from these people of God, and let us dedicate to be the proud heirs of such rich legacy of mission.

O God of our help in ages past
Our hope for years to come,
Come 2010, come to ignite us to be a spark of transformation in our society,
Come 2010, come to involve us to journey with the oppressed and excluded people,
Come 2010, come to invite us to friendship with other people of faith and gender,
Come 2010, come to invigorate us to wake us from deep slumber of complacency,
Come 2010, come to instruct us to widen and deepen the Reign of God here on earth,
Come 2010, come to inspect us to seek our true commitment for mission of God,
Come 2010, come to inspire us to participate vibrantly in the mission of God.

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Details collected from Brian Stanley’s book The World Missionary Conference.