What's Your Position on Missionaries? Quiz

Answer: Gladys Aylward

Gladys Aylward was poorly educated and worked as a domestic servant, but was inspired to become a missionary in China through reading her employers' books.
Aylward hated the film for its many errors and the Hollywood hint of romance with a Chinese officer. She pointed out that Bergman was tall and blonde, whereas she herself was short and dark-haired.

Question by Davejacobs

Answer: John G. Paton

John G. Paton was born in Scotland in 1824. He became a missionary to the cannibals on the New Hebrides Islands in the South Pacific and remained one until his death in 1907.

Three months after arriving in New Hebrides, John's wife Mary passed away from tropical fever. Nineteen days later their son Peter passed away too. John buried them near his house and slept on their graves at night to keep the cannibals away.

David Livingstone was an abolitionist, missionary, and explorer of Africa (but not to cannibals). Brother Andrew was known as "God's Smuggler" because he smuggled bibles into communist countries during the "Cold War" and
Amy Carmichael was known as the "Mother to India."

Question by Subsquid

Answer: The missionaries were all killed by members of the tribe within half a year.

The Waorani (or Huarani) were an isolated tribe known for their violent aggression against both their own people and all intruders into their territory. The operation began well, with the missionaries flying over and dropping gifts which were, in turn, reciprocated. However, and sadly, after establishing a nearby encampment, all five missionaries were killed by spearing on January 8, 1956. This made world news. Life magazine covered the event with a photo essay and funds for evangelistic missionary efforts notably increased in the United States. Several years after the incident, many of the tribe converted to Christianity, including several of the tribe members responsible for the attack.

Question by njbruce

Answer: Alessandro Valignano

The Japanese Boy's Mission was the brainchild of Alessandro Vilagnano. He was a prominent Jesuit missionary to the far east who promoted cultural sensitivity of the missionaries to the Japanese people. He also was permitted to form seminaries to train local Japanese Christians for the priesthood. The young men of the mission were met by prelates of the church as well as European nobility, and had an audience with the Pope.

Question by Chuckbirdsdad

Answer: Eric Liddell

Liddell is famously remembered as the dour Scot, played so well by Ian Charleson in the 1981 film "Chariots Of Fire". Although he was indeed a Scot, he was born in Tianjin, China to Scottish missionary parents. Liddell was a gifted athlete, being selected for the Scottish rugby union team on seven occasions and representing Edinburgh University in the 100m, 200m and 400m track events before being selected in the Great Britain team for the 1924 Olympics, held in Paris. Due to his strong Christian beliefs, he refused to run in a heat for the 100m as it was being held on Sunday, and as a result was forced to withdraw from the event altogether, but used his time to train for the 400m event. Although he had previously set good times in the 440 yard event, his pace was some way off that of an international 400m athlete and he was given little hope on the day. Liddell, though, had other ideas, and unconventionally treated the whole race as a giant sprint, and in winning, broke both the Olympic and world records with a time of 47.6 seconds.

Following the Olympics, Liddell returned to China to work as a missionary in the northern part of the country, an area which was a focal point of tensions between Japan and China that would eventually result in The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). As a missionary, Liddell taught in a school, believing that Christian values instilled at a young age would lead pupils to promoting them when older. In 1941, due to the dangers presented by the war, he packed his wife and children off to Canada, while he accepted a position at a mission station in Xiaozhang, which was soon taken over by Japanese forces. Liddell was interned at the Weihsien Internment Camp, where he continued to promote Christian values, despite the hardships he faced on a daily basis, and taught Bible studies and science classes to camp residents before dying in February 1945 due to a brain tumor, although his death may have been hastened by overwork and malnourishment.

Due to his being born and dying in China, this unassuming Scottish missionary is considered by some to have been the country's first Olympic gold medalist.

Question by 480154st

Answer: Father Damien

When he was 18 the Catholic de Veuster joined The Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary, and took minor orders. In 1863 he went as a missionary to the Sandwich Islands and in Honolulu he was ordained and took the name Father Damien. The Hawaiian government used to deport people with leprosy to the island of Molokai, and Father Damien was struck with the sad conditions there, so he volunteered to take spiritual charge of the settlement. In his time there from 1875 until his death -from leprosy - in 1889 he made huge improvements to the housing, feeding and water supply of the settlement.

Question by davejacobs

Answer: Peter

According to Acts 2:14-41, Peter preached a sermon of love and conviction which moved many of the onlookers to believe in the Holy Spirit and accept the truth of Jesus. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter preached to a large crowd and moved over 3,000 non-believers into becoming baptized. So great was his sermon that it is still considered one of the greatest sermons ever.

Paul was an early 1st century Christian missionary. Martha was just a friend of Jesus, and Peter, Paul & Mary were a 1960s folk trio who would have swung hammers if they had them and also believed in magic dragons.

Question by Subsquid

Answer: Pearl S. Buck

Buck was born Pearl Sydenstricker in 1892, to missionary parents who were very active in the Huai'an and Zhenjiang areas of China. Buck herself had no real interest in becoming a missionary, but applied for a position after graduating college in Virginia, in order to assist her father and visit her mother who was seriously ill in Zhenjiang. She married a fellow missionary, John Lossing Buck, and became a teacher of English literature at the University of Nanking. The family were forced into hiding during the Nanking incident of 1927, when many foreigners were murdered.

After living in Japan for a year, the family returned to Nanjing, where Buck began writing in earnest, and in 1931 published "The Good Earth", the first book in the "House Of Earth" trilogy. During a sabbatical from missionary work in 1932, Buck gave a talk in New York City entitled "Is There a Case for the Foreign Missionary?". The answer to her question, she believed, was "no", putting forward the view that China had no need for an institutional church which was dominated by missionaries, many of whom were often ignorant of China and arrogant in their attempts to control the people and the country. Not surprisingly, this view didn't go over too well with the Presbyterian Board and she was forced to resign her position. The loss of the Presbyterian Board was literature's gain, however, as she was able to devote more time to writing and was recognised in 1938 with the award of the Nobel Prize in Literature for works such as her "House Of Earth" trilogy (1931-35).

Question from Mrs48

Answer: Ecuador

HCJB was the brainchild of Clarence Wesley Jones and the first broadcast on Christmas Day, 1931, was made from his living room on a shortwave transmitter. Although medium wave transmissions began in 1936, shortwave broadcasting continued until 2009, when the transmitter was dismantled to allow the building of a new airport serving Quito. Since then, the station has used satellite, AM/FM frequencies and the Internet to spread its message.

The station broadcasts in English and Spanish, with the call sign HCJB representing Heralding Christ Jesus' Blessings in English and Hoy Cristo Jesús Bendice in Spanish.

Question from 480154st

Answer: Tierra del Fuego

Allen Francis Gardiner(1794-1851) was a British Royal Navy officer who felt the call to bring Christianity and civilisation to the Yahgan people who lived on the islands of Tierra del Fuego, in the extreme south of South America. He organised a well equipped expedition and with five companions arrived at the Fuegian island of Picton. They landed with several months' supplies in two sailing boats, but tragically by mistake their ammunition was left on the mother ship.

As they were unable to speak the language, their intentions were misunderstood, and they were attacked and most of their stores taken. They retreated to another island and awaited the additional supplies they thought they had organised. Unfortunately it had arrived in the Falklands but there was no ship available to take it on to Tierra del Fuego. With little food and with no ammunition to shoot wild birds they eventually starved to death. Nevertheless, when the story eventually reached England they were considered great missionary heroes.

Question by davejacobs