
A violent rainstorm descended upon the prayer meeting of five Williams College students in a grove of trees near the Hoosack River one summer afternoon in 1806. They moved to a nearby haystack. There they continued in prayer and committed themselves "to send the Gospel to the Pagans of Asia, and to the disciples of Mohammed." By 1810 they had inspired the Congregationalists of Massachusetts and Connecticut to organize the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions, America's first foreign missionary society.
Representing Presbyterian and Dutch-Reformed as well as Congregational Christians, Quakers, the American Board became the leading missionary society in the United States. Inspired by William Carey and patterned after British missionary societies, the American Board sent its first group of five missionaries to Asia in 1812; key organizers Adoniram Judson and Luther Rice were among this first group.
The American Board soon had sent missionaries to every part of the globe: India in 1813; Cherokee Indians in 1817; Hawaii, Palestine, and Turkey in 1819; China in 1830; Africa in 1833. In its first fifty years, the American Board sent out over 1250 missionaries. Most were from the smaller towns and farm villages of New England. Few were affluent, but many were trained in colleges where the evangelical revival burned brightly - - colleges such as Middlebury, Amherst, and Williams. There they received a classical education which included Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. When they reached the mission field they were able to translate the Bible from the original Greek and Hebrew into difficult and often previously unwritten languages. They built educational systems in their lands of ministry and were often called upon to advise foreign governments.
Missionary Herald, the magazine of the American Board established in 1821. For many Christians in America, the Missionary Herald was their window on the world. Descriptions of native customs, history, economic activities, and geographical features were included along with accounts of the influence of the Gospel on these far off lands. In a day before TV, radio, or rapid communications, such missionary reports became prime information for many Americans about foreign lands.
The American Board saw to it that schools and hospitals were established in all the mission fields. Native leaders were trained to continue the work of the ministry.
In 1961 the American Board merged to form the United Church Board for World Missions. After 150 years, the American Board had sent out nearly 5000 missionaries to 34 different fields. They had established over a thousand schools and colleges and spread the Gospel throughout the world-and it all began with five young men praying in a haystack!
More history:
http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/nineteen/nkeyinfo/fmmove...