The Moravian Slaves, a popular narrative about Christian Missions concerning

Johann Leonhard Dober Johann Leonhard Dober (born March 7, 1706, Mönchsroth, Swabia, Germany to Johann Dober and Anna Barbara Link; died April 1, 1766, Herrnhut, Saxony, Germany) was, along with David Nitschmann, one of the two first missionaries of the Moravian Br ...

and David Nitschmann, describes how these two young

Moravian Brethren , image = AgnusDeiWindow.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , caption = Church emblem featuring the Agnus Dei.Stained glass at the Rights Chapel of Trinity Moravian Church, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States , main_classification = Proto-Prot ...

from

Herrnhut Herrnhut ( Sorbian: ''Ochranow''; cs, Ochranov) is an Upper Lusatian town in the Görlitz district in Saxony, Germany, known for the community of the Moravian Church established by Nicolas Ludwig, Count von Zinzendorf in 1722. Geography It is ...

, Germany, were called in 1732 to minister to the African slaves on the islands of St. Thomas and

St. Croix Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincor ...

in the

Danish West Indies The Danish West Indies ( da, Dansk Vestindien) or Danish Antilles or Danish Virgin Islands were a Danish colonization of the Americas, Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Saint Thomas ...

. Allegedly, when they were told that they would not be allowed to do such a thing, Dober and Nitschmann sold themselves to a slave owner and boarded a ship bound for the West Indies. As the ship pulled away from the docks, it is said that they called out to their loved ones on shore, "May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering!"

Mission to St. Thomas and St. Croix

The missionaries did assert that they were willing to become slaves if it was the only way to reach the slaves. Many sources claim that they actually followed through, sold themselves, boarded a ship, and were never heard from again. In fact, after being sent out by Count

Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf Nikolaus Ludwig, Reichsgraf von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf (26 May 1700 – 9 May 1760) was a German religious and social reformer, bishop of the Moravian Church, founder of the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine, Christian mission pioneer and a major figu ...

, the two traveled from Herrnhut to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, where their plan initially met with strong opposition. When asked by a court official how they would support themselves, Nitschmann replied, “We shall work as slaves among the slaves." “But,” said the official, “that is impossible. It will not be allowed. No white man ever works as a slave.” “Very well,” replied Nitschmann, “I am a carpenter, and will ply my trade.” After some difficulty, the missionaries found support from the Danish Queen and her court, and although the Danish West Indian Company refused to grant them passage, a ship was eventually procured. Leaving Copenhagen on Oct 8, 1732, they arrived in St. Thomas two months later on December 13. While in the St. Thomas, they lived frugally and preached to the slaves, and they had a certain amount of success. By 1734 they had both returned to Germany, but other Moravian missionaries continued the work, establishing churches on St. Thomas,

, St. John’s,

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

, and St. Kitts. Moravian missionaries baptized 13,000 converts before any other missionaries arrived on the scene. After returning from the West Indies, both men continued to serve in the Moravian church, and both were ordained as bishops. Dober remained in Europe, but Nitschmann traveled with

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...

and helped to found the mission at

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19, ...

.
Memoir of David Nitschmann, Sr.

References

{{Moravian Church Navigation Moravian Church missionaries Slavery in the Caribbean Protestant missionaries in the United States Virgin Islands Danish West Indies