American Methodist Episcopal Mission ( AMEM ; also known as Board of Foreign Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church [ MEFB ]) was the missionary society of the Methodist Episcopal Church that was involved in sending workers to countries such as Africa, South America, India, Australia and China during the late Qing dynasty .
7-574: In 1847, the American Methodist Episcopal Society (North) entered the field of China, and soon surpassed all others in the number of its agents and members. Its pioneer was Rev. Judson Dwight Collins , who passionately asked the society to enter China. When he was told that no money was available for the purpose, he wrote: Engage me a passage before the mast in the first vessel going to China. My own strong arm can pull me to China and can support me when I arrive there. Such enthusiasm
14-435: A Christian organization is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Methodism -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Judson Dwight Collins Rev. Judson Dwight Collins ( Chinese : 柯林 ; Pinyin : Kēlín ; Foochow Romanized : Kŏ̤-lìng ; February 12, 1823 - May 13, 1852) was the first Methodist missionary to China . On February 12, 1823, Judson Dwight Collins
21-573: The Foochow Mission. Collins' short tenure in China was fraught with impediments and obstacles, including the strong Chinese xenophobia, the formidable language barrier, the poor sanitation and bad living conditions, and finally an illness that compelled him to return home to Michigan in 1851. He never regained his health afterwards, and at just 29 years of age, he died at his parents' home at Gregory, Lyndon Township , Washtenaw County , Michigan, where he
28-641: The banks of the Yangtze for three hundred miles, and had stations in Jiujiang and other large cities. Northwards it has churches in Beijing , Tianjin and Isunhua , with full accompaniments of schools and hospitals, and it extended westward to Chongqing , 1,400 miles from the sea. In 1890 it had thirty-two missionaries, seventeen lady agents, forty-three native ordained pastors, ninety-one unordained native helpers, and over four thousand communicants. This article about
35-682: Was born into a Methodist family in Rose , Wayne County , New York . His parents, Alpheus and Betsay Collins, were of English and German origin. After graduation from the first class of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1845, Collins served as an instructor for two years at the Wesleyan Seminary at Albion College , teaching courses in Latin, Greek, chemistry, botany, and rhetoric. In 1847, Collins
42-426: Was called to New York, where he was ordained an elder and commissioned along with M. C. White and his wife to China. They sailed from Boston on April 15 and reached Fuzhou on September 6. To start an opening for the missionary work, Collins set up a school for boys in 1847 and another in 1848. He also worked with M. C. White on Bible translation and distribution of tracts. In 1850, he was appointed superintendent of
49-399: Was irresistible, and Collins was sent to Fuzhou , where, after ten years weary preparation, a work broke out, which spread itself over six large districts, and comprised sixty stations. A printing press was kept busily employed, which, in the year 1888 alone, issued 14,000 pages of Christian literature. A large college was in use through the generosity of a natives. The mission also wound along
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