The rest of the story

I thought I would do a little research on the story about the two young men that Paul Washer mentions in his video below. I found this interesting and thought I would share: The rest of the story!


Their names were John Leonard Doper and David Nitschman. Nitschman actually had a wife and young children when he answered the call of God. They thought that they would never return home and that they would indeed, sell themselves into slavery. But, God had a different plan. What God wants from us is to be a yielded vessel.

Here is the rest of the story:

John Leonard Doper and David Nitschman inspired their generation and generations to come to lay down their lives for The Lamb. As it turned out, neither man had to actually sell himself into slavery. The Governor of the island would not have let them. His attitude towards the black slaves there was such that to allow a white man to be enslaved would have been too much for him.

The missionaries arrived in St. Thomas in December of 1732. At first, Nitschmann supported the two of them with his carpentry vocation, but he only stayed at St. Thomas for four months. Dober tried to make a living as a potter, but there wasn't any good clay to make pots. He did, however, get a job as the steward of the Governor's household, and later as a watchman, which allowed him to be closer to the slaves. By 1734, a contingent of 18 missionaries arrived to help out and to spread the missionary work to the neighboring islands of St. Croix, St. John and others.

Conditions for the missionaries were difficult, and many of the early missionaries died. In fact, Moravian missionaries leaving Europe to go to the Caribbean missions always took two things with them: A Bible and their own headstone. There isn't any rock to speak of on those islands, and the missionaries knew that most of them wouldn't come home. And yet, they went in droves! Talk about fully committed to God's work! Dober eventually went back to Europe as part of the administrative head of Moravian Church. Nitschmann returned to Hernhutt Germany, to his wife and children later becoming a Bishop, and led a group of Moravians to form a colony in America in what is now Georgia.

And here's an interesting tidbit: On the voyage over, their ship encountered a hurricane (February 5, 1736). As you can imagine, there was a great deal of panic on board, except with the Moravian group led by Nitschmann. Instead, they sang hymns and were calm. One of the non-Moravians (an Anglican, actually) was very impressed by this. He stayed with the Moravians, and later studied with them in England. This was none other than John Wesley, who later went on to form the Methodist Church. Dober and Nitschmann's work was fruitful. Their mission field is now known as the Eastern West Indies Province. There are 52 Moravian congregations still running strongly today.
"That the Lamb may receive the reward of His suffering!"