“A Christian minister is a person who in a peculiar sense is not his own; he is the servant of God, and therefore ought to be wholly devoted to him. By entering on that sacred office he solemnly undertakes to be always engaged, as much as possible, in the Lord's work, and not to chuse his own pleasure, or employment, or pursue the ministry as a something that is to subserve his own ends, or interests, or as a kind of bye-work. He engages to go where God pleases, and to do, or endure what he sees fit to command, or call him to, in the exercise of his function. He virtually bids farewell to friends, pleasures, and comforts, and stands in readiness to endure the greatest sufferings in the work of his Lord, and Master.”
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The English Baptist preacher William Carey was known as the father of modern Protestant missions, and was a pioneer of new-style evangelism in India. He helped found the Baptist Missionary Society in 1792 and shortly thereafter went to India. Carey did most of the work in publishing the Bible in many Indian vernaculars. He wrote grammars of the vernaculars and several dictionaries. He became a professor of Sanskrit at Fort William College, Calcutta.
In 1793 Carey arrived in India, where he was confronted with the antimissionary attitude of the British colonial government. He settled in the Danish colony of Serampore, near Calcutta, where he inspired the teamwork of the "Serampore Trio" (Carey, William Ward, and Joshua Marshman). This "commune" attempted to translate the universality of the Christian faith into terms of practical involvement in all aspects of Indian life.
The basic principle of communal life was that every member should be, as far as possible, self-supporting. Carey paid for his missionary work (among other things) by acting as a director of an indigo factory and as a professor of languages in a secular institution. The objective of the community was to disseminate the gospel in all possible ways: by preaching, by teaching (in schools), and by literature (translating the Bible into more than 30 languages). Carey's translation service was noteworthy. He also made available some of the Indian classics and was instrumental in the renaissance of Hindu culture in the 19th century.