Samuel Hebich

Samuel Hebich
Born	April 29, 1803 (Nellingen)
Deceased	May 21, 1868 (Stuttgart)
Holiday	May 20th ( Evangelical calendar of names )

Samuel Hebich (born April 29, 1803 in Nellingen near Ulm ; † May 21, 1868 in Stuttgart ) was a Württemberg Protestant missionary in southwest India .

Life

Youth and business activity

Samuel Hebich was born as the youngest son of the rationalist pastor Friedrich Karl Hebich (1748–1827) in a parsonage with many children. His father gave him the elementary knowledge and also taught him Latin and French. Because of the older age of the father, Samuel Hebich's upbringing was rather relaxed; In his youth he enjoyed a lot of freedom and was probably alone a lot. After completing his school education, Samuel Hebich was confirmed in Lübeck in 1817 . At the request of an older brother, a pastry chef whose wife had died, he stayed with him in town and initially worked in his shop. Before Samuel Hebich arrived at his brother's, he had remarried, so that it was no longer intended that Samuel Hebich was available to him as a partner and servant. His brother gave him private lessons. Samuel Hebich found the age difference stressful, which is why he was looking for a friend.

From 1820 to 1824 he was an apprentice at Jacob Ludwig Bruhns' wine shop .

While still in Lübeck, during a phase of internal struggles in which he became aware of his sinfulness and condemnation before God, he met the reformed pastor Johannes Geibel , the father of the poet Emanuel Geibel , who promoted his spiritual interests.

Samuel Hebich's spiritual struggle worried his brother. In this context, on January 13, 1821, his brother sent him for a walk to a folk festival. Instead of going to the festival, Samuel Hebich went to a quiet place where, as he described, he experienced his revival. The friend he was looking for, he wrote, he found in God; he felt himself to be a Christian from now on, being aware of salvation in Christ . Then he turned to prayer and Bible reading. Only later did he come into contact with people who had similar experiences and joined the Lübeck Mission Association.

From 1823 he began to think about becoming a missionary himself, but Geibel advised him to wait until he could no longer resist this wish. Through his work as a businessman, Hebich traveled to Sweden , Finland and Russia .

When Hebich fell in love, he said that this distracted him from focusing on God. A little later his employer wanted to marry him off to her daughter, whereupon he resigned; marriage was out of the question for him.

In the service of several large trading companies, he eventually achieved a well-paid position in Moscow .

On the way back from Moscow to Lübeck he wanted to board a ship in Saint Petersburg . However, he was arrested by the police because his passport was not in order. He was released the next day; the allegations had turned out to be in error. He could only see the ship he actually wanted to board on the horizon. The next ship would not leave until several days later. When he arrived in Lübeck, Hebich learned that a ship coming from St. Petersburg had sunk. There were no survivors. It was the ship he originally wanted to board. This incident strengthened Hebich's trust in God.

In 1827 his father died at the age of 80.

He found work as an agent on an estate in Finland, where he was also missionary, to be unsatisfactory. In December 1830, Hebich wrote a letter to Christian Gottlieb Blumhardt to apply for membership in the Basel Mission Society, admitting that he was poor. He was one of the few applicants who could report a revival without human accompaniment. According to his description, his search for God resulted from loneliness.

Training to be a missionary

The landlady, for whom Samuel Hebich worked, wrote to the mission institute after a few months that she wanted to pay for the financing of Hebich, as the latter feared that the reference to his lack of funds had led to his not being accepted.

On April 5, 1831, Pastor Geibel wrote a letter of recommendation for Hebich to the Basel Mission. This had already established numerous churches in Europe and was now financially able to do missionary work independently in India. The Society had not yet pursued its own mission plans, but already had training facilities in which people from the British and Dutch Mission Societies had already been trained who were already engaged in evangelistic work. Most of the trainees went to the Church Mission Society and were sent to India to work at their mission stations. As early as 1821, the Basel Mission began to set up its own mission stations in western Russia and on the Gold Coast in West Africa .

In July 1831 Hebich himself wrote another letter to the mission.

On August 31, 1831, he was finally convened unanimously by the Society's committee, initially for a trial period of one year. From Christmas Eve 1831, after he had given up his position, Hebich trained as a missionary in Basel . He was one of the oldest students. He found learning and the very strict discipline difficult. At first he was unable to learn the necessary Indian languages ​​and the languages ​​of the Bible. This almost led to his discharge from the Basel Mission. He said:

“God sent me here. I am obedient to His command. I will not go. God did not give me permission to do this. "

He was allowed to stay. His foreign language skills, including English, should always remain at a low level.

During the time of his training, the cantons of Basel were violently separated . Unlike other mission students, Hebich refused to join the Basel troops:

“For the sake of such miserable dealings, I am not putting myself in danger. My members belong to the Lord Jesus. I give everything for the heathen, not a drop of blood for the city of Basel! "

The city was occupied by Swiss troops. Many soldiers also visited the mission institution because they wanted to see the exhibits from overseas. Hebich worked as an exhibition guide. He also worked successfully on the soldiers missionary. His work brought even more visitors into the house and he also did a similar job on vacation trips. His rhetorical talent and maturity were also pleasantly noticed by his instructors. His language difficulties no longer seemed relevant; it was thought that he would lose them in daily use.

Vacancy trip

In 1832, Samuel Hebich went on a vacancy trip with his future colleague Heinrich Frey, which exemplified his direct, courageous manner and his enthusiasm for the mission. During the vacancy trips, the prospective missionaries should visit different congregations and preach there.

Hebich and Frey passed a hill with a castle on the journey. Hebich wanted to visit the castle while Frey tried to stop him. Numerous wagons and horses stood in front of the entrance. Samuel Hebich told the servants that he wanted to enjoy the view. He was led to the arbor . There he finally asked if he could see the master of the house. He ignored Frey's negative gestures. The landlord actually came out for a moment and was solemnly greeted by Hebich. The lord of the castle offered the prospective missionaries some refreshments. Samuel Hebich urged Frey to come into the hall and sat down. He talked so loudly to his neighbors that eventually the entire company listened. Finally he suggested reading something too. He picked up his New Testament and read from it. Then he said in a calm tone: "Now let's pray too". He knelt down. Many guests avoided the garden. He prayed fervently with the rest. Then Hebich left, and the lord of the castle thanked him with emotion. The master of the house professed his faith and that he had spent the morning sadly pondering how to spend the day profitably. Now he is very happy that God has brought the two prospective missionaries here.

This anecdote may show the simplicity of the faith that distinguished Hebich. This relied on prayer and serious confession in every situation. All relevant sources confirm that Hebich was unusually deeply rooted in prayer, even for a missionary. The situation described also shows how much Hebich felt called to be a missionary. For him this meant that he wanted to point out to people their sinfulness and the redeeming grace of God from it.

Broadcast

Originally, the East India Company did not allow missionary work by non-British in the territories under its control. However, the revision of the Charter in 1833 removed this obstacle, and non-British mission societies such as the Basel Mission were able to start their work on the Indian subcontinent.

On February 12, 1834, Samuel Hebich was the first to be sent to India with Christian Leonard Greiner and Johann Christoph Lehner, two other students from the mission house.

After a solemn farewell on March 24th, the three missionaries first left for England . According to GN Thomssen, Hebich's biographer, they should learn more about India there and discuss with English colleagues what the best place for missionary work would be. The choice fell on an 800 km long area between Mumbai and Kochi , namely the provinces of Kanara and Malabar , as there had not yet been any German evangelical mission attempts there. The work of the three missionaries would later extend to Coorg , southern Maratha and Nilagri . It was probably Hebich who finally made the decision in favor of Mangalore as the most promising place. Missionaries in England should also improve their English skills through contact with the Church Mission Society .

On July 15, they boarded the ship “Malabar” in Portsmouth with the Malabar Coast as their destination. During the trip, Hebich tried to proselytize by giving sermons to the crew and passengers.

Missionary work in India

Beginning

On October 13, 1834, Samuel Hebich arrived in Kalikut with Lehner and Greiner . There they were warmly received by Nelson, a local British judge. He had probably been informed of the arrival of the missionaries by officials in England and invited them to his home. When Nelson learned that their mission was to take them to Mangalore, Nelson wrote to his friend Findley Anderson, a sub-collector in Mangalore, to give them all possible assistance. While they waited for an answer, they stayed at Nelson's house as guests. He told them a lot about Kanara and its people. When Anderson's kind reply arrived, the missionaries set out in a pattemar , a native-style boat, on October 24th.

The missionaries finally reached Bokkapattana, Mangalore, on October 30th. With Anderson's help, who received them kindly, they bought a house in Mangalore for 4900 rupees in what is now Mission Street from a Parsen . Anderson was to support the Mangalore Mission for twenty years. The house became the Basel Mission Station, the first German mission station in India. Here four other missionaries joined them. The Basel Mission was thus the first continental European company alongside the Tranqueba Mission to start its work in India. Hebich initially preached in garrison places such as Mangalore and Dharwar in Karnataka , since there his knowledge of English was sufficient to communicate with the locals. He used simple language and parables from everyday life. This made his sermon easy to understand by the locals. In the course of time, the three missionaries also learned the national languages, including Kannada , which Hebich and Greiner began with, Konkani , which Lehner began with, Tulu and Malayalam . Hebich himself only learned Kannada and soon dropped out of his language studies.

Missionary work also included building prayer halls and converting British and Indian soldiers, including local soldiers, to Christianity , with the assistance of British East India Company officials. In the nature of his missionary work, Hebich was the only one who made no distinction between Europeans and Indians and tried to bring both groups together in common churches. Samuel Hebich was extraordinarily successful in converting young British officers, although his character is sometimes described as tending to be autocratic, which made it difficult to work with him.

Conversion of an officer

The following episode may serve as an example of such a conversion in Mangalore:

A senior English officer lived near Samuel Hebich's apartment. He was known to make fun of others. Since they met more often, Hebich was also a victim of his ridicule, if only because of his poor language skills, which were also noticeable in English. Hebich later said that one night he saw this officer in a dream and Jesus said to Hebich: "Go to this man at noon today and preach the gospel to him."

Awakened again, Hebich followed this assignment received in his sleep at noon. He hoped to be stopped by the door guard, but found both soldiers asleep. When he opened the officer's office door, he saw no one in the lavishly furnished room. Finally he saw the officer trembling with fear under the sofa. Hebich called out to him in his usual bad English: “Come out! God wants to talk to you today! "

The officer came out from under the sofa, apparently surprised that Hebich of all people had frightened him so much. Hebich further ordered: "Take the book!"

The Englishman took the Bible from the shelf. The next command followed: "Open the first page!"

The soldier obeyed, it followed: "Read the first verse!"

The officer read: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

Hebich's next command was: "Close the book!"

Then Hebich went away without a word. This unusual interaction was repeated over the following days, with the officer reading another verse each day. In the fifth verse, the soldier is said to have broken down crying and converted.

Mission and Education

From October 23 to December 21, 1835, Samuel Hebich made his first tour on the occasion of the imminent return of the missionary John Hands to England. Hebich was the first missionary to go on a missionary trip. On this first trip he mainly visited other missionaries, especially those who belonged to the Church Mission Society or the London Missionary Society , in order to strengthen cooperation and to find English supporters. He could lodge with missionaries, members of the administration or military personnel. He paid particular attention to the faith of those who hosted him. In Cannanore, for example, a group of European soldiers surprised him with their religiosity. This is considered to be his first formative experience in India. The idea of ​​proselytizing Europeans was new to the Basel Mission. In Bangalore , the missionary Campbell Hebich provided the first catechist, a man named Malachi. Missionaries friends and other supporters visited Hebich on his trip. He was able to get an overview of the region in which he wanted to do missionary work. As the travel report shows, he still felt unsafe in the foreign country at that time. His relationship with the British, who were part of the revival movement, was close; The main purpose of the trip was to maintain contact with them. The support of high-ranking British and other mission societies was very important for the Basel Mission. Later trips served the actual mission among Indians, but were also intended to strengthen cooperation with other missionaries; in addition, new areas should be explored.

In April 1836, Hebich described his approach to sermons in a letter. He held them at various points in the bazaar . He distributed tracts that were gladly accepted, but sometimes torn up without his knowledge. In the afternoon he preached in another busy place. He gave regular bazaar sermons. He also preached in front of his house, sitting on the stairs and asking the visitors to sit with him. Then he preached God's way of salvation that they should repent, turn away from their gods, and believe the gospel. Then he gave them books if possible, asked the audience to think about the sermon, read the books carefully, and come back, then ask him questions and continue listening.

In December 1836, Hebich and Greiner were able to begin raising local boys, which is where the actual missionary work began. Soon he had gathered a large number of students around him in the house that the missionaries had rented on the main road to the Mangalore bazaar, who he could no longer teach alone, which is why he hired two local (Canarian) teachers who, as it often happened later, were not Christians. A seminar was set up in 1836. The missionaries hoped to convert teachers and students through teaching. The preaching was mainly in English, also to reach the Europeans.

When Hebich reported on his first missionary success in 1836, it was also about a European, a doctor. He had helped Hebich with a medical problem. When the doctor fell ill and died, the missionary stood by him. Hebich's persistence led to the doctor's conversion. So he asked him about the existence of hell. Hebich responded with what he thought was the most apt scripture. The first consequence was that the doctor did not allow Hebich to enter six times. Only when he tried the seventh time was Hebich allowed to visit him again. The missionary confessed his own sins and thereby led the doctor to realize his own sinfulness. There were also several conversations, prayers and Bible studies. Later they also celebrated the Lord's Supper together. The doctor became more and more afraid of damnation, and the missionary comforted him. Finally the doctor exclaimed that he felt forgiveness and the Holy Spirit and that he recognized the grace of God. A little later he died. In Hebich's report, the doctor's stubbornness probably symbolized the resistance he faced in India. Converting Europeans was of great importance to him.

More missionaries

Also at the end of 1836 four more German missionaries from the Basel Mission arrived in India: Heinrich Frey, Johannes Layer and Hermann Mögling , who had studied theology in Tübingen , from Württemberg and Heinrich August Lösch from Saxony . The training of the newcomers was more thorough than that of the first three missionaries, which led to conflicts over the conduct of the mission, especially between Hebich and Mögling. From Mögling's point of view, Hebich operated waste and luxury. In his opinion, missionaries should live in poverty in order to adapt to the indigenous people. In agreement with Blumhardt, unlike the first three missionaries, the newcomers did not receive a regular salary. Hebich was not aware of this, which is why he had bought sheep for the new missionaries and received them with a roast. This conflict between two different understandings of mission was typical of the evangelical missionary efforts - in the Basel mission the question of this escalation had been resolved over decades.

Since Hebich had trained as a businessman and accountant, he was responsible for finances and accounting. He considered his colleagues incapable of submitting correct accounts. He himself later came into conflict with the mission management because of his accounts, because he did not bring large donations from the European community in India for certain projects into the general fund, according to the will of the donors, which violated the requirements.

In early 1837 Hebich traveled to Dharwar with Mögling. On the way they parted, so that Hebich was alone in Belgaum for a few days with two missionaries from the London Missionary Society named Taylor and Beynon . He came to the opinion that they did not represent the full Christian teaching and criticized their mission strategy. He was bothered by the simple and gentle way Taylor had religious conversations in the bazaar. Hebich said the sermon should be done with authority. He considered the method of the London Missionary Society to be "human" and that of the Basel Mission to be "divine".

The two teachers were baptized in July 1837. Hebich went on a seven-month missionary trip eastwards, moving from village to village in an ox cart.

Since Hebich had now mastered Kannada, he was able to write catechisms and textbooks in this language. With a spartan way of life, he tried to follow Christ. He prayed for hours at night, which impressed the locals. To improve living conditions in his region, he founded spinning mills, brick kilns and schools.

Around 1837, Christian Leonard Greiner and Johann Christoph Lehner proposed marriage, with support from Samuel Hebich. He himself didn't want to get married. European catechists who worked with him had to sign that they would marry Indian women.

In 1838 the missionary Hermann Gundert came to Mangalore. Despite the big difference in character, Hebich and Gundert came to appreciate each other very much. Hebich liked Gundert's education, calm, prudence, and altruism; Gundert valued Hebich's courage and determination as well as his roots in prayer.

Another conflict arose with Mögling when he tried in 1839 with some newly arrived missionaries to live just as simply as the Indians themselves. This experiment had to be stopped because it turned out to be harmful to the health of the missionaries. Mögling had to apologize to Hebich and Greiner. After a conflict one always tried to reconcile what was justified religiously.

In 1840 Gundert named his second son Samuel, in honor of Hebich, who also baptized the child.

The aim of the Basel commission, which sent the first three missionaries to south-west India, was to set up schools and institutions to train future catechists . Mission education was considered very important, so wherever a new church was founded, a teacher for elementary Christian religious teaching was appointed by the Basel Mission. In addition to this elementary education, catechist training began as early as 1840.

Mission and Agriculture

The field experience taught the missionaries that instead of just training the local people, they had to help the locals get lucrative jobs. They also felt that the best way to fraternize with converts was to keep them busy with productive work. In September 1840, the Madras government auctioned the property in Mangalore, which formerly housed the government buildings that were burned down during the Coorg Rebellion. HM Blair, later tax collector from Kanara, acquired the land and gave it to the Basel Mission, represented by Samuel Hebich, as a gift in the same year. The missionary tried his hand at growing coffee, which he gave up when it turned out to be insufficiently successful. The missionaries also tried to make sugar from vegetable juices, which turned out to be too expensive due to the high cost of fuel.

The missionaries next thought of agriculture , as many of them came from farming families; accordingly, the mission bought suitable land and leased it for cultivation. With very few interested in farming this land as their own, the agricultural settlements turned out to be a partial failure, only to be abandoned in 1880.

In 1840 Hebich was sent to Cannanore , a British military station in Kerala , where he lived until the end of the 1850s.

He set out there on January 12, 1841. The mission station that he built there was directly adjacent to the parade ground and the barracks. It was therefore a unique Christian community of British and Indian soldiers, as regiments of both ethnic groups were stationed here. Hebich preached to both groups together, which he justified with the fact that the European should support the Indian church financially and in prayer. The unity of the two groups, not only at worship and communion, was important to him. The Kannada language dominated Hebich now in sermons Tamils helped him his interpreter Aaron. He resisted a transfer to Kalikut . He preached with conviction and without hesitation at Hindu festivals, in the streets, in markets and while traveling. He differed from other missionaries, who were much more concerned about reservations like their poor language skills.

Mission and Industry

After the failure in the field of agricultural missions, the missionaries thought of industrial facilities as an alternative to creating lucrative jobs; accordingly the missionaries set up a printing and bookbinding shop in Mangalore in 1841, which proved to be successful. Initially, lithography was used , later printing types for the Kannada language were introduced.

In December 1844, Hebich traveled with seven young Christians to the important temple town of Taliparamba in northern Malabar and successfully preached to hundreds of locals there. Hebich used a Hindu pilgrimage festival there ( Kottiyoor Vysakha Mahotsavam ) several times for his conversion sermons , in which he characterized the images of gods in his uncompromising way as dead objects. Later he evangelized in the fishing village of Tai and in Chirakal . Missionary Gundert has now been officially assigned to help him. Then he moved south to Palghat .

He regularly went to Hindu festivals in Palghat, where there is a Bhagavati temple that can serve all local goddesses, in Payawur (see Teyyam ), where there is a Subrahmanyha temple, and in Taliparamba, where Rajarajeshwara dedicated to Shiva is located . Temple is located. Hebich quickly became known and even expected. With his annual participation in certain Hindu festivals he not only made friends; dangerous situations arose. Although he had the most experience with it and was perhaps especially gifted for it, he confessed that he went there with "fear and trembling". He always expected to be killed; that this did not happen, he attributed to the grace of God.

In 1845 the mission was extended to Belma and Mulki .

An account of a Hindu festival dates from 1846. Hebich there severely admonished the Hindus because they were still praying to their gods even though they had heard his sermon. He said this during a cholera epidemic and announced the judgment of God in connection with it. He said that a butcher died because he worshiped the devil. Later he reported the joy it gave him to have led individual souls out of the darkness into the light of Christ, as he put it; a juxtaposition that he used often. For him, devil worship, stubbornness and the threatening judgment of God belonged together.

In 1846 the mission set up a vocational school in Mangalore to train people in weaving , carpentry and watchmaking or the like.

In 1847 Hebich complained to the collector (tax collector) that some Hindus had set cattle on him during his public prayer in Chirakal. The animals then stormed back to the Hindus. Hebich commented on the event that he would not mind if the people killed him for his work. However, he would like the collector to reprimand those who incite against him at his events. The complaint led to widespread support from the Collector at Hebich's key events.

Revival movement

Also in 1847 Hebich's activity in Cannanore led to a Christian revival movement:

On September 16, 1847, for example, the “hardest-hearted boy”, as Hebich called him, confessed his sins in Tschirakal. From the missionary's point of view, this was the beginning of the revival, which he saw as an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which in his opinion lasted until October 17th; But even after that there were confessions of sins. Hebich shared the change of heart of the European and Indian community.

Eight days after the boy's confession, Hebich was eating when 15-year-old Daniel ran into his house and shouted: “Woe, woe, woe, me! Where should such a sinner as I am go? ”This was repeated several times, the screaming could be heard throughout the house, Hebich had to cry. The youth continued: “Woe, woe, woe to me, I have thrown the Lord Jesus behind me! I despised His holy word! I have trodden His holy blood under my feet! I have despised, mocked, mocked, aped his servant! Woe, woe, woe me! I stole, defiled, lied in God's house! Where should such a sinner go ?! Where should a sinner like me go ?! Woe, woe, woe me! I have sinned all these sins against you, O God! And I didn't know you! But you, oh good God, have held me back. ”At least this is what Hebich reported. Then he got the youngster to sit quietly with him. Then the boy confessed his sins in detail. Hebich comforted him with words from the Bible. Finally, the youth professed to believe in redemption in the blood of Christ.

Another boy more quietly confessed his sins. At the service that followed, Hebich reported in detail on the confessions and also called on those present to repent.

On November 11th there were first signs of a countermovement.

On December 9th, Hebich traveled to Mangalore and confessed his sins in front of the other missionaries, who reacted with little enthusiasm. Mögling wrote that he dreaded this confession, which he did not consider to be complete or true. He also did not believe in the revival and suggested that one should wait until the conversions were found to be permanent before reporting on them.

Around 1849, Hebich applied for permission to work as a travel preacher. Since this was initially refused, he remained in the service of Dharwar Station.

In 1850 Hebich wanted to preach again at the Hindu pilgrimage festival in Taliparamba. This time he was prevented from entering his sermon place by throwing stones. He was able to fend off a sharp piece of wood with his hand, a stone only just missed him. Several hundred people followed him and his catechists and pelted his group with stones. Two of his companions were seriously injured.

In 1851 a printing machine with Kannada fonts was delivered from Basel to the printing works in Mangalore. The press printed Christian literature and books dealing with literature , science, and the arts to serve various interests.

Also in 1851 Samuel Hebich Ernst Diez was put aside. Since Diez was apparently ready to submit to him, Hebich was reasonably satisfied with the cooperation, while Diez lamented Hebich's authoritarian nature in an obituary for Gundert.

Mission to Hindu festivals

In 1851 Samuel Hebich made his eighth trip to Payawur and Taliparamba, where he was accompanied by students and catechists. Before leaving Cannanore, Hebich celebrated the Lord's Supper again with the congregation, which the missionaries repeatedly described as a special strengthening. Hebich sent a detailed report on the trip to the mission management. Jacob Ramavarma, one of his collaborators, wrote a diary. This should also go to the head of the mission.

When they arrived in Payawur, two tents were pitched. The missionaries began the morning of the festival with a devotion. Then they went to the bazaar. Hebich and some catechists climbed onto an earth wall, the rest of them took their positions below it. The missionaries took off their hats and clasped their hands in silent prayer. Hebich began the sermon in the name of the Trinity. Then a song was sung. This was followed by a loud Hebich prayer and a sermon in Kannada, which was fully translated into Malayalam by the catechist Jacob. This was the usual daily routine, as Hebich described it. Depending on the situation, a catechist or two spoke next. Then Hebich completed the ceremony; a silent prayer followed and the missionaries left the place. There are clear echoes of the liturgy of a word service. The whole thing was repeated in another place or two, after which the missionaries went to their tents, sang, prayed, and rested. Often then, non-Christians came to satisfy their curiosity or for discussion. Bible excerpts and tracts were distributed before the tent and at the festival. If only a few of these writings were destroyed, the action was considered a success. After the evening prayer, Hebich slept in his tent with the catechists and students, while the porters slept in the kitchen. The structure of the worship service should make it clear that God's word was preached here. Hebich's approach corresponded to the cliché of a European missionary.

Hebich regarded the sermons at Hindu festivals as his greatest work. He said that he was tempted by the devil . Hebich was convinced of the existence and power of the devil, which he did not conceal in sermons and in reports. In his view, it was the devil who kept people from conversion. He valued his experiences in India as experiences with the devil, which reinforced his belief in his existence. Hebich thought in a strongly dualistic way: what happened was either caused by God or by the devil.

For March 15th alone, based on Mt 4,1-11  LUT, he described three alleged temptations by the devil, during which the devil even spoke to him and asked him to stay at home. He then fought the devil, as he wrote, in prayer, quietly when he was alone, and louder and louder when Indians were there who were causing unrest. The account shows that he saw himself following Christ and turning his doubts into strength. This probably gave him the courage to preach in a hostile environment.

On March 15, he was first verbally attacked. The result was a fight between a high-caste Indian and a peon, an Indian policeman. The brawl grew more and more. Eventually Gnanamuttu, one of the most important catechists of the Basel Mission, intervened. More policemen came and a Thasildar, a colonial official. The Indian who started the argument was overwhelmed and led away. But there were much more violent attacks on Hebich; he and his catechists were often pelted with stones; even elephants were chased on them.

End of missionary work in India

From May 14-21, 1853, Samuel Hebich traveled to Palghat for the fourth time.

In 1854 a mission station was established in Udupi . In the same year the watchmaking trade was given up by the mission's vocational school because it did not meet the needs and requirements of the local population.

In 1855 Hebich was again forcibly prevented from preaching at the festival in Taliparamba. His group was pinched and beaten with heavy sticks. When Hebich and his companions fled to his travel home, one of his catechists was thrown to the ground, and some people who wanted to come to his aid were also beaten and mistreated. The crowd broke into the travel home and smashed the facility. Hebich managed to escape to the office with difficulty.

In 1856 Samuel Hebich reported that opponents had spread the rumor that the authorities had forbidden him to participate in the festivals in Payawur and Taliparamba after these events.

Hebich showed little empathy, which made it difficult for him to work with others. Even so, he strove to share with other missionaries and to maintain fellowship with them. Colleagues said he cared for the needy to an unusually high degree and often traveled to see them immediately. In 1856 it became known that Greiner had had an illegitimate relationship with the Indian Mina for many years. Hebich identified himself very strongly with Greiner in this situation and was of the opinion that he would probably feel the same way if the grace of God did not keep him. Samuel Hebich was therefore always aware of his own sinfulness; Repentance and sanctification were central concepts that he tried to implement in his life.

Hebich also stayed in India during the revolution of 1857 .

In 1858 Hebich preached for the last time at the festival in Taliparamba.

From 1858/59 the missionaries were no longer responsible for the financial management of the mission.

Another sermon was to follow at the festival in Taliparamba in 1859, but the chief official forbade Hebich to attend the festival because the assembled crowd was supposedly in an irritable mood, which could not be confirmed by the catechists of the local mission field station. Some people there even asked about the "padre". Hebich followed the order and stayed away from the festival this time.

A febrile illness forced him to take a vacation trip that took him to the Blue Mountains with their cooler climate. There, too, he continued his work with daily sermons. A doctor found that he was at risk of having a stroke and advised him to return to Europe, as only there would be sufficient recovery. He also suffered from a liver disease. He was unable to accept invitations to Mumbai and other areas of India. So he left on September 28, 1859 via Bangalore and Madras in the direction of Suez .

Missionary work in Europe and death

Samuel Hebich's tombstone

On October 28, 1859, Samuel Hebich arrived in Marseille and decided to stay there for some time to cure a cold. Here, too, he still appeared as a missionary.

On December 27th, he reached the Basel Mission House and was now doing missionary work in Switzerland. Due to the change in climate, his health improved significantly. Various papers were critical of the uncomfortable missionary.

On January 24th, 1860, drunks disturbed a service led by Hebich.

On February 6th, the great council discussed Hebich's appearance in Basel churches. Only a slim majority of 44 versus 42 votes voted for Hebich.

Hebich later returned to Württemberg. There, too, he was active as a missionary and preached against what he believed to be a "lukewarm" Christianity. His words were perceived as quick-witted and seasoned with grim humor. His preaching activities also extended to other parts of Germany such as northern Germany.

In 1861 he gave a missionary lecture in Stuttgart, which he concluded with a prayer.

He also traveled to the London World's Fair in 1862 . In many of his listeners he achieved the revival he wanted. He chose Stuttgart as his place of residence.

The work he had started in India was being continued by others at the same time. In 1865 a mission station was established in Santhoor. The Basel missionaries received significant support from British officials and plantation owners, even after the Indian subcontinent was officially incorporated into the British Empire.

In 1868 Hebich still preached in 51 Baden churches. In May of this year he wanted to travel to Basel, but from May 6th he was bedridden.

Even on his deathbed, he is said to have preached to the Indians in his phantasy; his last words are said to have been: “Isn't it? Malabar? ”And, with outstretched arms, probably addressed to Christ:“ Come! Come over!". He died at 2 a.m. The day of his death, May 21, 1868, fell that year on Ascension Day .

Hebich's funeral procession to Korntal was a mass event.

Quotes

“Why do we have so few penitential preachers? You didn't grow up in the desert. They are afraid they don't want to offend anyone. Anyone who wants to preach repentance must stand independently of people; God must have called and raised him. "

“See, it is a great, wonderful thing to be able to work in the name of the Lord. But death comes very soon, which puts an end to all the work. That is why souls are to be won now. Now, if you want, you should use your time correctly, now everyone should serve the Lord with the gifts that the Lord has given. I preached outside and here for God's name, and if I didn't, I wouldn't know how to live. "

“Be careful not to waste so much time reading and chattering all sorts of useless printing; the time is expensive, we have to buy it out. "

“A true Bible reader has no time to read useless things - a few important things from the kingdom of God and mission, if you still have some time; but the most important thing is to read the book. "

“We have to go into God's Word and dig in it and search and research. If you don't go in there, you get stuck; you get lost and don't know where you stand. "

"They know everything, but they have nothing."

reviews

The Hebich Industrial Training Institute

Hebich's sermon and evangelism against Hinduism , which he regards as “ paganism ”, aroused considerable criticism in India and Europe , in particular from Ernst Friedrich Langhans , a Swiss theologian. Hebich's negative attitude towards non-Christian India was also unusually pronounced for the time.

On the other hand, his 25 years of missionary work is seen as a solid foundation for the Indian Church. Of the Basel missionaries, he was also the strongest advocate of the unity of Christianity without racial barriers. Only faith differentiates people from one another, which is why loyalty to Christianity was particularly important to him when converts to their new faith.

Judith Becker (see under “Sources”) rates Samuel Hebich as the most conspicuous India missionary of the Basel Mission . He was less educated than other missionaries; his interest in education was also low. For this he was considered charismatic. When he left for India, he wore a long beard, which was contrary to current fashion. This earned him the nickname "Bartherr". His old-fashioned clothing style was also striking. His language was not cultivated, but very direct. He spoke with a Swabian accent. His way of preaching, teaching and exhorting caused respect in some and ridicule in others. He has become the main character of numerous anecdotes and legends. Hebich behaved the same way towards all people without making class differences. He had approached people both on the street and in their own home to exhort them to believe. In doing so, he approached princes as openly and without any reluctance as he did simple workers, beggars and Indian slaves, both in Europe and in India.

Works

Some of Samuel Hebich's lectures and sermons have been published, for example:

• 14 lectures given at Stuttgart 1861 by Samuel Hebich
• Fifteen lectures , C. Bunz (Johs. Josenhaus), W. Stroh in the Bibelhaus, Stuttgart 1861 and in the Missionshaus, Basel 1861, available at [2]
• Twenty lectures on the revelation according to St. Johannes , Joh. Friedr. Schasch, Schaffhausen 1864, available at [3]
• Sixteen sermons from the first letter to Thessalonians: delivered in the hall of the Protestant Society in Stuttgart. In addition to fifteen private lectures from the Evangelium Johannis , self-published in 1868, available at [4]
• 39 Sermons from Romans and the Passion Story , 1870
• Sermons for Christmas, the Passion and Easter from the years 1867 and 1868 , Missions-Comptoir, Basel 1872, available at [5]
• 60 Sermons: The Secret of the Essence and Will of the Triune God and Our Eternal Election , 2 parts, 1876

Remembrance day

May 20th in the Evangelical Name Calendar .

Before the introduction of the official name calendar, the day of remembrance was already listed in:

• Jörg Erb : The Cloud of the Witnesses , Kassel 1951/1963, Vol. 4, pp. 508-520.
• F. Hauß: Fathers of Christianity , Wuppertal 1956/1959

Hebich was remembered on another feast day in:

• A. Ringwald: People before God , Stuttgart 1957/1968

swell

• Jacob Geel (editor): Features from the life and work of the missionary Samuel Hebich. Wilh. Hassel, Elberfeld 1864
• Karl Friedrich Ledderhose:  Hebich, Samuel . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 11, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1880, pp. 198-201.
• Gerhard Rosenkranz:  Hebich, Samuel. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 8, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1969, ISBN 3-428-00189-3 , p. 171 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Friedrich Höflinger: On the afterlife , booklet 2. Christian writings mission F. Höflinger, Reutlingen January 2012.
• Samuel Hebich in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints
• Samuel Hebich in the Ecumenical Name Calendar
• Judith Becker: Conversio in Transition . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2015, especially p. 154 ff. (Habilitation thesis)

literature

• Wilhelm Jörn : Samuel Hebich: The great soul winner; Traits from his life and work. , Friedrichshagen b. Berlin 1910.
  • New edition: Johannis, Lahr 1993, 4th edition of the paperback edition, ISBN 3-501-00354-4 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Dieter Ising: Johann Christoph Blumhardt . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2002, ISBN 3-525-55642-X , p. 95.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Gerald H. Anderson: Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions . Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1999, ISBN 0802846807 , 9780802846808.
3. ^ Robert Young: Modern Missions: Their Trials and Triumphs . Ayer Publishing, 1972, ISBN 0836991532 , 9780836991536, pp. 54-56.
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} The Basel Mission . children-of-bangalore.com. Retrieved August 10, 2012: “Having set up may Churches in Europe, the financial position of the Basel Mission Society decided to set up Institutions in areas of India that had not experienced Protestant Missionaries. So on 12th February 1834, three Missionaries were sent to India to establish Basel Mission Stations. They became the first Continental Society other than the Tranqueba Mission to take up work in India. The three Missionaries were Johan Christopher Lehner, Christian Lenhard Greiner, and Samuel Hebich who set out on 31st March 1834 and landed in Calicut on 21 August 1834. "
5. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Reinhard Wendt (Ed.): An Indian to the Indians ?: On the Initial Failure and the Posthumous Success of the Missionary Ferdinand Kittel (1832-1903) . Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2006, ISBN 3447051612 , 9783447051613, pp. 133-140.
6. ↑ Klaus Kükenshöner: Sermon ( Memento from May 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) about 1 Petr 4,7-11  LUT on the 9th Sunday after Trinity in the sermon database
7. ↑ Samuel Hebich: Fifteen Lectures , C. Bunz (Johs. Josenhaus), W. Stroh in the Bibelhaus, Stuttgart 1861 and in the Missionshaus, Basel 1861, Seventh Lecture, p. 82, available at [1]
8. ↑ ^{a b} Judith Becker: Conversio im Wandel (see under “Sources”), p. 155, footnote 129, cited there: Gundert and Mögling (?): “Samuel Hebich”, p. 125f, Samuel Hebich: Fifteen lectures , p 82 and Samuel Hebich: God's power that makes you happy , Evangelischer Missionsverlag, Stuttgart 1934, p. 40 and p. 48f, available under "Why + do + we + have so + little + penitential preachers? + They + are + not + in + + the + desert + grew up. + They + fear +, + they + want + to + offend + anyone. + He + who + wants + to + preach + repentance + must + stand + independent + of + people; + the + must + God + called educated + and + + have. "& source = bl & ots = xxPLEhXrXF & sig = lxjWcEdbZ1EfU6YmpJOq41tuFtk & hl = en & sa = X & ved = 0ahUKEwivpab_15fKAhXDWhQKHZllBFYQ6AEIJDAB # v = OnePage & q =% 22Warum% 20haben% 20wir% 20so% 20wenig% 20Bu% C3% 9Fprediger% 3F% 20Sie% 20sind % 20not% 20in% 20der% 20W% C3% BCste% 20grew up.% 20You% 20f% C3% BCre% 20you% 2C% 20you% 20want% 20nobody% 20insult.% 20Wer% 20Bu% C3% 9Fe% 20preaching% 20will% 2C % 20the% 20must% 20independent% C3% A4ngig% 20of% 20people% 20there% 3B% 20the% 20must% 20God% 2 0vocated% 20and% 20bred% 20have.% 22 & f = false
9. ↑ ^{a b c} quotations from "Isaiah 66: 2"
10. ↑ ^{a b c} Peter Engler: Quotes on the subject of Bible study on the website of the Bibelbund
11. ↑ ^{a b c} “Bible reading , but how?” On “nc-NormaleChristen.de” ( memento of the original from January 7, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
12. ↑ Quotation from Aphorismen.de
13. ↑ Quote on GuteZitate.com
14. ↑ Quotation on Mentel-Zetel.de ( Memento from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
15. ^ Frieder Schulz and Gerhard Schwinge (eds.): Synaxis: Contributions to the liturgy . Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen, 1997, ISBN 3-525-60398-3 , p. 418.