ation. He immediately began to
impart his own missionary zeal to the Moravian movement. Two of the
earliest missionaries, David Nitschmann and Leonard Dober, were sent to
the island of St. Thomas, in the West Indies, to preach the gospel to the
negro slaves. The blacks were so embittered because of the cruel
treatment received at the hands of their taskmasters that they refused to
listen to the missionaries, and very little progress could be made. At
last, in order to gain their confidence, Dober sold himself as a slave
and shared their hardships with them. He soon died, however, as a result
of this deed. The story of his heroic sacrifice so moved the heart of
Prime Minister Wilberforce of England that he forthwith determined to
begin the movement which eventually led to the emancipation of all slaves
in the British empire.

Missionary zeal continued to flourish among the Moravians, and the little
colony of Herrnhut became known as one of the most famous missionary
centers of Christendom. Every one of its members felt that he possessed
no permanent habitation in this world, and was prepared every day to be
sent to any part of the globe.

Though still a small organization today, the Moravian Church has never
lost its missionary spirit. It is claimed that for every fifty-eight
members of the Church at home, there is one missionary in foreign lands.
When Carey went to India, the Moravians already had 165 missionaries in
the pagan world.

Zinzendorf was a great lover of music. Even as a boy, he wrote hymns. The
first was written at the age of twelve, and he was still producing hymns
in 1760, the year of his death. Altogether, he is credited with the
authorship of more than 2,000 lyrics. His most famous is "Jesus, still
lead on," which is also known as "Jesus, lead the way." John Wesley was a
great admirer of Zinzendorf's hymns and has given us the beautiful
English translation of "Jesus, thy blood and righteousness." James
Montgomery, the noted English hymnist, was a member of the Moravian
communion.

A Glorious Hymn of Adoration

Beautiful Saviour!
King of Creation!
Son of God and Son of Man!
Truly I'd love Thee,
Truly I'd serve Thee,
Light of my soul, my Joy, my Crown.

Fair are the meadows,
Fair are the woodlands,
Robed in flowers of blooming spring;
Jesus is fairer,
Jesus is purer;
He makes our sorrowing spirit sin