[Sidenote: Other Laborers.] Beside Father Heyer there labored in the
early days of the Lutheran mission the _Rev. Walter Gunn_, who died
after seven years of devoted service; the _Rev. Christian William
Grönning_, a missionary of the North German Society, who entered the
service of the American Lutheran Church when Rajahmundry was
transferred; the _Rev. A. F. Heise_, who was compelled by ill health to
resign after eleven years of work; the _Rev. W. E. Snyder_, who died in
1859; the _Rev. W. I. Cutter_, who was compelled to return on account of
the health of his wife after a short term; and the _Rev. A. Long_, who
died of smallpox after eight years of faithful service.
[Sidenote: The Field Divided.] In 1869 the mission field in India was
permanently divided, the Gunter station and the surrounding district
becoming the charge of the General Synod, the Rajahmundry station
becoming the charge of the General Council of which the Ministerium of
Pennsylvania was now a part. Between the two missions there have been
always the most cordial and helpful of relations. In spirit they have
been one.
[Sidenote: At Work Alone.] We shall consider first the work of the
_General Synod_. At the time of the division of the mission field the
_Rev. E. Unangst_ was the only representative of the American Lutheran
Church in India. For three years he had had no helper. He had seen since
his arrival in 1858 seven missionaries die or depart; nevertheless his
heart did not fail. For thirty-seven years he labored almost without
interruption and happily participated not only in the sowing but in the
reaping of the harvest.
[Sidenote: A Civil War Veteran.] The _Rev. Dr. J. H. Harpster_, a
veteran of the Civil War, served his first term as a missionary from
1872 till 1876. Returning for a second term in 1893 he was nine years
later allowed by the General Synod to assume temporary charge of the
Rajahmundry mission, then passing through a period of confusion. In the
service of the Rajahmundry mission he continued until his death. To him
his fellow workers paid this tribute: “As a missionary he was
indefatigable, as a preacher eloquent and inspiring. He labored in
season and out to inculcate self-support. Altogether this was a man to
love.” His work at Rajahmundry accomplished all that had been most
hopefully expected, for in place of the discord and disorganization
which he found he left peace and order and the promise of a great
future.
[Sidenote: Almost Fifty Years of Service.] In 1873 the _Rev. Dr. L. L.
Uhl_ was sent to Guntur, and there (in 1917) he is still laboring,
vigorous, optimistic and in the words which Dr. Harpster applied to his
own mental condition, “immensely content.” Laborers younger than he have
fallen, a few have become discouraged, but Dr. Uhl is still at work.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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