09/03/2026
Throughout the world and across time, education has gone hand in hand with Gospel flourishing. In Matthew 28:19-20 we read Christ’s final instruction to His disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations... teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” By looking at the legacy of three missionaries, William Carey, Mary Slessor, and Henry Appenzeller, we'll see how The Great Commission was the driving force behind education as missions.
As William Carey entered India, he faced a culture hostile to Christian beliefs. While he faced many trials, he remained faithful to the call to educate the locals by using his linguistic and academic gifts. Carey began opening schools that taught all the core subjects in the local language and accepted students of any gender, religion, or social standing. His faithfulness to disciple the people in front of him produce waves of transformation in India.
Known as Queen of Okoyong, Mary Slessor spent decades discipling the people of Nigeria. Her desire to identify with the locals won their affection and was key to teaching them the skills they needed to know. She lived like them, ate like them, and even travelled barefoot through the jungle like them! The schools she developed were committed to teaching Christian ethics alongside practical skills.
As Henry Appenzeller was preparing for ministry, he didn’t know where God would lead him. At the same time the door was just cracking open for the Gospel to enter Korea through humanitarian work like education. Henry worked diligently to make education accessible to the common people of Korea. His legacy is seen through the network of nearly 400 Christian educational institutions in place today that got their start from Pai Chai Hakdang, the boys school founded by Henry.
Click here to read the full article:
https://teachbeyond.org/article/continuing-their-legacy-education-as-missions
