I call a Christian who has acted on faith in a way which has inspired me a “Chapter 11 Christian.” The “Chapter 11” refers to the faith chapter, Hebrews Chapter 11, which lists Old Testament examples of people who acted on faith.

In a Moravian graveyard all of the graves are marked with simple flat stone markers, which indicates that all are equal in death. Ours at Bethabara Moravian Church was the same, except there was a single large obelisk standing in the center. On one occasion, I read what was written on the Obelisk and learned that it was erected in honor of Matthew Stach, the first Moravian missionary to Greenland. (I later learned that it was not a grave; his grave was marked by a simple flat stone elsewhere in the cemetery) Immediately, I became curious why there was an obelisk erected in honor of a man who died in backwoods North Carolina in 1787.

Stach was born in 1711 in Saxony, Germany. As a young man, he offered himself up to serve the church and was sent, with two colleagues (who later returned to Germany), to Greenland in 1733. The land was bleak, and upon arriving Matthew wrote:

Along the shore were stones,

With here and there some bones,

But not a man in sight.

We wandered, Brethren three,

In dark perplexity,

At midnight dawned the light.

They had been given minimal provisions– the intent being that they would live off the land, but they were neither good hunters nor good fishermen. In the winter, the only way to get food was to kill a seal, but they had little success. Smallpox killed many natives, and while trying to care for them, they all became infected. In addition, they suffered from scurvy and other diseases. They struggled to learn the native language; for example, they used the Danish word “Gud” for God, thinking that the natives might know it, but imagine the confusion it caused, since in the native language “Gud” meant river.

Despite great effort, Stach had no success for over five years! In faith, he struggled on. Finally, one night Stach told a group of natives how Jesus had suffered and died for man’s salvation, and that with God’s grace our sins were forgiven. One of the Greenlanders, named Kajarnak, asked “How was that? O tell me once more, for I want to be saved too.” This focus on God’s grace coming through the agony, death and resurrection of Jesus, became the hallmark of early Moravian missionaries, to the point where some accused them of not believing in the Trinity.

It would take too long to give an adequate description of Stach’s life of faith.  There are many other episodes I could describe, including some that occurred after he retired to Bethabara in 1772 to teach the young boys in the settlement. When I feel discouraged and almost ready to give up, I remember Stach’s five unsuccessful years, and how he had the faith to carry on. Trying to emulate him helps me to have the faith to persevere.

Read 1 Thessalonians Chapter 1, and remember: God love YOU unconditionally.

Jim