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South American Missionary Society By
Rev. Peter J. Millam On a sunny Tuesday evening, 21st June 1988, the Archbishop of Conterbury recorded a message for the people of the Falkland Islands on the occasion of the Thanksgiving Service in St. Marleybone Parish Church to mark the 150th anniversary of the arrival in South America of Captain Allen Gardiner on 12st June 1838. That message with recordings from the Service, and an interview with the Rt. Revd. Bill Flagg (Secretary of the South American Missionary Society) and the Revd. Peter Millam (Rector of Christchurch Cathedral 1966-70, and a half-Kelper on his mother's side) was broadcast on Calling The Falklands on 24 June 1988. Allen Gardiner Although it was on 21 June 1838 that Captain Allen Gardiner first set foot as a missionary in South America, it was not much more than a decade later, September 1851, that he and his companions were dead: they had all starved to death in Tierra del Fuego, and it was some four months before their bodies were found. Allen Gardiner's final entry in his diary, dated 5 September 1851, reads: "Great and marvellous are the loving kindnesses of my gracious God unto me. He has preserved me hitherto and for four days, although without bodily food, without any feelings of hunger of thirst." In that diary Gardiner gave precise instructions as to how the work should be carried out. A mission station should be set up on one of the Falkland Islands and a vessel, suitable for making the crossing to Tierra del Fuego, purchased. In the confidence of the natives could be gained Gardiner believed some of the younger people might be persuaded to cross to the Falklands. Reports of the kind treatment they received might induce their friends to follow. In this way a firm friendship could be built up between the Fuegian Indians and the missionaries. Natives were not to be kept in the Falklands against their wish: if they wanted to return to their country they should be allowed to do so as soon as possible. It was most important that the white man should learn the native language and, as soon as it was considered safe, a mission should be established in Tierra del Fuego. Keppel Island Allen Gardiner's vision became a reality: the Patagonian Missionary Society acquired a schooner, aptly named the Allen Gardiner, which sailed for the Falklands Islands in 1854 where Keppel Island became the Mission's Headquarters. For 44 years until 1898, Fuegian Indians were brought to Keppel Island to learn Western civilised ways and, far more importantly, to learn the love of Jesus from such pioneer missionaries as George Despard, Thomas Bridges, Allen Gardiner Jnr. and Waite Stirling (later the Bishop of the Falkland Islands). Although work amongst the Fuegians was established on the mainland in 1868 and, in 1874, Keppel Isalnd was offered for sale as being no longer essential to the Mission's work, the Fuegians did not leave Keppel until 1898. It was not until 1911 that the South American Missionary Society, as it became known in 1865, finally sold Keppel Island to Dean Brothers of Pebble Island. The present wool shed there was the Mission's chapel and still bears the original marks and emblem over the door with the initials "SAMS", and outside is an iron-railed cemetery containing the graves (with headstones) of missionaries and Fuegian Indians. Two more Fuegian Indians, Uroopo and Threeboys, are buried in Stanley Cemetery. There was a whole section given over to Fuegian artefacts and items illustrating the pioneering work of the South American Missionary Society in Stanley Museum when it was housed in the old Town Hall burnt down in 1944. Sadly all were destroyed in the fire. Missionary Work to Indian Tribes In 1900 Bishop Stirling resigned as Bishop of the Falkland Islands (which included the whole of South American with the exception of British Guiana) and soon afterwards the Mission Station on the Fuegian Islands closed down: the Fuegian Indians had been almost wiped out, succumbing largely to western diseases for which they had no natural immunity. Throughout this time Anglican Chaplaincies had been serving several British communities on the mainland but, by and large, they were not "missionary minded" or over-concerned with the indigenous population; this work was left to the South American Missionary Society who began working in the north with the Mapuche Indians of Araucania. The division of the original Diocese of the Falkland Islands into two in 1910 aided the South American Missionary Society in its work, but the policy of the Edinburgh World Missionary Conference of 1910 virtually restricted Anglican missionary work to Indian tribes, as it was assumed that the Roman Catholic Church would be able to minister to the vast Latin American, Spanish speaking, population. So the South American Missionary Society worked for more than a hundred years with the indigenous Indian people of South American, but in the last thirty years it has been joining in Christian ministry with the Spanish speaking population as well. The Mother Church That the South American Missionary Society is celebrating 150 years of missionary work in South American this year must be a cause of rejoicing in the Falklands, for Keppel Island, the people of the Anglican Church in the Islands and Bishop Stirling in particular all played a noble part in those pioneering days. As we all look back in thanksgiving may we also look forward to the next 150 years with eager anticipation as we join in prayer and concern for the Church's work in South America. Whatever the future may bring the fact will always be that Christ Church Cathedral, Stanley, Falkland Islands is the Mother-Church of Anglicanism in that great continent. Peter Millam was Senior Chaplain to the world's most southerly cathedural, Christ Church, in Stanley, from 1966 to 1970. This
article first appeared in the Falkland Islands Newsletter, Edition 36,
September 1988. The Falkland Islands Association is an independent
organisation which brings together those who support the continuing
freedom of the people of the Falkland Islands. Its Constitution
states that its objectives are to assist the people of the Falkland
Islands to decide their own future for themselves without being subjected
to pressure direct or indirect from any quarter. |
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