BMS World Mission

{{Short description|Christian missionary society and charity}}
{{Infobox organization
|name         = BMS World Mission
|image        = BMS_World_Mission_logo_2018.png
|caption      = 
|abbreviation = BMS
|formation    = 1792
|headquarters = [[Didcot]], [[Great Britain]]
|type         = Missionary Society
|founder      = 
|leader_title = General Director
|leader_name  = Kang San-Tan
|website      = {{URL|https://www.bmsworldmission.org/|Official website}}
|affiliations        =
|services    = 
|num_members = 
}}

'''BMS World Mission''', officially '''Baptist Missionary Society''', is a [[Mission (Christian)|Christian missionary]] society founded by [[Baptists]] from [[England]] in 1792. The headquarters is in [[Didcot]], England.

==History==
The BMS was formed in 1792 as the ''Particular Baptist Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Amongst the Heathen'' at a meeting in [[Kettering]], [[England]], where twelve [[Particular Baptist]] ministers signed an agreement.<ref>Robert E. Johnson, ''A Global Introduction to Baptist Churches'', Cambridge University Press, UK, 2010, p. 99</ref><ref>J. Gordon Melton and Martin Baumann, ''Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices'', ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, p. 292</ref> They were; Thomas Blundel, Joshua Burton, John Eayres, [[Andrew Fuller]], Abraham Greenwood, William Heighton, Reynold Hogg, [[Samuel Pearce]], [[John Ryland]], Edward Sherman, [[John Sutcliff]], Joseph Timms.<ref>{{cite book|author=George Smith|title=The Life of William Carey, D.D: Shoemaker and Missionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZLa787pY5gMC&pg=PA52|date=30 June 2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-02918-6|page=52}}</ref> [[William Staughton]], present at the meeting, did not sign since he was not a minister.<ref>{{cite book|author=Alan Betteridge|title=Deep Roots, Living Branches: A History of Baptists in the English Western Midlands|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P3ZkU7V6N0MC&pg=PA108|date=1 August 2010|publisher=Troubador Publishing Ltd|isbn=978-1-84876-277-0|page=108}}</ref> The first missionaries, [[William Carey (missionary)|William Carey]] and John Thomas, were sent to [[Bengal]], India in 1793.<ref>Jonathan M. Yeager, ''Early Evangelicalism: A Reader'', OUP USA, USA, 2013, p. 357</ref><ref name=cox>[https://archive.org/details/historybaptistm00coxgoog History of the Baptist Missionary Society, from 1792 to 1842], [[Francis Augustus Cox]], 1842, accessed April 2009</ref>  They were followed by many co-workers, firstly to India, and subsequently to other countries in Asia, the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, and South America. BMS opened missions in China in 1860. It began operating in China's Shanxi province in 1877, despite local hostility toward “foreign devils.” In the [[Boxer Rebellion]] of 1900 all its missionaries there were killed, along with all 120 converts .<ref>R. G. Tiedemann, ''Reference Guide to Christian Missionary Societies in China: From the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Century'' (2009) p. 125.</ref>  [[Timothy Richard]] is one of the most well-known Baptist missionaries to China.

[[Francis Augustus Cox]] wrote a history of the Baptist Missionary Society from its formation until 1842.<ref name=cox/> [[Brian Stanley (historian)|Brian Stanley]] was commissioned to write a history of the society for its bicentenary (1992).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stanley |first1=Brian |title=The History of the Baptist Missionary Society, 1792-1992 |date=1992 |publisher=T.& T.Clark Ltd |location=London |isbn=0567096149}}</ref>

It is also known as BMS World Mission since 2000.<ref>R. G. Tiedemann, ''Reference Guide to Christian Missionary Societies in China: From the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Century: From the Sixteenth to the Twentieth'', Routledge, Abingdon-on-Thames, 2016, p. 125</ref>

== List of missionaries ==
* [[Samuel Pearce|Rev. Samuel Pearce]] (1792)
* [[William Carey (missionary)|William Carey]] (1793)
* John Thomas (1793)
* [[William Yates (missionary)|Dr. William Yates]] (1814)
* [[Joseph Jackson Fuller]] (1825-1908) Jamaican missionary to Cameroon
*[[Jeremiah Phillips]] (1836)
*[[George Grenfell]] (1849-1906), explorer and BMS missionary in the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]]
*Dr [[Clement Clapton Chesterman]] (1920-1936), the first to implement successfully mass chemotherapy for [[Trypanosomiasis]]. He worked at Yakusu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
*Dr [[Ernest W Price]] (1907-1990), the discoverer of [[Podoconiosis]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Vernon |first1=Gervase |title=Dr E W Price, the discoverer of podoconiosis |journal=Journal of Medical Biography |pages=2–5 |publisher=Sage Journals |doi=10.1177/0967772019888406 |pmid=31735101 |year=2019 |volume=30 |issue=1 |s2cid=208142196 }}</ref> He worked at Pimu and IME Kimpese in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
*Dr [[Stanley George Browne]] (1907-1986), "Mister Leprosy". He succeeded Dr Chesterman at Yakusu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
* [[Charlotte White]] (1782-1863), American, first single woman appointed as a missionary; wife of BMS missionary Joshua Rowe, worked in [[Digha]], India from 1816 to 1826. 
*Dr [[David Hedley Wilson]] (1928-2015), the first President of the [[Royal College of Emergency Medicine]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Obituary . |title=David Hedley Wilson |journal=BMJ |date=2016 |url=https://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.i443 |access-date=18 December 2019}}</ref> He succeeded Dr Price at Pimu and IME Kimpese in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

==Programmes==
BMS works in many ways around the world, including [[church planting]], development, disaster relief, education, health, and media and advocacy. Mission personnel can go long-term, mid-term, short-term or as part of a team.{{citation needed|date=January 2014}}

==See also==

*{{section link|List of Protestant missionaries in China|English Baptist Missionary Society}}
*[[List of Protestant missionary societies in China (1807–1953)]]
*[[William Ward (missionary)]]
*[[Hong Kong Council of the Church of Christ in China]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.bmsworldmission.org/ Official website]

{{Protestant missions to Africa}}
{{Protestant missions to India}}
{{Protestant missions to the Middle East}}
{{Protestant missions to Southeast Asia}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bms World Mission}}
[[Category:Baptist missionary societies]]
[[Category:Baptist organizations established in the 18th century]]
[[Category:Christian missionary societies]]
[[Category:Religious organizations established in 1792]]