Great illustration of great missionary work.

John Eliot arrived in Massachusetts in 1631 to pastor a small frontier church. After more than a decade of ministry there,

he recognized the spiritual needs of Algonquin Indians living nearby and

began to preach among them.

He struggled to learn the language but eventually saw some of the group converted. Eliot advocated for the Algonquins and arranged for a settlement of several thousand acres that became a “praying town” of Native Christians.

He spent several years translating a catechism and the New Testament into the Algonquin language, and as more “praying towns” formed,

he concentrated on training leaders for the churches. Eliot spent the remainder of his life working among the Native Americans, even in the face of opposition from other colonists and a devastating war. His work influenced the formation of the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts and inspired other colonists to proclaim the gospel among other tribal groups.

 Zane Pratt, J. Walters, and M. David Sills, Introduction to Global Missions (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2014).