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Foundations of Our Faith 9
Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf has been called The Rich Young Ruler that said Yes!
At age twenty, faced with a portrait of Jesus in a crown of thorns, he felt God say, “I have
done this for you; what have you done for me?” He vowed from now on “to do whatever he
leads me to do”. In the NT, Paul and Titus went to Dalmatia (Slovakia). Throughout centuries
there, the flame of truth burned. Comenius and John Huss were Moravians because persecution
had driven believers from the Czech Republic to Moravia (Czech Republic). Count von
Zinzendorf became the leader they so badly needed. He gave land for Moravian refugees and
formed a community called Hernhut. There was so much quarrelling and disunity, he covenanted
to prayer and work for revival. So he began a ‘Prayer Meeting’ that lasted 100 years! Hernhut
= on watch for the Lord.
On May 27, 1727, the Holy Spirit fell on everyone and the community was transformed to
become the first missionary church since Paul. All Moravians were trained through prayer and
teaching to love the world and become missionaries. Zinzendorf told them The Man Is The
Message so character-training and discipleship were very important.
The Moravians sent out 70, 000 missionaries all over the world.
They were taught: -
to depend on the Holy Spirit
to look for seekers of truth
to preach Christ’s life and death
to go to neglected people
to seek God’s kingdom rather than try to form a church
to be self-supporting
We should be grateful to the Moravians because they teach us that prayer and evangelism go
hand in hand.
(Foundations for Life) 28
