India

In 1706 the missionary Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg, sent by the Danish King and the Danish Church, arrived at Tranquebar, South India. The mission among the Tamils began and the first native minister called Aaron was ordained in 1730. In following centuries, Danish, Swedish, German and American missionaries were active among different ethnic groups of India, including e.g. Telugu and Santal people. One of the outstanding figures among Danish missionaries who worked among the Tamil-speaking people was the teacher Anne Marie Petersen who arrived in India in 1909. She was well known for her positive approach to Indian culture and customs and she was strongly engaged in girls’ education, putting great effort in starting a school for the girls based on the model of Mahatma Gandhi’s ashram.
Today there are altogether 11 LWF member churches in India that have grown out of different missions. 

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