Skolotājas un miera meklējumi misijas laukos – gadījumu izpēte no Latvijas

Abstract

This paper explores the path of the missionaries from Livland (Vidzeme), Hildegard Prozell (1869–1948) to Tamil Nadu, India 1896–1908, and Auguste Vietnieka (also Weetneck, Weetneek and Weetnek, 1873–?) to Sumatra, Indonesia 1899–1910, in fulfill-ing their call from God and becoming mission teachers, as well as their considerations when they wrote about peace in different areas of the mission field. To provide a historical and theological context, the paper includes a summary of the theological basis for women’s mission by the German missiologists Gustav Warneck, Theodor Christlieb and August Schreiber. The paper concluded that, although the German missiologists did not see the pos-sibility of women being “real” missionaries, i.e., preaching the word of God in worship services, they did see the possibility of women, both married and unmarried, being in mission as teachers, doctors and nurses. In their missionary work, Prozell and Vietnieka were teachers, teaching children, running schools as principals and establishing schools themselves. From the missionaries’ letters it was possible to see that, as far as the concept of peace was concerned, their main emphasis was on peace with God. This peace could be obtained, if they obeyed the call they had received from God, as they understood it from the Scriptures and from attending church services and talking to the pastors. Even when they encountered difficulties in their mission work, it was God’s peace that helped them to overcome those. It was also clear that relationships with people – other missionaries, children in schools and their parents – were very important in the mission work of these teachers. Once these relationships were in order, the missionaries could experience peace and so could those around them, even though at times it was difficult for the missionaries to maintain peace with other missionaries because of nationality or gender-related prejudices. Today, mission work has changed; in most Christian denominations, women are not restricted in their mission work in the way that Prozell and Vietnieka were. However, the concept of peace, especially peace with God and peace with one’s colleagues and with the people one serves is still relevant today.