Missionary
Delaporte and his family, including his wife, Samole (also a missionary), arrived in Nauru under the auspices of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, sent by Central Union Church of Honolulu. They had travelled from Hawaii via Kusaie.
The missionary in Nauru, founded by a Gilbertese pastor named Tabuia approximately 10 years before Delaporte's arrival, contained the only formal educational institute on the island at the time.
During this time, both Delaporte and his wife translated many religious texts including the New Testament, stories from the Old Testament, a catechism, a hymn book, a history of the Christian Church and a book designed for use in the school.
Read more about this topic: Philip Delaporte
Famous quotes containing the word missionary:
“Why have such scores of lovely, gifted girls
Married impossible men?
Simple self-sacrifice may be ruled out,
And missionary endeavour, nine times out of ten.”
—Robert Graves (1895–1985)
“We crossed a deep and wide bay which makes eastward north of Kineo, leaving an island on our left, and keeping to the eastern side of the lake. This way or that led to some Tomhegan or Socatarian stream, up which the Indian had hunted, and whither I longed to go. The last name, however, had a bogus sound, too much like sectarian for me, as if a missionary had tampered with it; but I knew that the Indians were very liberal. I think I should have inclined to the Tomhegan first.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Are there no Moravians in the Moon, that not a missionary has yet visited this poor pagan planet of ours, to civilize civilization and christianize Christendom?”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)