World Mission Prayer League - History

History

The first international workers were sent in 1904 by the World Mission Prayer League's predecessor agency, The American Board of the Santal Mission. They joined the Santal Mission work in India, sponsored by sister agencies in Norway and Denmark, which were already underway since 1867. By the mid-1930s, a band of students, pastors and friends in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area joined together to approach the foreign mission boards of the existing Lutheran synods, but they found no budget for new outreach. In 1937, they organized themselves to accept missionary volunteers and send them into areas of special concern, without the constraint of budgetary limitations. They were committed to providing a way for lay participation in mission, without the requirement of ordination, and to complement the regular work of the Lutheran synods, without diverting means or personnel from their programs.

The Mission began as the South American Mission Prayer League, and was organized on May 25, 1937. Its first two missionaries left the next year for Bolivia. Later, other volunteers were sent to Central Asia, and eventually to Africa, and Eastern Europe. In 1939, the Mission adopted its present name, the World Mission Prayer League, to reflect its growing involvements around the world. In 1945, the World Mission Prayer League adopted its Constitution and incorporated in the State of Minnesota. In 1969, the World Mission Prayer League/Canada adopted its Constitution and incorporated in Edmonton, Alberta. The World Mission Prayer League/Canada functions in partnership with the World Mission Prayer League/USA as a sister organization.

In 1972 the American Board of the Santal Mission merged with the World Mission Prayer League. The American Board was founded in Minneapolis in 1894, as the American partner of the Norwegian Board and the Danish Board of the same Mission. The World Mission Prayer League has inherited their particular concern for the Santal people of India and Bangladesh.

In the United States, the World Mission Prayer League has offices in Minneapolis (MN), Anaheim (CA), Sammamish (WA), and Gettysburg (PA). In Canada, the World Mission Prayer League's office is located in Camrose, Alberta.