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 On May 9, 1760, Count Nicholaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, founder of the Moravian Brethren and a pioneer of missions, died in Herrnhut, Germany.
Count Nicholaus von Zinzendorf was a descendent of an ancient Austrian noble family. He had spent several years in the Pietist schools at Halle, where he displayed a desire to do great things for God. However, his family did not want him to become a missionary, and in obedience to their wishes, he studied law at Wittenberg University. It was here that he learned to appreciate the doctrinal emphasis of Martin Luther, which brought greater balance to his Pietist upbringing.
After entering the service of the government of Saxony, he bought the large estate of Bethelsdorf from his grandmother. Soon, certain refugees from Moravia, descendants of the church of John Huss, begged the Count to take refuge on his estate. He assigned them to a corner of his estate, where they built a community Herrnhut, or “The Lord’s Lodge.”
Zinzendorf developed a very keen interest in world evangelization. As a result, the Moravians were the first Protestant body to take the Great Commission seriously. They became a church of missionaries, active in preaching the Gospel and in organizing groups of believers within the established churches of Europe. They had great success in founding fellowships elsewhere in Germany, Holland, Denmark, England, and Switzerland. Eventually, they established missions in Africa, Asia, Greenland, Lapland, and among the American Indians. One of their converts was John Wesley, father of the Methodist movement.
By the time of Zinzendorf’s death, the Moravians had sent out 226 missionaries from their small community at Hernnhut.
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