William Tobias Ringeltaube

William Tobias Ringeltaube, or Wilhelm Tobias Ringeltaube (8 August 1770 – After 27 September 1816) was the first Protestant missionary in the far south of India.^[1] He spent much of his time in Travancore. He was the first child of Gottlieb Ringeltaube, Vicar of Scheidelwitz (today Szydlowice), near Brzeg, in Silesia, Prussia. He was born on 8 August 1770. The cause and date of his death are uncertain, but it is widely believed that he died of liver failure whilst on a voyage to Africa. Others believe that he was killed by natives whilst on a mission to Jakarta (then called Batavia).

Five days after his birth he was baptized and given the name William Tobias Ringeltaube. For seven years Ringeltaube grew up in a country home. After this, his father went to Warsaw in Poland, where they spent nine years. During this time, William was educated by his father before attending the University of Halle.^[2]

When he was 16, his father became a Court Preacher and General Superintendent at Oels, in Silesia. There, the young boy attended the Gymnasium, but he was naturally shy and shunned all interaction with fellow students. In his 18th year he went on a walking tour, on which he made many friends. During this time, he made the decision to become a Christian missionary.

He was ordained in Wernigerode in 1796, and he spent some time in Calcutta and England before he was invited by the London Missionary Society (L.M.S) in 1803 to join their Mission to India.^[3] He sailed for Tranquebar on April 20, 1804, with several other missionaries and stayed there for one year to learn the Tamil language.^[4]

Ringeltaube was the first Protestant missionary to South Travancore and he arrived at the Aralvaimozhi ( kanyakumari district) on April 25, 1806.^[5] He received an invitation from Maharasan Vedamanickam Vethamonickam Desikar of Mylaudy, who had been converted to Christianity in Tanjore by Rev. Kohlhoff, an SPCK missionary. Ringeltaube was moved at the plight of the social out-castes of South Travancore. He worked among them and in May 1809 laid the foundation for a church in Mylaudy. Within four months the Church Construction Work was completed. In September, 1809 Ringeltaube dedicated the first Protestant Church of South Travancore.^[6] He visited 'Trivandrum' in 1811. He left Travancore in 1816.^[7][8]

On Friday, 25 April 1806, at 6 pm, Ringletaube arrived in Mylaudy.^[9] Vedamanickam Maharasan Desikar,^[10] the first Protestant Christian from Mylaudy, met Ringeltaube in Thanjavur;^[11] the two of them worked together to create a mission in Travancore. Once Ringeltaube reached Tharangam Padi, Vedamanickam took him to Travancore. On Sunday, 27 April 1806, he conducted worship at Vethamonikam Desikar's house. In March 1807, 40 people were baptized in Mylaudy by Ringletaube and he planned to build a church.

Diwan Veluthambi objected to Ringeltaube's plan to build a church there. Colonel Colin Macaulay helped him to get permission to buy land in the area; however Ringeltaube had to wait until after Veluthambi’s death to make use of the land.^[12]

Due to the revolt of Diwan Veluthambi, many problems began to arise for the Mylaudy Christians. During the riots, Vethamonikam Desikar was hiding in Marunthuvazh Malai and Parvatha hill.

There was a well on the south side of the Church and a pond was dug a short distance away from the church to solve the water problem, for the benefit of the people of Mylaudy. Ringeltaube also cleared some fields near the pond.^[13] He helped stop many of the taxes imposed on people.^[14] He also opened schools in the area and started job schemes so that new converts could earn a wage.^[12]

Ringeltaube's ministries included building schools and orphanages, providing job training, and proclaiming the gospel.^[4][15]

He opened many churches in Kanyakumari district, including in Mylaudy, South Thamaraikulam, Puthalam, Koilvilai (James Town), Zionpuram, Perinbapuram and Ananthanadarkudy.^[14] For three years, he struggled to obtain permission to build a church in Mylaudy.^[12]

From 1806 to 1809 the pastor frequently visited Palayamkottai and set up a base there for a time.^[4]

Once, while traveling, he knelt down, prayed, and drank the water that had accumulated on the rock at Kozhikottupottai. That day, it became spring. When the pastor was preaching to the people at Ammandi Vilai on February 25, 1810, he took a child who came near him and put him down. Immediately the child walked away. Those present were amazed as the leg-crippled child walked away from the pastor. Later only did the pastor learn that the child had a leg deformity.

There was a famine for several months in 1813. He went to Mylaudy and prayed fervently for rain; the rain arrived soon after.^[12]

Ringeltaube suffered many hardships. He suffered a lot from physical abuse. He was found to have lost strength in the body due to frequent illnesses. He lived in a simple house with little access to good food or comfort.^[13] He was careless of convention in speech and dress, and walked around with a simple straw hat on his head.^[13]

Ringletaube wrote many letters, of which 9 to his sister, 3 to his brother, and 4 to the London Mission Society are known. In these letters, Ringeltaube details his travels, ministry, the condition of Christians, and his liver disease.

Through the letters, it is known that he had invited his brother Ernest to Tharangambadi to work with him. However, he was not willing to come.

• Possibly the last letter of Rev. Ringeltaube to someone, asking to forward another enclosed letter to his sister (Dated on 24 September 1816, from Malacca)
• Couch used by Ringeltaube, now at Mylaudy Church

On 23 January 1816, Ringeltaube expressed his desire to return to his homeland to his congregation members. He handed over all the responsibility to Vedamonikam, who ran the mission for the next two years.^[11] On 5 February 1816, Ringeltaube sailed from Kollam to Chennai. When the ship arrived at Manakudi, He remembered the debt he had written on the wall of his house. He asked the sailor to stop the ship and he travelled to Mylaudy where he destroyed the debt account. Afterwards, he again sailed to Chennai.

The pastor reached Sri Lanka from Chennai and wrote a letter to his sister. He then reached Malacca from Sri Lanka. Again, he wrote a letter to the London Missionary Society Treasurer, Joseph Kokson. While in Malacca, he wrote another letter to his sister dated September 24 1816.^[12] He left Malacca, and travelled to Batavia on September 27, 1816.

The exact circumstances of his death are unknown. The most common belief is that he died of liver failure on the voyage to South Africa^[16] and was buried at sea. Proof of this includes the ship's daily diary which records that A passenger died. There is also a belief that he arrived safely in Cape Town and spent four years there before dying in 1820.^[4]

His work was continued by the LMS missionaries Charles Mead and Richard Knill;^[5] Mead extended Ringeltaube's educational work and established the LMS Seminary at Nagercoil, as well as the LMS Press. The LMS press was one of a kind in Travancore, capturing the king's attention who in turn invited missionaries to establish a government press. Charles and Johanna Mead served in Travancore for 56 years,^[15] opening churches and schools throughout the area.^[17]

Ringeltaube Vethamonikam Memorial Church, Mylaudy and Ringeltaube Memorial Higher Secondary School in Mylaudy are named after him;^[18] the CSI Kanyakumari Diocese also holds a Ringeltaube Convention and an annual memorial service on 25 April (Ringletaube day) at Mylaudy church.

Bibliography

• Mateer, Samuel (1871). "The Land of Charity:": A Descriptive Account of Travancore and Its People, with Especial Reference to Missionary Labour. J. Snow and Company.