| William Tobias Ringeltaube | |
| Birth Date: | August 8, 1770 |
| Birth Place: | Brzeg, Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia (now Poland) |
| Death Date: | After 27 September 1816 (aged 46 or older) |
| Death Place: | Java Sea |
| Alma Mater: | Halle University |
William Tobias Ringeltaube, or Wilhelm Tobias Ringeltaube (1770- ?) 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 the 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 the quietness of a country home; after this his father went to Warsaw in Poland, and spent nine years in the city. During this time, William was educated by his father before attending the University of Halle.
When he was 16, his father became a Court Preacher and General Superintendent at Oels, in Silesia. There, the young boy attended the Gymnaesium, but the boy 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. Ordained in Wernigerode in 1796, he spent some time in Calcutta and England before he was invited by the London Missionary Society (LMS) in Year 1803 to join their Mission to India. He sailed for Tranquebar on April 20th 1804, with several other missionaries, and stayed there for one year to learn the Tamil language.[2]
There was a well on the south side of the Church and dig a pond a short distance away from the church and solved the water problem, for the benefit of the people of Mylaudy. He also cleared/made some fields near the pond. He gave some clothes to the poor and free medicine to the sick. He gave freedom for many slaves with his own money. Every Christmas, he gave feast for all church members in Mylaudy. He helped stop many of the taxes that were heavily imposed on people.
Maharasan Vedamonikam, the first Protestant Christian from Mylaudy, was baptized by Rev. Kohlhoff and he invited Ringeltaube. Once Ringeltaube reached Tharangam padi, Maharasan Vedamanickam took him to Travancore. His ministries were building schools, orphanages, job training and proclaiming the gospel.[3]
He opened many churches in Kanyakumari district. Mylaudy, South Thamaraikulam, Puthalam, Koilvilai (James town), Zionpuram, Perinbapuram and Ananthanadarkudy churches are the fruits of his ministry.One of these was Perinbapuram Church from Nagercoil on the way to Monday market. All church has a history of more than 200 years. Thamaraikulam church is 5 km from Kanyakumari. Ananthanadarkudy church is 7 km from Nagercoil. Mylaudy church is 10 km from Nagercoil and Kanyakumari.
The first Protestant missionary to South Travancore was William Tobias Ringeltaube of the LMS, who arrived at the Aruvaimozhi Pass on April 25, 1806.[4] Ringeltaube received an invitation from Maharasan Vedamonikam 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. He visited ‘Trivandrum’ in 1811. He left Travancore in 1816.[5] [6]
From 1806 to 1809 the pastors used to visit Palayamkottai frequently from Mylaudy. While traveling, he knelt down, prayed, and drank the water that had accumulated on the rock at Kozhikottupottai. that day onwards it become 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 and then came out and looked at the sky. It immediately rained. Everyone was amazed at the strength of the pastor's prayers.
Ringeltaube suffered many hardships. For three years he struggled to get permission to build a church in Mylaudy.He suffered a lot from physical abuse. He was found to have lost strength in the body due to frequent illnesses. Living in a simple house without the best nutritious food, without good facilities, without good clothes. He walked around with a simple straw hat on his head and spread the gospel.
Among the many letters Ringeltaube wrote, we have 9 letters to his sister, 3 letters to his brother, and 4 letters to the London Missionary Society.Through these letters we learn about his travels, ministry, the condition of Christians, and the disease in his liver.Everything written to her sister in these letters is seen as tragic. Despite the tragedy in his letter, he did not regret it, except that he was glad to be an evangelist. In the letters he refers to himself as a parasite, a helpless, old man.Through letters he learns that he had invited his brother Ernest to Tharangambadi to work with him and that he had not agreed to come.
On Friday, 25 April 1806, at 6 pm, Ringletaube arrived at Mylaudy by the white horse vechile. On, Sunday 27 April 1806, He conducted worship at Vethamonikam Desikar's house. Diwan Veluthambi objected to Ringeltaube's plan to build a church there, but Colin Macaulay helped him. In March 1807, 40 people were baptized in Mylaudy by Ringletaube. 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. After the uprising he wandered to get permission to build the temple / church.
On 23 January 1816, all the congregation members came to Mylaudy and expressed their that He (Ringeltaube) desire to return to her homeland. He handed over all the responsibility to Vedamonikam Desikar and he said Good bye to the people of Mylaudy, he sailed from Kollam to Chennai on 5 February 1816. When the ship arrived at Manakudi, He remembered; the debt he had written on the wall of his house. He commented the sailor to stop the ship and he travelled to Mylaudy and destroyed the debt account. Again, he said Good bye to the people of Mylaudy and sailed to Chennai.
The pastor reached Sri Lanka from Chennai and wrote a letter to his sister. Then He reached Malacca from Sri Lanka. Again, He wrote a letter to her sister (Annasen) and London Missionary Society Treasurer (Mr. Joseph Kokson). 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[7] and was buried at sea. Proof of this was written on the ship's daily diary as A PASSENGER DIED. As such, the end of Ringeltaube’s life was seen in the same way as the end of the Enoch, who also did not see death. There is also a belief that he arrived safely in Cape Town and spent four years there before dying in 1820.
His work was continued by the LMS missionaries Charles Mead and Richard Knill; Mead extended Ringeltaube’s educational work and established the LMS Seminary at Nagercoil, as well as the LMS Press. Charles and Johanna Mead served in Travancore for 56 years, opening churches and schools throughout the area.[8] Ringeltaube Vethamonikam Memorial Church, Mylaudy and Ringeltaube Memorial Higher Secondary School in Mylaudy are named after him;[9] the CSI also holds an Ringeltaube Convention and an annual memorial service.