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ARTIFACTS AND EVANGELISM MISSIONARY COLLECTION IS LARGEST AMONG MORAVIAN FACILITIES

Morning Call - Allentown, Pa. Author: RICH HARRY (A free-lance story for The Morning Call)

Copyright Morning Call Aug 7, 1994

Special to The Morning Call Rich Harry is a freelance writer.

The Moravian missionaries who had fanned out across the globe beginning in the 18th century returned to their Bethlehem and Nazareth congregations with more than the warm glow of spiritual fulfillment and a strong sense of professional accomplishment.

They had returned with soapstone walrus carvings from Labrador, grass wall hangings from Tanzania and primitive baskets, bowls and dishes from Suriname and Guyana in South America.

Others returned with artifacts from Tibet, South Africa, the West Indies and assorted nooks and crannies of human habitation.

"The Moravians have been on six continents," Susan Dreydoppel says, pointing to a world map studded with blue and red pins that indicate past and present Moravian provinces and missions.

And what about this seventh, pinless continent? "We've never been to Antarctica," she explains.

Dreydoppel is executive director of the Moravian Historical Society in Nazareth, which has a new exhibit at its headquarters, the Whitefield House at 214 E. Center St. The exhibit, named "Into The World," showcases dozens of old and contemporary items of foreign cultures donated over the years by Moravian missionaries. The exhibit will be on display through January.

The society has been accepting artifacts from missionaries since the 1800s. Now, the society's missionary collection, says Dreydoppel, is the largest of its kind among Moravian institutions. About 10 percent of the 1,000 pieces in the collection have been made part of the exhibit on the first floor of the Whitefield House.

"We decided to include an item if it looked interesting and if we knew enough about it," Dreydoppel comments.

"There are some really interesting things we didn't put on display because it was unclear what they were or where they had come from."

Such was the fate, for example, of an article of suspected clothing from Africa. It might be a decorated loin cloth, or maybe a leather hunting pouch.

"But it could be something else," Dreydoppel says. "I just don't know what."

The society decided on a missionary exhibit for a number of reasons. Mindful of Moravian youth convocations in the area this summer, the society wanted to give young people an idea of where the Moravian Church has been in the world, in a context different from textbooks.

At the same time, the society wanted to provide a glimpse into one aspect of Moravian life that has been unknown to or little understood by many not affiliated with the church.

In addition, says Dreydoppel, "It's unusual for a town the size of Nazareth to have artifacts from Africa and Asia. We wanted to give people a chance to see things out of the ordinary, things that they have little chance of seeing unless they drive to New York or Philadelphia."

Things such as what?

The Alaskan artifacts, for example, include a child's raincoat made of seal intestine, a woman's outer garment with oversized hood suitable for baby-carrying and fur boots. Small dolls are festively dressed in fur parkas.

Staring from a wall are two Eskimo masks made of wood and decorated with feathers that were worn during dances designed to placate spirits. One mask has a movable jaw; the other is worn by clenching a tiny wedge of wood inside the mask in your teeth. And for how long could a mask be worn by clenching it in your teeth?

"Probably a lot longer than what we'd want to do," says Dreydoppel, who formerly worked in a museum in Alaska. An Eskimo version of the Olympics requires unusual skills -- such as having weights tied on the ears -- that are considered necessary for hunting, she points out in explaining Eskimo teeth strength.

Clothing is particularly well-represented in the exhibit -- a scarf from the Caribbean, a straw hat from South Africa, a woman's headdress from Tibet. Cooking utensils also are liberally placed in the display cases.

The art of various cultures reflects a fascination with animals, such as carvings from Kenya and Tanzania of a lion, a water buffalo, a rhino and other mammals.

Another art form -- music -- is represented by a mbira from South Africa. It's a wood box with a sounding board, metal bars and keys. Though obviously ancient, "it still makes a noise," Dreydoppel said. The exhibit also includes a copy of an 1869 photograph of a Moravian trombone choir in South Africa.

The North American artifacts include baskets made by the Delaware, Mesa, Hopi and other tribes, and a black-and-white painting by C. Schussele, named "The Power of The Gospel," which depicts missionary David Zeisberger preaching to Delaware Indians.

Apart from Eskimo dolls recovered by archaeology, the oldest artifact in the exhibit, Dreydoppel says, probably is a hand-size diorama brought to America in 1753 from the West Indies. It shows tropical foliage, a thatched hut and a woman cooking.

One of the most recent items is a 1982 T-shirt whose script commemorates the 250th anniversary of the Moravian mission in the Virgin Islands.

Generally, the artifacts -- which are grouped in the exhibit by geographic region -- reflect in some way a culture's everyday lifestyle, its art or its religious practices.

"When missionaries came back, they went around and spoke to the churches about what their life was like. They wanted to give the people an idea of what conditions were like elsewhere," Dreydoppel said. "So they brought back everyday things."

The first Moravian missionary assignment, in 1732, 10 years after the emergence of the modern Moravian Church, sent two people from Germany to the Virgin Islands. The following year, missionaries went to Greenland. In 1735, they arrived in the American colonies, in Georgia, preaching to Indians. By the early 1740s, Moravian missionaries had arrived in this area, which became the seat of Moravian government in North America.

The Moravians had become so far-reaching that a textbook has been printed in 44 languages.

The structure of Moravian missionary work has changed dramatically. Today, most of the work is conducted independently by local jurisdiction, many of which have been around for generations.

When first started, the Moravians' was the most organized missionary effort among Protestant religions, Dreydoppel says. The work had fit in with the church's desire to impart "a more emotional and a more personal feeling" than that imparted by European state religions of the time, she says.

Moravian missionaries not only preached religion, but were involved in medicine and education. Moravian schools and hospitals remain in several countries.

In the early days, each Moravian missionary team was made up of a husband and wife. They were expected to know a trade. The first Moravian missionary, the one sent to the West Indies, was a potter, Dreydoppel points out.

Moravian missionary work was voluntary. "They felt a calling for this work. I'm sure some were looking for some kind of adventure and had known about the dangers."

A number of Moravian missionaries had perished when a boat capsized in Suriname. And elsewhere, some were not greeted with open arms.

"One missionary from Bethlehem, John Antos, went to Egypt in the 1730s. They were not thrilled he was there, so they put him in prison and beat him on the soles of his feet. He was so badly beaten that he became sick. He never recovered."

Dreydoppel's world map has a blue pin in Egypt -- a former site of Moravian missionary work.

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