The First Missionaries Came To Hawaii and the South Pacific in the early 1800's. The only means
of travel was by sailing ship. In the beginning they used old whaling ships... and ran into devastating problems with both the sailors, on board... and with the Natives.
These whalers came to shore and used the island women for prostitution... bringing with them alcohol and disease.
From these same ships came caring people who were trying to minister love and compassion... while hopefully teaching these Islanders, new and different principles. It was very confusing to the Natives... and terribly hard on these new Missionaries.
A Campaign was started to give help to these self-sacrificing families, in Hawaii. The outstanding event happened in Boston in 1856. It was the acquisition of the first "Morningstar"... a new brigantine Schooner... 98 feet long, and weighing some 150 tons.
~ This ship had been dreamt about, talked about, and prayed for during these many
months. ~ It was sorely needed by this isolated
band of Missionaries in the South Pacific.
This project was to be known as "The Missionary Packet", giving these love-guided adventurers, for the first time, their own sailing vessel.
This new vessel would give them a regular schedule for their travels... a more dependable means of carrying mail and freight... and separation from the decadent sailors... so they could begin to minister in more effective ways.
~ The Packet ~
This campaign was carried on by all the Sunday schools and Congregational Churches across the entire nation of America. The women and children worked together raising the money.
~ This was done by selling ten cent shares... and they actually gave a "Certificate of Shares".
Yes! They gave a "Certificate of Shares". In
nickels and dimes and quarters... they raised more than $12,000, which covered the cost of this new sailing vessel.
The "Morningstar" was finally completed and sailed from Boston on December 2, 1856... bound for Honolulu! Since that time, as disaster or long service made it necessary... new "Morningstar" ships have followed to this day.
As We Were Exploring The Possibilities of how to best raise finance for the future projects, we were led back to an old missionary book telling the story we have just shared with you.
We were very excited to find that three of the original "Certificate of Shares" were in a museum on the east coast. Having obtained copies of these original shares, we modeled our own version after these originals of 1856. After making several changes that reflected the heart... and purpose... of our Programs,
we came up with an appropriate updated version... continuing on a tradition that started over 140 years ago.
~ Today... We truly hope the "Certificate of Shares" will inspire you...
as you become a participant in this far reaching campaign to help young people!
