Johannes Emde was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 evangelist

Evangelism

Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....

 who worked in Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

. He became one of the founders of the churches in East Java

East Java

East Java is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the eastern part of the island of Java and includes neighboring Madura and islands to its east and to its north East Java is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the eastern part of the island of Java and includes neighboring Madura and...

. In Surabaya

Surabaya

Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city with a population of over 2.7 million , and the capital of the province of East Java...

 he was given the nickname of Saint Surabaya.

Biography

Johannes Emde was born in Arolsen, Germany in 1774 and died in Surabaya

Surabaya

Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city with a population of over 2.7 million , and the capital of the province of East Java...

 in 1859. In Indonesia, Emde lived in Surabaya, earning his living as a watchmaker

Watchmaker

A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since virtually all watches are now factory made, most modern watchmakers solely repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their parts, by hand...

, and married a Javanese woman from the Solo

Surakarta

Surakarta, also called Solo or Sala, is a city in Central Java, Indonesia of more than 520,061 people with a population density of 11,811.5 people/km2. The 44 km2 city adjoins Karanganyar Regency and Boyolali Regency to the north, Karanganyar Regency and Sukoharjo Regency to the east and...

 kraton. He was a Pietist, and was already living in Surabaya when he started preaching in about 1815.

Emde did his missionary work by asking children to spread the Gospel of Mark

Gospel of Mark

The Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...

 as translated by Bruchner to literate

Literacy

Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...

 people at the markets. This gospel was widely discussed because of how different it was from other religious texts available at the time. Emde also taught the people of Surabaya about Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 and how Christians had to be baptised, which had not been taught by Coenrad Laurens Coolen

Coenrad Laurens Coolen

Coenrad Laurens Coolen is one of the lay evangelists who did evangelical work in East Java. He did the evangelists in Java along with other lay Evangelists such as Kiai Ibrahim Tunggul Wulung, Paul Tosari and Johannes Emde.- Biography :...

, a previous missionary. Among those taught by Emde was a kyai

Kyai

A Kyai is an expert in islam. The word is of Javanese origin, and is sometimes spelled kiai. Traditionally, students of Islam in Indonesia would study in a boarding school known as a pesantren. The leader of the school was called kyai, as a form of respect. The traditional word for a teacher in...

 from Madura

Madura

Madura is an Indonesian island off the northeastern coast of Java. The island comprises an area of approximately 4,250 km². Madura is administered as part of the East Java province. It is separated from Java by the narrow Strait of Madura.-History:...

 named Midah, who was eventually baptised along with his followers by A. W. Meijer.,

Although he respected the Javanese, he tried to keep his converts away from Javanese culture and Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

 - for instance, he strictly forbade circumcision

Circumcision

Male circumcision is the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin and ....

. Because Emde's converts practiced Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

culture, they were called Kristen Landa (Dutch Christians).