Colonel Ole Bie, A True Friend of India (Especially India’s Widows)
Dr. James J. S. Johnson
This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord. (Psalm 102:18)
Here is my limerick about the under-appreciated contribution made to India, about 200 years ago, by Colonel Ole Bie, Norwegian-born Danish trade colony governor of Serampore, a Lutheran who supported Baptist missionary William Carey (and other Christian missionaries) in their efforts to share the Gospel of Christ in India (including Bible translations and the establishment of Serampore College) — as well as to promote the Genesis Mandate (by politically opposing the then-prevalent widow-burning custom called “sati”) for Adam’s descendants to “be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth”.
In time, after much lobbying of the British colonial government, a political victory was gained (to protect the lives of India’s widows). Consequently, many families in India today can trace their genealogical existence back to widows who were allowed to remarry — and who, as remarried, later gave birth unto children (of their second marriages).
COLONEL OLE BIE, A TRUE FRIEND OF INDIA
India, long ago, traded with Danes;
‘Twas win-win, with both nations’ gains;
Labored Bie, Carey, and Roy,
Sati’s threat to destroy —
Ending those life-quenching banes.
See James J. S. Johnson, “Contending for the Faith and the Genesis Mandate”, ACTS & FACTS, 43(5):19 (May 2014), posted at https://www.icr.org/article/contending-for-faith-genesis-mandate .
Because every human life is precious to God, even if a single (and “unsung”) life is a inconspicuous as a water-drop. [ See https://pinejay.com/2019/12/05/is-your-life-like-a-drop-of-water/ .]
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