Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen

The Right Reverend Ephorus Ingwer Ludwig Nommensen
Church	Huria Kristen Batak Protestan (HKBP)
Installed	1881
Term ended	1918
Successor	Valentin Kessel
Personal details
Born	(1834-02-06)6 February 1834 Nordstrand, Duchy of Schleswig, Denmark (present-day Germany)
Died	23 May 1918(1918-05-23) (aged 84) Sigumpar, Toba, Tapanoeli Residency, Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia)
Buried	Sigumpar, Toba, North Sumatra
Parents	Peter Nommensen (father) Antje Karstensen (mother)
Spouse	Margarethe Caroline Gutbrod ​ ​ (m. 1866⁠–⁠1887)​ Anna Magdalene Christine Harder ​ ​ (m. 1892⁠–⁠1909)​
Children	9

Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen (6 February 1834 – 23 May 1918) was a German Lutheran missionary to Batak lands, North Sumatra. He also translated the New Testament into the native Batak language and the first Ephorus (bishop) of Batak Christian Protestant Church. He is commemorated as a missionary on 7 November in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church with John Christian Frederick Heyer and Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg.

Early life

Nommensen was born in the Nordstrand peninsula in the Duchy of Schleswig in 1834, when the area was ruled by the king of Denmark but distinct from Denmark proper due to the link between the Duchy of Schleswig and the Duchy of Holstein, which was part of the German Confederation. His family was very poor and as a child Nommensen had to work to support himself and to help his family.

In 1846, a horse cart rolled over his legs, crushing them. The initial prognosis was that he would be unlikely to walk again, but after praying for recovery, some four years later, he was able to walk again.

An interest in Christian missionary work led to Nommensen's enrolment at the Rhenish Missionary Society seminary at Wuppertal-Barmen in 1857.

Ministry in Sumatra

He was sent as a missionary to Sumatra in 1862. He focused his attention on the Batak people of the interior of Sumatra. His first mission station was in the Silindung Valley. He experienced initial difficulties, but later succeeded in converting several local chiefs and their followers to Christianity. He reported that 2000 Batak people had converted to Christianity by 1865. At first most converts had to leave their villages and come to live with Nommensen in his Huta dame (Village of Peace). In 1878 he completed the first translation of the New Testament into the Batak language; he had already translated Luther’s Small Catechism into Batak.

In the same year, he and his fellow missionaries, and the Christian Batak people themselves, were threatened by the Batak priest king Sisingamangaraja XII, who, with support from Aceh, was involved in a war against the Dutch occupants. In the subsequent military expedition against Singamangaraja XII, known as the First Toba War, Nommensen played a prominent role in serving the colonial army as an interpreter and cultural consultant. Nommensen himself laid out his involvement in the war in a report that was published in BRMG 12, 1878:361–81, in which he explained that his involvement was aimed to save lives and to avoid Dutch brutal punitive action against local villages. After the war, Nommensen was seen by Batak people as the one who could protect them against Dutch influence.

In 1890, he moved north to the village of Sigumpar, Toba near Laguboti. The area had greater Islamic influences, but Nommensen remained successful in building an indigenous Batak church. He had already instituted a church order and hierarchy, overseen by a Batak ephorus. By the time of his death the church numbered 180,000 members. There were also 34 Batak pastors and 788 teacher-preachers across 500 congregations. Today most Toba Batak Christians belong to the Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKBP), one of the largest Lutheran church denominations in Southeast Asia.

Family

Nommensen was married twice and had at least nine children.

His first marriage with Margarethe Caroline Gutbrod was from 1866 until her death in 1887. From this marriage they had six children:

• Benoni Nommensen – Died in infancy at approximately 7 days old.
• Anna Nommensen – Died in early childhood at approximately 1 year old.
• Christian Nommensen (Born in 1868) – later became a planter and was tragically murdered in Sumatra in 1901.
• Ludwig Nommensen (Born in 1870) – later migrated as a merchant to Brazil.
• Lucia Nommensen – Married a fellow missionary.
• Jonathan Nommensen (Born on 27 November 1873) – followed his father's footsteps to become an evangelical missionary in Sumatra, serving in Laguboti and Sigumpar until his death on 30 January 1950.

His second marriage with Anna Magdalene Christine Harder was from 1892 until her death in 1909. From this marriage they had three children:

• Marcus Nathaniel Nommensen (born on 3 October 1893) – He served as a soldier in Germany and died during World War I in 1916.
• Margaret Nommensen (born on 30 May 1896) – She became a teacher in Germany and died in 1946.
• Anna Nommensen.

Honours

During and post his missionary service, Nommensen was awarded and given honoraria as follows:

• Knight (Ridder) of the Order of Orange-Nassau: Awarded in 1893 in recognition of his extensive societal, educational, and religious contributions in the Dutch East Indies (Sumatra).

• Honorary Doctorate (doctorate of theology): Conferred by the University of Bonn in 1904 for his theological and translation work (including translating the New Testament into the Toba Batak language).

• Officer (Officier) of the Order of Orange-Nassau: Promoted in 1911 for his lifelong meritorious service and continued leadership among the Batak community.

• The Batak Christian University at Medan and Pematang Siantar was named Nommensen HKBP University in 1954.

• Bishop Stephen Neill (1900–1984), in his History of Christian Missions, described Nommensen as "one of the most powerful missionaries of whom we have record anywhere" (page 348).

• Another source wrote, "Nommensen may have been one of the most successful missionaries ever to preach the gospel" (Ambassadors for Christ, ed. by J. Woodbridge, page 146).

Works and editions

• Luther's Small Catechism (Tigor ni poda) – Translated into the Toba Batak language in 1874.

• The Gospel according to St. John : translated out of the original Greek into Batta (Toba), the language of the Batta in the island of Sumatra, issued in 1977, published by Roeloffzen & Hubner in 1894.

• Tobasch Spelboekje – A Toba Batak spelling and primer booklet published in multiple editions (1877 and 1885).

• The New Testament (Padan Na Imbaru) – Translated from original Greek into the Toba Batak language, completed in 1878.

• Bible Stories (Djamita sian Hata ni Debata) – Published in Toba Batak language in 1882.

• Berichte an seine Freunde (Reports to His Friends) – A three-part series of booklets published in 1882, 1883, and 1886 detailing his missionary journey and experiences.

• Short Articles and Journals – Around forty shorter written accounts and reports contributed directly to European missionary journals.

References

• Scott W. Sunquist, ed., Dictionary of Asian Christianity (Grand Rapids, 2001), p. 608
• Gustav Menzel, Ein Reiskorn auf der Strasse: Ludwig I. Nommensen, "Apostel der Batak", (1984)
• I.L. Nommensen. Endgültiger Bericht über den Krieg in Sumatra. BRMG (Berichte der Rheinischen Missions-Gesellschaft) 1878 (12): 361-381
• Werner Raupp, "Nommensen, Ludwig Ingwer". In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Band 6, Bautz, Herzberg 1993, ISBN 3-88309-044-1, Sp. 1002–1006.
• Stephen Neil, A History of Christian Missions, (London: Penguin, 1964).