British Christians have been venturing to India with the intention of proselytising since the seventeenth century when the East India Company aimed to spread the message of the gospel in the settlements they had made. With India’s constantly increasing population, among them over 240 million Hindus, missionaries understood it to be their duty to convert as many people to Christianity as possible. It was not an easy endeavour, and at the beginning of the twentieth century there were only one million Christians within India. Many Christian missionaries dedicated themselves to missionary work and spent the majority of their lives abroad, spreading the word of the Gospel. Agatha Gay Hellier (1897-1980) was one of them.

Working as a missionary for over thirty years, painting and sketching along the way, this exhibition provides a commentary on the life of a female missionary in India through her works and highlights the importance of women in delivering the Church’s message. Her works allowed Methodists to see how God was using their ambassadors and partners around the world. By looking at her watercolours we can further understand the integration of western education into India’s religious heritage and education system, as well as the relationship and interaction between Christian missionaries and native Indian religions.

The Church of South India (CSI) was established on the 27 September, 1941 in order to unite its clusters of ministries across churches in South India. At the beginning of the twentieth century around 1 million of the 277 million people practising Hinduism and Islam were surrounded by Christian influence across India. By 1947, the year India gained independence, the CSI had converted nearly another 1 million members. Most of the CSI’s converts came from villages of famine and squalor, as parents saw the Church as a source of refuge for their children. Education and medical care were almost non-existent for the very poor. Being baptised meant their children could attend mission schools, where they were taught about the morals of the Church.

Most missionaries were under the direction of male church leaders, but male missionaries were discouraged from approaching Indian women about the Gospel or healthcare, leaving women to run hospitals and schools. This meant they had to be intellectual, moral, and sociable. Up until the 1960s, most of the women’s work was done on foot or by travelling on public transport, whereas men were provided with cars; just one insight into the gender issues surrounding missionary work. However, women’s missionary work glorified the image of motherhood: “I am here to save you. I am your mother,” said Amy Carmichael. The work done by Methodists such as Hellier and Carmichael was pertinent to the success of the Church in India.