Today’s Leader of Faith
VOLBRECHT NAGEL
Home Call : 12 May 1921
Missionary to India, Evangelist, Hymn-Writer, Author, Founder of Rehoboth Orphanage, Bible Teacher
Volbrecht Nagel (1867–1921) was a German missionary who profoundly influenced the Christian community in Kerala, India, through his pioneering work among the Brethren assemblies and his contributions to Malayalam hymnody. He was born on 3 November 1867 in Stammheim, Germany. He grew up in a religious family, but lost his parents, Peter and Elisabeth, when he was eight years old. At the age of 18, he experienced a spiritual awakening, and have been born again after hearing the gospel from a cobbler turned itinerant preacher. This experience led him to pursue a calling as a missionary. In 1886, he moved to Basel, Switzerland, to join the Basel Mission Training Institute, where he studied until his graduation in 1892. He was ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Mission in 1893, marking the start of his missionary journey.
Nagel came to Cannanore on the Malabar Coast in December 1893 as a Lutheran Reverend. He took charge of the Basel Mission center in Vaniankulam, but soon found that the administrative duties, such as running schools and small-scale industries, interfered with his goal of independent ministry. In 1896, he left the Lutheran Church and Vaniankulam, heading south with no specific destination. During his journey, he encountered a prayer center in Kunnamkulam and met Paramel Itoop, a new believer. He decided to settle in Kunnamkulam, a region historically significant for Christianity in India. To integrate with the local community, Nagel learned Malayalam, and his fluency in the language helped him become an accepted member of the community. He established Rehoboth Orphanage at Nellikunnu, serving orphans and widows. On April 1, 1897, he married Harriet Mitchell, an Anglo-Indian teacher in Kunnamkulam. In Kunnamkulam, Nagel contributed to the faith of many, including a Syrian priest named Mammen. Shortly after their marriage, Nagel and Harriet travelled to the Nilgiris, where they met the English Open Brethren Missionary Handley Bird. In June, Nagel was baptized by immersion by Bird at Coimbatore. In 1906, he established Rehoboth, an orphanage and home for widows in Nellikunnu near Thrissur, which continues its service today. Nagel authored several works, including Christian Baptism (1898), where he highlighted the biblical understanding of baptism, emphasizing that immersion in water is essential to testify to one’s faith. He also wrote numerous hymns in Malayalam, which continue to be widely sung across Christian denominations in Kerala. He was often called as Father of Malayalam Christian Devotional Music by the Kerala Christian community due to his foundational role in shaping Malayalam worship songs.
Nagel returned to Germany in 1914 with the intent to send his older children to England for education and to return to India after six months. However, World War I prevented his return, and as a German national, he was unable to enter British-controlled Malabar. He moved to Switzerland, while Harriet and three of their children stayed in Malabar, with the older two children in England. Nagel’s longing for India was evident in a letter to the assembly fellowship in Paravur in 1917, in which he wrote, “My sweetest treasures are in India. My heart belongs there.” Unfortunately, his desire to return was unfulfilled, and he became bedridden after suffering from palsy. Nagel died on May 12, 1921, after suffering a stroke while teaching at Wiedenest Bible School in Switzerland. Harriet was able to reach him in Germany and care for him during his final days. Nagel’s death marked the end of a dedicated life of missionary work in India, and he was buried in Switzerland.
— John Michael, Rajahmundry