Volbrecht Nagel was born on 3
November 1867 in Florstadt-Stammheim (belonging to the
German federal state of Hesse). He grew up in a
religious family, but lost his parents at a young age. At the age of 18, Nagel
claimed to have been born again after hearing the
gospel from a cobbler turned itinerant preacher. With a desire
to be a missionary, he moved to Basel, Switzerland, joined the Basel Mission Training
Institute in 1886 and graduated in 1892. He was ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Mission in 1893.
Nagel came to Cannanore on the Malabar Coast as a
Reverend in December 1893. He became the head of the Basel Mission center in
Vaniankulam. The burden of running the schools and the small-scale industries
of the Basel Mission in Vaniankulam became a stumbling block in his goal of
independent ministry. In 1896, he left the Lutheran Church and Vaniankulam and
went south without an aim. On his trip, he saw a prayer center in Kunnamkulam and met Paramel Itoop, a new believer. He
decided to start his work at Kunnamkulam, an ancient bastion of Christianity in
India.
To be part of the local
community, he learned Malayalam. The community
in Kunnamkulam received him as one of their own, as he wrote and spoke in
Malayalam. In April 1897, he married Harriet Mitchell, an Anglo-Indian who was a teacher at Kunnamkulam. They
had five sons and two daughters. One son and one daughter died in early
childhood. Harriet Nagel died on 27 January 1935.
A few months after their
marriage, they went to the Nilgiris and met
the English Open Brethren Missionary Handley Bird. The following
June, Nagel was baptized by immersion by Bird at Coimbatore. In 1906, he
started an orphanage and a home for widows at Nellikunnu near Thrissur City named Rehoboth, which still stands today.
In 1914, Nagel traveled back to
his native Germany. His plan was to send his older children to England for education and return to India in six
months, but the beginning of World War I prevented
his return. As a national of the German Empire, he could
not enter British-administered Malabar, so he moved to Switzerland. Harriet and three children were back in
Malabar Coast, while the two older children were in England. The letter he sent
to the assembly fellowship in Paravur in 1917
reflects the hunger in his heart for souls in Malabar. That letter contained
the following words: “My sweetest
treasures are in India. My heart belongs there". But his desire
was not fulfilled. He suffered from palsy and became
bedridden. While teaching at Wiedenest Bible
School, Nagel had a stroke and died on 12 May 1921 and was buried there.
Harriet had been able to reach Germany and take care of him.
Writings
In 1898, Nagel wrote a book
called Christian Baptism. He wrote
many songs and hymns in Malayalam that are
sung even today by all Christian denominations. Nagel is regarded with great
esteem by the Malayalee Christian community for
all his work in bringing the Gospel to Kerala.
Malayalam
hymns
Nagel's mother tongue was German. He became fluent in Malayalam and composed hymns in
that language, which are still used in church services.
A few of the hymns in Malayalam
and their translations in English are given
below:
·
Snehathin Idayanam Yesuway; Wazhium
sathyaum nee mathremay (Jesus,
the loving shepherd, you are the only way and the truth)
·
Ninnodu Praarthyppan Priya Pithaway (Our dear father, we are coming for
prayer) – Prayer song
·
Jayam jayam Kollum Naam, Jayam Kollum Naam (Victorious, victorious, we will be
victorious) – Victory song
·
Deivathinte æka putren paapikale
rakshippan (God's
only son died on the cross to save the sinners) – Christ's passion and death
·
Maranam jayicha veera (Hero that won over death) –
Resurrection
·
Yesu varum vegathil – Aswaasamay (Jesus will be coming soon) – Second
Coming
·
Ente Jeevanam Yesuway (Jesus, my life) – Comfort
·
En Yesu En Sangeetham (My song shall be of Jesus)
· Samayamam rathathil njaan swargayatra
cheyyunu (I am
traveling towards heaven on the chariot of time) – included by music director G. Devarajan in the 1970 movie Aranazhika Neram;
since the time it was sung during Sathyan's funeral in
June 1971 it has become the most popular song at funerals.
Nagel's
translations include:
·
Papakadam theerkuvan (What can wash away my sins, by Robert Lowry)
·
Yeshu enn swanatham, Hallelujah (Blessed Assurance, by Fanny Crosby)
· Yeshuvin thirupadathil irunnu kelka naam (Sing them over again to me, by Philip Bliss)
· Kristhuvinte daanam ethra maduram (Like a river glorious, by Frances Ridley Havergal)
·
Yeshuvil en thozhane kande (I have found a friend in Jesus, by
Charles William Fry
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