Reverend Aaron the first indigenous Pastor ordained by the Lutheran mission at Tranquebar died at Cuddalore, Tamilnadu, India on June 14, 1745.
The Trade Treaty of Tranquebar, signed in 1620 by Rakunāta Nāyakkar (1600–1634), the ruler of the Kingdom of Tanjore (Tañcāvūr), and Ove Giedde (1594–1660), an admiral of a Danish ship that had stranded near Tranquebar, stipulated that the European inhabitants of Tranquebar had the freedom to practice their ‘Religion of Augsburg,’ namely Lutheranism. Rakunāta Nāyakkar required the Danes to maintain harmonious relationship with the Portuguese inhabitants in his domain.
In spite of this agreement, the Danes in Tranquebar did not build a separate building for worship for 80 years. Only in 1701 they dedicated the Zion Church for worship services in Danish and German. Their colonial interest lay in trade with Indians and not in any religious concerns. Their Indian partners and employees were ill disposed towards Christians. The Danes ensured that their Indian traders, soldiers, spies, tax collectors, and other service providers remained satisfied; hence, they refrained from any overt missionary activity.
The year 1704, however, marked a turning point. King Friedrich IV (167 –1730) charged his court chaplain Franz Julius Lütkens (1650–1712) to find appropriate missionary candidates. The Danes did not listen to Lütkens’ invitation. Therefore, he looked to his Pietist friends Joachim Lange (1670–1744) and others in Berlin, Germany, who in turn persuaded Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg (1682–1719) and Heinrich Plütschau (1677–1752) to travel to Copenhagen.
King Friedrich IV issued the call for missionary work and ordered his Bishop Henrik Bornemann (1693–1710) to ordain these two Germans as missionaries. Consequently, they sailed from Copenhagen in November 1705 and reached Tranquebar on 9 July 1706. There they laid a firm foundation for the emergence of a Tamil Lutheran congregation. Their report on Tamil people, language, culture, religion, and converts, published in Berlin in 1708 attracted much attention in Germany. Its English translation (1709) appealed to few influential Anglicans in London, England.
Arumugam Pillai was born in 1698 into a Hindu Vellala high caste wealthy family in Cuddalore in the South India state of Tamil Nadu. He was originally named Arumugam Pillai by his father Chokkanatha Pillai a merchant. His father traded with the East India Company, but suffered a great loss and moved his family to Arasapuram.
When the Tranquebar Lutheran Mission - the first Protestant mission in India - established a school in front of his house Arumugam was one of the first students at the school to learn from Tamil books printed by the Mission.
A teacher named Savarimuthu introduced the teachings of Jesus Christ to Arumugam when he was 19 years old. In 1718 he travelled to Tranquebar where he was baptised and Christened as 'Aaron' by Bartholomaeus Ziegenbaig a pioneer of Protestant missionary in India.
(The German Missionary, Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg (1683-1719) who arrived in India in 1706 , had deep respect for the Tamil people, their culture, and their traditions left an enduring impact upon south India and had far-reaching influence.
By the time William Carey, the celebrated English Baptist missionary often called the Father of the Modern Missionary Movement," arrived in Calcutta in 1793, evangelical Christianity in India was nearly a century old. Almost every missionary method that he later developed had already been tried—by a Pietist Lutheran in Tranquebar.)
The new young believer Aaron stood steadfast in his faith despite the opposition shown by his family members. He studied Bible in Tamil Theological School and soon was appointed as an assistant catechist at New Jerusalem Church in Tranquebar.
Aaron had a deep burden for his people and used to travel long distances to preach the gospel. He visited and proclaimed the gospel in Poralyar, Sirkali, and Sandirpadi in Tamil Nadu.
Impressed by his zeal for ministry, the German Lutheran Missionaries ordained him as a minister on 28 December, 1733. He became the first non-European to be ordained as a pastor. Aaron had four daughters and one of them married Devasahayam Pillai and their daughter married John Devasahayam who was ordained in 1896 as the first Indian Anglican priest.
Aaron was a man with good communication skills. His inter-personal relationships enabled him to provide spiritual comfort to the locals and ministerial insights to the Europeans. He became the main link between the Tamil people and European missionaries.
He stood out as a man of great courage, integrity and wisdom. He didnt shy away from conflicts but faced them boldly and solved them at ease. He reasoned with local people and made efforts to end the abusive and evil social practices.
Though his ministry was not of long duration, he earned the respect and love of both the Hindus and Christians in the regions he served. He had labored for eleven years, even after his health failed, winning hundreds to Christ. He died on June 14, 1745.
During his short lived ministry he built a strong reputation as a man of courage and integrity. He was mourned by both Hindus and Christians.
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=dbq6fkyp698C&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54&dq=aaron+the+first+Protestant+preacher+in+india&source=bl&ots=jVeL1Nf1Sb&sig=ACfU3U1EyDxtT_N1oQHx8FLw0TKiUvMtzA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjGzLnLj5XxAhUGT30KHcXfA0UQ6AEwGnoECCYQAg#v=onepage&q=aaron%20the%20first%20Protestant%20preacher%20in%20india&f=false
https://onewaytheonlyway.com/aaron-arumugam-pillai/
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.lutheranworld.org/sites/default/files/freed_by-aaron_0.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjGzLnLj5XxAhUGT30KHcXfA0UQFjADegQIDBAC&usg=AOvVaw19VQIjfDYbZu19LsU3MgvS&cshid=1623610808162
