Charles Cowman

Charles Elmer Cowman (March 13, 1868–September 25, 1924) was a missionary evangelist in Japan. He was also one of the cofounders of the Oriental Missionary Society (now One Mission Society; formerly OMS International).

Charles Cowman was born on March 13, 1868, in Toulon, Illinois, to David and Mary Cowman. He grew up in the Methodist Episcopal Church.

At age 15, he was offered and accepted a summer job as a telegraph operator at a local railway station. Excelling at this new job, he chose not to return to school the following fall and continued with his new profession. He received a number of promotions over the following years. At 18, he was transferred to a station in Chicago, and by the time he was 19, he earned a salary comparable to employees who had been working there for many years. On June 8, 1889, at 21 years old, he married childhood friend, Lettie Burd. During their first year of marriage, they moved to the Rocky Mountains in order to escape city life. When the high altitude caused Lettie to become very sick though, they returned to Chicago for the next 10 years.

Upon their return to Chicago, Charles continued his work at the telegraph office. His attitude had changed though since the last time he was there. After a strong conviction, Charles recommitted his life to God. “He made it the first thing in his life to be a Christian, feeling he must concentrate all his energy upon it” (Page 19). One way in which he did this was by forming the “Telegraphers’ Mission Band” in Chicago with coworkers who had become Christians because of him. One member was Ernest A. Kilbourne, who would later become a cofounder of the Oriental Missionary Society. The Telegraphers’ Mission Band sent letters explaining the Gospel to telegraphers all over the United States, Great Britain and Australia.

In the late 1890s, Cowman met and befriended Juji Nakada at his church, Grace Methodist Episcopal Church. Nakada had come from Japan to study at Moody’s Bible Institute. He, too, would later become a cofounder of the Oriental Missionary Society. Upon Nakada’s return to Japan, the Telegraphers’ Mission Band began financially supporting him as a missionary, thus continuing the connection they had made with him while he was in the states.

After feeling a deep call on their hearts, Charles and Lettie left America on February 1, 1901, to serve as missionaries in Japan. They worked alongside Nakada, with the dream of starting a Bible training institute. “The aim of the institute would not be to produce classical scholars, but young men and women who could handle their mother tongue with effect, who were steeped in the Bible and who could so proclaim it as to arrest and influence all classes of people” (page 52). Within a few months of being in Japan, that dream became a reality when they were able to open a mission hall where Nakada could preach the Gospel message and train leaders. The hall held Bible classes in the daytime and was the venue for evangelistic services in the evening. This was the beginning of the Oriental Missionary Society. In 1902, Ernest Kilbourne joined Cowman and Nakada to assist in their growing ministry.

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