John Eliot was born in 1604, in Widford, Hertfordshire, England, and was educated at the University of Cambridge. He sailed to the New World in 1631, to be an assistant in First Church, Boston.
In 1628 in its charter, the Massachusetts Bay Colony had written one of its objectives was "to win the natives of the country to the knowledge and obedience of the only true God and Saviour of mankind." On the colony's seal was a picture of an Indian and the words of St. Paul, "Come over and help us." (Acts 16:9)
John Eliot became the pastor in 1632, of the Roxbury, MA, church, where he served for the next 58 years. However, while Eliot ministered to his congregation, he wondered how he could witness to the Native Americans, then known as Indians.
The Puritans had not attempted evangelism until after a war between the Narragansett and the Pequot Indians. They'd been too busy surviving and establishing their settlements.
Eliot thought best way to reach the Indians was simply to tell them about repentance and faith and Jesus' love. So in 1646, Eliot gathered Indians in Nonantum (now Newton, MA) and preached to them, without an interpreter. To him, the outward change of clothing and behaviors were superficial. Eliot wanted to change the Indians' hearts.
So he learned the Algonquian language spoken by the Indians in New England and became known as the "Apostle to the Indians." He learned the language from the captured Indians in the war. He started by describing the glorious power, the goodness, and the love of God as seen in creation. With these, the Indians could identify. Many basic Indian beliefs were rooted in God's creations. Then Eliot presented the ten commandments, including the punishments for each holy law. He finished with the comforting words with God sending Jesus to die for their sins.
Eliot gathered the Indians into 16 different settlements, the first of which was Natacik, established in 1651. These villages became known as "praying towns." Living in one place went against the Indians' nomadic lifestyle where they moved from one area to another. The Indians learned professions and earned wages.
The converted Indians themselves became lawmakers for their villages. They configured punishments for poor habits such as idleness, wife beating, polygamy, and stealing.
John Eliot continued his work with the Indians through a Bible translation into the Indians' Algonquian language. It was first printed in 1663 in America. Eliot also wrote an Indian primer, a grammar book, and a psalter (psalms) for the Indians.
John Eliot lived to the old age of 85, dying in 1690.
"Unto Him that Loved Us"