The Moravian Slaves, a popular narrative about Christian Missions concerning Johann Leonhard Dober and David Nitschmann, describes how these two young Moravian Brethren from Herrnhut, Germany, were called in 1732 to minister to the African slaves on the islands of St. Thomas and St. Croix in the Danish West Indies.
Allegedly, when they were told that they would not be allowed to do such a thing, Dober and Nitschmann sold themselves to a slave owner and boarded a ship bound for the West Indies.
In fact, after being sent out by Count Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf, the two traveled from Herrnhut to Copenhagen, Denmark, where their plan initially met with strong opposition.
[6] By 1734 they had both returned to Germany, but other Moravian missionaries continued the work, establishing churches on St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. John's, Jamaica, Antigua, Barbados, and St. Kitts.
Dober remained in Europe, but Nitschmann traveled with John Wesley and helped to found the mission at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.