Nathan Sites

Nathan Sites 125px Missionary to China Born November 6, 1830 Bellville, Richland County, Ohio, USA Died Foochow, China

Nathan Sites (Chinese: 薛承恩; Pinyin: Xuē Chéng'ēn; Foochow Romanized: Siék Sìng-ŏng; November 6, 1830 - February 10, 1895) was a 19th-century Methodist Episcopal missionary stationed at Foochow, China.

Life

Dr. Rev. Nathan Sites was graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University. In 1861, he reached Foochow with his wife Sarah Moore Sites to begin his oversea missionary work which would last until his death. Upon his arrival, Sites chose to live in a countryside hamlet among native villagers to experience the rural life of the Chinese. During his missionary life in China, Sites met with many obstacles: one day while carrying out the reconstruction work of the local church in Nanping, he was brutally beaten by an enraged mob, who left a deep scar on his face. Like other missionaries, Sites argued and labored for the creation of a strong and independent Chinese Church, and in this effort he ordained many of the earliest native Christian ministers like Sia Sek Ong.

Sites served in Foochow until his death in 1895. Sites' journals concerning his labor in China were compiled by his wife Sarah into Nathan Sites: An Epic of the East, which was published in 1912.