Birth: 11-06-1811
Home Calling: 04-02-1896
Native Place : Mylor
Country: England
Place of Vision: Canada
Robert Terrill Rundle is known for his pioneer missionary work in Western Canada among the Cree and Nakoda tribes. Born in a lineage of preachers, Rundle had an obvious orientation towards the ministry. While he was pursuing his studies in Boscastle, he became very active in the affairs of the local Wesleyan Methodist Church. Eventually, he surrendered his life for full-time ministry in 1839. Soon, he found an opportunity to serve in Canada on behalf of Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC).
Rundle reached Edmonton in Canada in 1840. The situations there were a lot tougher than he anticipated. He had difficulty getting people to attend his services because many of the locals were Catholics. He was also shocked to see that many of them worked on Sundays. He felt that if God’s people don’t respect God’s commandment, how can he expect the gentiles to follow them. He had to face ridicule when he urged the local Christians to spend Sundays for the Glory of God. Unperturbed, Rundle continued to convince, rebuke, and exhort the people with all longsuffering.
Soon Rundle expanded his ministry beyond Edmonton and reached out to the Indigenous tribes. He rigorously traveled from one tribal settlement to the other preaching the Gospel. He taught them the Cree syllables devised by his coworker James Evans. He began to conduct services in their own language instead of English. He also translated the prayer book into the Cree language. The tribals grew so fond of him that often they didn’t let him go further on his missionary journey.
He often traveled on horseback on his missionary itineraries. During one of his journeys in 1847, Rundle seriously injured his arm falling from his horse. The arm did not heal properly, and in 1848, he left for England to seek medical attention. Although he wanted to come back to his beloved people in Canada he couldn’t do it. In England, he continued to serve the Lord till his home call in 1896
