Titus Coan

A large company of friends gathered at Boston Harbor on a blustery day in December 1834 to bid a tearful farewell to Fidelia and Titus Coan (1801-1881). They knelt for prayer and sang a final hymn together. The couple boarded the merchant ship Hellespont and set sail for the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii). They arrived six months later after a perilous journey to begin their missionary endeavors. Titus centered ministry on the island of Hilo, learned the language in three months and set off on a missionary tour on foot of the entire island. He resolved to meet all 16,000 people who lived there. He climbed volcanic mountains, forced raging streams, crossed dangerous ravines, and endured drenching rains. Yet he wrote in his journal, “I would not exchange my humble toil among them for the throne of England.” He kept careful notes of everyone he met, recorded their response to the gospel and followed up a year later to assess their progress. He also kept copious notes of active volcanoes. Coan, who came to faith during the Second Great Awakening, was now witnessing a revival that would last six years. One evening in the city of Hilo at a prayer service, when Coan was preaching on the prophet’s words, “Prepare the Way of the Lord,” a tidal wave swept away 100 homes and 13 people drowned. People realized their great need for God coming so close to death and turned to Christ. One Sunday in 1839, Coan took a bucket of water and baptized 1705 new believers. By the time he left the island in 1870 for a speaking tour of the U.S., 60 self-supporting churches had been planted. Coan wrote in 1831 the following prayer entry in his journal during his student days at Auburn Seminary: