Jagdeeshpur (Jagdeeshpore) Mission, a station and the hub of the General Conference Mennonite Christian work in the Phuljhar and Deori area of India. Jagdeeshpur is located south of the great Mahanadi River, about 60 miles (ca.100 km) south of Champa. E. B. Steiner and P. J. Wiens with their families visited this area off and on after 1916, and baptized a number of persons. In 1923 the Moyers were asked to go to this area and search out a plot for a mission station. A plot, 5.5 miles (ca. 9 km) north of Basna, near the little village of Jagdeeshpur, in a dense oriental semitropical jungle was chosen. Christians from all around this jungle plot came to help in clearing it and building the first buildings. Growth came with almost breath-taking speed. By the end of 1924 several buildings were finished. By the end of 1928 Dr. Dester had a com­plete hospital established. By the end of 1948 John Thiessen had a complete high school established with a 28-acre school farm, poultry establishment, dairy, carpentry shop, weaving shop, tailoring shop, print shop, etc. The Christian community increased from a few hundred to some three thousand in 1949, scattered in some 130 villages, all around Jagdeeshpur. Jagdeeshpur grew in a quarter of a century from an obscure village hidden in the jungles of India to one widely known and appreciated.

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 68. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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