This collections consists of the papers of J. Christy Wilson Jr., documenting his life from young adulthood to his retirement from the faculty of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (GCTS) in 1992. They contain a good deal of material on his family life. Most of the documents in the collection relate to his lifelong commitment to Christian work in Afghanistan. There is also material about his leadership in the so-called tentmaking movement, his work as a professor of missions at GCTS, and his involvement in other evangelistic and mission activities. The files are in the order that he maintained them when they were received by the Archives. Most of the folder titles were taken from the original folders. The loose notebooks and diaries were put into folders and labeled accordingly. The large mass of documents about the Kabul Community Christian Church and the International Assistance Mission were divided by the archivist by year, as was Wilson's personal correspondence.

Series: I. Personal

Arrangement: Alphabetical by folder title

Date Range: 1926-1992

Volume: 2.05 cubic feet

Boxes: 1-5

Geographic coverage: Afghanistan, Canada, India, Iran, Japan, United States

Type of documents: Letters, diaries, appointment books, notebooks, lecture notes, clippings, a marriage book

Correspondents: Almost all the correspondence is to Wilson's parents, Fern Wilson and J. Christy Wilson, Sr., but there a scattered few general prayer letters to supporters and a few to or from other individuals such as Fred Winant (folder 1-18) and Rex and Jean Blumhagen (folder 1 21)

Subjects: Lawrenceville Academy; British Christianity; InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and the start of the Student Missionary Conventions; Christian work in Afghanistan; American relations with Afghanistan; the evangelism congresses of the 1960s and 70s, including Berlin (1966), Singapore (1968), Lausanne (1974) the teaching of missions; Gordon-Conwell Seminary Notes: This series consists mainly of the correspondence of J. Christy, Jr, and Betty Wilson to his parents, his various notebooks and diaries and a few odds and ends. The correspondence contains a great emphasis on family activities, but there are also many descriptions of both of the Wilsons' educational activities, his work as pastor of the Kabul Community Christian Church (KCCC - usually called in the early years the Community Christian Church of Kabul), executive director of International Afghan Mission (later known as International Assistance Mission), and his involvement in a variety of evangelistic and mission activities and organizations, such as World Vision. There are frequent references to the American ambassador to the country and American policy in Afghanistan, as well as other Americans living there, such as the Cudneys and the Blumhagens. There is also some discussion of current political and social events, especially in the Middle East. Someone, probably after 1974, went through the correspondence and made a chronological list of quotes which show the major activities of J. Christy and Betty Wilson. This listing is broken up between the different years, as it was when the Archives received the material. The listing for each year is the first item in each folder. (For additional family correspondence, see folder 13-15 which has letters to his son and folder 13-16 which has letters to his mother.) The diaries are usually a hodgepodge of different things and often not easy to decipher. A single book, for example, may contain traditional brief daily entries, prayer requests, notes on a variety of subjects, brief meditations on Bible verses, outlines of sermons, and addresses. The later books are mainly appointment books, but they contain the same variety of different type of often cryptic entries.

Exceptional items:

Folder 1-2 has letters between Christy and his father about his life at Lawrenceville (folder 5-1 one has some issues of the school newspaper)

Folder 1-4 contains reports by Wilson about his travels around the country on behalf of IVCF and the plans for the first student mission convention in Toronto

Folder 1-5 contains letters and postcards from 1948 from Wilson describing his studies at the University of Edinburgh and Cambridge University and his travels around the country on behalf of InterVarsity Fellowship, participating in evangelistic missions in Scotland, England and Wales. There are also brief mentions of Youth for Christ rallies he attended.

Folder 1-6 through 2-7 contain mostly family letters, describing in detail both life in Afghanistan and Wilson's ministry there

Folder 1-13 has a prospectus for the American Christian School of Kabul

Folder 1-14 has a brief description of President Eisenhower's visit to Afghanistan in December 1959

Folder 1-15 Several letters describe Wilson's visit to Kandahar

Folder 1-16 contains a copy of the Kabul Community Christian Church Review, with information about activities by the church and members; also letters about Wilson's trip to India to attend the World Council of Church's Third assembly and to meet with Bakht Singh

Folder 1-17 contains letters describing Wilson's visit to Japan for Keswick conferences and to Korea to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Presbyterianism there

Folder 1-20 contains reports on Wilson's visits to India and Nepal and the formation of the IAM

Folder 1-21 contains a report on Wilson's attendance at the 1966 World Congress on Evangelism in Berlin, Germany

Folder 2-2 contains reports on Wilson's attendance at the 1968 Asia-South Pacific Congress on Evangelism in Singapore (see also folder 7-20) and reports on his attendance at Keswick conferences in Japan

Folder 2-3 includes description of a visit to Kabul by a Youth For Christ Teen Team

Folder 2-5 through 2-7 contain fairly detailed comments in letters about the approval to build the church in Kabul, its construction, the Wilsons' other activities in the city, the order for the destruction of the church in 1973 and the Wilsons' expulsion. Folder 2-7 contains a very long thin sheet of paper with written good-byes from the Wilsons' friends in Kabul.

Folder 2-7 and 2-8 also contain letters describing the Wilsons' life in Tehran.

Folder 2-11 contains a notebook in the back of which is a spiritual autobiography written by Wilson in 1950

Folder 5-1 contains a miscellany of material, including a newspaper from Lawrenceville school, the Wilsons' marriage book and the text of sermon given by Frank S. Niles at Wilson's ordination service

Folder 5-2 contains what are apparently his notes of lectures he heard by A. J. Stewart, F. F. Bruce, and John Baillie

Folder 5-3 contains an incomplete draft of the obituary he wrote for his father in 1974. His letter on his mother's death in 1987 is in folder 8-15.

Series: II. Afghanistan

Arrangement: Alphabetical by significant word in folder title

Date Range: 1915-1991, most material between 1951 and 1973

Volume: 2.65 cubic feet

Boxes: 5-10

Geographic coverage: Afghanistan, the United States, Pakistan

Type of documents: Letters, reports, clippings, drafts of articles, minutes, budgets, prayer booklets, church programs, newsletters

Correspondents: Rex and Jean Blumhagen, Jim Cameron, Dennis E. Clark, Flora Davidson, Elbert Hadley, Margaret Haines, Mark Hatfield (folder 9-2), C. Littleton Groom, Samuel Kamaleson, Gordon Madgney, William M. Miller (folder 9-2), Hans Mohr, W. Stanley Mooneyham (folder 9-1), Richard Penner, Bob Pierce (folder 7-16), Helen Perry, Cleo Shook, Diane Smith, Richard Soderberg, John Strachan, George Verwer, J. Christy Wilson. Sr.

Subjects: Christian evangelistic, education and aid work in Afghanistan; the Kabul Community Christian Church; IAM; the political and social conditions in the country, mainly from the 1950s to the 1970s, but there is a great deal about before and after as well including the Russian invasion in 1979 and the aftermath; Afghan refugees; outreach to Dari-speaking people Notes: The materials in this series document both J. Christy Wilson's own work in Afghanistan from 1951 through 1973, but also his continuing interesting and involvement in activities there and his interest in the history of Christian missions in the region. Betty Wilson's work as a teacher and as a facilitator of ministry to the blind is also told in these materials. The bulk of the files are concerned with the interconnected activities of both the Kabul Community Christian Church (especially the destruction of the church building by government order in 1973 and the expulsion of the Wilsons) and the International Assistance Mission from the founding of each into the 1990s. There is also some information about various other Christian outreaches to the area and on the Russian-Afghan war of 1979-1989 and aid for its refugees.

Exceptional items:

Folder 5-6 contains a handwritten manuscript, probably by Wilson, about Christian work in Afghanistan up to about 1967

Folder 5-7 contains materials telling the story of Ahlman Academy (see also folder 1-13)

Folder 5-9 contains various documents about the start of the work to provide a school to teach blind Afghans Braille and vocational skills

Folder 5-11 contains a report from Dennis Clark on his efforts to start a Christian work in Afghanistan in the mid-1940s, as well as letters from other Christians about their activities

Folder 5-13 contain materials about Christian literature and radio broadcasts in the Dari language and World Vision's work among Afghan refugees (see also folders 13-4 and 13-17)

Folder 5-14 contains letters and other materials of Flora Davidson, a missionary who worked on the India (later Pakistan)-Afghan border. Folders 5-15 through 6-2 contain thirty years of prayer booklets (first called The Afghan Prayer Circle, later Missions on the Borders of Afghanistan) put out monthly by Flora Davidson, Margaret Haines, Maria Rasmussen and others about Christian mission work near the Afghan border. Wilson collected these because of his own interest in Afghanistan. Margaret Haines letters for the Prayer Fellowship for Afghanistan are in folder 6-6 (she was later a trustee of the KCCC).

Folder 6-3 contains a small booklet put out by the pro-Russian government of Afghanistan, giving its version of the conflict with the Afghan rebels

Folder 6-5 contains a 1937 of Samuel Zwemer's group, Fellowship of Faith for Moslems

Folder 6-6 through 7-7 contain a very complete set of minutes, along with other documents such as reports, for IAM, describing the organizations activities over several decades

Folder 7-6 contains Wilson's notes for the Easter sermon he preached at the KCCC in 1991 and other material from the trip. See also folder 10-7 and the videos in this collection.

Folder 7-7 contains a document from the IAM files, the 1927 report of the Afghan Medical Mission in Peshawar, founded by the Church Missionary Society

Folders 7-8 and 10-1 contain two booklets that Wilson produced during his time in Kabul, one an introduction to colloquial Kabul Persian, the other a collection of Afghan proverbs

Folders 7-10 through 9-4 are Wilson's files relating to the Kabul Community Christian Church, which he helped found and led as pastor for many years. The items in folder 7-10 actually predate the church and relate to the move of the Wilsons to Kabul in 1951. The other folders contain church programs, incorporation records, newsletters, correspondence from church members and supporters. There is information about various evangelistic and humanitarian projects that the church supported, as well as descriptions of its congregational life. A description of the relationship between the New Jersey board of trustees and the church in Kabul can be found in folder 7-21.

Folder 7-12 contains the New Jersey incorporation certificate for the KCCC.

Folder 7-22 contains correspondence of young people with Youth with a Mission to Afghanistan; it also has plans for the church building that was to be built.

Folders 8-1, 8-21, 9-1 and 9-2 contain material (letters, newspaper reports, etc.) about the destruction of the KCCC building and the Wilson's expulsion from Afghanistan

Folder 8-3 contain minutes of the board of trustees of KCCC, as do many of the following folders

Folder 8-5 contains an update on the work with blind by NOOR in Afghanistan

Folder 8-8 contains reports on relief work among Afghan refugees affected by the Russian invasion

Folders 8-11 to 8-18 contain the letters that Wilson regularly wrote to APraying Friends,@ informing them about the activities of the KCCC

Folders 8-13 and 8-14 contain correspondence about the efforts of the KCCC to receive reparations for the destruction of the church building in 1973. See also folder 9-2.

Folder 8-20 contains various miscellaneous items relating to the KCCC, including an early version of its constitution

Folders 9-3 and 9-4 contain notebooks with minutes of meetings of the board of the KCCC and informal records about its activities

Folder 9-5 contains documents about attempts by the American ambassador Sheldon T. Mills to prevent the distribution of a shipment of Scriptures to the KCCC Folder 9-7 contains notebooks with attendance records and other information about the course in English that Wilson taught for the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The notebooks also appear to have some KCCC board agendas and miscellaneous notes and reports.

Folder 9-8 contains a notebook from Wilson's attendance at several Japanese Keswick conferences in 1968. Some notes seem to be for addresses that Wilson gave, others are notes he took of what others said. There is also a typed report on the conferences. There is also a slightly later letter that was in the notebook, signing over the rest of his life to the Holy Spirit of God.

Folder 9-9 contains what appears to be a notebook on lectures gave by Dr. Kenneth Cragg on the relationship of Islam to Christianity. The folder also has a mimeographed list of questions for Cragg, which may or may not be by Wilson.

Folders 10-2 through 10-5 contain almost forty years of prayer letters for Christian work in Afghanistan. These are unsigned, but are by the Wilsons. They describe month-by-month recent events and the needs of all sorts of people and ministries with which the Wilsons were in contact.

Folder 10-6 contains correspondence, reports and other documents related to Richard Soderberg's founding of the Afghan Institute of Technology

Folder 10-8 contains material about the disappearance of Peter Winant and Gunnel Gummeson between Kabul and Tehran sometime between May and June 1956. Wilson for several years made efforts on his own to find out what happened to them and remained in touch with both families. See also folders 1-10 and folder 1-11.

Series: III. Gordon-Conwell Seminary

Arrangement: Alphabetical by folder title

Date Range: 1972-1992

Volume: 1.2 cubic feet

Boxes: 11-13

Geographic coverage: United States, Afghanistan

Type of documents: Letters, memos, articles, reports

Correspondents: (only a sampling, not a complete list) Phill Butler of InterChristo (folder 13-2), Robert E. Cooley (folder 12-1), Edward R. Dayton (folder 13-10), Elisabeth Elliot (folder 12-7), Donald E. Hamilton of the Overseas Counseling Service (folder 13-12), Ian Hawley (folder 13 12), Ernest Heimbach (folder 13-2), Herbert L. Klem, Ray Kroc, Peter Kuzmic, John E. Kyle (folders 11-6 ,13-2, 13-11), Alton O. Leedahl (folder 13-2), Waldron Scott (folder 13-2), Ward W. Shope, Clazina Stam (her letter in folder 11-8 also has a report on the Star of Hope Mission), Frank E Soules, Ronald C. Smeenge and the International Fellowship of Christians, John S. Strachan, Richard W. Steubling and the Theological College of Central Africa in Zambia, Irving W. Sylvia, James Tebbe, C. Chappell Temple, John Thorpe Jr., Lowell Thomas, Kenell Touryan (folder 13-11), W. Cameron Townsend, Philip J. Truesdale, George Verwer, George Vijayam (folder 13-12), C. Peter Wagner, Wyeth Willard, Theodore Williams (folders 11-15 and 12-8), Tom Wills, Steve Wilson, Ralph Winter, Alice Winters, Richard G. Wolling, C. Stacey Woods, Luke Yeghnazar, Tetsunao Yamamori (folders 11-18 and 13-12)

Subjects: The teaching of Christian evangelism and missions, tentmaking (also known as self- supporting Christian witness), Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, the Lausanne movement. Christian witness to Muslims

Notes: The files in this series are from Wilson's years as a faculty member of GCTS. They relate mainly to responsibilities as a faculty member, his courses on evangelism and missions, his relations with and mentoring of his many students, his continuing interest in Afghanistan and his leadership in developing tentmaking as a form of Christian witness, especially through the programs offered on this topic during the congress held in the Philippines in 1989 and sponsored by the Lausanne Committee on World Evangelization, and Christian witness to Muslims.

Some of Wilson's wide-ranging interests are documented in his correspondence files in folders 11-6 through 11-19. The portions covering the letters A-J and M-R were not in the materials received by the Archives. His role as mentor and friend to present and past students is shown by his letters in 13-4 to 13-6, although the letters from the end of the alphabet are missing.

Exceptional items:

Folder 11-1 contain a statement by Wilson on the need for a great emphasis on evangelism in the master of divinity degree

Folder 11-3 contain articles and papers by Wilson on a variety of subjects, including Christian witness to Muslims, the situation in Afghanistan and Iran, the history of the Student Volunteer Movement, the biblical basis for missions, prayer, the 1990 InterVarsity Student Missionary Convention (Urbana), unreached peoples, history of the LCWE's Tentmaker Task Force

Folder 11-9 contains a draft of a letter to the Supreme Court protesting against ruling that forbid Bible reading and prayer in public schools

Folder 11-10 contains a letter from news commentator Lowell Thomas about his 88th birthday

Folder 12-1 contains information on the 1990 InterVarsity Student Missionary Convention (Urbana), Billy Graham Evangelistic Association telephone counseling, Wilson's nomination as Dean of Chapel at GCTS, his shaping of the missions program at the seminary

Folder 12-6 contains materials relating to his concerns that theological education at GCTS emphasize evangelism and develop the student's appreciation of the global nature of the Christian church, as do folders 11-1, 1202, 12-10, 12-12, 12-13, 13-7, 13-8, 13-9, among others

Folder 12-14 contains materials relating to Wilson's supervision of GCTS' Overseas Missions Practicum

Folder 12-15 contains materials illustrating Wilson's continuing affection for and involvement with Princeton University and Princeton Seminary

Folder 12-16 contains the text and slides for a program of appreciation for Wilson put on by the administration, faculty, staff and students of GCTS when he retired in 1992. A little after his retirement, his students compiled a manuscript of dozens of stories he used to tell from his experience and that of others about world missions. This can be found in folder 13-3.

Folders 13-1 and 13-2 contain information that Wilson gathered from many different sources, including mission boards, about Christians who were working as self-supporting ministries in countries closed to Christian witness. More material on the same topic, also referred to as "tentmaking" can be found in folders 13-10 through 13-13, which documents Wilson's writing of a book on tentmaking and the response, his leadership in forming an association of tentmakers, and his participation in the Lausanne Tentmaker Task Force that among other activities, held a consultation in the United States in 1988 and planned several sessions at the 1989 Lausanne II meeting in Manila, the Philippines   Series: IV. Audio Visual Materials

Arrangement: Chronological

Date Range: 1954-1998

Volume: .236 cubic feet

Geographic coverage: United States, Afghanistan, Iran, Switzerland

Type of documents: Audio tapes, films, videos - oral history interviews, sermons and speeches, home movies

Subjects: Wilson reflections on his life and ministry, World Vision, Joy Ridderhof and Gospel Recordings, the Kabul Community Christian Church, Christian living, Christian witness to Muslims, the book of II Timothy in the Bible.

Notes: This series consists of a disparate group of material put together by the archivist because of their format. There is a series of oral history interviews in which Wilson talks about his life up to 1951. There are audio tapes of services at the Kabul Community Christian Church and of sermons and Bible studies Wilson gave in the United States. And there are home movies and films of the Wilsons' life and work in Afghanistan and of the couple's visit to Afghanistan and Switzerland in 1991. Exceptional items: All items in this series are briefly described in the relevant location records.

The oral history interviews on tapes T1-T6 are described here in more detail. Rev. J. Christy Wilson, Jr., was interviewed by Robert Shuster on April 20, 1995 (at his home in Duarte, California), on July 23, 1996 (at the Billy Graham Center), and on April 25, 1998 (at his home in Duarte, California). The events described in the interview cover the time period ca. 1921 to ca. 1955.