Asna, Rufus (1884-1960)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1960 May 19 p. 7

Birth date: 1884

text of obituary:

Long-Time Native Leader Dies on India Field

RUFUS ASNA WAS FIRST INDIAN TO BE ORDAINED AS ELDER

Newton, Kan. — Rufus Asna, for many years an evangelist in the Mennonite Mission in Madhya Pradesh, India, died April 30 at the age of 76.

Coming from a home in which the father was a pastor of the German Lutheran Church, Asna was encouraged to join the Mennonite Mission in response to a request for an evangelist. He was the first Indian to be ordained an elder, and he served the Janjgir church for many years.

Ten years after his arrival in Janjgir, his wife died, leaving four small children. The youngest child, Nellie, was adopted by Missionaries P. W. Penner and is at present spending a year with Mrs. Penner in Hillsboro, Kansas. Asna's second wife died after only eight months of marriage. He married a third time and four more children were added to the home.

Ones son of Asna's is the pastor of the Bethesda Leprosarium church at Champa. Another son is a medical doctor. One daughter is a nurse. Nellie is a teacher.