EARLY HISTORY OF ORIENTAL WATCHMAN PUBLIHSING HOUSE

Publishing of the Adventist message in this part of the world started with a group of believers with a tremendous sense of mission, having their organization established as the International Tract Society. They owned no press but they prayed for one. The early missionaries to this land (the then East India Company) began publishing in May 1898 a monthly magazine by the name ‘Oriental Watchman’ without having their own printing facility. In January 1903 a certain important meeting of these believers took place to discuss the location of a printing press. Beginning with July 1903 every issue of the Oriental Watchman was then printed in this going concern of the pioneers. Thus by the grace of God, the publishing house was born to carry the gospel message, promote the principles of right living with the Adventist health message.

View from the present the ‘Watchman Press’ of 1903 may be a very little small beginning but the pioneers’ resolve to remove intemperance, ignorance and bring the gospel to lift the people was as strong as it has been always.  From June 1903 to March 1905 the Press continued to be operated at Calcutta with W W Quantock as its first manager.

In March 1905 it was moved to Karmatar to become an Industrial training centre. From 1909 to 1924 it operated in Lucknow as Karmatar lacked necessary transportation links. In 1924 the printing facility was shifted to in Pune with the name Oriental Watchman Publishing Association and then with its current name since 1930, the ‘Oriental Watchman Publishing House.’

Nalwazhi, presently the longest surviving Tamil monthly health magazine, first started in 1912 (was ‘Present Truth,’ renamed Nalwazhi in 1936) and the printing of this magazine was transferred to OWPH in 1928. In 1963 the OWPH was publishing in 18 languages.

OBJECTIVES

The main objective of Oriental Watchman Publishing House consists of educating the community within the scope of integral health and moral values – one that is based on Biblical principles.

In order to achieve this, we promote simple, useful and natural health-conductive methods and social and spiritual dimensions, with the sights set on Christian lifestyle.

In its effort to fulfil one of its main goals, that of translating its books for all language groups of India and distributing them as extensively as possible, Oriental Watchman Publishing House has been publishing and distributing its books in various languages for over a century.

MAJOR PUBLICATIONS

Herald of Health, Nalwazhi, Swasthya Aur Jeevan, Arogyadeep, BE·EN AN·SENGANINA,   Adventist World Digest, Tidings, Our Times, Spirit of Prophecy Books, Missionary Books, Church Hymnals, Devotional Books, Moral Text Books for Adventist Schools, Sabbath School Quarterlies, Vacation Bible School materials etc…

Herald of Health, Nalwazhi, Swasthya Aur Jeevan, Arogyadeep, BE·EN AN·SENGANINA,   Adventist World Digest, Tidings, Our Times, Spirit of Prophecy Books, Missionary Books, Church Hymnals, Devotional Books, Moral Text Books for Adventist Schools, Sabbath School Quarterlies, Vacation Bible School materials etc…

HISTORY OF ADVENTIST MEDIA MINISTRY

In 1848, Ellen White had a vision in the home of Otis Nichol in Dorchester, Massachusetts. When she came out of the vision, she said to her husband, James, “’I have a message for you. You must begin to print a little paper and send it out to the people. Let it be small at first; but as the people read, they will send you means with which to print, and it will be a success from the first. From this small beginning it was shown to me to be like streams of light that went clear round the world.’ ”

“ ‘Streams of light . . . clear around the world’ ”! How could that be? Jesus was coming soon. Their numbers were few. There were no wealthy members and no great scholars among them. The world was unbelieving. And yet, here was a young woman who predicted that a work of publishing to be started by her penniless husband would grow until it would encompass the globe. More than half a year went by before James White could make even the smallest beginning; he arranged for the printing of a thousand copies of an eight-page paper on borrowed money. Today, the church has 63 publishing houses that produce books and magazines in more than 360 languages. Oriental Watchman Publishing House is one of the best 5 Adventist Publishing Houses around the world.

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CAREERS

Oriental Watchman Publishing House is an institution of the Southern Asia Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

CONTACT US

Our Business Hours are : Mon – Thu, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Friday, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
Saturday Closed