 Mission work among the Hakka people in Guangdong was initiated with the arrival of Theodore Hamberg and Rudolph Lechler of the Basel Mission in Hong Kong under the guidance of Karl Gützlaff on March 19, 1847.While missionary work was primarily done in the western part of Guangdong, the mission had its home base in Hong Kong.Christian services in the Hakka language began in Hong Kong on February 9, 1851 and the first baptism took place on April 13 of the same year.