During the 19th century when the Dutch crown received control over the area previously under the rule of the VOC, missionary activities were still not stimulated by the colonial authorities. The Netherlands Reformed Church was a government agency focused on serving the religious needs of the (already) Protestant subjects only. However, a small part of its members took an interest in propagating the Protestant faith and established churches and schools in the Dutch Indies. But the real large-scale incentives for indigenous conversion came from a number of newly arrived organizations from Europe in the second half of the 18th century and the 19th century. Institutions such as the Netherlands Missionary Society (Nederlandsch Zendeling Genootschap) and the Rhenish Missionary Society (Rheinische Missionsgesellschaft) from Germany were allowed to spread their message through the Dutch Indies. And as the Dutch state in Europe had begun to become secular, it could not prevent Catholic missions from activities in the Indies too. The separation of church and state meant that the latter took a neutral stance in religious matters, thus missionary activities were left to the private sector.