While on vacation in California last month, I decided to read a biography on David Livingstone, missionary to and explorer of inland Africa. David’s attitude of praise to God throughout his life and his adventuresome spirit were especially inspiring to me. I appreciated reading about his humble attitude, too. He explored and discovered much about Africa, yet he did not superciliously boast of his great accomplishments. God used this man in a powerful way to impact countless people throughout ten modern-day African countries.
Toward the end of his life, Livingstone told Henry Stanley, “I feel sometimes as if I am only the first evangelist to attack central Africa, ‘crying in the wilderness,’ and that other evangelists will shortly follow. And after those, there will come a thousand evangelists. My way is very dark and dreary, but the promise in Psalm 37 is: Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. I may fall by the wayside, being unworthy to see the dawn…The dawn will come…The whole earth will be covered with the knowledge of the Lord.” Praise the Lord for the many missionaries and evangelists who have followed in Livingstone’s footsteps! Millions of lives in Africa have been impacted as a result of his prayer, faith, courage, and persistence!
Almost every day I become more thrilled at the thought of going somewhere in Africa to meet physical needs and proclaim the awesome message of God’s love. This often makes living here and now difficult to bear, but I trust God’s timing and wisdom. There are still numerous opportunities each day to share about my Redeemer. I am grateful for the position God has placed me in at this moment–I have an amazing job where I get to learn more about engineering and I get to work with great people!
But as I wait and learn and trust, my prayer is that I would be willing to sacrifice “everything–home, Christian intercourse, lucrative prospects, and earthly honors–for one grand object, to carry the gospel of the Son of God to the heart of Africa” (as Robert Moffat said of Livingstone).
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