DAVID LIVINGSTONE

DAVID LIVINGSTONE

Explorer Missionary to Africa

David Livingstone was born on March 19, 1813, on an island off the coast of Scotland. He grew up in a Christian home where his father was a tea merchant.

After studying medicine at Glasgow University in 1840, Livingstone went to South Africa under the London Missionary Society. What he saw there troubled him. The mission stations seemed more interested in creating comfortable British outposts than in reaching the people of the interior. Some of the missionaries were even racist. They thought that the Africans were best suited for servants or field hands. He, however, believed that African converts—once trained—made better missionaries to their own people than the English did.

Livingstone quickly mastered several African languages and learned the customs of the people. Shortly after he married Mary Moffat in 1844, the Livingstones set out to establish a new mission station on the frontier. From there he planned to travel deep into Africa where the people had never heard the Gospel before.

But before long he realized that he wasn’t an evangelist. God had called him to explore the country and open new areas for other missionaries to follow. This he did in three dramatic expeditions.

Livingstone died on April 30, 1873. Chuma and Susi, two of his faithful converts, carefully wrapped and embalmed his body and carried it to the coast. Chuma then went with the body to England where Livingstone was buried with great honor. Chuma met with the Queen and toured the country telling others about the expeditions of Livingstone.