David Livingstone: Africa's Trailblazer - Presented by Pr Gary Kent

it's hard to believe no one but local African natives had ever seen one of the world's greatest natural wonders one of its most spectacular waterfalls it took a very determined European explorer to break through a vast jungle to this place and it's even harder to believe that one man could end the worst crimes that was traumatizing an entire continent but what's most amazing is this the same gentleman did both it all happened in the middle of the 19th century here was a remarkable physician scientist Explorer reformer social catalyst and believe it or not a missionary you're about to meet the one man who laid down his life and saved a continent it has stood the test of time God's book the Bible still relevant in today's complex world it is written cheering hope around the globe in 1855 he was canoeing up the Zambezi River with an escort of African Makalu natives suddenly David Livingstone came upon columns of vapor rising up from the wide Zambezi they were white below and dark above simulating smoke yes this must be with the native called Massey or Tania or the smoke that thunders as they approached the spray grew so big it almost darkened the Sun above it they could hear thunder booming from kilometers away Livingstone managed to get to an island in the center of the river on the edge of all that spray shooting up this vast body of water seemed to just disappear peering down a large crevice in the rock he saw it Africa's fourth largest river was leaping down a hundred metres six hundred and twenty-five million litres of water was rushing over the edge every minute producing the biggest curtain of falling water in the world two bright rainbow stood above colorful vegetation spread below in his journal Livingstone the most famous explorer of the century described it this way no one can imagine the beauty of the view from anything witnessed in England it had never been seen before by European eyes but seen so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight it was the most wonderful sight I'd witnessed in Africa in honor of his queen Livingstone decided to name it Victoria Falls but there was something else the great Explorer had done on this historic voyage sometimes in arranging passage with area tribes he was able to put on a show he had a magic lantern which projected pictures from the Bible as Livingstone told the stories of Bible characters glowing against a tent backdrop seemed so real the Africans trembled maybe these were spirits capable of slipping into their hearts but the Africans wanted him to repeat this Bible presentation especially the story of Jesus it was a story hard to forget yes Livingstone introduced Jesus Christ into the heart of Africa how does a man become such a great Explorer and a great missionary well David Livingston's life began in a small workman Scottish set among the Atlantic Shearer cotton mills in the Scottish Highlands he was able to learn to read and write in school but his parents were so poor he had to start working in one of the mills at the age of ten this boy showed up at the factory at 6:00 in the morning and stayed until 8:00 at night those fourteen hours of hard labour could have broken his spirit and ruined his health as it did many children of that era David however was bent on getting knowledge one way or another David's father had several books on mission work in China and India after reading those he grew more and more Restless spinning cotton all day somehow the struggles of the impoverished in those countries seemed far more compelling or troubling one evening David got a clearer picture of where he should go he was watching the colorful light of the Setting Sun creep over the hills of Scotland and then fade into dark afresh began chopping under the stars overhead it all seemed so peaceful and beautiful but that somehow made him sadder than ever this was such a lovely world how could human beings go on fighting each other exploiting each other bullying each other from age to age and then David remembered another scene a scene from the Bible it was another still sunset hour and Jesus of Nazareth wandered into an olive grove and there he wept intensely over the troubles of humanity this was Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane about to take on all those troubles on the cross David was impressed by the example of Jesus by his kindness by his compassion for those in need David took to heart Christ's golden rule that we should treat other people as we would like to be treated ourselves here it is in Matthew the 7th chapter and verse 12 therefore whatever you want men to do to you do also to them suddenly an idea crystallized in David's mind imitating this Christ was the key to a good life that's what mattered that's what would make a difference this Jesus had turned the world around and promised that his followers could make a big impact as well David wanted to be like Jesus he wanted to make a difference he wanted to help the poor and needy he wanted to share the good news about Jesus so he decided to follow the command of Jesus in Matthew chapter 28 verses 19 and 20 go therefore and make disciples of all nations teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age so David told his parents the was going off to Glasgow to learn to be a doctor then he could sail to the Far East and help the sick and suffering out there and show them how to make the world a much better place by imitating the life of Christ money was the big challenge of course at first he could only attend classes in the winter working in the cotton mill the rest of the year but David kept at it and he proved to be an excellent student in time the London Missionary Society offered a training as well however David wasn't a natural preacher he felt uncomfortable in the pulpit he wanted to model Christ's life not just talk about it as a result david was almost dismissed as a potential missionary with no potential but after three extra months of study he managed to squeeze out a formal ordination David Livingstone had also earned a degree as a physician he wanted to be a medical missionary and help the poor and needy he prayed God send me anywhere only go with me lay any burden on me only sustain me and sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to yours and so in December of 1840 he sailed away to Africa and it was in Cape Town at the southern tip of that vast continent that it was instructed about mission work there and was able to study the customs of natives soon Livingstone realized that there were many more needs and almost no missionaries farther north he managed to get up to kuramon the northernmost mission settlement in South Africa but soon he was exploring central Africa a jungle terrain few outside people knew anything about in 30 years he trekked some 15,000 kilometers across Africa he would explore all of Africa's main rivers he will discover four important lakes including Layton gommi on the north side of the Kalahari Desert and traveling on a wagon on an ox on foot or in a canoe he would encounter Stickles that would have scared away almost any other person wild animals drought fever hostile tribes and the deadly titi fly why why did this missionary doctor become one of history's greatest explorers what was driving him was it just the hope of discovering the source of the Nile or the source of the Congo River well the real answer is something very very different on one of his first trips north Livingstone noticed that a young native girl had sneaked into his camp and was hiding under his wagon he gave her some food and she told him her story the girl had been an orphan a family finally adopted her but it was only to sell it to some chief as a slave or a wife after learning what they planned she ran away the girl had hoped to follow Livingston's wagon all the way to Karuma suddenly she burst into tears looking up Livingstone saw a native armed with a rifle standing over her he'd come to reclaim the poor child Livingstone couldn't bear the thought of her going back into slavery some friends helped him gather a string of beads and they bribed the man into going away and leaving the girl alone that was Livingston's first close-up look at the slavery that had begun terrorizing this continent some unscrupulous Europeans were busy trafficking in slavery Arabs drifted through the continent capturing natives as well Livingstone would sometimes run into a string of slaves tied or chained together marching in a long line toward a miserable life and he tried his best to intervene he had quite a powerful presence once he managed to release a string of slaves just by pretending to have Authority and ordering their captives to let them go sometimes he and his friends could overpower natives who were escorting slaves to foreigners and cut their ropes sawed off their wooden slave sticks but Livingstone became very aware that slavery was far bigger than anything he could reach around it was a huge growing industry run by unscrupulous individuals it was starting to dominate the continent he would call it this open saw of the world and what he concluded was this the natives badly needed another form of trade there were plenty of resources in this fertile Central Africa especially sugar and cotton there were goods they could sell that would take over the slave trade and end it but there was one big problem no easy way to the coast it took forever to hash through jungles across deserts and lakes to get to those big harbors that could take African Goods all over the world Livingstone came to believe there had to be a river way to the coast either east or west there had to be a road out of Central Africa and out of slavery that's why he was canoeing up and down the wide Zambezi that's why he took on all kinds of obstacles in journey after journey he made it past hostile warriors he maneuvered around power-hungry chiefs and it was all about finding the best route for his friends the way to connect their valuable goods to the coast as he put it I will open a path into the interior or perish after one of his visits home to England Livingstone simply disappeared into those dense African jungles he'd written a best-seller about his adventures missionary travels and researchers in South Africa now people all over the world wanted to hear about his latest exploits but no word came out for six long years rumors spread that he'd been killed by hostile natives and so in 1869 the New York Herald sent one of its reporters Henry Stanley often a mission to find him this proved to be a remarkable adventure as well and it would give Stanley a taste of the many obstacles living had to overcome in his journeys but he finally located him in the village of Yu Jie Jie on the banks of Lake Tanganyika Stanley would never forget walking up to this older man in a red jacket stretching out his hand raising his hat he would utter those famous words dr. Livingstone I presume this always on the move Explorer would prove to be a wonderful host he sat Stanley down on his own special chair resting on a carpet of goat skins over a thick mat of palm leaf Livingstone was eager to catch up on what had been happening in the rest of the world for the last six years but most remarkable was what Stanley discovered in this famous man who'd been lost after all this was the pioneer had managed to force his way through the biggest of obstacles this was a missionary hell-bent on taking on the crime of an entire continent so Stanley assumed he had to be very tough or haughty or rigid or all of the above but this is what the New York reporter would write a happier companion a true a friend I could not wish for he was always polite it never forsook him for an instant even in the midst of the most rugged scenes and greatest difficulties looking into Livingston's face Stanley could see those decades of thrashing through dangerous jungles his features worn and wrinkled his shoulders slumped now and he walked with a heavy step and yet Stanley found himself staring at the brightest of eyes listening to the most inspiring of stories as Stanley would put it the man's heart was gushing out not in rapid utterances but in still and deep words Livingstone somehow made this reporter philia was visiting an old old friend the missionaries rugged worn physique seemed to house a very young and over in Seoul he'd been treated rudely by this wilderness in Jungle and yet he acted in such a generous hospitable manner he'd been in the heart of Africa some 30 years deprived of books and yet he could recite entire poems by Byron Tennyson and Longfellow and of course he could also quote large sections of the Bible Stanley spend some time interviewing Livingstone then traveling with him and he uncovered the secret behind this remarkable human being it began to appear on Sunday mornings Livingstone would gather his little flock around him and lead them in prayer then he would give a little talk and there kiswahili language about what had been reading and learning from Scripture they all listened with devoted attention what Stanley saw was a man living out a very lively faith he wasn't loud about it nor pushy at all but his shining example Stanley put it stood out it was his Christian faith that had created this phenomenon the reporter put it this way in him religion exhibits its loveliest of features it governs his conduct towards all who come in contact with him without religion Livingstone with his art and temperament his enthusiastic nature his high spirit and courage might have been a nun companionable man and a hard master religion has tamed all these characteristics whatever was crude or willful religion has refined that is exactly what makes David Livingstone such a figure in history you simply can't take on roaring lions charging rhinos spear throwing warriors and the most devilish of slave traders without getting as hard as a rock it's humanly impossible there was no way this explorer could have marched month after month year after year steadily resolutely through the toughest of geographical barriers without walling himself up but here Stanley had discovered a man more gracious and kind than anyone had ever met that just can't happen the reporter concluded without something supernatural Livingstone had to have a faith with something very divine at the other end as the missionary himself would put it I place no value on anything I have or may possess except in relation to the kingdom of Christ I shall promote the glory of him to whom I owe all my hopes in time and eternity after a prolonged visit Stanley tried to persuade his new friend to return to England with him but Livingston's missions still waited in his new homeland so he set out for Lake Tanganyika yet another possible source of that vital path that waterway from the heartland to the coast as he worked around to the south end of that lake the rainy season broke out and brought him down with fever once again Livingstone was 60 now his years of toil were now weighing heavily he grew so weak that his faithful cohorts who loved him like a father had to carry him on a stretcher through kilometres of Martian Flood they finally reached a village and built him a hut made a bit of dried grass and covered him with blankets but one night his friends crept quietly into the hut with a candle to check up on him and found Livingstone on his knees beside his bed his hands to his face on the pillow with no breath a heart completely stopped' that's how he'd passed away on his knees in an attitude of prayer david Livingston's beloved friends would bury his heart beneath a large and Voula tree and put a cross above it that's the part of him his heart that would always remain in the continent where he'd given up everything then they would carefully embalm his body pack up all his letters and journals and send him back to England so what is the greatest legacy of this man who lies today in Westminster Abbey well it can be traced back to one of his letters after one of his journeys in 1871 Livingstone had reached the Lowell Arbor River and wanted to see where it went but Arab slavers prevented him from getting canoes there while he waited for supplies he noticed a large native market on the riverbank some 1,500 local people mostly women had crossed the river to exchange wares Sooni saw that many of the Arab slavers were carrying rifles then shots rang out the slave traders were firing into the middle of the helpless crowd as they fled shrieking to their canoes even more slave traders hidden in the bushes began gunning them down about four hundred natives died Livingstone managed to save just thirty of the wounded and get them back to their people but now he had to document this Massacre surely the world would finally realize what a wicked outrage this slave trade really was as it turned out David Livingstone s report on the massacre on the Lu Alaba River proved to be the death blow to slavery in central Africa it roused the entire British nation the government set out at once to work with other nations and slowly but surely ended that open sore of the world this was a man who made his Christian faith prevail over the biggest of crimes this was a man not comfortable in the pulpit not gifted as a preacher but who made people listen with great devotion to his words about the Bible this was a man who wasn't disposed to debate anyone and yet persuaded thousands because of a shiny example he just wanted to be like Jesus and what a difference he made what a legacy Livingstone left behind and that legacy has inspired many to travel to Africa and beyond to share the gospel with the world's needy millions it inspired my own parents to devote 13 years to Africa as missionaries the life and legacy of David Livingstone continues to inspire me and the it is written team to share the love of Jesus with the people of Africa from the large cities with their teeming me where our Bible based preaching has attracted hundreds of thousands of people to the isolated sane people the Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert where our team provided audio Bibles to these illiterate tribesmen David Livingston's legacy continues to inspire us to take Jesus and His grace to the people of Africa and beyond yes what a difference David Livingstone made and his legacy lives on today now what legacy would you like to leave in this world what path would you like to uncover that might make life better for those around you what is your example maybe you assume that you're just not the kind of person predisposed to witness to speak about religion maybe you think that just a preacher's job well Livingstone almost didn't get approved as a missionary because he had a very similar disposition he was shy and wasn't a great public speaker but look how God made his faith resonate anyway look at how he discovered wonderful ways to share I challenge you to discover how God can help you communicate what really matters I urge you to consider how your faith can be expressed wouldn't it be wonderful to leave a shiny example wouldn't it be great to express something that can change people's lives think about it pray about it open your heart and mind about it David Livingston's Christian faith is waiting to be shared in a special way in your continent your country your neighborhood so please right now as we pray why not ask God to show you the best way to give away your faith dear father we are humbled before this incredible shining example David Livingstone has shown us what an impact a living faith can make in this world so please reveal to each one of us how we can make our faith accessible to others move us beyond our barriers our inhibitions our inertia move us into that wonderful world where a living faith makes a lively difference in Jesus name Amen if you've been inspired by this week's program be sure to join us again next week when it is written will present another new and thought-provoking perspective on the peace insight understanding and hope that only the Bible can give us it is written truly is television that changes lives until next week remember it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God you you

Channel: Hope Channel South Pacific

Views: 35,606

Rating: 4.6839504 out of 5

Keywords: David Livingstone: Africa's Trailblazer, Africa (Continent), African People (Ethnicity), The Bible (Religious Text), Christianity (Religion), Christian (Adherents), Religion (TV Genre), It Is Written (Award-Winning Work), Gary Kent

Id: rpEU9kB_ias

Length: 26min 15sec (1575 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 22 2015