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David Livingstone
In the years following the American Revolution, a family of
strict religious conviction was found honing their faith in the town of Blantyre in
Scotland. From his early beginnings, young David Livingstone was observed to be a
nature lover, the earliest day being March 19, 1813. In hindsight, this fact was a
key indicator of the prominence the legendary explorer would gain in time.
Livingstone proved himself more than a daydreamer at the tender age of 10,
when he undertook a job at a cotton mill during the day to assist his family with his
earnings while attending night school later. Between his work, which commonly lasted
from 12 to 14 hours a day, his 2-hour classes, and his late night studying, the ambitious
lad often spent 18-hour days taxing himself for the benefit of his family and preparing
for his own future. He used some of his earnings to buy books to study Latin.
He would even prop books in strategic locations at work to catch a glimpse of study
materials from time to time. By age 17, David was promoted at the cotton mill and
began to earn more money—enough to enroll in medical school in Glasgow, Scotland.
He was converted to Christ in 1833 and by the time the budding enthusiast was 22,
his studies at Glasgow University and Anderson College included medicine, theology and
Greek. While studying in college, Livingstone initially felt inspired to go to China as a
missionary, but war in that nation ruled out the possibility. He then applied for
membership with the London Missionary Society in 1838 where he was accepted on a
provisional basis. The next year he met the seasoned missionary, Robert
Moffatt, and in 1840, he received a medical degree in London. The same year the
upstart academician / preacher was dispatched to the rugged continent of Africa.
Setting sail in December, he embarked on a
journey that would consume nearly seven months that followed. He and his shipmates
landed at Algoa Bay in Southern Africa. On July 31, 1841, Livingstone finally arrived in
Kuruman, South Africa after traversing 700 miles inland. David Livingstone circulated
around Southern Africa the next several years including a year-long stay in modern-day
Botswana beginning in 1842. In 1843, he received authorization from London to establish a
mission station in Mobatsa next to the Limpopo River in southern Africa. One pervasive
problem with this effort was an aggressive population of lions. While trying to rid
the area of the feline nuisance to keep people from moving away, he was himself attacked
by a lion and maimed for life in his left arm. While being nursed backed to health
by Robert Moffatt’s daughter, Mary, the two were married in 1844. She was
naturally accustomed to missionary life, though her travels with her husband and five
children (one more died in infancy) came to be a source of contention between David and
her father. Traveling did continue, nevertheless, and Livingstone became as famous
an explorer as he was a missionary. So much so, that his name is mentioned
with the likes of Columbus, Lewis and Clark, Marco Polo, and Ponce de Leon. In fact,
the line between the two pursuits became blurry enough to eventually spark controversy
regarding his activities.
In 1845 they were off again further inland,
leaving for Kologeng. They stayed there five years and were most likely the first
whites to view Lake Ngami on the southern end of the Kalahari Desert.
Livingstone hoped to establish another mission station there and some two
hundred miles north, but tsetse flies prevented their staying along with a local tribal
chief who resisted their movement further north. With such opposition, the
Livingstones returned to Mobatsa. But much to his dismay, the mission station there
had been destroyed the Boers. They were Dutch settlers who made their way to South
Africa in the mid-1800’s and established the city of Cape Town. This is how the
white man came to reside in the predominant habitat of the black man in South Africa.
(Only in the last couple of decades was the famous apartheid movement of minority
government-sponsored discrimination quelled by the populous with the help of Nelson
Mandela.)
Trials continued for the family until
1852, including a bout with malaria that claimed the baby girl, when Livingstone
reluctantly sent his family back to England, having failed to find suitable refuge for
them. In 1853, the explorer set out for the west coast of Africa, accompanied by 27
tribesmen on loan from Chief Sekeletu of the Makololos. The group endured 1,500
miles of terrain filled with jungle, swamps, and hostile natives before they finally
reached the Atlantic Ocean at Luanda on the northwest coast of Angola. The worn
missionary declined a tempting invitation for a cruise back to England in lieu of
escorting his companions back to their village—a round trip through unforgiving
treacheries that included the witnessing of cannibalism and the horrific sight of human
skeletons hanging from trees. The entire experience exhausted nearly two years
leading up to September 1855. Soon afterward, the tireless crusader was off to the
east coast of Mozambique in southern Africa, Quelimane to be exact. On the way, he
discovered a marvel he named Victoria Falls, after Great Britain’s Queen Victoria. He
was the first white man to view them to anyone’s knowledge. He found a ship
willing to take him to England, and this time took the opportunity to return home where he
hadn’t been in 16 years! Before returning to Europe, Livingstone received word
from the London Missionary Society of their displeasure with his elaborate and extensive
travel, at which time he decided to resign from the organization. Of course, the man
himself would insist that all his endeavors of exploration were designed to promote the
establishment of accessible mission stations to reach the lost souls of Africa with the
gospel—both so he himself could preach and heal the native Africans and open the door
for others to do the same.
Undaunted by his severance from the missionary
group, he arrived in London to much fanfare. News of his exploits and adventures had
become legendary among his estranged English countrymen. December 9, 1856 was a banner
homecoming for the long lost son of Britain. He had not even seen his wife and
children in nearly five years. The clamor over his return led to his receiving
honorary degrees from several institutions, including the universities of Glasgow,
Cambridge, and Oxford. In addition, the London Royal Geographical Society honored him.
Perhaps the only thing to dampen spirits was the loss of his father on the way home
to England. While there, Livingstone reluctantly wrote the book, Missionary
Travels at the bidding of many. Reinvigorated, Dr. and Mrs. Livingstone both set
out for Africa again in 1858 along with their son, Oswell—this time with a
substantial sum of money as the queen’s consul. But the reunion with the couple
would be short-lived as Mary was forced to remain at Cape Town due to sickness for an
entire year before returning to England. Meanwhile, Livingstone pressed on
with his brother, and for the next six years his greatest discovery may have been the
incompatibility of the two. On September 8, 1858, Livingstone reunited with the
tribe at Makololo. He received a letter in November 1859 informing him of the birth
of a baby daughter almost one full year before he knew of it. The next few years
were spent largely with Bishop Charles Mackenzie, a fellow minister who agreed to help the
veteran missionary establish another mission station in the interior of Africa. The team
was optimistic, having acquired a boat for their journeys. But that move proved
costly, as well. Extraordinary efforts to cut wood for the vessel’s engine
remained a constant source of irritation. The joint endeavor ended in January 1862
when the bishop passed away. That same month, Mrs. Livingstone rejoined her husband
after three full years of separation. She died just three months later, though, and
was buried on the lower Zambezi River.
Characteristic—almost trademark—misfortunes
were as synonymous with the missionary as his extensive explorations. The loss of
his beloved wife was difficult enough, but the fact that they spent more years apart
during their marriage than together had long been a source of controversy among the
English and one could argue an inner struggle, too. By his own admission,
Livingstone grew weary of life himself following Mary’s death. To make matters
worse, the British consul withdrew funding from the expeditions in 1863 and asked him to
return home. They claimed the expense was more than previously anticipated.
Privately, however, the Portuguese had complained of Livingstone’s ‘intrusiveness’
in the region. Officially, the king of Portugal agreed to cooperate with the
missionary. Yet, in order to discredit him, the traders themselves went so far
as to commit heinous acts on native Africans while claiming they were Livingstone’s
children! By this time, he had another boat in his possession, the Lady Nyasa.
He decided he’d no longer need it, so rather than sell it to the slave traders
in Africa (the only ones who could afford it), he sailed to Bombay, India in 1864.
He couldn’t sell the boat on that trip, though he did sell the vessel later.
So having gone many miles out of his way, he returned to London on July 10, 1864. He
wrote a book that same year entitled, The Zambesi and its Tributaries, in which he
exposed the Portuguese involvement in the atrocities of the slave trade. He lectured
in various locations in England about the evils he’d witnessed. Of course, he
spent what time he could with his children and mother while home. His mother died
while Livingstone was there, though, and one son, Robert, had as well. He had sailed
to Africa to find his father. When he didn’t, he traveled to the United States
and joined the federal army, where he did his part to fight against slavery. He was
killed in the effort and buried at Gettysburg.
Dr. Livingstone returned to Africa yet again,
arriving in Zanzibar in early1866. He did so without financial backing offered by the
Royal Geographical Society, deciding to focus his energies more toward evangelism than
exploration. He did discover more lakes in his travels, though. Most of his
party disbanded for one reason or another. Ironically, the Portuguese slave traders
sought to help him for the next four years, two years of which were spent exploring the
upper Congo. Rumors in Europe began to abound surround Livingstone’s status.
Some believed he was dead, and in 1871 the man of God himself began to feel
death’s grip imminent. He had become sick in body and mind, having ministered
to the masses in the Congo, the scorching climate around the equator, notwithstanding. To
add insult to injury, upon his return to Ujiji, Tanzania he discovered slave traders had
stolen his supplies and medicines he had left there. On October 26, 1871, four days after
his disappointing return to Ujiji, an unexpected visitor arrived. With no
correspondences between the mission-minded man and the outside world for the previous
three years, the New York Herald newspaper dispatched an English reporter to find out if
Livingstone was still alive. Henry Stanley was the fortunate one to do so.
Upon finding the famed missionary, Stanley uttered the famous words, “Dr.
Livingstone, I presume?” Unable to convince Livingstone to return to England,
Stanley joined him in exploring Lake Tanganyika, supplies being provided by a shipment of
Stanley’s. Zambia was Livingstone’s last stop. He died May 1, 1873,
having ceased exploring only two days prior. At his request, his heart was buried
there. His body was carried by hand for 1,500 miles to Zanzibar for transport back to
England. He was buried April 18, 1874 in London’s Westminster Abbey.
Henry Stanley and Robert Moffatt were among those who attended the funeral.
Stanley claimed to be a convert of Dr. Livingstone without his being
proselytized by the doctor. Many who knew the man could likely have echoed the same
sentiment.
It’s unclear how many converts Livingstone
did or didn’t win, although there appear to be two for sure: Chief Sechele and Henry
Stanley. Furthermore, the results of the pioneer’s efforts may not be
indicative of his passion for the dark continent of Africa. Yet to be certain, the
missionary endeavors he inspired, which before his time were almost non-existent, were
responsible for the conversion of multitudes to Christianity. Dr. David Livingstone became
the standard by which many others in his vocation would be measured.
Resources: believersweb.org, wholesomewords.org, encarta
encyclopedia, wikipedia
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