photo #8878700

DAVID LIVINGSTONE (1813-1873) David Livingstone, the great missionary and explorer to Africa, was born into a poor Scottish family in 1813. To help his family, he went to work at age ten in a cotton weaving mill. After working ten and twelve hour days, he would attend a couple hours of evening school, and his studies would often keep him up past midnight. By the age of seventeen, Livingstone was earning enough money to pay his way through medical school. He was saved in 1833, at twenty years of age, and by age twenty-two he had studied Greek, theology and medicine at both Glasgow University and Andrews College. He received his medical degree in London in 1840. God used the preaching of African missionary Robert Moffatt to burden Livingstone’s heart for Africa in 1839. Having already been accepted by the London Missionary Society in 1838, he was appointed to Kuruman in southern Africa. Livingstone arrived at Algoa Bay in the spring of 1841. After ten weeks of travel, going seven hundred miles northward, he arrived at Kuruman. From there he would make long hard trips into the African interior, using his medical skills to help those in need and to win their confidence. He set out to build a new mission site in Mabotsa in 1843 and was attacked by a lion, leaving his left arm useless for the rest of his life. David Livingstone married May Moffatt in 1844 and moved to Chonuane to work with the Bakwains. A lack of rain brought about a famine, so one evening he announced that he would be leaving the next morning for a new location. The next morning the natives were all packed and ready to follow him. They settled in Kologeng for five years until David decided to relocate to a better site near a large lake somewhere. His dilemma was in finding a safe location, free from barbaric tribes, that also had healthy living conditions. The safest locations were usually the most unhealthy ones. This led him to send his wife and children back to England in 1852 while he searched out a good place for a more permanent mission site. From November of 1853 through May of 1854, David Livingstone and twenty-seven Makoloto men labored to open a path to the interior, journeying 1,500 miles through the jungle to Lvanda. Then they headed back to Sesheke. During this journey he nearly lost his eyesight after being hit in the eye with a limb. He nearly lost his hearing due to rheumatic fever. After numerous encounters with wild beasts and hostile savages, he and his men finally reached their destination. He rested for two months and then was ready to go for his family in England. Then his boat sank with all his maps, journals and letters. David Livingstone discovered some beautiful water falls while searching out a route to Africa’s east coast. He named them Victoria Falls. He pressed on eastward and arrived at Quilimane in May of 1856. He located a suitable ship to take him to England. He also received a letter from the London Missionary Society informing him that they were displeased with his explorations. They felt that he should stay at settled mission sites instead of pressing into new regions. What they failed to understand was that Livingstone was being used of God to open up Africa for future missionary work. After sixteen years of service, they severed relations with him. To deepen his frustration, his father died before he reached England. In spite of his severance from the London Missionary Society, the Geographical Society awarded him a gold medal for being the first man to ever cross the African continent from west to east. He was also granted honorary degrees by the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Glasgow. He would make two more expeditions into Africa. The first was from 1858 through 1864. This time the British government paid him to explore the Zambezi River area. During this trip he discovered Lake Nyasa, the Shire River and Lake Shirwa. He also attempted to set up an interior mission station near Lake Nyasa with missionary Charles McKenzie, but McKenzie died in early 1862. David’s wife of eighteen years also died in 1862. They had been together only nine years of their marriage. He arrived back in London in June of 1864. While at home, he spent time with his children, wrote a book about the Zambezi River, and gave lectures against the slave trade. His mother died during this time, and his son, Robert, also died in the American Civil War. Livingstone’s last trip into Africa came between 1866 and 1873, and it was sponsored by the Royal Geographical Society. It was a very tough trip as he lost many helpers and was caused much grief by the slave traders. He did, however, discover the southern end of Lake Tanganvika, Lake Moero and Lake Bangweolo. He became seriously ill in 1871, but was greatly helped by Henry Stanley, a famous reporter for the New York Herald. In August of 1872, Livingstone and a new party of explorers headed for Lakes Tanganyika and Bangweolo. During this journey, he became ill and had to be carried much of the way. He was found dead on his knees on May 1, 1873. The natives reverently cut out his heart and buried it under a mulva tree. Then came the longest funeral procession ever. His body was prepared and carried some 1,000 miles to Zanzibar, taking nine months for the trip. It was then taken to London and buried at Westminister Abbey on April 18, 1874. His last written words by letter were:All I can say in my solitude is, may Heaven’srich blessing come down on every one -American, English, Turk - who will helpheal this open sore of the world.