While watching an NPR program about Queen Victoria, I was reminded of the important work of Dr. David Livingstone, a pioneer medical missionary and explorer of the Victorian Era, who served with the London Missionary Society. He was regarded as a popular national hero by the British and people around the world.
He became a legend in his lifetime. His was a "rags-to-riches" type of story—a poor boy who became a doctor, a scientific investigator, reformer, and anti-slavery crusader. This quote from him reveals the kind of man he was: "I place no value on anything I have or may possess, except in relation to the Kingdom of God. If anything will advance the interests of the Kingdom, it shall be given away or kept, only as by giving or keeping it I shall most promote the glory to Him to whom I owe all my hopes in time or eternity."
Born in Scotland, Livingstone had to work hard as a youngster to help support his family. His father was an ardent believer. He worked his way through college and medical training. His goal was to become a medical missionary for Christ. He became one of the first Westerners to travel across Africa, which was known as "the Dark Continent." He discovered Victoria Falls, which he named for his beloved monarch. He wrote this about the Falls, "Scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight."
Wherever he went, he preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but he did not force it upon the people. His wife, Mary, went to be with him, but she contracted malaria and died in 1862. After her death, Livingstone continued with his explorations and his ministry. He said, "I am prepared to go anywhere, provided it will be forward."
He searched for the source of the Nile River. On several occasions he became ill with various fevers, pneumonia, cholera, and tropical ulcers on his feet, but these illnesses did not dissuade him from keeping on with his God-given calling. When he witnessed the massacre of 400 Africans by slavers, he was horrified and became a strong abolitionist.
When the journalist Henry Stanley met him (after six years of not being heard from), he said, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" The missionary responded, "Yes, and I feel thankful that I am here to welcome you." Dr. Livingstone was quite ill by this time and he was very confused, but he refused to leave Africa. In 1873, he died from malaria and internal bleeding from dysentery. He breathed his last breath while kneeling in prayer at his bedside. He is buried in Westminster Abbey, London. His epitaph reads: "For thirty years his life was spent in an unwearied effort to evangelize."
He said, "God had an only Son, and He was a missionary and a physician."
Something else which Livingstone wrote form a fitting conclusion to this article: "People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege."
