Robert Moffat: Africa's Brave Heart

Trailblazers

by Irene Howat

The story of a Scottish minister and his wife in Africa - the precursors to David Livingstone. With a sword, a shovel, a Bible, and great courage, Robert used the skills he had learned growing up in a Scottish village to translate the Bible into Tswana and to share God's love with Africa.

Genres: Christian, Biography

176 pages, Paperback

First published March 20, 2014

About the author

Irene Howat is an award-winning author who has many titles, for adults and children, to her name. She is married to a retired minister and they have a grown up family. She is also a talented artist and now stays in Ayrshire, Scotland. She especially enjoys letters from children and replies to all of them!

Reviews

[Hannah of the Sky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had never read much about Robert Moffat before. A fascinating story! Set in South Africa and Botswana in the 1800s. The book moves quickly, with a good plot structure. Compelling and informative, and perfect for ages 8-12. The biggest weakness is that the prose is poor quality. But I still enjoyed reading it.

Note that the story doesn't shy from depicting the racist attitudes that many Europeans had at the time. But it also doesn't condone them. And you can see how Robert Moffat made efforts to respect the people he worked with, earning their trust and learning their language. In one story he visits a white farmer and they are about to have evening devotions when Robert asks whether the African farm workers are also going to join. The white farmer scoffs at the thought and jokes that you might as well invite the dogs to join. In response Robert chooses for the Bible reading the story of the Syro-Phonecian woman who tells Jesus "even the dogs eat the crumbs from the table". The farmer is humbled and immediately sends someone to invite the Africans.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple read all about a man that didn't let was so brave. His oldest daughter would end up marrying David Livingstone. I had heard of David but wasn't as familiar with Robert. I was encouraged by how Robert left the calms of England behind for the wilds of Africa, a place where the odds were completely against him but he never let that stop him.