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David Livingstone: His Life and Letters
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- GenresBiography
650 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1957
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July 21, 2024
Wonderful story of a man who was dedicated to his work and ministry. Feet of clay, yes, imperfect, yes, but an amazing life none the less.
David Livingstone endured countless hardship, perpetual illness, dysentery, amoeba probably and dysentery. At one point he hurts his arm while he is building a home, yet keeps on building. Over and over again he is sick while exploring and yet even during his sicknesses he is busy recording with amazing detail the flora and fauna of the mid-African continent. Documenting although not entirely accurate, the rivers, streams, mountains and waterfalls. He created trails and missions in what was then darkest Africa.
He truly cared about the African natives, and abhorred slavery, detested the Portuguese and Africans who were profiting.
He was hoping to introduce agriculture.
He never wanted to cause harm to man or creature unless it was absolutely necessary.
He was first of all a Christian missionary who wanted more than anything that Christ would be known and made known in Africa.
He was a Scotsman, Doctor.
I would like to know more about how his family looked at his adventures, and how they found their lives.
Memorabilia from LIvingstone, pages 632-33:
My views of what is missionary duty are not so contracted as those whose ideal is a dumpy sort of man with a Bible under his arm.
I read the whole Bible through four times whilst i was in Manyuema...The Bible gathers wonderful interest form the circumstances in which is is read.
It is something to be a follower, however feeble, in the wake of the great Teacher and only model missionary that every appeared among men.
Forbid it that we should ever consider the holding of a commission from the King of Kings a sacrifice, so long as men esteem the service of an earthy sovereign an honour.
I still prefer poverty and mission-service to riches and ease. It's my choice.
The spirit of missions is the of our Master; the very genius of his religion
I am a missionary, heart and soul. God had an only Son, and He was a missionary and a physician. A poor, poor imitation I am or wish to be. In this service I hope to live, in it I wish to die.
I never made a sacrifice. Of this we ought not to talk when we remember the great sacrifice which He made who left His Father's throne on high to give Himself for us.
A hard bed might be a greater sacrifice to one than sleeping on the ground to another.
I had a great objection to school-keeping, but I find in that, as in almost everything else that I set myself to as a matter of duty, I soon became enamoured of it.
Some of the brethren do not hesitate to tell the natives that my object is to obtain the applause of men. This bothers me, for I sometimes suspect my own motives.
On the other hand I am conscious that thought there is much impurity in my motives, they are in the main for the glory of Him to whom I have dedicated my all.
Man is a complex being and we greatly need our motives to be purified from all that is evil.
I think you are not quite clear upon the indications of Providence, my dear brother. I don't think we ought to wait for them. Our duty is to go forward and look for the indications. In general I have observed that people who have sat long waiting have sat long enough before they saw any indications to go.
Cautious reverence is required in ascribing human movements to the influence of divine Providence.
We don't know how bad some people are until they are tried, nor how good others are till put to the test.
I noticed that the mongoose gets lean on a diet of cockroaches. This would be invaluable to fat young ladies at home.
The first smile of an infant with its toothless gums is one of the pleasantest sights i nature. It is innocence claiming kinship, and asking to be loved in its helplessness..Nature is full of enjoyment.
I can be rich without money
The day of Africa is yet to come
A life of selfishness is one of misery
Be manly Christians and never do a mean thing.
Depend upon it, a kind word or deed is never lost.
There is never a bad but it might have been worse.
Let us appear just what we are
Never to old to learn
There's a good time coming
All will come right at last.
David Livingstone endured countless hardship, perpetual illness, dysentery, amoeba probably and dysentery. At one point he hurts his arm while he is building a home, yet keeps on building. Over and over again he is sick while exploring and yet even during his sicknesses he is busy recording with amazing detail the flora and fauna of the mid-African continent. Documenting although not entirely accurate, the rivers, streams, mountains and waterfalls. He created trails and missions in what was then darkest Africa.
He truly cared about the African natives, and abhorred slavery, detested the Portuguese and Africans who were profiting.
He was hoping to introduce agriculture.
He never wanted to cause harm to man or creature unless it was absolutely necessary.
He was first of all a Christian missionary who wanted more than anything that Christ would be known and made known in Africa.
He was a Scotsman, Doctor.
I would like to know more about how his family looked at his adventures, and how they found their lives.
Memorabilia from LIvingstone, pages 632-33:
My views of what is missionary duty are not so contracted as those whose ideal is a dumpy sort of man with a Bible under his arm.
I read the whole Bible through four times whilst i was in Manyuema...The Bible gathers wonderful interest form the circumstances in which is is read.
It is something to be a follower, however feeble, in the wake of the great Teacher and only model missionary that every appeared among men.
Forbid it that we should ever consider the holding of a commission from the King of Kings a sacrifice, so long as men esteem the service of an earthy sovereign an honour.
I still prefer poverty and mission-service to riches and ease. It's my choice.
The spirit of missions is the of our Master; the very genius of his religion
I am a missionary, heart and soul. God had an only Son, and He was a missionary and a physician. A poor, poor imitation I am or wish to be. In this service I hope to live, in it I wish to die.
I never made a sacrifice. Of this we ought not to talk when we remember the great sacrifice which He made who left His Father's throne on high to give Himself for us.
A hard bed might be a greater sacrifice to one than sleeping on the ground to another.
I had a great objection to school-keeping, but I find in that, as in almost everything else that I set myself to as a matter of duty, I soon became enamoured of it.
Some of the brethren do not hesitate to tell the natives that my object is to obtain the applause of men. This bothers me, for I sometimes suspect my own motives.
On the other hand I am conscious that thought there is much impurity in my motives, they are in the main for the glory of Him to whom I have dedicated my all.
Man is a complex being and we greatly need our motives to be purified from all that is evil.
I think you are not quite clear upon the indications of Providence, my dear brother. I don't think we ought to wait for them. Our duty is to go forward and look for the indications. In general I have observed that people who have sat long waiting have sat long enough before they saw any indications to go.
Cautious reverence is required in ascribing human movements to the influence of divine Providence.
We don't know how bad some people are until they are tried, nor how good others are till put to the test.
I noticed that the mongoose gets lean on a diet of cockroaches. This would be invaluable to fat young ladies at home.
The first smile of an infant with its toothless gums is one of the pleasantest sights i nature. It is innocence claiming kinship, and asking to be loved in its helplessness..Nature is full of enjoyment.
I can be rich without money
The day of Africa is yet to come
A life of selfishness is one of misery
Be manly Christians and never do a mean thing.
Depend upon it, a kind word or deed is never lost.
There is never a bad but it might have been worse.
Let us appear just what we are
Never to old to learn
There's a good time coming
All will come right at last.
August 5, 2019
All the complexity and raw realities of Africa are here. The perfect antidote for blaming Africa's problems on colonialism but much more insights that continue to ring true in my 35 years in Africa.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews