How This Missionary Thrust a Dagger Into the Heart of Slavery
According to New York Herald journalist Henry Stanley, David Livingstone raised “in Europe so powerful a feeling against the slave trade, that through him it may be considered as having received its deathblow.”
David Livingstone advocated the establishment of trade and religious missions in central Africa, but the abolition of the slave trade became his primary goal. His motto—now inscribed on his statue at Victoria Falls—was “Christianity, Commerce and Civilization,” a combination that he hoped would form an alternative to the slave trade and impart dignity to the Africans in the eyes of the Europeans.
Today we need powerful role models of Christians who have the courage to confront the injustices of the day and make a meaningful impact on society. This is one of the reasons why our second episode of Lessons From Legends on the Charisma Podcast Network is devoted to the inspiring life of David Livingstone.
From working 14-hour days in a textile mill from the age of 10 in Scotland to educating himself so he could become both a doctor and a missionary, Livingstone’s life is nothing but inspiring. When he died, the Africans took out his heart and buried it under a Mpundu tree in Zambia and then sent his body back for a state funeral in Westminster Abbey in London. His friends in Africa were basically saying, “You can have his body, but his heart belongs here.”
The story of Livingstone will inspire you and uplift you. He was a missionary, an explorer, a doctor, a researcher, a geographer and a social justice warrior against slavery. His writings impacted the world, and he brought about social, economic and spiritual change in both Europe and in the continent of Africa.
Find out more about this fascinating man by watching this video and also downloading this week’s Lessons From Legends podcast here. {eoa}
