David Livingstone He Changed Africa for the Better

Hardscrabble—which the dictionary defines as “marked by poverty”—certainly describes the childhood and youth of David Livingstone. Born in 1813, he went to work in a factory at age 10 and used his hard-earned wages to help his mother.

Such child labor is outlawed now in Britain, but a ten-year-old boy grows up quickly when thrust into the adult world of work. Young David learned self- reliance in a hurry—a trait which extended to his spiritual life. By the age of 20, when his working years equaled his childhood ones, he began to think about his standing with God.

“Great pains,” he says, “had been taken by my parents to instill the doctrines of Christianity into my mind, and I had no difficulty in understanding the theory of a free salvation by the atonement of our Savior; but it was only about this time that I began to feel the necessity and value of a personal application of the provisions of that atonement to my own case.”

But knowing that he needed to be saved and accessing that salvation are two different things. Even more challenging was Livingstone’s impression that a young man could not receive salvation until the Holy Spirit had moved upon him. Thus, Livingstone waited a long time.

Eventually, the Lord spoke to his heart and revealed to him his error. He finally renounced all hope in himself and, as a bankrupt sinner, trusted in the power of Christ to save.

During his factory years, Livingstone managed to acquire an education, eventually studying theology and graduating from medical school. Thus armed, he set off for the heart of Africa, in what today is Zambia, and brought the gospel message to natives who’d never heard the Bible story before.

Livingstone was also a noted explorer who mapped much of Africa and who also searched for the source of the Nile River. He became the first European to see the Mosi-o-Tunya waterfall along the Zambezi, today known as Victoria Falls, the name he gave them.

Because David Livingstone trusted Christ for salvation, the young man from Scotland was able to change the lives of untold millions in Africa. When he died, he was kneeling beside his bed, begging God for souls.

Reflect: Do you have a total assurance of God’s salvation? Is the Lord calling you to reach a certain people group?

Key Bible Texts

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (Ephesians 2:8 KJV)