FREE ESSAY ON DAVID LIVINGSTONE

DAVID LIVINGSTONE

David Livingstone - Man of Prayer and Action
Author: C. Silvester Horne, M.P.
David Livingstone was a faithful pioneer missionary whose greatest desire was granted
only after his death - the stopping of the slave trade and opening up Africa to
Christianity and lawful commerce. Livingstone was born on March 19th, 1813 at Blantyre,
Lankshire. He was raised in a pious but poverty stricken home in Scotland. By the age on
9, he had already memorized Psalm 119 and won a copy of the New Testament as a prize. He
worked 14 hours a day when he was just 10 years old at a cotton-spinning factory.
Livingstone spent 10 years in the cotton mill, then he set out to study medicine and
theology. 
David liked to study. After his 14-hour workday, he would come home and start studying
his Latin until his mother would come in and put out his candle. All these years of
studying paid off when he reached the college age. Glasgow University was the closest
college, so David and his father went there and he entered as a student majoring in Greek
and medicine. The money for his education was not easily acquired, but somehow he always
managed to get it on time. Early in winter of 1836, David and his father went to Glasgow
and, all day, searched for a room for David, and finally after a full day's searching,
they found a room which could be rented for two shillings a week. 
During his second session at Glasgow, David made one of the most important decisions in
his life. He decided to offer himself as a missionary for foreign services. He was chosen
for the London Missionary Society because of his sympathy with the nondenominational
structure of its basis. In November of 1840, he was able to return to Glasgow and qualify
as a Licentiate of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons, and sometime later, he said
good-bye to the old folks at home. On the 20th of November, he was ordained and sailed to
South Africa. 
This trip took 5 months, and finally he landed at Algoa Bay. He started into the deep
jungles of Africa on his first missionary trip, and it proved to be no walk in the
park... it was a walk in a jungle. David Livingstone's main goal in life was to stop the
slave trade in Africa and open it up to Christianity. This was his first step. 
One day while hunting for lions to eat, Livingstone and his party hadn't had much luck
finding any lions. They figured that they would go back to the campsite and wait for
another day to come to hunt again. On their way back, it was quiet... a little too quiet.
Livingstone was in the lead position heading back for the campsite, when he turned and
looked to his left side, and all of the sudden, a lion jumped out from out of the bushes
and latched onto Livingstone's left arm. The lion was as tall as Livingstone was when
standing up and he was shaking Livingstone's arm like a terrier dog does a rat.
Fortunately, the lion released him and set it's sights on the others in the party. But,
the others were carrying rifles. Lion charges, the men shoot and kill the lion.
Livingstone escaped marvelously well, but his shoulder bone and upper arm were chewed and
the bone was shattered into splinters. Surprisingly enough, Livingstone claimed there was
no sensation of pain or fear when the lion attacked him. 
Once David had recovered from the lion's attack, they journey continued. David's wife and
children desperately missed him, and he wrote them telling them that he would be coming
home in 2 years. 5 years later, he still hadn't come home. At almost 6 years, he returned
home, still not reaching his goal. His goal was to get to the center of the slave trade -
a city called Chitambo. 
He was home for about a year, the went back to Africa. This time he bought a boat to use
in rivers instead of walking. This came in handy, but it sank. Oh well. Tough luck I
guess. Anyway, the rest of the way there they were forced to walk. On the way there,
Livingstone got sick and was slowly bleeding internally. This, as you might have already
guessed, was not good. Internal bleeding equals death. Death equals no more Livingstone.
No more Livingstone means the end of the book.  David seemed to be growing better
though, but when they were about 5 days from there, an artery burst somehow and he
started bleeding out fast. They got there 3 days later, and found a place to stay.
Livingstone was not in good shape at all, and to make a long and drawn out story a nice
and short, and to the point, he died. 
Born on March 19th, 1813 at Blantyre, Lanarkshire, and died at Chitambo's Village on May
4th, 1873, Livingstone was and will forever be remembered. 
THE END