John Gibson Paton (1824–1907)

I received this recommendation via this list of Top 10 missionary biographies which is worth reading!

https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/10174784-my-top-ten-missionary-biogr...

This is the original three part auto-biography of John Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides (cannibals.) Paton describes his early life growing up in a relatively poor Christian family with many brothers and sisters. His father's devotional life had a huge impact on him. I was immediately impressed with Paton's dedication to his missionary calling which he received at a relatively young age. He was offered a stable position with a long term contract but turned it down on the basis that a few years down the line he needed to be free to go overseas. His greatest desire was to be used by God and he surrendered himself completely.

Paton's heart was drawn to the New Hebrides (Vanuatu) and this remained his ministry focus throughout his lifetime despite, having finally arrived there, losing his wife and child within three months. He began on the extremely hostile island of Tanna.

On landing we found the people to be literally naked and painted savages...At first they came in crowds to look at us, and at everything we did or had. We knew nothing of their language; we could not speak a single word to them, nor they to us.

The striking thing about his story is that he is in danger of death day in and day out due to the culture of the natives on the islands. Even when it seemed he may have won the favour of one or another person the tide could quickly change or they may just have been looking for an opportunity to kill and eat him.

A killing stone thrown by one of the savages grazed poor old Abraham's cheek...a club was also raised to follow the blow of the killing stone, but God baffled the aim. They encircled us in a deadly ring, and one kept urging another to strike the first blow or fire the first shot. My heart rose up to the Lord Jesus...I realised that I was immortal till my Master's work with me was done.

The role of the white traders was fascinating but heartbreaking as it devastated the work of the missionaries and in many ways was deliberate.

Paton faced a constant battle to maintain his support at home due to rumours and misunderstandings about his ministry. He had to leave the field at times to quell various unfair reports about him and the divisions between different denominations in the various supporting countries were a sad indictment. Still he tried to just get on with the job returning to the Island of Aniwa when forced to leave Tanna. I find it incredible that he was criticised by some for leaving Tanna and I can see why this would've been a huge discouragement to him in the circumstances as he had remained there until the last possible second. Deciding that God didn't want him to be reckless with his life he reluctantly left only to be criticised by those "sitting in cozy armchairs."

Aniwa was more successful in ministry terms and it wasn't long before they saw conversions

The old chief led them in prayer- a strange, dark, groping prayer, with streaks of Heathenism colouring every thought and sentence; but still a heart-breaking prayer, as the cry of a soul once Cannibal, but now being thrilled through and through with the first conscious pulsations of the Christ-Spirit throbbing into the words-'Father, Father; our Father.'

I thought the first two thirds of the biography were excellent. They read like fiction apart from belief in the power of God and could easily form the basis for a movie. The telling of the experiences on both Tanna and Aniwa are very readable. I think maybe the author should've stopped there. He documents his various trips home for fundraising activities and although at first that was also interesting I became a little tired of reading about various donations, the amounts and the donors and the squabbling in the churches, that basically fills the third part of his biography which is a shame.

That said I would still highly recommend this book as I believe it is unique in terms of the daily dangers faced with an honest depiction of personal struggles including bouts of depression, and gives a true insight into the experiences of pioneer missionaries in primitive areas.

… (més)