John G. Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides, volume 2 (of 3) : $b An autobiography edited by his brotherPaton, John Gibson
Religion
John G. Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides, volume 2 (of 3) : $b An autobiography edited by his brother
Paton, John Gibson
Missionaries -- Vanuatu -- Biography; Paton, John Gibson, 1824-1907
The Lord also crowned this tour with another precious fruit of
blessing, though not all by any means due to my influence. Four new
Missionaries volunteered from Scotland, and three from Nova Scotia.
By their aid we not only reclaimed for Jesus the posts that had been
abandoned, but we took possession of other Islands in His most blessed
Name. But I did not wait and take them out with me. They had matters to
look into and to learn about, that would be infinitely helpful to them
in the Mission field. Especially, and far above everything else, in
addition to their regular clerical course, some Medical instruction was
an almost absolute prerequisite. I myself had attended several Medical
Classes at the Andersonian College, when a student in Glasgow, and had
had personal training from an experienced physician. This had proved
invaluable, not only on the Islands, but in the remote bush during
Australian tours, and indeed on many private occasions, when other
medical help was unavailable. Every future Missionary was therefore
urged to obtain all insight and instruction that was practicable at
Medical Missions and otherwise, especially on lines known to be most
requisite for these Islands. For this, and similar objects, all that
I raised over and above what was required for the _Dayspring_ was
entrusted to the Foreign Mission Committee, that the new Missionaries
might be fully equipped, and their outfit and travelling expenses be
provided for without burdening the Church at home. Her responsibilities
were already large enough for her resources. But she could give men,
God’s own greatest gift, and His people elsewhere gave the money,—the
Colonies and the Home Country thus binding themselves to each other in
this Holy Mission of the Cross.
But I did not return alone. The dear Lord had brought to me one
prepared, all unknown to either of us, by special culture, by godly
training, by many gifts and accomplishments, and even by family
associations, to share my lot on the New Hebrides. Her heart was
stirred with a yearning to aid and teach those who were sitting in
darkness; her brother had been an honoured Missionary in the foreign
field, and had fallen asleep while the dew of youth was yet upon
him; her sister was the wife of a devoted Minister of our Church in
Adelaide, both she and her husband being zealous promoters of our work;
and her father had left behind him a fragrant memory through his many
Christian works in all the Stirling district, and not unknown to fame
as the author of the still popular books of _Anecdotes_, illustrative
of the Shorter Catechism and of the Holy Scriptures. Ere I left
Scotland in 1864, I was married to Margaret Whitecross, and God spares
us to each other still; and the family which He has been pleased in His
love to grant unto us we have dedicated to His service, with the prayer
and hope that He may use every one of them in spreading the Gospel
throughout the Heathen World.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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