Robert Moffat, the missionary hero of KurumanDeane, David J.
History
Robert Moffat, the missionary hero of Kuruman
Deane, David J.
Moffat, Robert, 1795-1883
Of the events connected with this visit to England, want of space
precludes us from giving details. A great wave of missionary enthusiasm
at that time swept over the country, and Moffat found himself hurried
from town to town with but scant opportunities for rest. In May, 1840,
he preached the Anniversary Sermon for the London Missionary Society,
and, at their Annual Meeting, Exeter Hall was packed so densely that
after making his speech in the large upper hall, Moffat had to give it
again in the smaller hall below.
An anecdote related in the course of his speech at the Bible Society's
May Meeting shows the value set by a native woman upon a single Gospel
in the native tongue. "She was a Matabele captive," said Moffat. "Once,
while visiting the sick, as I entered her premises, I found her sitting
weeping, with a portion of the Word of God in her hand. I said, 'My
child what is the cause of your sorrow? Is the baby still unwell?' 'No,'
she replied, 'my baby is well,' 'Your mother-in-law?' I inquired. 'No,
no,' she said, 'it is my own dear mother, who bore me.' Here she again
gave vent to her grief, and, holding out the Gospel of Luke, in a hand
wet with tears, she said, 'My mother will never see this word; she will
never hear this good news! Oh, my mother and my friends, they live in
heathen darkness; and shall they die without seeing the light which has
shone on me, and without tasting that love which I have tasted!' Raising
her eyes to heaven she sighed a prayer, and I heard the words again, 'My
mother, my mother!'"
His hope when he landed had been to get the printing of the Sechwana New
Testament speedily accomplished, and to return to South Africa before
winter; but it was not until January, 1843, that he was able once again
to sail for Africa.
In 1840 two new missionaries were set apart for the Bechwana
mission--- William Ross and David Livingstone. With them Robert Moffat
was able to send five hundred copies of the Sechwana New Testament.
As the sheets were passing through the press, it was suggested to him
that the Psalms would be a valuable addition to the work. With his
characteristic energy he immediately commenced the task, and, a few
months after the sailing of Ross and Livingstone, he had the joy of
sending to Africa over two thousand copies of the New Testament, with
which the Psalms had been bound up. By the end of 1843 six thousand
copies had been sent out. A revision of the book of Scripture Lessons
was also undertaken and carried through the press. A demand was made
upon him to write a book, in response to which he prepared his well
known work, "Missionary Labours and Scenes in South Africa," which was
published in 1842, and met with great success.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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