When the British government finally was able to pry David Livingstone’s body away from Chief Chitambo’s village in Zambia, the Africans cut out his heart and sent his body with the message. “You can have his body, but his heart belongs to Africa.” David Livingstone died fighting for Africa, for Africans. He died on his knees in prayer to his maker while suffering from malaria and internal bleeding caused by dysentery. There’s no way of knowing what he was praying for, but it is easy to determine that his life’s prayer had been that God would use his life to make a difference.
David Livingstone did make a difference to Africa for God’s purpose. He continually fought the evils of slave trade and most likely paid for it with his life. Although he could not beat the slave trade outright. His dream was to create a society in Africa that rose above slavery and injustice. We are still fighting many of the same battles. International slave trade may not be what it was in the mid 1800’s when David Livingstone explored the interiors of Africa, but abuses still occur and are rampant throughout the world and in Africa.
Millions upon millions of innocent children are left without a family in Africa. Disease, poverty, and tribal strife take the lives of countless innocent victims every day… As a call to people who have means, who have freedom, who have the ability to help. Why aren’t we? No, we can’t all leave our homes and families to give our lives like Livingstone. But there are some who can, there are some who are, there are some who need our assistance in their work right now. Missionaries, doctors, and charitable citizens are working tirelessly as you read this, doing the work of God. They are feeding the hungry, caring for the poor, and loving the homeless as we speak. They need our assistance and our help. Whether it be through the gifts of money or prayer.
My pastor Daniel Fusco made a good point the other day. “If we don’t want a big government, we should be doing our part to ensure we don’t need a big government.” Nothing could be truer. We claim we need new cars, a bigger house, or a nicer television, when there are babies in this world who don’t have formula, let alone a mother to rock them to sleep. Yes, there will always be orphans and widows, we know that, and we know that we won’t be able to help everyone. But there are people who literally aren’t being helped because our check is waiting to be sent. Missionaries are in place, there are patients in the waiting room, they’re waiting, and being sent away by the second because of the lack of medicine. You and I can do something about that. How long do you think it would take for you to find a mission in need of assistance? I’m sure you could find one in less time than it takes to finish this article. Find one! Give them what you can. Ten dollars goes farther than you think. It buys medicine for a sick child or mother and lights a fire in your heart. Nothing can change your life like changing someone else’s. Please, please, please. Change someone’s life today.
David Livingstone went to Africa and gave his life for it. His son Robert went to the United States and fought and died in the battle of Gettysburg. They did it to fight slavery, to fight injustice, to fight for what is right and good. What are we fighting for? If for nothing, we should find something, and if we find something, let’s be sure it’s right and good. Then, let’s put our hearts and our lives behind it. It may be hard at first, but when it becomes our purpose, it becomes more than we could ever give up.