Perhaps you have never heard of the extraordinary church planter, John Paton. Although he was called to plant in another time and in another part of the world, his devotion to planting remains unquestioned to this day. More than 100 years after Paton last served in what is now known as Vanuatu, the latest demographic studies reveal that an astounding 83% of the people call themselves Christian. And while some foreign missionaries continue to work in Vanuatu, approximately 90% of the established churches there are now shepherded by indigenous people.
Calling
Born in Scotland on May 24, 1824 in the parish of Kirkmahoe, Scotland, Paton was the eldest of 11 children. His father was a stocking maker and as a youth Paton worked alongside his father for 14 hours a day. He did his studies during the two hours allotted to him each day to eat his meals. He had little free or idle time.
Paton’s life was full, but he couldn’t ignore God’s call to reach the lost. Paton said of his calling, “The wail and the claims of the Heathen were constantly sounding in my ears.” He sailed for the New Hebrides with his wife Mary on April 16, 1858, at the age of 33.
Cannibals
In an attempt to dissuade Paton from going, an elder from his church exploded, “The cannibals! You will be eaten by cannibals!” To this Paton responded: “Mr. Dickson, you are advanced in years now, and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms; I confess to you, that if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by Cannibals or by worms; and in the Great Day my Resurrection body will rise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer.”
It’s true that the inhabitants of the New Hebrides were cannibals and occasionally ate the flesh of their defeated foes. They also practiced infanticide and widow sacrifice, killing the widows of deceased men so that they could serve their husbands in the next world.
“Painted savages” surrounded Paton. The men and children went about in a state of nudity while the women wore abbreviated grass or leaf aprons. It was for this unreached people group that Paton began to learn their language and reduce it to writing. He took seriously the power of the gospel and God’s question, “And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?” (Romans 10:14)
Struggle
Paton and his wife reached the New Hebrides Islands on November 5, 1858. By March of the next year, both his wife and his newborn son died of fever. Paton dug their graves with his own two hands and in his loneliness and isolation, his ability to reason almost gave way. He said of this trial, “The ever-merciful Lord sustained me . . . and that spot became my sacred and much-frequented shrine, during all the following months and years when I labored on for the salvation of the savage Islanders amidst difficulties, dangers, and deaths . . . But for Jesus, and the fellowship he vouchsafed to me there, I must have gone mad and died beside the lonely grave!”
Paton also came close to losing his own life due to fever and was attacked multiple times by the natives. He recalls, “One morning at daybreak I found my house surrounded by armed men, and a chief intimated that they had assembled to take my life. Seeing that I was entirely in their hands, I knelt down and gave myself away body and soul to the Lord Jesus, for what seemed the last time on earth. Rising, I went out to them, and began calmly talking about their unkind treatment of me and contrasting it with all my conduct towards them . . . At last some of the Chiefs, who had attended the Worship, rose and said, ‘Our conduct has been bad; but now we will fight for you, and kill all those who hate you.’”
Triumph
No one would have blamed Paton if he had returned home, but he felt compelled to stay over the course of four years of seemingly fruitless ministry. It seemed that nothing was accomplished except for the loss of his wife and son.
After four years of what could be compared to “plowing on a rock,” Paton’s planting started producing fruit. In fact, nearly the entire Island converted to Christ and to this day the Island remains an oasis of faith in the middle of the South Pacific.
Paton’s story is unique, and while few of us can compare our struggles with his, there are times when it feels like the “natives” are out to devour us. There are times when the struggle to plant tempts us to despair. Yet the God who compelled Paton continues to compel us. We, like Paul, must tell those who attempt to dissuade us from going, “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” (Acts 20:24).
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