In Sunday evening’s sermon, Stephen mentioned John G. Paton, who was a Scottish RP Missionary in the New Hebrides (Vanuatu) in the 19th century.
Paton, brought up near Dumfries, was initially and elder and city missionary in the Green Street congregation in Glasgow, planted by William Symington’s Great Hamilton Street congregation, after Symington moved there from Stranraer.
An excellent overview of his life is available in the form of a biographical talk given at a pastor’s conference twenty years ago by John Piper: You Will Be Eaten by Cannibals! Lessons from the Life of John G. Paton.
In a summary of the message, also available at the above link, Piper gives some background to the mission:
‘on the Island of Aneityum, John Geddie from the Presbyterian church in Nova Scotia (coming in 1848) and John Inglis from The Reformed Presbyterian Church in Scotland (coming in 1852) saw amazing fruit, so that by 1854 “about 3,500 savages (more than half the population threw away their idols, renouncing their heathen customs and avowing themselves to be worshippers of the true Jehovah God”’
Paton arrived at the island of Aniwa in 1866. In the next 15 years he saw the whole island turn to Christ. Years later he wrote, ‘I claimed Aniwa for Jesus, and by the grace of God Aniwa now worships at the Saviour’s feet’.
Piper’s talk was later published as an ebook, which is available to read for free.
The classic book on Paton is his autobiography which is introduced in the video below by Ian Hamilton:
