David Livingston, the famous missionary and explorer, once said, “God had only one Son, and He was a missionary.”[1] Such a mindset (and model) has been affirmed in the Bible, worldwide church history, and in the lives and testimonies of countless missionaries throughout the centuries.

In 1 Chronicles 16:24, court musician Asaph exhorted Israel to “Sing to the Lord, all the earth; Proclaim good news of His salvation from day to day. Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.” Later, the great prophet Isaiah prophesied:

The time is coming to gather all the nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory. And I will put a sign among them and send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal, and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard of My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations (Isa 66:18–19).[2]

Seven hundred years later, Jesus personally commanded His disciples to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15). Then, before His ascension, Jesus assured His apostles, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). God’s message is clear: to be a true believer, then, is to share the Good News of our one great God among all the peoples of the earth, even as far away as East Africa.

Many of Christ’s followers read Jesus’s charge from those early days, and faithfully and lovingly obeyed His command to risk everything, to sacrifice everything, to utilize everything, as ambassadors for His sake and His mission to the whole world. Within the Friends movement, this is no more evident than in the African missionary tales of men and women like Elisha and Virginia Blackburn, Emory and Deborah Rees, Edgar and Adelaide Hole, and Arthur and Edna Chilson. In their attitudes, affections, and actions, they clearly affirmed their heart-felt beliefs that:

We were on a mission for The King; the whole matter was in His hands: He had been in it from the beginning; He would see us through. It was for us to keep in His will and follow His guidance. This we craved more than anything else and were much in prayer that, each day, we might follow His “blueprints” for us and the Friends back home, who were praying for and backing us.[3]

As Painter notes,

Mission staff members spent much of their time ministering to the sick, operating the mill, building roads or erecting houses. However, they always kept in mind their central purpose. They had come across the sea to bring to the Africans the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ, the Savior of men.[4]

Stansell also shares, “Wrote Edna, ‘We were on a mission for The King; the whole matter was in His hands: He had been in it from the beginning; He would see us through.’”[5]

Second, they had realistic-yet-resilient expectations. Chilson remarks, “To be a Christian here, is going to cost some folks hardness, but they will be the stronger when they find Christ as their Savior.”[6] Stansell notes, “God did not always heal, but sometimes he did, and Arthur came to accept that the outcome was not merely a matter of one's faith and unity of belief, but depended also upon the sovereignty of God. Every day of good health and no injuries was a cause for rejoicing.”[7] Painter admits, “Though few in number, they held weekly sessions of prayer together. They were aware of the need for constant renewal. Often, they were exhausted in body, and on many occasions, faith was severely tested.”[8]

Third, these missionaries were authentic and accessible. Chilson once remarked, “Our most effective witness is our daily lives, through which we demonstrate our Christian faith”[9] Stansell clarifies: “There is every indication of genuine affection by many Africans for Arthur Chilson. ‘He took time to talk with us and be friendly; he was our friend,’ said one. He was considered ‘happy, kind and considerate.’”

Finally, many [all] of these dedicated, dynamic, discipling duos embraced a holistic ministry of missions. Like the apostle Paul, they became all things to all people, so that they could—by all means—save some (1 Cor 9:22). These missionaries were not flighty, short timers; they were in for the long, deep haul that called for their “all.”

Stansell shares,

[Perhaps] more than all else, Arthur Chilson created relationships as he worked hard with his friends to build roads, houses, and furniture, to repair cars and to plant trees. Through it all, Arthur Chilson had a passion for converts and disciples. His focus was upon the church.[10]

Painter proclaims,

Their concern was to witness to the truly abundant life in Christ. The African people to whom the missionaries were being sent would need medical care, more suitable homes, food for their families, education for young and old, and above all, they would need to develop their own Christian culture by expanding the entire horizon of their living.[11]

Chilson concludes the matter well:

Say, but these are busy days for us all—building, doctoring, preaching, itinerating, tree planting, garden making, making charts for the school we hope to open next week-out in the open or in the shop for we have no school building—and many other things are being done. But, oh, what a precious privilege of bringing the Gospel to these untouched masses.[12]

Christ had commanded them, they obeyed, and peoples’ lives were changed forever.

Bibliography

Chilson, Edna H. Ambassador of the King. Newberg: Barclay, 2009.

East-West Staff. “David Livingstone’s Legacy in Missions.” https://www.eastwest.org/blog/david-livingstones-legacy-in-missions/.

Painter, Levinus. Hill of Vision: The Story of the Quaker movement in East Africa, 1902-1965. Kitale: East Africa Yearly Meeting of Friends, 1966.

Stansell, Ron. Missions by the Spirit: Learning from Quaker Examples. Newberg: Barclay, 2009.

[1] East-West Staff, “David Livingstone’s Legacy in Missions,” https://www.eastwest.org/blog/david-livingstones-legacy-in-missions/.

[2] All scriptures are taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE (NASB):

[3] Edna H. Chilson, Ambassador of the King (Newberg: Barclay, 2009), 189.

[4] Levinus Painter, Hill of Vision: The Story of the Quaker movement in East Africa, 1902-1965 (Kitale: East Africa Yearly Meeting of Friends, 1966), 27–28.

[5] Ron Stansell, Missions by the Spirit: Learning from Quaker Examples (Newberg: Barclay, 2009), 66.

[6] Chilson, Ambassador of the King, 204.

[7] Stansell, Missions by the Spirit, 40–41.

[8] Painter, Hill of Vision, 29.

[9] Painter, Hill of Vision, 29.

[10] Stansell, Missions by the Spirit, 80–81.

[11] Painter, Hill of Vision, 20.

[12] Chilson, Ambassador of the King, 201.