David Livingston

David Livingstone is a Scottish missionary and physician.
He spent most of his life exploring

Africa. He helped Europeans learn a lot about the continent of Africa. Livingstone was born
in Scotland. His parents were really religious so David followed his dad’s footsteps. David is a
really hard working person, the reason why he would want to go to Africa was because he
knew that there weren’t a lot of Christians there; he also knew that not many people there
knew about Christ.Born in 1813 Blantyre Scotland .
Livingstone was a Scottish missionary and one of the greatest European explorers of Africa,
whose opening up the interior of the continent contributed to the 'Scramble for Africa'.
David Livingstone was born at Blantyre, south of Glasgow on 19 March 1813. At 10 he

began working in the local cotton mill, with school lessons in the evenings. In 1836, he
began studying medicine and theology in Glasgow and decided to become a missionary
doctor. In 1841, he was posted to the edge of the Kalahari Desert in southern Africa. In
1845, he married Mary Moffat, daughter of a fellow missionary[1].
Livingstone became convinced of his mission to reach new peoples in the interior of Africa
and introduce them to Christianity, as well as freeing them from slavery. It was this which
inspired his explorations. In 1849 and 1851, he travelled across the Kalahari, on the second
trip sighting the upper Zambezi River. In 1852, he began a four year expedition to find a
route from the upper Zambezi to the coast. This filled huge gaps in western knowledge of
central and southern Africa. In 1855, Livingstone discovered a spectacular waterfall which
he named 'Victoria Falls'. He reached the mouth of the Zambezi on the Indian Ocean in
May 1856, becoming the first European to cross the width of southern Africa[2].
Returning to Britain, where he was now a national hero, Livingstone did many speaking
tours and published his best-selling 'Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa'
(1857). He left for Africa again in 1858, and for the next five years carried out official
explorations of eastern and central Africa for the British government. His wife died of
malaria in 1862, a bitter blow and in 1864 he was ordered home by a government
unimpressed with the results of his travels.
At home, Livingstone publicised the horrors of the slave trade, securing private support for
another expedition to central Africa, searching for the Nile's source and reporting further
on slavery. This expedition lasted from 1866 until Livingstone's death in 1873. After
nothing was heard from him for many months, Henry Stanley, an explorer and journalist,
set out to find Livingstone. This resulted in their meeting near Lake Tanganyika in
October 1871 during which Stanley uttered the famous phrase: 'Dr Livingstone I
presume?' With new supplies from Stanley, Livingstone continued his efforts to find the
source of the Nile. His health had been poor for many years and he died on 1 May 1873. His
body was taken back to England and buried in Westminster Abbey[2]
Livingstone became convinced of his mission to reach new peoples in the interior of Africa
and introduce them to Christianity, as well as freeing them from slavery. It was this which
inspired his explorations. In 1849 and 1851, he travelled across the Kalahari, on the second
trip sighting the upper Zambezi River.[3]
One of the influence is that David Livingstone mapped out many areas of central Africa
his wards route from cape Town to kuruman became known “ missionaries Roads” .He
encourage many people to central Africa and East Africa through his books, speeches
appeals and journey like Henry Morton stanely Fredrick selous and other who reigned
their jobs to pursue exploration.[4]
European changed their attitudes from Slavery to legitimate trade in goods ,he encouraged
later missionary activities in central Africa like the UMCA, LMS ,FCS, Catholic,SDA,
Dutch reformed Church and salvation army. David Livingstone paved way for colonisation
by Europeans, success include exploration which was a great success made known to
outside world many features of central Africa rivers ,lakes and the Victoria falls .[5]
Missionary work early attempts to work in central Africa as a response were to David
Livingstone’s call a desaster for instance kololo mission, Shire highland . But however
missionary acvities greatly roused after Livingstone’s death . Slavery trade ,no immediate
effect through official British opinion was provoked to work towards ending the trade ,it
only became possible after establishment of colonial rule .[6]
For the next 15 years, Livingstone was constantly on the move into the African interior:
strengthening his missionary determination; responding wholeheartedly to the delights of
geographic discovery; clashing with the Boers and the Portuguese, whose treatment of the
Africans he came to detest; and building for himself a remarkable reputation as a
dedicated Christian, a courageous explorer, and a fervent antislavery advocate. Yet so
impassioned was his commitment to Africa that his duties as husband and father
were relegated to second place[7].
From Moffat’s mission at Kuruman on the Cape frontier, which Livingstone reached on
July 31, 1841, he soon pushed his search for converts northward into untried country
where the population was reputed to be more numerous. This suited his purpose of
spreading the Gospel through “native agents.” By the summer of 1842, he had already gone
farther north than any other European into the difficult Kalahari country and had
familiarized himself with the local languages and cultures. His mettle was dramatically
tested in 1844 when, during a journey to Mabotsa to establish a mission station, he was
mauled by a lion. The resulting injury to his left arm was complicated by another accident,
and he could never again support the barrel of a gun steadily with his left hand and thus
was obliged to fire from his left shoulder and to take aim with his left eye.On January 2,
1845, Livingstone married Moffat’s daughter, Mary, and she accompanied him on many of
his journeys until her health and the family’s needs for security and education forced him
to send her and their four children back to Britain in 1852. Before this first parting with
his family, Livingstone had already achieved a small measure of fame as surveyor and
scientist of a small expedition responsible for the first European sighting of Lake
Ngami (August 1, 1849), for which he was awarded a gold medal and monetary prize by the
British Royal Geographical Society. This was the beginning of his lifelong association with
the society, which continued to encourage his ambitions as an explorer and to champion his
interests in Britain[8]
In conclusion if not for David Livingstone penetrating through the forest of Africa there
would not be a continent known As Africa is would have continued to be know as the dark
continent and people of Africa wouldn’t have know how to read write or arithmetics there
would have not been a region as Christianity.
ENDNOTES
 Eynikel, Hilde. Mrs. Livingstone: een biografie (in Dutch). Schuyt & Co, 2006. ISBN
9058263479
 Holmes, Timothy. Journey to Livingstone: Exploration of an Imperial
Myth. Edinburgh: Canongate Press, 1993. ISBN 0862414024
 Jeal, Tim. Livingstone. London: Heinemann, 1973. ISBN 0434372080
 Livingstone, David. Dernier Journal (in French). Arléa, 1999. ISBN 978-2869594494
 Martelli, George. Livingstone's River: A History of the Zambezi Expedition, 1858–
1864. London: Chatto & Windus, 1970. ISBN 0671204661
 Philip, M. Nourbese. Looking for Livingstone: An Odyssey of Silence. Toronto:
Mercury Press, 1991. ISBN 0920544886
 Ross, Andrew, and Andrew C. Ross. David Livingstone: Mission and Empire. London
and New York: Hambledon and London, 2002. ISBN 1852855657
 Royer, Galen B. Christian Heroism in Heathen Lands. Elgin, IL: Brethren Publishing
House, 1915. ASIN B00086E1O2
 Seaver, George. David Livingstone: His Life and Letters. Kessinger Publishing, LLC,
2007. ISBN 978-0548444757

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David Livingstone is a Scottish missionary and physician.

He spent most of his life exploring

David Livingstone was born at Blantyre, south of Glasgow on 19 March 1813. At 10 he

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