Review of The Pathfinder

“‘It is impossible,’ replied the Portuguese and the natives, explaining that the river was choked with duckweed and that the natives would shoot them with poisoned arrows. Livingstone, however, spent his whole life doing things that men said were impossible...”

            ~David Livingstone: The Pathfinder by Basil Matthews¹

What praise to be given! Missionary Dr. David Livingstone really did spend his life doing what men said was impossible. Who would think it possible for a young boy working in a cotton mill to one day be a doctor? Who would think it possible for that same Scottish lad to one day traverse the African wilds - not to mention map the interior, survive danger and disease, discover water where there was thought to be dessert, and disciple tribes considered unredeemable? Who would imagine that one lone man could document the horrors of the African slave trade and wake up a sleeping world? By the end of his life in 1873, Livingstone surely had experienced the truth of Matthew 19:26, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (ESV)

For me, this was the theme of a biography of Livingstone that was originally written in 1912, David Livingstone: The Pathfinder. I remembered the book on our shelves when I discovered that this year is the 200th anniversary of his birth, and, in just a few pages, I was fascinated. Basil Matthews relates the story in a narrative tone that draws the reader in, gives useful background information, and makes Livingstone, along with his trials and triumphs, come alive. That’s a recipe for a great biography, I’d say.

Having finished the book, there are several points that stand out to me.

• As already mentioned, Livingstone dared to attempt the impossible. Sometimes he failed. Oftentimes, by God’s grace, he succeeded. How often are we kept from doing what God wants because others deem it impossible?
• He discovered the wonder of God’s creation. “...Livingstone enjoyed watching  all the animals that roamed over the country, from the elephant and fierce black rhinoceros to the tiniest insects all happy at their work....Everywhere he found something to wonder over.”²   
• He painstakingly documented his findings to make them useful to others, showing that his vision went beyond himself.
• He didn’t give up even when he faced deep pain. Like many missionaries, Livingstone faced intense loneliness, the death of loved ones such as his wife Mary, the disappointment of false friends, and disease that nearly crippled him. He knew what it was to suffer. Yet his God-given mission(s) drove him on, and he finished the race because his hope was in God.

I hope today’s missionaries get to spend significant time studying biographies of yesterday’s missionaries because they give us such perspective. On one hand, we might realize that our struggles are not so hard to bear after all. Or perhaps we will be comforted by increased knowledge of the “cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1) and by seeing how God has upheld others in His “righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

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¹ Matthews, Basil: David Livingstone: The Pathfinder (Pensecola: A Beka, 2000, originally 1912),  pg. 117-118

² Ibid., 106