Let a Thousand Fall November 6 Along the edge of western Africa sits Liberia, black Africa’s first independent state. It was established in the early 1800s through the efforts of the American Colonization Society, an organization devoted to repatriating American ex-slaves in colonies along the African coast. The first missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Melville Beveridge Cox, was directed there in 1833. He was a young widower, pale and prostrated with grief and planning for missions service in South America. “Why not go to Liberia?” asked his bishop, seeking someone to send to that land of fatal fevers. “If the Lord wills,” replied Cox. “I have no lingering fear. A grave in Africa shall be sweet if he sustain me.” To a friend, Cox wrote, “I know I cannot live long in Africa, but I hope to live long enough to get there; and if it please God that my bones shall lie in an African grave, I shall have established such a bond between Africa and the church at home as shall not be broken until Africa be redeemed.” To students of Connecticut’s Wesleyan University, he said, “If I die in Africa, you must come over and write my epitaph.” When a student asked what they should write, Cox replied, “Write, Let a thousand fall before Africa be given up.” He made a final visit to the graves of his wife and small child, then on November 6, 1832, Cox boarded the Jupiter and set sail. The seas were rough, and at first he doubled over in seasickness. But by mid-ocean, he was at work, planning a mission house, school, and farm. Glimpsing the coast, he wrote, “I have seen Liberia and live! It rises up like a cloud of heaven!” He disembarked at Monrovia on March 7, 1833, and threw himself into the work. But on July 21 he awoke from a fitful sleep, bathed in sweat and shouting, “Come, come, Lord Jesus, come quickly!” He died in a fever, having served less than four months. There were 999 left to go; and because of Cox’s example, five other youths were already on their way. I know what it is to be poor or to have plenty, and I have lived under all kinds of conditions. I know what it means to be full or to be hungry, to have too much or too little. Christ gives me strength to face anything. Philippians 4:12,13 Morgan, R. J. (2000, c1997). On this day : 265 amazing and inspiring stories about saints, martyrs & heroes (electronic ed.). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 13:19:03 +0000
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