God’s Battle Axe – Robert Moffat

Robert Moffat was a pioneering Scottish Protestant missionary and Bible translator. He is regarded as the father and founder of missionary work in South Africa. Moffat was born of humble parentage on December 21, 1795 in Ormiston, East Lothian in Scotland. To find employment, he moved south to Cheshire in England as a gardener. In 1814, whist employed at West Hall, High Legh in Cheshire, he had trouble with his employer due to his Methodist sympathies.

          For a short period, after applying successfully to the London Missionary Society (LMS) to become an overseas missionary, he took an interim post as a farmer, at Plantation Farm in Dukinfield, where he met Mary, his future wife. In September 1816, LMS formally commissioned Moffat as a missionary at Surrey Chapel, Southwark in London, and was sent to South Africa. His fiancée, Mary was able to join him three years later.   

           Moffat’s first years in South Africa were spent in Namaqualand, where he converted a chief who was sought by the local colonial authorities. The missionary earned government support when officials realized that he had solved a problem through his religious efforts. Moffat also explored the Kalahari Desert and, as a result, was named to head a mission station there. On his way, he encountered a flood of refugees fleeing the advance of a tribal force from Ndebele community, under control of Mzilikazi, the tribal leader. These people soon took over a number of villages, and Moffat rushed to warn the neighbouring communities. In a fierce struggle, the locals dislodged the refugees. This action enhanced Moffat’s reputation among the people he saved.

        In 1824, he went on to Kuruman, the northernmost outpost of South Africa. Here, despite raids by bandits and other difficulties, he stayed for half a century. Moffat was an indefatigable linguist. Within a year, he had completed a grammar of Se Tswana, the local dialect, and had begun translating the Gospel of Luke. In 1829, his work finally bore fruit, and the church services attracted many people. Within a few years, there were well-instructed converts, a flourishing school, and a permanent church building.

        Moffat later made contacts with Mzilikazi and accepted an invitation to visit him in his kraal; as a result, a warm relationship developed between the two. In 1837, the Afrikaners began to penetrate the area and came in conflict with the Ndebele, leading to the loss of many cattle. In response to the development, the Ndebele relocated from the area, and for a time Moffat lost contact with them. He used the time to take a sabbatical in England from 1839 to 1843, where he completed his translation of the New Testament and Psalms, as well as wrote a series of Scripture lessons. He also met David Livingstone and recruited him for the mission. Livingstone was one of a group of young men who extended Moffat’s work into the hinterland. On a recuperation visit to Kuruman, Livingstone met and married Moffat’s daughter, Mary, in 1844.

This period was one of the organising and systematic evangelizing in Southern Africa. Mission stations spread across the north of the country, and Moffat maintained supplies and communication. At the same time, he completed his Se Tswana Bible in 1857, a translation of the Pilgrim’s Progress, and a hymnbook. He travelled extensively, even though he was by this time more than 60 years old. In 1854, he set out across the Kalahari Desert, covering over 1,120 kilometres, a good deal of it by compass over uncharted territory. He finally found his old friend, Mzilikazi, and after re-establishing their friendship, he arranged for a permanent mission among the Ndebele. Moffat returned to the area in 1857 and again in 1859, personally operating the forge and taking part in constructing the necessary buildings. He assumed a mythical and prophetic character among the Ndebele.

          By 1870, two of his children were dead, another was widowed, and his wife’s health was precarious. The Moffats then returned to England where his wife died. Covered with honours, Moffat spent the last years of his life lecturing and promoting missionary work. He wrote several volumes of memoirs, which are valuable sources for the history of South Africa.

         The story of Moffat is a classic example of how God’s intervention changes the destiny of an individual. This humble man started life as a gardener, but God charted another course for him, which not only changed the history of South Africa but the entire African continent through his protégées like David Livingstone. That is what the Father can do with anyone who has a heart for lost souls. May the Lord open our ears to hear the cries of those under bondage to sin and death!

****** Culled from Moffat, Robert, Dictionary of African Christian Biography, https://www.dacb.org; Robert Moffat (Missionary), https://en.m.wikipedia.org