John G. Paton would later write,
"Thus were the New Hebrides baptized with the blood of the martyrs; and Christ thereby told the whole Christian world that he claimed these islands as His own."
John G. Paton, Missionary to the New Hebridies: An Autobiography, (Banner of Truth Trust, 1965) pg 75
Paton was an amazing man of great courage who paid many a sacrifice in order to bring the gospel to a land filled with spirit worship, cannibalism, infanticide, widow sacrifice, murder, and terrible fear. He wrote a description of the religious state of this land:
"Their worship was entirely a service of fear, its aim being to propitiate this or that evil spirit, to prevent calamity or to secure revenge. They defied their chiefs...so that almost every village had its own Sacred Man....They exercised extraordinary influence for evil, these village or tribal priests, and were believed to have the disposal of life or death through their sacred ceremonies....They also worshiped the spirits of their departed ancestors and heroes, through their material idols of wood and stone....They feared the spirits and sought their aid; especially seeking to propitiate those who presided over war and peace, famine and plenty, health and sickness, destruction and prosperity, life and death. Their whole worship was one of slavish fear; and so far as I could learn, they had no idea of a God of mercy and grace.
Autobiography, pg. 72
When Paton expressed his desire to go to this dark land to spread the glory of the risen Lord, many Christians told him not to go. One case in particular reveals the heart of this great missionary. A Mr. Dickson shouted, "The cannibals! You will be eaten by cannibals!" What a response Paton gave:
"Mr. Dickson, you are advanced in years now, and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms; I confess to you, that if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by Cannibals or by worms; and in the Great day my Resurrection body will rise as fair as your in the likeness of our risen Redeemer."
Autobiography, pg. 56
Amen, brother Paton. May God give us such men today who are willing to pay the price to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost and dying of this world. "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
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