Saturday, October 3, 2009

I Left My Heart In...


I recently read an amazing story about David Livingstone. He was born in 1813 in Scotland and died in 1873 in Zambia, Africa. He was an extraordinary man with a heart for God and others. His adventuresome spirit took him to places few if any had seen up to that time. His skill with medicine gave him a doorway to ministry. He was the first medical missionary to Central Africa.

Toward the end of his life, he lost contact with the outside world for about 6 years.Henry Morton Stanley, a newspaper employee sent to find him by the New York Herald newspaper in 1869, found Livingstone in the town of Ujiji in October of 1871. He greeted him with the now famous words, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" to which he responded, "Yes, and I feel thankful that I am here to welcome you."

In less than two years Livingstone would die of malaria and dysentery. After his death, Britain wanted the tribe in Zambia to return the body of their countryman for a proper burial. At first the tribe refused. Eventually they sent his body back, but without the heart. They placed a note on his body that said, "You can have his body, but his heart belongs in Africa." Livingstone's heartless body is buried at Westminster Abbey in London.

Today there is a statue of Livingstone at the place where they buried his heart.

Question: If your heart were to be buried at the place you loved most, where would that be?

1 Comments:

  • I was actually hoping that Jesus would return first and I wouldn't have to be buried at all!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At October 7, 2009 1:10 AM  

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