David Livingstone: Africa's Trailblazer (Christian Heroes: Then and Now)

A quick and enjoyable read about an extraordinarily remarkable man whose faith drove him to willingly endure incredible hardship and whose passion for exploration brought knowledge to the world

This was the first book of this Christian Heroes series I read to my kids (6 and 9), and it definitely held their attention. It was quite good talking about Livingstone's early life. Maybe that's the part that is most interesting to kids, I don't know.As an adult, I was a little disappointed that this book did not explain more the significance of David Livingstone's life. I had to fill in some details from what I remembered in school about his amazing last journey (after he died). I think it does not portray just how much his African companions loved him, and how deep his influence among the Africans was (and how much of a contrast it was to the other explorers/conquerors who gave the Europeans a bad name). It did not say much about Livingstone's far-reaching influence on his countrymen, either--rethinking the white man's burden, his passion to end slavery, and his ideas about how opening up the areas to trade could help wipe it out. It may have mentioned these things in passing, but these things were so important in his life.Nor did it talk much about his uneasy relationship with the slavers themselves when he got in trouble on his missions, and I think it downplays his failures. In fact, all of his later years in this book are mostly a blur (this is often true of most of the books in this series, even when the later years were extremely important; it feels like the authors just got tired, and realized they had to end soon).As I said, though, it certainly held my kids' attention, and I'm not at all sorry I bought it. I'm not aware of anything else that's better, especially for the intended audience.

This is a great series that can be enjoyed by young children and adults. I used them as part of the training for a short term missions campaign. Each of the fourteen team members read a different biography in this series and then reported to the rest of the team. It was reminder that the training topics we were learning were relevant and lived out by the faithful and fruitful missionaries introduced by this series of biographies. For many of the team this was their first introduction to reading Christian biography and they loved it!Positives of this series:1) Great introductory overviews of the lives and ministries of the individuals.2) Basic reading level for an increasingly illiterate culture3) Short enough to be read quickly in a culture with an increasingly short attention span4) Available in Kindle and audio book for the technologically inclined5) Well written and holds your attention without being exaggerated and exploitative6) Chapters are short and can easily be read to children at bedtime or by adults on lunch breaksNegatives of this series:1) Due to their brevity and target audience the series does not deal with the more negative aspects of an individual's struggles with sin and the weaknesses in their personality as sinners saved by grace.2) Does not come across as hagiography (so idealizing the person that it borders on idolatry) but these introductions are not the place to get the full picture of these godly but imperfect champions for God. Instead they are great springboards to more extensive biographies that deal with the fuller picture of these heroic but very human Christ followers.

I was disturbed at how little this Christian book about a Christian man spoke of God's work in his life. It is well-written and it is interesting, but it is missing the most important things. If you were to believe this book, David Livingstone accomplished what he did largely because of his own personal qualities. Very little talk about answers to prayer. Almost nothing about his own dependence on God. Nothing about his conversion. Nothing about his own struggles with sin. He is a "hero" and the focus is on him, not on what God did through him. How different is this from what Hudson Taylor said: "all God's giants have been weak men who counted on God being with them."I imagine the authors didn't want the book to be preachy, however, it could easily have given praise to God without being preachy. But I would argue more than this, I would argue we need books a little preachy when it comes to the fact that exploits for God are not done in our strength but in His strength. If we teach our children that those who have done the most for the kingdom did it because of their own personal determination and perseverance, they may decide they could never measure up and never even try to be a missionary. Could it be that such books as this one which presumably extol missions are actually killing missions? Certainly fewer and fewer people are going to the mission field. Is it because of the missionary biographies we have been giving them as children? What would happen if we gave them biographies filled with the weaknesses of men and the shortcomings of men (Much like how the Bible presents men) and the greatness of God who used them in spite of themselves? Would we then see more young people willing to venture wholly on such a God, whose strength is made perfect in weakness, to venture even to the furthest corners of the earth?I went through the book, looking for references to reliance on self and missed opportunities to give God the credit. Here's what I found:"Other people might drop out, David thought to himself as he read, but not me.""Captain Donaldsen's stubborn determination kept the ship afloat. ""Then, to David surprise, clarity suddenly came to his mind.""In an instant, a plan flashed through David's mind.""So David's threat to tell people in Europe what the Boers were up to changed the Boers minds about attacking and won the day.""He had done it. He had made the 2000 mile journey..."The references to God and answers to prayer were few and far between and generally anemic. The best reference was of David opening to Psalm 121 and reading the verse about "my help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth"I would encourage parents to screen the books they give their children for these things. Don't just assume that because it claims to be a Christian book that it has a Christian message. Many parents are careful to ensure that the books their children read don't have the bad things as defined by Hollywood, bad words, innuendos, graphic violence, but there are a host of things that are bad for our children that Hollywood knows nothing about. Self-reliance and self-righteousness are far more dangerous and have, I fear, undermined far more gospel teaching than Hollywood-ratings-based immorality.

Brilliant book in excellent condition. I would recommend it to anyone who has enjoyed the Christian Heroes series.

good

Fantastic book!! Not too long. Very well written - reads like a novel! And amazing story. I really couldn't put it down, and finished it in 3 days.

Detailed and a great story true story of a great Christian man. Suited to read aloud with family of all ages - an awesome biography that brought tears to my eyes many a time! A must read.

I have known more of his spiritual life in video that lasts 8 minutes,from Ravi Zacharias than from this "biography".Mr.Henry Stanley got converted,and much more is missing,its hard to belive a christian wrote this biography.Dissapointed.