Maggie Paton's letters ought to be read alongside Paton's autobiography.
James Paton wrote that he was eager to publish these letters because "they
present another picture of mission life and experiences in the New Hebrides
from that portrayed in the now famous Autobiography of her husband
by Joel Beeke
The story of John Gibson Paton (1824-1907), Scottish Presbyterian
missionary to the South Pacific, is well-known. Paton worked with the
Glasgow City Mission while preparing himself for overseas service by
studying medicine and theology. Ordained by the Reformed Presbyterian
Church in 1858, Paton established a mission post on the New Hebrides island
of Tanna. His autobiography tells how the loss of his wife and infant
son
in addition to severe privations and native hostility forced him to leave
the island. He settled in Australia. There he extended the missionary
challenge among the Aussies, as well as in New Zealand and Scotland, where
his church elected him Moderator of her highest court in 1864.
In Scotland, Paton recruited seven missionaries for the work in the
New
Hebrides. He then settled on the island of Aniwa (1866-1881) with his
second wife, Margaret (Maggie) Whitecross Paton (d. 1905), daughter of
Rev.
John Whitecross, author of the Shorter Catechism Illustrated. He related
well to the natives there, had a highly effective ministry, and also
translated parts of Scripture into the Aniwan tongue. By the end of the
Patons' tenure, most of the Aniwan natives were professing Christianity.
Beginning in 1881, Paton was based in Melbourne, Australia. He conducted
missionary tours in numerous nations, producing large donations for South
Pacific missions. He was a powerful yet simple speaker whose passion for
missions knew no bounds. By the time of his death in Australia in 1907,
he
was hailed around the world as a great missionary leader. His family's
missionary connection with the New Hebrides continued until 1970.
Paton's brother James edited his autobiography. James also obtained
permission from Maggie Paton to publish her letters. Though many of them
have been lost, a sufficient number survived to piece together a moving
history of the Patons' labors over a twenty-five year span (1865-1889).
The letters throb with heartfelt convictions. Most of them were written
only for Mrs. Paton's family members, and none were ever intended for
print. Hence they are blunt, serious, and at times, humorous - all bearing
the marks of great integrity. They provide remarkably realistic insights
into life on the mission field from the perspective of a God-fearing
missionary's wife who was willing to follow her husband's call in adverse
and life-threatening circumstances.
Maggie Paton's letters ought to be read alongside Paton's autobiography.
James Paton wrote that he was eager to publish these letters because "they
present another picture of mission life and experiences in the New Hebrides
from that portrayed in the now famous Autobiography of her husband. No
feature will be found in the one contradictory to the features in the
other, but many lovely and thrilling scenes of a supplementary and
illuminative kind. Here we have the woman's delicate touch; we see with
the
woman's eye."
Maggie Paton's letters and sketches will move you; at times you will
weep,
at other times, smile. You will be stirred by the challenge of working
in
an isolated mission situation with only rare connection to the outside
world. For example, she writes, "If you came to be missionaries,
you would
find it uphill work indeed, to be sacrificing your whole life merely for
the sake of those who could not understand your motives, and who know
not
what it cost you to give up home and friends. But Jesus regards every
sigh,
and whatever is done for Him will meet with a sweet reward even in this
life; for He who has promised can never disappoint"
At times, Mrs. Paton is eloquent in conveying truth gleaned from the
Holy
Spirit's teaching in the school of affliction. She writes, "It is
only when
we have a hold of Jesus' hand that we can breast the billows that surge
over and threaten to drown us". Of home life, she says, "The
life of the
Christian home is the best treatise on Christianity-a daily object lesson,
which all can understand, can read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest;
in
fact, it is the only Bible which many of them [the black natives] shall
ever read! It wakens a terrible feeling of responsibility to see how they
sometimes look up to us".
She beautifully describes the power of the call to mission work when
she
writes of her husband: "His whole spirit is saturated with it; and
it's
just as impossible to take the missionary spirit out of a man, as it is
to
put it into him. Besides, he does not feel that God has given him a direct
call to leave it; and until that is the case, you may be sure he will
not
make the first move!"
I trust your appetite has been whetted to read this big-as-life book
of
mission letters. May God apply it to every reader, so that we examine
our
own sense of allegiance to Jesus Christ, the missionary par excellence,
and
realize afresh that without the mission heart of the Triune God, all of
us
would be lost forever.
JOEL BEEKE
The book has been receently reprinted in the UK by Banner of Truth,
but
this preface has been written for the American reprint copublished by
Reformation Heritage Books and Sprinkle Publications.
