George Brown: In his own words (Finding a mission)

CONTENTS

Family Background / My father: the able man / My father: the lay preacher / School days / Dangerous Occupations / Going to Sea I / Going to Sea II / Going to Sea III / Passage to America / First Steps / The Great Lakes / Return to England / A Narrow Escape / Passage to New Zealand / Auckland / Finding a Mission / Fit for Mission Work? / A Suitable Helpmeet / A Bush Honeymoon / Our Worst Night / Missionary Heroes / Sydney to Samoa
Acknowledgments & Links

I cannot call to mind any particular day on which I first realised the pardoning love of God. I had long experienced the throbbings of a new life, new thoughts, new desires, and a new purpose in life; and at some special services held in Auckland, when the Rev. J. Whiteley was in that circuit, I fully realised my acceptance through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and determined to live in accordance with His will, and to labour for His sake, that some might be the better for my life. I became associated with the Young MenÕs Christian Association, and afterwards became a local preacher in the Auckland circuit. In the year 1859 the Rev. Isaac Harding, who was at that time the superintendent of the Auckland circuit, spoke very earnestly to me about offering for the regular work of the ministry. Living as I was in the family of one of the old New Zealand missionaries, and being associated continually with one of the grandest missionaries that God ever gave to our Fiji mission, the Rev. R. B. Lyth, I had often thought of devoting my life to mission work. Mr. Lyth had often expressed a strong desire that I should go to Fiji to engage in the work which he loved so well. When Mr. Harding spoke to me, I told him that I was willing to offer myself exclusively for foreign mission work, and that, if accepted, my desire was to go to Fiji.

George Brown: In his own words

The Early Years and The Call

The Early Years
and The Call