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George Liele Missions George Liele: Trail-blazing Disciple-maker 07 February 2021 Selected Scriptures {RECOMMENDED BOOKS - we have little!} Slavery's Heroes: George Liele and the Ethiopian Baptists of Jamaica 1783 -1865, Doreen Morrison IMAGE: famous Wirsts and trying to conceive of being the Wirst to do something, like blaze a trail -and how hard that must be Adoniram Judson is often credited with being the Wirst American missionary -I preached on him a couple years ago and explained that he was the Wirst one formally sent William Carey is called the Father of modern missions -credited with being the Wirst missionary of the modern movement (from England) -haven’t preach on him yet but will! But before Judson and even before Carey was George Liele -many refuse to call him a missionary, and maybe they’re right -he wasn’t “sent” out to preach and teach -but what he did after leaving the American colonies for Jamaica was disciple-making in a foreign land -maybe that's not formal mission work, but he was blazing trails -doing things that others had yet to do: leave a homeland, then preach the gospel in a new place, send out his disciples to plant churches in other places, and even recruit others believers from abroad to help him with the mission -and he did it all as a black man in the 18th Century SHORT HISTORY: -born a slave in Virginia around 1750 (no records) -was moved as slave from Virginia to Georgia -(probably around 14 yrs old) -he never really knew how old he was and only learned his parents’ names secondhand -Georgia had been founded to be a free colony for all people -James Oglethorpe and debtor’s prison reform -the last of the 13 original English colonies in 1732 -but that plan was corrupted pretty quickly, and slavery became engrained there -so Liele remained a slave in Georgia -in 1773 he was converted and baptized -still a slave -started preaching -was soon ordained, becoming the Wirst black Baptist minister -still a slave -soon after his owner freed him so he could preach freely -he preached a couple years to slaves in plantations in his area of Georgia and South Carolina -helped establish the Wirst Negro Baptist church in America -in Silver Bluff, SC near Augusta, GA -in 1776 the colonies declared independence, thus upheaval -Liele’s former owner died in battle (British side), and that owner’s children seized on the new American freedoms to (ironically) try to re-enslave Liele -so in 1782, with the USA winning the war, Liele knew he’d either be a slave again, or he had to run -so he sailed with his family to Jamaica, which was a British territory, where he could stay free -so you can see that Liele wasn’t formally sent out as a missionary, but he did leave his homeland, and then once in a foreign place he got about the work of making-disciples -his geographical move (as with any moves we make, or life-altering changes) came with a divine assignment: to make disciples in that new place -and he did -and Jamaica was never the same -a missions board may not have commissioned Liele to go to Jamaica, but God did -God sent Liele there, to a new place, with the same commission he sends any of us anywhere with: “go and make disciples” -and no one had done what Liele got to doing in Jamaica As George Liele blazed some disciple-making trails, we can learn from what he learned -he made some foot prints we merely need to step into -and I’ll frame them in terms of things he didn't do, that led to him being so successful -successful as a disciple-maker, under the providence of God Three disciple-making “don’ts”: Disciple-makers don't need earthly status -READ 1 Corinthians 1:26—2:5 -Liele was a slave, a black man, had limited education, an indentured servant, had little money -he had no earthly platform that would have caused people to give him an ear -but he didn't need any platform, he didn't need a certain skin color, he didn't need money, he didn't even need freedom -didn't need any of that to make disciples -As a slave, Liele was at an immediate disadvantage for disciple-making -he had been taken away from his parents through slavery as a boy, probably even an infant -(READ in book 60 for what this was like for slave families) -never knew his age, didn't have a last name -it would seem virtually impossible that George Liele could accomplish anything for God -but God used him -he preached to slaves, then to mixed-race churches, even reached plantation owners -they saw the presence of God with him, and they made him room -As a free black man in the 18th Century, Liele had no clout -and yet he went to where anyone would listen -and listen they did -As a person with limited education, Liele couldn’t tout his credentials -he was apparently taught to read and write, but certainly didn't have any diplomas -nothing framed, no degrees, no seminary status -didn't have any sort of academic backing to his name -and yet, people listened to him anyway because his power wasn’t in pretty speech -Danny Akin: “A man without formal education, [Liele] learned to read the Bible and became a preacher of such effectiveness that in seven years in Jamaica he had converted over 500 slaves to Christianity.” -As an indentured servant, Liele had limited to access to his new country Jamaica -the only way he could get to Jamaica was by indenturing himself -to the commanding ofWicer of the British Savannah evacuation -Wirst two years in Jamaica he was a servant -but God still developed his heart for disciple-making during that time -As one with little money, Liele didn't have resources to throw around -no big screens to give away at youth group, no mortgages to pay off at his Easter service -he wasn’t paid by any of the churches he planted or any plantations he preached to -most of his disciples were slaves or very poor whites -“The chief part of our congregation are slaves, and their owners allow them…but three or four bits per week ($4 today) for allowance to feed themselves, and out of so small a sum we cannot expect anything…from them; if we did, it would…bring a scandal upon religion” -Liele didn't wanna do damage to the gospel’s witness by people thinking he was taking money from the poorest of the poor -And sure enough, a later disciple of his said of this decision, “It has been of essential service to the cause of God, for [Liele’s] industry has set a good example to his Wlock, and has put it out of the power of enemies to religion to say that he has been eating the bread of idleness or lived upon the poor slaves.” -so supported himself and family of six through farming and transporting goods with wagon team -and God blessed that -in fact, this allowed him to have what became essentially the Cirst missions funds coordination -sought the help of Baptists in England for support for him and other preachers he sent out -but most especially for building a place for Jamaican believers to worship -“We think the Lord has put it in the power of the Baptist Societies in England to help and assist us in completing this building” -that took some boldness to ask that as a black man in that era -at his time of writing, they’d set up nothing but the brick walls around a 40 x 60 foot area -he recognized the importance of global partnership -it woulda been so easy to isolate on an island (literally) -“I can do this myself” -but he followed the example of the Apostle Paul -working two jobs -soliciting other Christians for fundraising -writing letters of encouragement to converts and other missionaries -so in this way his church in Jamaica became essentially the Cirst global baptist missionary organization -Liele had the humility to know that the work wasn’t all about him -many missionaries/ministers wanna do it all themselves -“The Lord is blessing the work everywhere, and believers are added daily to the church. My tongue is not able to express the goodness of the Lord.” -God used Liele’s poverty to create cooperation -2 Corinthians 8:1-2, “We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of afCliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overClowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.” -APPLICATION: -you don't need earthly status to make disciples -you don't need community recognition, you don't need connections -you don't need wealth, you don't need resources -you don't need mental prowess -you’re outta excuses! -God uses what is weak in this world -which ensures that the faith of the disciples we make does not "rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” (5) -like a retired person, aging, not a lotta money, not sitting atop a board or business -but oh so useful to God nonetheless -you don't need any status, you just need to get to work with what you've got Disciple-makers don't have to (ight every battle -READ John 18:7-11 -Liele could have made it his life’s mission to Cight against slavery, especially as a free black man -and he woulda been right to do so -(and thank God for raising up those who did) -but Liele saw that in his context, he would have the greatest gospel impact without actively engaging in the war against slavery -it wasn’t a battle he chose to Wight -As soon as Liele had Winished those two years of indentured servitude, he quickly started preaching in a small home (he and his wife and one other couple made up the church) -soon, he organized a church with a few others -then soon he had 1,500 congregants around the island that he preached to four times a week -he travelled about doing so, then Winally organized that building project in Kingston -again,
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