December 30. John Smith. Smith had trained to be a baker, but he applied to be a missionary. He was accepted and soon ordained. On this date in 1816, Smith sailed to Guyana, a tropical country bordered by Venezuela on the west, a country that drove its economy on the backs of human slaves.
In the next 4 years, Smith baptized 390 slaves, and his tiny congregation grew to 800 people.
Smith was only thirty-four years old when he died, but his death became a powerful catalyst in the abolition of slavery in England. Here’s his story.
Stand up for the voiceless; a godly man’s voice will always make a difference.
When Smith first landed in Guyana, the Governor demanded to know Smith’s intentions. Smith said he wanted to clearly preach the gospel to the slaves, to teach them the Christian catechism, and to teach them to read it for themselves.
But the Governor said, “If ever I know you, sir, to teach a slave to read, I will send you out of the colony immediately.”
But Smith went ahead and taught the people to read, and he taught them the gospel. Many of the slaves risked severe punishment to sneak away and hear Smith preach, and his church got bigger and bigger.
That kind of success made many of the slave owners anxious. They were against any kind of instruction for the slaves, anything that could possibly make the slaves think they had any power.
The slave owners thought it dangerous to make slaves Christian brothers. The slaves would see themselves as equal with the slave owners! They would resist their harsh working conditions, or worse, seek their freedom. That would cut into the slave-owners’ prosperity. They couldn’t stand for that.
When the slaves did rebel, the slave owners tried to cover up the true reason for the rebellion—they had treated the slaves cruelly. And the slave owners blamed Smith for provoking the revolt. Blamed him legally.
During Smith’s trial, forty-nine witnesses testified against him. Since he had refused to fight against the slaves, the prosecutor was eager to show that Smith opposed slavery and was guilty of inciting the rebellion.
Smith confessed to the accusation—he was definitely against slavery. He said that if it was a crime to hate slavery, then some of the best men in the world were guilty. He said that since the British government had passed a proposition that “Slavery is repugnant to Christianity,” he—as a minister of the Christian Gospel—shouldn’t have to justify his own belief that slavery is wrong.
Although the witnesses contradicted one another in their testimony, Smith was found guilty of conspiracy and rebellion and condemned to be hanged. The sentence was submitted to the King of England for approval.
Smith was then placed in the common jail, where his cell floor sat above the town’s sewage, and gaping holes in the floorboards allowed stagnant-water vapors to rise to the continual detriment of his health.
While he awaited the King’s decision, Smith wrote a letter to the London Missionary Society. He described his trial and the real causes of the uprising. Smith wrote, “I am satisfied that I am in the Lord’s hand, and there I wish to be. I feel pretty happy in my mind. I know not what judgment awaits me.
“Sometimes I think my decaying frame will not hold together long enough for [the King’s decision] to affect me. Indeed, I often feel anxious for the period to arrive when I shall inhabit ‘a house not made with hands.’ Pray for me.”
Still waiting in his smelly cell, Smith’s severe suffering came to an end. Smith took up residence in his new house not made with hands. Back in England, the charges against were dismissed, but he was dead before that news came.
“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy” (Proverbs 31:8, 9 NIV).
Where are you called to make a difference? Your voice will always count—in this life or the life to come. Stand up for the voiceless; a godly man’s voice will always make a difference.
“Case Study 3: Demerara (1823)—Quamina and John Smith.” The Abolition Project. Accessed August 21, 2020. http://abolition.e2bn.org/resistance_52.html.
Imperial Magazine. Memoir of the Rev. John Smith. May: No. 65-Vo. VI. London, England: Caxton Press, 1824.
Chamerlin, David. Smith of Demerara. London: Colonial Missionary Society, 1923.
Story read by Peter R Warren, https://www.peterwarrenministries.com/