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Margaret Paton

Letters from the South Seas

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500 in stock

Weight 1.14 lbs
Dimensions 8.8 × 5.75 × 1.2 in
ISBN 9781800404540
Binding

Hardback

Topic

19th Century, Missionary Biography, Missions

Original Pub Date

1894

Banner Pub Date

Jun 30, 2003

Page Count

344

Format

Book

Book Description

In this companion volume to the missionary classic John G. Paton: The Autobiography of the Pioneer Missionary to the New Hebrides, Margaret Whitecross Paton gives an enthralling account of the missionary life in the New Hebrides (now called Vanuatu) from the 1860s to the 1890s. The steady advance of the gospel in the islands is vividly described, and the whole account is set against the background of the joys and sorrows of family life. Margaret Paton writes with rare grace, humour, and pathos.

Letters from the South Seas is an inspiring story, full of the triumphs of Christian faith and love, and a missionary classic in its own right—a book to prize.

About the Author

Margaret Whitecross Paton was the second wife of the pioneer missionary to the New Hebrides, John G. Paton. She was the daughter of the Rev. John Whitecross whose work The Shorter Catechism Illustrated was republished by the Trust. A gifted writer, musician and artist, she died in 1905.

Table of Contents Expand ↓

Introduction vii
A Paton Family Table xv
Preface xvii
1. Bound for the Islands 1
2. First Impressions of the New Hebrides 5
3. Settling Down on Aniwa 25
4. Glimpses of the Aniwans 47
5. Early Mission Days 55
6. The Church of God on Aniwa 65
7. Death and the Dayspring 71
8. To the Children of the Dayspring 75
9. A Trip to the Colonies 79
10. Family Life and Church Life 93
11. The Shipwreck and the Angel-Child 105
12. Home, Sweet Home, on Aniwa 135
13. The Mission Forces at Work 151
14. The Year of the Hurricane 163
15. The Madness of Mungaw 189
16. Slavers and Friends 233
17. To Her Dear Sister-in-Law 251
18. Days of Sunlight and Shadow 257
19. A Tour Round the Islands in 1889 273
20. To Her Husband 291
21. The Passing of Margaret Whitecross Paton 307
Key to Principal Missionaries Named 315
Index 317

Testimonials

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  1. Caroline Nias

    This is a wonderful book and if it is read alongside a biography or autobiography of John Paton you will see how the two complement each other perfectly and will understand what a suitable and indeed entertaining gift his second wife was to himself and to the work. Her letters written home are full of excitement, humour and challenge and will draw you in to their family life as well as shock you by the ghastly things that often happened to them in the course of serving the Lord amongst the cannibals of the South Seas! Throughout the book there are little cameos of amusing and instructive incidents in their family life, of their many illnesses, experiences of tornadoes and rough seas and endless adventures; but all from a woman’s persepctive, which is colourful, warm and refreshing. Having read this book I think you will begin to understand why at the end of his life John Paton said that if he had had more lives given to him he would have willingly spent them all just as he had spent his one – in the service of such a great and rewarding Master who had never left him and who had enriched his life so wonderfully in spite of such terrible dangers and distresses. To God be glory! Be inspired, entertained and refreshed by this book!

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