George Liele: America's First Missionary
“A Missed Opportunity and a Call to Support
Minority Missionaries Today”
George Liele was the first missionary to leave America for a foreign land. He had a strong faith and was dedicated to spreading God's message. His story is not only about being an early missionary but also about how he did not receive enough support from the Christians of his time.
In this blog, we'll explore how George Liele significantly impacted the world and why it remains essential to support missionaries from various backgrounds today.
The Missed Chance
George Liele had made an impact for Christ despite not receiving adequate support from the Christians of his time. His impact could have been exponentially greater if he had been properly supported. Despite his lack of support, George Liele was committed to telling people about Christ. Through his ministry and church, thousands of people became Christians. Yet, we can't help but wonder how much more he could have achieved with better support, resources, and encouragement to spread the gospel. Missions history is full of the stories of missionaries who made an incredible impact and yet missed opportunities to advance the gospel due to a lack of support, and George Liele's story is one of the most significant. We must learn from the history of George Liele so that today’s missionaries do not miss these opportunities to advance the gospel.
George Liele was committed to telling others of Jesus. He talked to people about God, went to different communities to tell them about Jesus, and started new churches. He did this even before famous missionaries like William Carey and Adoniram Judson. But unlike these well-known missionaries, George Liele faced greater barriers and was an unlikely missionary candidate. Born a slave, he lacked resources, formal education, and freedom, access to things he needed. He didn't receive the help or support in his mission that he should have, yet he persevered in sharing the gospel with hundreds.
Liele was born to parents who were enslaved in 1750. Then in 1773, he became a Christian, and his life changed. His church recognized that he was good at talking to people about God, so they allowed him to preach and encouraged him to share with other slaves. This was the beginning of his amazing journey. George not only grew closer to God himself, but he also felt a calling to help others find God too. He cared about the spiritual well-being of the other enslaved people and wanted to bring them to Jesus.
Around 1775, George Liele became a Baptist pastor in Savannah, Georgia and was granted his freedom to pursue his calling. He focused on telling African Americans about Jesus. He gathered a community of new African-American believers and created what is believed to be the first black church in America, known as the First African Baptist Church. By 1802, the church had grown and had more than 700 members. In the years to come, First African Baptist Church would begin to plant churches, continuing to share Christ with others.
Liele's mission didn't stop in America. After the Revolutionary War, he went to Jamaica and worked for an English officer, Col. Kirkland. Liele and his family shared about God in the streets and eventually started a Baptist Church with only four members. In a span of seven years, he helped 500 Jamaicans become Christians. By 1791, the church had land and a building, making it the first Black church in Kingston, Jamaica.
By 1814, George Liele's efforts in Jamaica resulted in an estimated 8,000-20,000 individuals embracing Christianity—a testament to his unwavering faith and unyielding dedication to the Gospel despite the challenges he faced. Even after he died in 1828, the impact of his work continued to spread. By 1887, Jamaican churches had a total membership of 31,000.
George Liele's impact goes beyond his lifetime and continues to impact the world for Christ today. The disciples he nurtured, such as David George and Andrew Bryan, played pivotal roles in proclaiming God's message to new frontiers. These disciples carried the Gospel to Canada, West Africa, and beyond, establishing numerous churches and leaving an enduring legacy for Christ.
The Current Opportunity
Two thousand years ago, Jesus said, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few." This is still true today. The world needs the gospel of Christ. There are missionaries who want to go, are called, and qualified, but they are prevented due to a lack of financial support. Currently, less than 1% of American missionaries are of black descent. Yet, an encouraging 61% of black young people who go to church are ready to be missionaries, heralding the potential for a more diverse missionary landscape resulting in more people knowing Christ.
In the United States, there is a generation of young people where about half of them don't believe in God or aren't sure. This is more than the number of people who believe in God for the first time in history. In the whole world, almost 70% of people haven't heard about Jesus. The harvest truly is plentiful, and we desperately need missionaries, especially from diverse backgrounds! George Liele's story should inspire us to support these missionaries so they, too, can impact the world for Christ. We shouldn't miss this chance to help impact the world for Christ.
Here's the important part: this is a big chance for us. If we help missionaries from diverse backgrounds, we can do a lot for God's Kingdom. How the impact of Liele’s missions legacy still impacts the world for Christ today. Resourcing and funding missionaries increase the number of unreached people from all over the world to hear the gospel for generations to come. We have the resources, those who are willing to go, and the opportunity to tell people about hope and how to be saved. The time to start is now! Let's take this moment to fund minority missionaries to share God's love with people worldwide.
