The Fringes of Victory, John G. Paton

Does loss haunt you? Does it cause you to be insecure about your relationship to God? John G. Paton (1824-1907) suffered losses beyond the experience of most. A month after establishing a mission station in the heart of the warring and human flesh eating people of the islands of Vanuatu, his wife died from complications of malaria. Two weeks after his wife’s death, his newborn son also died. Alone but for native helpers, Paton suffered great losses for the next three years: bouts of malaria,  constant death threats, frequent native wars, a serious outbreak of measles purposely brought by a sandalwood trader to the islands to wipe out the natives,…