Fully Committed

John Williams was brought up in a Christian family. As a child he spent time composing hymns and prayers for his own use, but by the time he reached his teens he had lost the faith of his childhood.

When he was eighteen, however, he was converted and called to be a missionary. He was accepted and appointed to the Pacific Islands. Taking his young wife, Williams sailed in 1817 to Society Island near Tahiti. While the natives were happy to adopt Christianity, it had only a superficial effect on them:  they had low moral standards, and were generally idle and difficult to teach.

Williams was anxious to move on to reach the heathens on the other islands; when his mission turned down the idea, he decided to take the matter into his own hands. With money he got from an inheritance, he purchased a schooner and set off to explore the islands of the South Seas, financing the expedition by trading with the natives.

He spent the next eleven years sailing the South Seas and planting mission stations. Financial constraints forced him to sell his ship. He built his own boat in a space of 15 weeks and set off once more.

He went home in 1834 and discovered the news of his adventures had made him famous and the business community was now prepared to support his commercial activities, voting to purchase a new ship for him. They also offered to advance him money to build a theological college at Rarotonga and a school in Tahiti.

On his return, he continued to tour the islands, reinforcing the work where a mission had been established. But when Williams and his colleague James Harris landed at Dillion’s Bay, on Eromanga, on  Nov. 20, 1839, they were killed and eaten by natives. It was in retaliation, it is believed, for the cruelties previously perpetrated by the crew of an English ship.

John Williams is recognized as one of the most successful missionaries of modern times, despite his lack of education and proper training. His findings proved of immense value to succeeding missionaries.