George Liele is the first of many African American missionaries who will go to a nation not their own to those who know nothing of the Son of God. They will go because, like George, they too “hold to live nigh the scriptures as much as (they) can.”

Truly, the life of George Liele embodies that of a pioneer. He paved a path for others to follow behind him and, like most pioneers, faced the challenges of going first. He was born around 1750 into slavery…

At the foot of the cross, we meet the King who is the servant of all. On the cross, we see the Father, who was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. There Jesus, through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself without blemish to God.

All three Persons of the Trinity present on the Hill outside of Jerusalem that Friday, accomplishing the work that would redeem, reconcile, and recreate the cosmos. More happened in that six hours on Golgotha then we will be able to comprehend for billions of years.

An explosion happened in the heart of Jesus as it became a groan of intercession. The same desire that brought creation into existence was about to bring a new creation out of His own body. These last words in prayer, before His betrayal in the garden, reveal the motivation of His heart in everything that will transpire over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Jesus has done the unthinkable. He asked the Father to give the redeemed of the human race the highest pleasure possible, to behold the unparalleled splendor of God in the face of Jesus and to feel the same love that the Father has for His Son…

Jesus dealt with the outer courts violently because it was violently opposing all that He came to accomplish. He dealt violently with the outer courts on Monday and violently with the inner courts on Friday, tearing the veil to the Holy of Holies from top to bottom.

In turning over the tables and rending the veil in the temple, Jesus was overturning one priesthood and program of worship and inaugurating a new priesthood that would spread across the whole earth until incense would arise in every place and every nation would see and sing of His worth.

As we evaluate the missiological philosophies, the most important thing to consider is: what is the fruit? It would be hard to look at a single indigenous church in this nation and say “nope, wasn't worth the fruit.”

The challenge to partner with local indigenous churches and pastors is immense. It is not easy but we feel so passionately that the difficult road, the way of the cross, will bear fruit thirty, sixty, and one hundredfold, both in this age and in the age to come.

The Great Commission wasn't just given to a few believers or a few denominations. It is the mission of the entire church! So I ask then, why so few black laborers on the field? What have been the stumbling blocks in the path of black laborers being sent out to the harvest?

How is it that black people were mobilized and sent to the missions field even in the midst of slavery but now are nearly nonexistent in the modern-day missions movement? Many of us have never heard of George Liele and Betsy Stockton so it’s no surprise that African Americans are unaware of the history and the leadership role they have had in missions in America…