John
Paton (1824-1907) was the son of a very poor but godly Reformed
Presbyterian, James Paton of the parish of Kirkmahoe near
Dumfries
in
Scotland. James, seeing that
God had not called him to the ministry, had vowed "that if God gave him
sons, he would consecrate them unreservedly to the Ministry of Christ, if
the Lord saw fit to accept the offering, and open up their way”. Before
James Paton passed into glory, he was granted the privilege of seeing three
sons of his eleven children “entering upon and not unblessed in the Holy
Office”. John Paton, the eldest, went to the New Hebrides
(now
called Vanuatu) in the South
Pacific to preach the Gospel to the heathen tribes there. Many times his
life was in great danger, but the Lord delivered him out of all his
troubles.
His
translation of the Tannese Chiefs’ urgent letter to the Governor of Sydney
