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DAN CRAWFORD
Konga Vantu
1870-1926
On a high hill overlooking the town of Luanza, nestled on the shores of Lake Mweru, there is a cemetery containing the
last remains of a number of brave missionaries who gave their lives for the
cause of Christ in what is today the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Among those graves is that of Dan
Crawford, who is often referred to as the one who most closely followed in the
footsteps of David Livingstone. Crawford had requested that his body be buried
as that of an African-wrapped in a blanket and then with a grass mat. But his
body was also placed in a roughly made wooden casket.
Crawford was born into a Scottish family of seafaring men
from the island of Arron, just off the west coast of Scotland opposite Glasgow. He entered the world in a small village of Greenock on the banks of the Clyde River on December 7,
1870. His
father died at an early age and left him as the only son to his mother. She had
one other child-a daughter-living at that time. Dan grew up in a Christian home
that was part of the Church of Scotland. Even as a young man, he recognized
that he must do something to please God. He was active in various aspects of
the church, such as Sunday school. However, under the preaching of some
followers of the outstanding Henry Drummand, he came under severe conviction of
sin and was troubled for months about his spiritual condition before God. He
found little help in the kirk (church) he was attending, but a friend invited
him to a small assembly of the Brethren persuasion that met in what was called
the "dairy hall." There, under sound gospel preaching and following a severe
spiritual battle, he finally came to know Christ as his Saviour and Lord in his
sixteenth year.
From the onset Crawford was a very outspoken witness for the
Lord Jesus Christ. His biographer said, "‘This one thing I do' was the spirit
of Dan Crawford. He had a God-given message to proclaim, and he did it with all
his heart. He was reckless with regard to his own life and health, but all was
for the purpose of exalting the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." He at once
became a very active witness to all those he encountered. Any place and every
place he could, he witnessed of the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Four
months after his conversion, he was baptized.
He came to know Christ at a time when missionary activity was
greatly encouraged. Livingstone had died only a decade earlier. The China
Inland Mission was growing rapidly at this time, and a great deal of notoriety
was being given to the Cambridge Seven, who went to China in 1884-1885. C.T. Studd is one of
the best known of that group. In addition, the news of Hannington's 1885 martyrdom
in Uganda had recently reached England. All of these influenced the young
Crawford to a vision for missionary service, particularly regarding China.
Crawford was very active in Bible studies and had an
insatiable longing to know the Word of God and to preach the message of
redeeming love wherever he had the opportunity.
In September of 1888, Crawford met F. S. Arnot, who had just
returned from Africa. Mr. Arnot, of the Plymouth Brethren,
had made a number of trips into the heartland of Africa and was recruiting people to join
him in evangelizing central Africa. It was through Arnot's influence that Crawford was
challenged to take the Gospel to the dark continent. In March of 1889, at the
age of 19, Dan Crawford left for Africa under the leadership of Mr. Arnot. He went out very much in
the spirit of Mueller of Bristol-putting his faith and confidence entirely on
the Lord to supply his every need. He first touched foot on African soil in
present-day Angola, and the party went east into the
very heart of Africa. To quote Livingstone, "He who is to
represent Christ before heathenism should be Christ-loving and Christ-like,
should have a passion for the salvation of souls, should not hesitate to give
up luxury and life as his Master did in order that the world may come to a
knowledge of the Gospel that saves." This is exactly what Dan Crawford did. He
buried himself in the heart of Africa and came to know the mind of Africa as few have done before or after.
Very much in the spirit of Livingstone, he gave himself to making Christ known
to those who were bound by paganism.
Dan Crawford is remembered for being a tremendous linguist who
learned well a number of African languages. He was able to translate the entire
Bible into the Luba language-a most difficult Bantu tongue that has nouns with
12 genders and verbs with 32 tenses. He spent most of his life in getting the
Word of God into the language of the Luba people. He stated, "the happiest
times of my life have been the evening hours of Gospel chats across the fagots
of fire." It was this close association with the Africans in his village and
along the trails that gave him such a deep insight into the African heart and
mind.
In the year 1897, he and his wife made a very arduous and
interesting journey. Mr. Crawford had long desired to visit the Ilala (the spot
where Susi and Chuma buried the heart of their master, David Livingstone, and
where in the bark of the Mupundu tree Jacob Wainwright had carved the immortal
name and the date of the burial: 4th May 1873). Mr. Crawford and his
wife made this long journey by foot from the northern part of Lake Mweru down to the south and east of Lake Bangweula. He describes this in great detail
in his book, Back to the Long Grass, My
Link with Livingstone. A great admirer of Livingstone, he brings to light (in
his book) many outstanding facts about that great African missionary.
After 22 years in Central Africa, he took his one and only furlough.
He traveled extensively in Great Britain, relating his experiences and
challenging the living church to take the Gospel to Africa. It was during this time that he
wrote one of the greatest classics of missionary literature, Thinking Black. While on furlough, he
also traveled to America, Australia, and South Africa before returning to Luba land.
As the year 1926 began, he took as his motto "Hats off to the
past. Coats off to the future." He completed the final revision of the entire
Bible into the Luba language, and it was in the printer's hands. He was looking
forward to the day when he could give the complete volume to his dear Luba
people. He had said if he were to die, he wanted to pillow his head on the Luba
Bible.
Sometime during the night of May 29, 1926, he was restless. Having turned
roughly and quickly in his cot, he knocked the back of his hand against the
shelf near his bed. Nothing was done at the time. The next day he began to
notice swelling and inflammation of this seemingly insignificant wound. Gangrene
set in very quickly. In his own words, "This week I suffer under a grave
disability. My left arm is poisoned, and this poison is knifing me very hard.
So, we are in God's hand, and all is well. It is harrowing and might have been
avoided, only I was sleeping in my little den in a deep sleep. This made me
forget the iodine, which is the panacea of my life. To say that it is harrowing
is only to remind you that it is the harrow that produces the smiling lands of
corn, and this explains that ‘we glory in tribulation' verse-but do we? Goodbye
dear friends. We will meet at the ‘appearing in excellent glory'." The
infection continued to spread rapidly up his arm, and he recognized that it was
a fatal illness. He slipped into a coma and died about 6:30 p.m. on June 23,
1926, at 57
years of age. "Konga Vantu," the name the Africans gave him, literally means
"the gatherer of the people." This name was given because he gathered together
thousands of people to the foot of the cross, where they found cleansing from
their sins by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ.
I want to be a Konga Vantu, and I'm sure you do also. So,
"hats off to the past; coats off to the future."
JAD
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