Keep your eyes fixed upon the Savior . . . Honoring Black HIStory '23

   

Thomas Johnson was born in August 1836 in Rock-Rayman, Virginia, to a slave mother and free father who was one-eighth black. His mother’s owner refused to sell the pair to Thomas’ father, so when Thomas was just three years old, he was sold to a slave owner in Alexandria, Virginia. He wouldn’t see his mother for another six years.
As he grew, Johnson became increasingly interested in the message of the gospel, writing in his book Twenty-Eight Years a Slave: “I used to think how nice it must be in heaven, ‘no slaves, all free,’ and God would think as much of the black people as he did of the white.” He eventually came to faith in Jesus Christ in June 1857. In his book, he describes the spiritual transformation that took place and the joy he felt when, following the end of the American civil war, he was eventually emancipated, calling it a “third birthday”.

    Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith . . . (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Johnson had heard about Charles H. Spurgeon, the well-known Baptist minister who was a fierce critic of slavery. Johnson was eventually ordained and led a small African-American congregation in Chicago. But his heart was always for Africa.
   In 1876, Johnson and his wife travelled to England to prepare for their mission. There, his friend Mr Hind Smith wrote to Mr Spurgeon inquiring if Thomas could be admitted to his college as a student. The reply was very simple: “Dear Mr. Hind Smith,—Yes, let the dear man come—C. H. Spurgeon.”
    On the 6 November 1878, the newly graduated Rev Thomas Johnson sailed from Liverpool to the west coast of Africa to begin his ministry as an evangelist, pastor and teacher of the gospel. Sadly, his wife died there and, eventually, poor health forced him to return to America in 1880. In the 1890s, Johnson moved back to England and settled in Bournemouth with his second wife, Sarah. Until his death in 1921, he continued to be an active minister of the gospel throughout England.
   Rev Thomas Johnson, evangelist, missionary, pastor, teacher and author is an outstanding example of one of the great heroes of the Christian faith who kept his eyes fixed upon his Savior throughout his life, and who has bequeathed to the Church a truly inspiring testimony and example. (https://www.premierchristianity.com/features/thomas-johnson-how-a-slave-became-the-first-black-student-at-spurgeons-college/5607.article)