How does someone go from the idyllic, rolling hills of Scotland to the volcanic wilds of Vanuatu? How does one muster the courage to trade neighboring shepherds for cannibals next door? Among the factors God used in the life of John Paton was a pandemic.

How a Pandemic Prepared John Paton

John Paton grew up in Scotland in the mid-1800’s. Before 2020, we were thankfully quite unaccustomed to pandemics, but the world of the 19th century was not so blessed. Cholera took the lives of millions during five pandemics in that century.[1] The second pandemic occurred during Paton’s childhood. The third, and most severe, cholera pandemic spanned his late twenties from 1852 to 1859 and spread from Asia to Europe, Africa, and the Americas. The deadliest outbreak occurred in 1854. That year, 23,000 people died in Great Britain alone—in London, 10,000 perished in a span of just three months.

Despite the ongoing health crises, Paton continued his ministerial and medical studies. He put his medical training to immediate use as he ventured into infected homes to treat the dying. In 1858, though the cholera pandemic would not end for another year, Paton and his wife set off for Vanuatu to bring the gospel to the unreached tribes of those South Pacific islands.[2]

Many tried to dissuade Paton from leaving. His medical skills were valuable, his pastoral ministry well-appreciated. The danger of disease only increased with travel, and the risk of death multiplied exponentially when moving to an island famous in Britain for its cannibals.

Paton answered his concerned friends, saying “that my mind was finally resolved; that, though I loved my work and my people, yet I felt that I could leave them to the care of Jesus, who would soon provide them a better pastor than I; and that, with regard to my life amongst the Cannibals, as I had only once to die, I was content to leave the time and place and means in the hand of God who had already marvelously preserved me when visiting cholera patients and the fever-stricken poor; on that score I had positively no further concern, having left it all absolutely to the Lord, whom I sought to serve and honor, whether in life or by death.”[3]

Listen to what Paton says. What God taught him through the cholera pandemic prepared him for the next step in his life and ministry. Without the pandemic, would Paton have been ready to take on the risk of Vanuatu?

How the Pandemic Is Changing Us

Like all trials, the COVID-19 pandemic is God’s training ground. What are we learning?

Many are learning to live in fear. What was a simple shopping trip just months ago now produces all the tension of a scene from Mission Impossible. We make dead drops for food and only trust people wearing masks. We watch the news and scour social media with more devotion than we read the Word of God. Why? The pandemic has taught us to fear, and we have built the habit of finding our hope outside of God in face masks, potential vaccines, and the next conflicting expert opinion.

Some are learning belligerence. Is this not just another manifestation of fear? We fear we are losing freedoms. We fear we are being controlled by unseen forces behind quarantine regulations, the media, and the international medical community. Whether our arguments are valid or not, the pandemic is changing our worldview and our personal demeanor—and not for the better.

However, the pandemic should show us that God continues to work in this world. The virus does nothing to drain the power of the gospel. God is still preparing men and women like John Paton to serve Him. He is working through them as they serve quietly and faithfully despite the disease around them. God is still sending His servants across the world.

In addition, the pandemic should remind us of the brevity of life and drive us to use every moment for Christ.[4] The societal unrest that followed the pandemic should impress upon us that we are strangers and pilgrims in this world—we are citizens of heaven.[5] The pandemic and its onslaught of contradictory news and medical reports should thrust us upon God and His Word for wisdom.[6] Our trust in God should increase as the uncertainty of each day grows our faith as we look to Him. The pandemic should accustom us to living with daily risk, faithfully and creatively doing what God has placed before us despite the fearsome obstacles.

The COVID-19 pandemic is God’s training ground. What are we learning? What will we be prepared to do in the future because of what God has taught us through this pandemic?

[1] The picture depicts cholera as death prowling over the putrid waters of the Thames River. This drawing was published in the British magazine Punch in 1858, the year Paton left for Vanuatu.

[2] Read more about Paton’s faith in the face of risk in my book, Daring Devotion: A 31-Day Journey with those who Lived God’s Promises (available in October 2020).

[3] John Gibson Paton, The Story of John G. Paton: Thirty Years Among South Sea Cannibals (New York: A. L. Burt Company, 1892), 53-54. I recommend your read this book! It is free on kindle at https://www.amazon.com/Story-Paton-Thirty-Years-Cannibals-ebook/dp/B0083ZH2DW/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=john+paton&qid=1595813263&s=books&sr=1-6

[4] 1 Peter 1:24-25; 1 John 2:17.

[5] Philippians 3:20; Hebrews 11:13.

[6] James 1:5.