George Liele didn’t set out to become a missionary. He was a faithful pastor and church planter in America who preached the gospel to hundreds of people. His ministry and congregation were flourishing.
There was just one problem. George Liele was a Black man in America in the 1700s. Slavery was commonplace, and preaching became increasingly more difficult and dangerous for Liele. By 1782, he was faced with the hard decision of fleeing America to an unknown land. It was a journey he had not planned to take, but it was one God had prepared for him.
The Origin of America’s First Missionary
Liele was born a slave in 1750. His owner, Henry Sharpe, was a British loyalist and a Baptist deacon. When Liele heard a pastor preach the gospel in 1773, he recognized his need for a Savior and gave his life to Jesus. Soon, he began ministering to his fellow slaves and encouraging them to sing hymns. Seeing Liele’s zeal for God’s Word, Buckhead Creek Baptist Church ordained him as a minister, and Sharpe granted him his freedom so he could preach more freely. Liele began preaching in slave quarters in South Carolina, and his small congregation is considered the first Black church gathered in America.
Then, war broke out. Sharpe was killed in the Revolutionary War, and Liele moved his family to Georgia to escape re-enslavement. Sharpe’s sons attempted to capture Liele and at one point successfully had him jailed. But Liele was released when he produced the papers that proved his legal freedom. The Revolutionary War was coming to an end, and many Black people were leaving America. Liele befriended a British colonel named Moses Kirkland, who convinced Liele to go to Jamaica with him. Liele borrowed $700 from Kirkland for passage for him and his family, and he set sail for Jamaica as an indentured servant.
An Unexpected Missionary
Liele soon found himself in familiar territory as Jamaica was heavily involved in the slave trade. Once he finished his employment with Kirkland, Liele was a free man yet again in a land full of slaves. He immediately got to work. He preached the gospel to enslaved men and women, established a Baptist church (setting up the first building on his own land), and baptized new believers in public settings. His public ministry resulted in Liele being harassed by colonists and imprisoned on one occasion. But he continued his work in the face of persecution and even advocated for the end of slavery.
By 1814, there were an estimated 8,000 Baptists in Jamaica because of Liele’s efforts. He also encouraged church members to share the gospel with others, and some traveled out of the country to spread the good news. Liele’s work has left a legacy of evangelism and discipleship that has carried on for generations.
A Missionary Nonetheless
Although George Liele hadn’t planned to become a missionary, it didn’t make him any less of a missionary. The Apostle Paul found himself in unexpected places while escaping persecution (Acts 9:28-30), but the Lord used these detours to build up the church. Liele fled to a strange land and did the same; he preached the gospel and multiplied disciples.
Before Adoniram Judson left America for Burma, and even before William Carey set sail for India, there was George Liele—an unexpected missionary but a missionary nonetheless.