Meant for Harm, Turned to Good: Samuel Ajayi Crowther and Genesis 50:20

Some stories remind us that the worst chapter of a life is not the last one. Samuel Ajayi Crowther's is one of them.

Born around 1809 in Osogun, in what is now Oyo State, Ajayi was about twelve when slave raiders captured his village in 1821 during the Yoruba wars. His father was most likely killed, and he was sold to Portuguese slave traders along with his mother and baby brother. Before the ship could leave port, a British Royal Navy vessel boarded it and freed the captives. They were resettled in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

There the boy learned to read, took the name Samuel Crowther, and was baptised in 1825. He became the first student at Fourah Bay College, studied languages, and was ordained in England. He returned to Yoruba country as a missionary, helped open the mission in Abeokuta, worked on a Yoruba grammar and Bible translation, and later became the first African Anglican bishop of West Africa. The boy sold at the coast became a teacher of his own people's language.

Scripture gives words for such a turn. Joseph told the brothers who had wronged him: "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." (Genesis 50:20, KJV)

Prayer point: Lord, take what was meant for harm in our lives and families and turn it to good for Your glory.

Over to you:
- Has there been a season in your life that looked like loss but later turned into a testimony?
- Who has God placed in your path to help you through a hard time, and how can you be that person for someone else?

Sources: Wikipedia, "Samuel Ajayi Crowther" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Ajayi_Crowther). This is a Celeland community reflection and is not an official church publication.

Photo: Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther, 1867, Wikimedia Commons (public domain)