Pioneers Resources

"The cannibals! You will be eaten by cannibals!"

This was the warning of a well-meaning elder when John G. Paton, a young Scot who had never left his native land, announced his intentions to travel to the South Pacific New Hebrides islands (present-day Vanuatu) to bring the gospel to its inhabitants.

The warning was not without merit. Nineteen years earlier, two missionaries had been clubbed to death and eaten as soon as they stepped on the soil of these unreached islands.

Undeterred, Paton dedicated his life to establishing a church in the New Hebrides, but not without great loss and suffering. From tropical diseases and threats against his life to losing his young wife and infant in childbirth, Paton made deep sacrifices to see souls brought into the kingdom.

More than 100 years after its initial publication, Thirty Years Among South Seas Cannibals is a classic that still vibrates with Paton's transparency as he shares the struggles and joys of pioneering ministry among the unreached.

This re-released edition includes "Lessons from the Life of John G. Paton," by John Piper, a sermon that explores the roots and the fruits of Paton's courage.