The following wheat among the tares program has been pre-recorded. Well, a good morning to you and I want to welcome you to Wheat Among the Tares, our weekly program here from the studios of Gethsemane Global Radio in Lexington, South Carolina. I thank you for joining me here this morning for this broadcast and trust that as we are here every week and we thank the Lord for the opportunity to do so. that these programs are a help and a blessing to you. Not only the ones that are on Wednesday morning, but the subsequent podcasts that we record and are available to you. Again, thank you for joining me this morning. I am going to be going back into history, as some of our programs dictate, and we are going to be looking at a man who, as we title these particular types of Weed Among the Tares broadcast, those that gave their lives unto the Lord. And the one that I am going to be speaking of here this morning is a gentleman by the name of John Getty. And I'm going to spell his last name for you, G-E-D-D-I-E. Mr. Getty was from Scotland originally, and we're going to be detailing, should I say, his life this morning as a missionary to the Hebrides Islands in the South Pacific. And if you've heard some of these programs before, I have mentioned a gentleman by the name of John Patton. And Mr. Getty was contemporary with John Patton in some of the years that they served in the South Pacific. And I want to start the program this morning And by reading a verse in Psalm 97, and this was something that I read very recently in my daily readings. But it says in Psalm 97 one, and this kind of caveats on my thought for this particular program this morning, it says the Lord reigneth. let the earth rejoice, let the multitude of isles be glad thereof." And when I read that, I thought about these men that went before in years past and they settled in some of these islands that, again, if you know some of the history of what we've read here in the past, these were islands that spiritually were dark. They were people that had not the knowledge of God. They were warlike, they practiced cannibalism, they were just the darkest of people spiritually when it came to the things of God and knowing the light of God's Word. Mr. Getty was prompted in his heart at a young age, uh, to go to the mission field, not knowing exactly where he would go, but he was prompted in his early days. And I'm going to pick up. in a little bit of history about him and then into the missionary endeavors that he did a little bit later in his life. It says John Getty was born in Banff, Scotland, April 10th, 1815. His family was of the Presbyterian church there, which was a very conservative aspect of the preaching of God's word in those days. And in 1816, Mr. Getty came under conviction of his sin. It says the details of his conversion are not on record, but like John Bunyan, he was powerfully convicted of sin and for some time considered himself beyond the possibility of salvation. Eventually, however, The love of Christ banished the terrors of the law, and on June 22, 1834, at the age of 19, he was saved and united himself with the Presbyterian Church there, and where his family had moved from Scotland, in a place called Pictou, Nova Scotia. So now he's in Canada, and he begins a time of searching for himself. And he reads some things concerning some of the South Sea islands and the prospect of things there. And he said, he eventually became a pastor. And he said, while devoting himself to his pastoral duties, Getty sought to promote the idea that a colonial church might and should engage aggressively in foreign mission work. This was a new idea, for up to this time, churches in the British colonies, and that included Canada at this time, instead of sending missionaries abroad, were seeking financial aid for their own work for their brethren in other lands. The Baptists of the Maritime Provinces were then agitating the idea of undertaking foreign mission work and were the first actually to send forth a missionary. Their emissary was a Reverend Mr. Burpee, who was sent to labor in connection with the American Baptist mission in Burma. But to John Getty belongs the credit of first stirring up a colonial church to undertake a mission of its own among the heathen. He undertook to raise funds for this particular aspect of the foreign mission work there in the maritime provinces of Canada. And finally, this church at length committed itself to the establishment of a mission in the South Seas and accepted Mr. and Mrs. Getty as their first missionaries. Mr. Getty's mechanical abilities and his knowledge of medicine peculiarly fitted him for work on a pioneer field among Melanesian and Polynesian savages. The two missionaries and their children sailed from Halifax, Nova Scotia on the 30th of November, 1846. In his parting message, Getty declared, in accordance with the Redeemer's command and assured of his presence, we are going forth to those lands where Satan has established his dark domain. I know that suffering awaits me, but to bear the Redeemer's yoke is an honor to one who has felt and known the Redeemer's love. During the course of the long sea voyage as a result of them sailing from Halifax in November 1846, he was much impressed by the appearance of the heavens in the southern latitudes. He says while he gazed for the first time upon the Southern Cross and its beauty, he wrote in his journal, My best enjoyments in time and my prospects beyond the grave center in the cross, which is the emblem of redeeming love. He was thinking of the love of Christ and of the text unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, which by the way is Revelation chapter one, verse number five. on October 17, 1847, after a long journey of more than 20,000 miles. And bear this in mind, this was almost a year for them to get to where they were going. The vessel sailed into the harbor of Pago Pago, Samoa. While awaiting transportation to Eastern Melanesia, Getty devoted six months to the study of the Samoan language. This knowledge would be of great value to him in communicating with the Samoan teachers who had already been settled on several of the Melanesian islands. The following May, he and his family embarked on the sloop John Williams on a tour through the islands to the west to determine where they would settle. In some areas, the Austro-Negro race predominated. In others, the Malay race was more in evidence. And for the most part, the people were a mixture of the two. This explains why they have been usually classified as Melanesians. At Tanna, which was a small island, the natives were shy and sullen, he writes. Inquiry revealed that an Aromangan, who was from a nearby island, who had come to port resolution in Tanna with a sandalwood trader, had landed the previous day and was promptly killed, roasted, and eaten by the Tannese people. These people had fallen into the hands of the Aromangans and been eaten, and many Aromangans had suffered a similar fate on Tanna. This gives you folks an idea of what the spiritual situation was in these islands during this time frame. And by the way, this is the middle 1800s. At the island of Efeiti, they approached the place where a few months earlier the ship British sovereign had been wrecked and the crew of not less than 22 persons had been killed and brutally murdered and eaten. Deeds of brutality were not restricted to these men alone. Getty saw the place where three white men engaged in a sandalwood trade had on slight provocation shot about 100 of the natives. He also saw the cave in which about 100 other natives retreated for shelter and where they were smothered by the fire which the white traders built. at its entrance. Similar wanton deeds perpetrated throughout the Pacific created much hostility toward all white men, interfered seriously with missionary operations, and engendered a passion for revenge, which often led to attacks on innocent missionaries, and in numerous instances, to their martyrdom, as in the case of John Williams, Bishop Pattinson, and others. Getty landed on the island of Anitium on the New Hebrides group in 1848. When the ship John Williams sailed away, the missionaries, and by the way this is him, his wife, and his children, felt for the first time the stern reality of being abandoned on an island, surrounded by a barbarous people from whom they had much to fear and with whom they had little, if anything, in common. But were they despondent? Getty says, though severed now from those with whom we could take sweet counsel, we are not alone. We have his promise, at whose command we have come hither. He says, lo, I am with you always. Mr. and Mrs. Getty were soon engrossed in learning the Anitamese tongue. The difficulty of the task was increased by the fact that the language had not been reduced to writing, and no dictionaries or books of any kind were available. After mastering Anadintamese, the first assignment was to reduce it to writing and then to print some materials to help enlighten the people. During that time, there were two Samoan teachers, on the island, but there was not a single native convert. The people of Anetium, like those throughout the New Hebrides, looked like savages. Getty described some of their appearances as though they appeared to be very hideous. They wore long hair. The men wore long hair. Women cropped short. Their faces were painted red. all kinds of different situations he describes here as the way that they appeared. The people acted as savages. The female's sex was very degraded. The wife was practically the slave of her husband, and to her lot fell the drudgery and hard labor. The practice of killing unwanted babies was common. When a man died, his wife was immediately strangled so that her spirit might accompany his to the next world. And any children too young to take care of themselves suffered the same fate as the mother. If there was a grown son, he was expected to perform the act of strangulation. Getty writes, what was the force that impelled him to live in such circumstances so desolating and that sustained him amid the scenes so harrowing? And what was the message with which he expected to touch and transform a people so debased? In one of his home letters he wrote, The love of Christ sustains us and constrains us. My heart pants to tell this terrible people the wonders of redeeming love. And when the day arrives on which he is able to preach to the natives for the first time, what was the momentous theme of his discourse? I thank God, he wrote in his journal, that I have been spared to see this day for the first time I can tell perishing sinners of the Savior's love. Again, he said, if ever we win these benighted islanders, we must draw them with cords of love. I know of no power that is adequate to transform their lives except that which transformed my own life, namely the power of the living Christ who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. Getty conceived of himself as being on a campaign of conquest for the Lord. And Aetium was his base of operations while his parish extended across the vast reaches of eastern Melanesia with a multitude of islands. He evolved a five-fold strategy of conquest commensurate with his objective. Prominent in his thinking was the recruitment of new missionaries. He sent fervent pleas of missionary reinforcements to the Presbyterians of Canada and Scotland and to the London Missionary Society. For years he labored on alone, but eventually other missionaries came to help. The most eminent of these was John G. Patton. Getty's work diligently for the evangelization of the home base continued. By means of schools, personal conversations, and itinerary tours through the islands, he was unremitting in his endeavors to win Anthony's people. There were many obstacles, many trials, and many perils. One day, Getty came upon a group of women waiting piteously and rubbing a man's corpse with broken leaves. Some were pulling their hair and shrieking violently. This man's widow, an attractive young girl, sat nearby expecting to be strangled. Getty said, this woman must not be killed, and started leading her from the scene. Immediately, some men assaulted him, knocked him to the ground, and seized the young widow. While some of the women held down the girl's arms and legs, the men proceeded to strangle her. When Getty again tried to intervene, men with clubs drove him away. The murderous deed by this time was completed. Knowing that the savages were infuriated and that he was further risking his life, he warmly told the people of the foul darkness of their deed. According to our custom of belief, this is right, they shouted. Be gone before we kill you. Then he began to tell them of that wondrous love which led the Son of God to give up the praise of the angels for the mockery of men, to exchange the diadem of the ages for a crown of thorns, and to die on the cross that the dark-hearted sinners of earth might be changed and receive at last into the heavenly home. As he spoke, clubs were lowered, and the people became wistfully attentive. For there is something even in the savage breast that responds to the story of the Savior's love. Getty sought too to train converts to go forth as Christian teachers and evangelists. After years of patient seed sowing and cultivation, the missionary began to reap some precious sheaves. For the first time, he taught the converts that they were saved to win others. Reinforcing his teaching with action, he took them with him on his weekly tours through the island and encouraged them to witness for their Lord to their countrymen. He taught also his converts to read and love the Word of God. As they developed in the Christian life, He imparted to them the vision of evangelizing the teeming populations of other islands. Scores of them volunteered in the spirit of Uzziah, here am I, send me, and went forth to hazard their lives for Christ on other dark islands. Many of them loved not their lives even unto death and perished as martyrs on a foreign shore. Only eternity will reveal the full story of the magnificent heroism of these humble men and women who, like their beloved missionary, impelled by the love of Christ, went forth to labor, suffer, and die, sustained by the presence of the Lord, and soothed by the assurance that someday the seeds they had sown would be blessed of God to produce a harvest of precious souls. He often journeyed to other islands as well in response to Getty's ardent plea. Friends in Canada and Scotland raised a large sum of money and provided him with a vessel. In this and sometimes other vessels, he made extensive journeys through the New Hebrides, New Caledonia, and the Loyalty Islands. He sent new workers and settled them on various islands and encouraged these also settled into the importance of native work. Native agents, he says, under the judicious direction of right-hearted missionaries, will yet accomplish a great work on this and neighboring isles of the sea. He never landed any teachers unless the chiefs solemnly promised to protect them and assist them. Despite these precautions, many of these workers suffered severe privations and died violent deaths. Many others were victims of the ravages of disease. As some fell, others were always ready to take their places. And after years of toil in the night, the dawn began to break on some dark islands. Natives from other islands were encouraged to visit Anetium. Years of labor and prayer brought an amazing transformation on the island. Getty's Journal speaks, for many months after our arrival, almost every day brought some new act of theft to light, and altogether we lost property to a considerable amount, but now locks and keys are entirely useless. The natives who attended our Sabbath meetings used to come with their clubs and spears and painted visages. But now we seldom see a weapon on the Sabbath day and the habit of painting is falling into disuse. I have seen this day when a man who wore a garment was the sport of others, but now every rag in the community is in requisition on the Sabbath day. All this were nothing, however, except as evidence of a change of heart wrought by the Spirit of God. It was a day of rejoicing and thanksgiving when the ordinance of the Lord's Supper was first observed. This is the first time, says Getty in a letter, that the Redeemer's love has been celebrated in this dark land. Oh, that the time may soon arrive when many more of its dark and degraded inhabitants shall join us in this ordinance of love." His prayer was at length answered. One day a chief and sacred man came to the missionary. Yakanui was a human monster, the greatest cannibal on the island. There were very few children left in his district because he had killed and eaten so many of them. Many grown persons had also fallen under the impact of his murderous club. He was hated by the people, yet feared because of his ferocity and because they believed he possessed mysterious powers by which he brought ruin upon them. Attracted by the gospel of forgiving love, He came to the missionary, who tenderly pointed him to the Redeemer, who was able to save unto the uttermost. Schools were established in all parts of the island. The New Testament, then the whole Bible, was translated and put into the hands of the people. Hundreds, then thousands, broke with heathenism and turned to Christ, and 25 churches were crowded with eager worshipers each Lord's Day. And by the way, this was as the result of the conversion of this tribal chief, Yakanui. As Getty toured among the islands settling native teachers, he told of the wondrous changes wrought by the gospel on Anetium and persuaded many to go to see these wonders at first hand. Some delegations went on the mission vessel, others traveled in their own boats, but all returned to their respective islands to tell abroad the astounding news of the miraculous changes they had witnessed and thus to prepare the way on their own islands for the reception of the Word of Life. One of the most singular delegations came from the dark island of Tanna. They came in their own boats and brought with them a pig with which to buy a Christian teacher to take back with them. Not long after he settled on an idiom, Getty wrote in his journal, February the 9th, 1849, in the darkness, degradation, pollution, and misery that surrounds me. I will look forward in the vision of faith, the time when some of these poor Islanders will unite in the triumphant song of ransom sold unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. when after 24 years of toil, he answered his Lord's final summons and left the earthly scene December 14, 1872. A tablet prepared in Sydney, Australia was placed behind the pulpit of the church where he had the beloved missionary had so long preached. On it was the following inscription. In memory of John Getty, born in Scotland, 1815, minister in Prince Edward Island, seven years, missionary sent from Nova Scotia to Anetium for 24 years. When he landed in 1848, there were no Christians here. And when he left in 1872, there were no heathen. My friend, what a story. of John Getty, his wife and family who went with him to the island of Anetium in the New Hebrides Islands, the Melanesian Islands, in 1848. My friend, what a testimony of the grace of God, of the help and mercy of God, that God sent this man to go to a people who were so darkened by Satan and his power. But thanks be unto God that his word doth deliver. Thank you for joining us here for this particular episode of Weed Among the Tares. I trust it's been a helpful blessing to you. Trust that you'll have a blessed day in the Lord. Pray for us here.