Treasured Moments In Black History: George Liele

Hope has a strange way of shining. It’s most evident in difficult times. This is Treasured Moments In Black History.

George Liele was born a slave in Virginia in the early 1750s. Like many slaves, he was separated from his parents when he was very young. All he knew about them was what he was told: that his father knew the Lord in a very real way. Liele received Jesus at the church his master attended at the age of 23, and soon asked God to give him a work to do.

The Lord did just that.

His master’s pastor ordained him and his master freed him to go and preach the Gospel. Liele’s preaching attracted enthusiastic crowds, and during the Revolutionary War, he was the preaching elder at the first Black church in America in Silver Bluff, South Carolina. At the end of the Revolutionary War, having a wife and four children, Liele chose to leave America, rather than risk his family being forced back into slavery.

He left for Jamaica and became America’s first foreign missionary, 30 years before Adoniram Judson would sail for Burma. Liele arrived in Jamaica in 1783 and began preaching in the dusty streets of Kingston. By 1793, Liele had a church of 350 and had led at least 500 slaves to faith in Christ. Liele also started a school for Jamaican children, both slave and free.

George Liele, America’s first foreign missionary, died in 1828. But not before planting many churches across Jamaica and training others in the ministry.

Treasured Moments in Black History is brought to you by Moody Publishers and their book Kingdom Race Theology by Dr. Tony Evans.

In every generation, God uses ordinary people to accomplish great things!
Treasured Moments in Black History by Moody Radio remembers the people and events in America that have shaped
history and inspired lives. By looking back and highlighting these moments, you will be inspired,
enriched and encouraged in your faith walk to make history for God’s kingdom.