To the unseen and the unnoticed

In an age when missiological books focus on the great and the successful, I wish to focus on the many who labour on unseen and unnoticed, looking ever for that one lost lamb in the wilderness places of the world. 

Arthur and Mary-Ellen Lomax were such missionaries...serving silently but faithfully in areas outside the bright lights of the cities. They did not seek praise and are therefore almost forgotten...but not in the eyes of a saviour who lived and laboured in the backwater places in Galilee. 

If ever this research leads to a published work, I hope to dedicate it to those who will forever be unknown save for the books written and kept in heaven.

A Research Trip

We are about to embark on yet another fact finding trip around the Eastern Cape/Karoo region. Louise and I will be going to Aliwal-North, Dordrecht, Southwell, Middleburg, and Steynsburg, all places SPG Missionaries, Arthur and Mary-Ellen Lomax lived and laboured in the 1800's until their promotion to glory in 1910. It has been a struggle to find any relevant information, but people in these areas have been ever so helpful and have gone to great lengths to help us in our quest. 

Also, folks in the UK, in particular Manchester, Oxford, and Staffordshire have sent me some of the most amazing information over the past few months, in spite of the Covid regulations and lockdowns and restrictions.

This exercise, although vexing at times, has served to restore one faith in our human race. We are most grateful.