The very first Biblical commandment containing a promise is "Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you." (Deut. 5:16). We should not only honor our natural parents but our spiritual ones as well. Do we not want it to go well with us in the land our God has given us? One spiritual father who has scarcely been remembered, never mind honored is George Liele, a slave who was so radically converted that his master set him free to preach the gospel. In December of 1777 Liele established not only the first Black Baptist church in Savannah, GA, but the first Baptist church there of any kind. It remains to this day and is named First African Baptist Church.
After the Revolutionary War Liele indentured himself to a British officer to avoid being re-enslaved by the family of his former owner. After paying off his debt he established a church in Jamiaca of over 500 slaves. He predated Adoniram Judson, called the father of American missions by thirty years, and William Carey, another pioneer missionary, by ten years. He is a true hero of the faith and needs to be recognized for his accomplishments.
George Liele was reported as having the same preaching anointing as did George Whitefield, one of the most remarkable evangelists in history and a primary force in turning the spritual tide in North America prior to the obtaining our independence from England. It is time to remember both of these men and pray that others like them will be anointed to trumpet this next great awakening so needed even now.
