Leader’s guide · 13 weeks
Leader’s guide: David Livingstone (For Teens)
Using this guide with a class? See Ochorus for schools or homeschool families
This guide takes your group through David Livingstone (For Teens) in thirteen weeks, one chapter a week. It’s written for teens aged about 13 to 18 and works well for a youth group, a homeschool or a small group. It follows the Scottish mill boy who became a doctor, missionary and explorer in Africa, and it tells his story honestly: his courage, his faith and his promise-keeping, but also his blind spots, the cost his choices laid on his wife and children, and the many Africans whose courage and skill made his journeys possible.
Each session takes about 30 to 40 minutes. Open by saying the memory verse together (3 minutes). Read the chapter, either aloud together or at home beforehand (5–10 minutes). Talk through the chapter’s three questions, which come with answers to help you (10–15 minutes). Do the activity (10 minutes). Then close in prayer (2–3 minutes), in your own words or by turning the chapter’s closing “One thing to do this week” into a prayer together, and leave that challenge with the group for the week ahead.
To prepare, read the chapter yourself first and look over the activity; most weeks need nothing more than paper and pens. This book doesn’t look away from hard things: a lion attack, the cruelty of the slave trade, a massacre, racism, the deaths of Livingstone’s wife and eldest son, and the loneliness of a family left behind. Let teens weigh his failures as well as his faith, without turning the sessions into either a trial or a tribute. Some in your group may know family hardship, an absent parent or grief at first hand, so keep personal reflection private, follow up gently with anyone who seems troubled, and point them to a parent, pastor or other trusted adult.
Week 1 — Six in the Morning
David Livingstone grows up in one room in Blantyre, goes into the cotton mill at ten, and works from six in the morning to eight at night for ten years, studying at night school and reading a book propped on his machine. The mill gives him endurance and respect for working people, but also a habit of judging everyone by how hard they work and despising those who can’t keep up. The big idea: God sees both the work and the worker, and working hard is not the same as working for God.
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, whither thou goest.” — Ecclesiastes 9:10 (ASV)
Memory verse
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.
Ecclesiastes 9:10
Talk together
What was Livingstone’s working day like as a boy?
From the age of ten he worked in a cotton mill from six in the morning to eight at night, joining broken threads, and then went to night school and studied at home until midnight.
What was the family rule he was proudest of?
An ancestor on Ulva left his children one rule: “Be honest.” Livingstone said it was the only family tradition he felt proud of, and he kept it all his life.
What did the mill teach him that was not so helpful?
To judge people by how much work they did. He came to despise people who couldn’t keep up with him, and that made him hard on others later.
Activity
Hard Work or Working for God?
You will need: Paper and pens
- Draw a line down the middle of a sheet of paper and label the two sides “Working hard” and “Working for God.”
- As a group, list what can drive each one: for example, wanting to be admired, fear of failing, love for others, gratitude to God.
- Read Colossians 3:23 aloud and ask what changes when work is done for the Lord rather than for people.
- Ask: why might a hard worker like Livingstone find it difficult to be patient with people who can’t keep up?
- Have each person write down privately one person they tend to be impatient with, and one way to help them this week.
Week 2 — Slow of Speech
In his late teens Livingstone takes the gospel personally, and a book by Thomas Dick shows him that studying creation can be a kind of worship, so he no longer has to choose between his Bible and his questions. He trains as a doctor and joins the London Missionary Society, but nearly fails his probation; once his mind goes completely blank in the pulpit, though a fellow student remembered him carrying an injured woman to safety on a dark road. The big idea: a weakness doesn’t disqualify you, because God gives each person gifts for the work he has for them.
“And Moses said unto Jehovah, Oh, Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” — Exodus 4:10 (ASV)
Memory verse
Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.
Exodus 4:12
Talk together
How did Livingstone describe his conversion?
Like a cure for colour blindness: nothing new appeared, but everything he already knew, including other people’s needs, suddenly looked different.
What helped him see that faith and science were not enemies?
A book by Thomas Dick, which taught that the universe is God’s handiwork and that studying it can be a kind of worship.
What happened when he tried to preach at Ongar?
He forgot his whole sermon, told the congregation so, and left. He was nearly rejected, but was accepted in 1839 anyway.
Activity
Gifts and Gaps
You will need: Paper and pens
- Give everyone a sheet of paper folded in half.
- On one side, have each person write privately one thing they find hard that others seem to find easy, such as speaking up or making friends.
- On the other side, have them write one thing they can do, however ordinary it seems.
- In pairs, tell your partner one strength you have noticed in them.
- Ask the group: how did God use Livingstone even though he never became a good preacher?
Week 3 — The Lion at Mabotsa
With China closed by war, Livingstone heads for southern Africa, lives among the Bakwena to learn Setswana properly, and concludes that Africa will be reached mainly by African Christians. At Mabotsa a lion seizes him, and Mebalwe, a Christian teacher, runs at it with a gun that fails and is mauled himself; Livingstone recovers at Kuruman and marries Mary Moffat. The big idea: God often rescues and uses us through other people, and those who help us deserve to be named and thanked.
“But the Lord stood by me, and strengthened me; that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.” — 2 Timothy 4:17 (ASV)
Memory verse
But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.
2 Timothy 4:17
Talk together
Who saved Livingstone from the lion?
Mebalwe, a Christian teacher from Kuruman, who ran at the lion with a gun that misfired and was bitten himself, and another man who attacked it with a spear.
Why did Livingstone live for six months among the Bakwena?
To hear no English and learn Setswana and the people’s way of life properly. It helped him in all his later dealings with them.
What was one of his best ideas about mission?
That the gospel would spread through Africa mainly by African Christians, not foreign missionaries. Later history proved him right.
Activity
The Unnamed Heroes
You will need: Paper and pens
- Ask the group to think of a famous achievement, from sport, history or science, that one person usually gets the credit for.
- As a group, list the people who made it possible but are rarely named.
- Reread the part of the chapter about Mebalwe and ask why the old retellings often left him out.
- Have each person write down the name of someone whose help made a difference to them but who never got any credit.
- Challenge everyone to thank that person by name before next week.
Week 4 — Sechele
Livingstone moves to the Bakwena, whose chief, Sechele, learns the alphabet on the first day, loves Isaiah, and asks why the gospel took so long to reach his ancestors. Sechele sends away all but his first wife in order to be baptised and is later suspended from communion, yet he keeps reading the Bible and preaches to his own people until he dies in 1892. The big idea: God doesn’t write people off after one stumble, and he works far beyond what we can see.
“And Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some one shall guide me? And he besought Philip to come up and sit with him.” — Acts 8:30-31 (ASV)
Memory verse
So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
Acts 8:30–31
Talk together
What hard question did Sechele ask?
Why, if Livingstone’s people had known the gospel, they had not told his ancestors sooner, who had died without knowing where they were going.
Why did Livingstone refuse Sechele’s offer to make people believe?
Because faith can’t be forced. Sechele offered to have his headmen whip people into believing, and Livingstone said no.
Did Sechele give up his faith after being suspended?
No. He kept reading the Bible, led worship, invited missionaries and preached, and the Bakwena became Christian largely through him.
Activity
Hard Questions
You will need: Index cards and pens
- Read aloud Sechele’s question about why no one had sent word to his ancestors sooner.
- Give everyone a card and ask them to write, without their name, one hard question about God or faith they have wondered about.
- Collect and shuffle the cards, then read a few aloud and talk about them together, without pressure to find neat answers.
- Point out that Livingstone had no satisfying answer for Sechele, yet Sechele went on reading and seeking.
- Offer to talk about any remaining questions with anyone privately after the session.
Week 5 — Without Water
Livingstone crosses the Kalahari to Lake Ngami, then takes his pregnant wife and small children on further journeys; a baby daughter dies, and on one trip the family goes four days without water. He reaches the Makololo, sees the slave trade for the first time, dreams of the Zambezi as a highway for honest trade, and sends Mary and the four children to Britain. The big idea: a big dream for God needs a second look when it costs the people closest to you without asking them.
“The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.” — Isaiah 35:1 (ASV)
Memory verse
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus.
Isaiah 35:1
Talk together
What happened on the 1851 journey through the desert?
Their guide lost the way and the family had no water for four days. Livingstone feared his children would die, and Mary said nothing to blame him.
What did Livingstone see on the Zambezi that changed his life?
Traders buying captives from the Makololo to sell on. It was his first sight of the slave trade, and he resolved to fight it by opening honest trade.
Why does the chapter question his choices about his family?
He took Mary and the children into danger against warnings, and then sent them to Britain for years, so that they paid much of the cost of his calling.
Activity
Who Pays the Cost?
You will need: Paper and pens
- As a group, list a few big goals a teenager might chase: a sport, top grades, a band, a job, a ministry.
- For each one, name who else pays part of the cost, such as parents giving lifts, siblings missing out or friends left behind.
- Recall Mary Moffat’s fierce letter from the chapter and ask: was she right, and why didn’t Livingstone change course?
- Have each person write down privately one plan or habit of theirs that costs someone close to them.
- Encourage them to ask that person about it this week and to listen without defending themselves.
Week 6 — Kolobeng Plundered
A Boer commando attacks Sechele’s people, kills many and carries off women and children, and Livingstone’s house at Kolobeng is plundered. Sechele sets out to ask Queen Victoria for help, fails, and rebuilds his town himself, while in Britain Mary drifts, lonely and often ill, between rented rooms and the children grow up without a father. The big idea: God is a very present help in trouble, and he sees the hidden suffering that happens far from any battlefield.
“God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.” — Psalm 46:1 (ASV)
Memory verse
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Psalm 46:1
Talk together
What did Sechele do after the attack on Dimawe?
He tried to reach Queen Victoria to ask for protection, got as far as Cape Town, then went home, rebuilt his town and became one of the most powerful chiefs in the region.
What was life like for Mary Livingstone in Britain?
She moved between rented rooms for four years with four children, little money and few friends, often ill and lonely, and felt abandoned.
Why wouldn’t Sekeletu learn to read the Bible?
He was afraid it might change his heart and leave him with only one wife, as had happened to Sechele.
Activity
Hidden Loads
You will need: Paper and pens
- Ask the group to name kinds of hardship that usually go unseen, such as caring for a sick relative, loneliness or money worries.
- Discuss why the old biographies hurried past Mary’s suffering, and why this book insists on telling it.
- Have each person privately write the name of one person in their life who may be carrying a hidden load.
- Next to the name, have them write one practical thing they could do this week to make it lighter.
- Close by praying silently for those people.
Week 7 — Twenty-Seven Men
Livingstone sets out for the Atlantic with twenty-seven men chosen by Sekeletu and led by Pitsane, through floods and fever, a strong-willed woman chief named Manenko, and a tense stand-off with the Chiboque. In Luanda he is offered a passage home but refuses, because he promised to bring the men back, and the ship he would have taken sinks. The big idea: God honours the one who keeps a promise even when it costs, though keeping faith with some people never excuses breaking it with others.
“In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honoreth them that fear Jehovah; He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.” — Psalm 15:4 (ASV)
Memory verse
Who swears to his own hurt and does not change.
Psalm 15:4
Talk together
Who were the twenty-seven men?
Men from the many peoples of Sekeletu’s kingdom, chosen by their chief and led by Pitsane, who went to open a trade route to the sea. They were not Livingstone’s servants.
Why did Livingstone refuse to sail home from Luanda?
He had promised Sekeletu to bring the men home, and he believed they would not survive the journey back without him.
What did the men say when they first saw the sea?
That they had always believed the world had no end, but now the world had told them it was finished and there was no more of it.
Activity
The Promise Line
You will need: Nothing
- Mark an imaginary line across the room, with “Must keep it” at one end and “Should break it” at the other.
- Read out a few situations one at a time: you promised to help a friend but a better invitation comes up; you agreed to babysit and now feel unwell; you promised to keep a secret that now worries you.
- For each, have everyone stand where they think it belongs, and ask a few people to explain why.
- Point out that a secret that worries you, especially about someone’s safety, is one to take to a trusted adult.
- Ask: Livingstone kept faith with twenty-seven men but left his wife alone. How can we keep promises to some people and forget the ones at home?
Week 8 — The Word of a Gentleman
The twenty-seven men come home as heroes, and Livingstone heads east with more than a hundred of Sekeletu’s men and the guide Sekwebu, sees Mosi-oa-Tunya and names it after Queen Victoria. Facing a risky river crossing, he reads Jesus’ promise to be with his disciples always, calls it the word of a gentleman of the strictest honour, and becomes calm; he reaches the Indian Ocean, but Sekwebu drowns on the voyage. The big idea: Jesus’ promise holds whether or not we feel it, and believing it comes before feeling calm.
“And Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations … and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” — Matthew 28:18-20 (ASV)
Memory verse
And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
Matthew 28:20
Talk together
What calmed Livingstone on the night of 14 January 1856?
Jesus’ promise to be with his disciples always, which he called the word of a gentleman of the strictest honour. His situation hadn’t changed; his trust had.
Why is renaming Mosi-oa-Tunya a problem?
The falls already had a name, and local people had known them for centuries and brought him there. Renaming them treated them as unseen until a European saw them.
Who was Sekwebu?
The guide and interpreter who brought the party safely down the Zambezi. He sailed with Livingstone, was overwhelmed by the voyage, and drowned at Mauritius.
Activity
Facts Before Feelings
You will need: Paper and pens
- Ask everyone to think of something that makes them anxious, such as an exam, a hard conversation or a new place.
- On one side of a sheet, have them write privately what they feel about it; on the other, what God has promised that is true regardless.
- Read the chapter’s line “He didn’t feel calm and then believe. He believed, and then felt calm,” and talk about what it means.
- Say Matthew 28:20 together slowly, twice.
- Challenge everyone to say it the next time they are afraid this week, and then take one small step.
Week 9 — “I Never Made a Sacrifice”
Livingstone returns to Britain famous, resigns from the missionary society to lead a government expedition up the Zambezi, and tells Cambridge students, “I never made a sacrifice.” The expedition is blocked by the Kebrabasa rapids, which he had missed by walking round them, yet he won’t admit the mistake, and he treats colleagues such as Thomas Baines unfairly. The big idea: perseverance can be faith, but it can also be pride, and sometimes the brave thing is to say “I was wrong.”
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward.” — Romans 8:18 (ASV)
Memory verse
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Romans 8:18
Talk together
What did Livingstone mean by “I never made a sacrifice”?
That serving God was a privilege and a small repayment of a great debt, not a sacrifice. It echoes Romans 8:18.
What is missing from that statement?
The cost others paid: Mary’s years alone, his children growing up without him, and Africans like Sekwebu who died on his journeys.
Why was Kebrabasa such a blow?
Its rapids made the Zambezi impassable for steamers, so his plan for a river highway into Africa collapsed. He had missed it because he walked round that part of the river.
Activity
Faith or Pride?
You will need: Nothing
- Read out a few short situations: a player who won’t quit a losing team; a student who won’t accept a teacher’s correction; someone who keeps praying for a friend for years; a person who won’t apologise because they were “basically right.”
- For each, have the group vote thumbs up for “faithful perseverance” or thumbs down for “stubborn pride,” then talk about the votes.
- Ask: what was Livingstone’s Kebrabasa moment, and what would admitting it have cost him?
- Discuss who paid the cost of his calling, and whether calling it “no sacrifice” was fair to them.
- Give everyone a quiet moment to think of one time they were wrong and haven’t admitted it, and to decide whether to put it right this week.
Week 10 — Shupanga
Livingstone reaches Lake Nyasa, and with Bishop Mackenzie frees eighty-four captives at Mbame’s village; among the children freed in those weeks is a boy named Chuma. A deadly clash with raiders and Mackenzie’s lonely death from fever follow, and in April 1862 Mary dies at Shupanga, leaving Livingstone shattered. The big idea: the Lord is near the brokenhearted, and grief that honestly sees its own part can lead us to put things right.
“Jehovah is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, And saveth such as are of a contrite spirit.” — Psalm 34:18 (ASV)
Memory verse
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34:18
Talk together
What happened at Mbame’s village?
Livingstone’s party freed eighty-four captives, mostly women and children, by cutting their ropes and sawing through the slave-sticks. Chuma was probably freed in those weeks.
Who was Mary Livingstone, apart from being his wife?
A missionary’s daughter raised among the Batswana who spoke Setswana, ran schools, nursed the sick and crossed the desert twice while pregnant. People called her Ma-Robert.
How did Livingstone react to Mary’s death?
He was shattered. He wrote that it took away all his strength, that he had loved her more the longer they lived together, and that for the first time he felt willing to die.
Activity
Two Kinds of Sorry
You will need: Paper and pens
- Draw two columns headed “Feeling bad” and “Making it right.”
- As a group, list what each looks like: for example, avoiding someone compared with naming what you did and apologising.
- Ask: why does the chapter say it would be cruel to blame Livingstone for Mary’s death, but dishonest to say nothing about his choices?
- Have each person privately write down one person they may have hurt and one step to make it right.
- Pray silently, asking God for the courage to take that step.
Week 11 — The Sentence of Death
Drought and slave raids ruin the Shire valley, the government recalls the expedition, and Livingstone sails his small steamer to Bombay rather than let it be used in the slave trade. His eldest son Robert dies in an American prison camp, his mother dies, and he returns to Africa for the last time to seek the Nile’s source and expose the slave routes; when porters steal his medicine chest he feels he has received the sentence of death, but goes on. The big idea: like Abraham, faith sometimes means going on without knowing where the road leads.
“By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out unto a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.” — Hebrews 11:8 (ASV)
Memory verse
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
Hebrews 11:8
Talk together
What happened to Robert Livingstone?
Angry and unsettled, he joined the Union army in America under a false name, was captured, and died in a Confederate prison camp in 1864.
Why did losing the medicine chest matter so much?
It held his quinine, his only defence against malaria. He wrote that he felt he had received the sentence of death.
Why did Livingstone travel with slave traders?
Without medicine, money or men, he could only survive under their protection. He depended on them while recording what they did.
Activity
A Letter Home
You will need: Paper and pens
- Reread the paragraph about Robert and ask what he might have wanted from his father.
- Talk about why it can be hard to say important things to parents or older relatives.
- Give everyone five quiet minutes to draft, for their own eyes, a short letter to a parent, older relative or another adult who cares for them, naming one thing they are grateful for.
- Let each person decide privately whether to send it, keep it, or pray about it first.
Week 12 — How Long?
In Manyema, crippled by ulcers and cared for by Susi, Chuma and Gardner, Livingstone reads the Bible through four times, then watches traders massacre hundreds of people at the market in Nyangwe. His account helps close the Zanzibar slave market, though modern imaging of his diary shows he was closer to the traders than his published version admitted; then Henry Morton Stanley finds him at Ujiji and saves his life. The big idea: we can bring God an honest “how long?” about evil, and then do the small thing that is ours to do.
“O Jehovah, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save.” — Habakkuk 1:2 (ASV)
Memory verse
O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?
Habakkuk 1:2
Talk together
What did Livingstone see at Nyangwe?
Traders’ gunmen firing into a crowded market, killing hundreds of people, most of them women. His account helped build pressure to close the Zanzibar slave market.
What did his recovered field diary show?
That he had been more tangled up with the traders, and his own men with violence, than the published account suggested. He didn’t lie about the massacre, but the story wasn’t the whole truth.
Why should “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” be held with caution?
The words come only from Stanley, his diary pages for those days are missing, his versions differ, and even the date is uncertain.
Activity
Lament and Act
You will need: Paper and pens
- Explain that a lament is an honest prayer of complaint to God, like Habakkuk’s “how long?”
- As a group, name an injustice in the world today that makes people feel helpless, keeping to world events rather than personal stories.
- Have each person write a short lament of three lines: what is wrong, how they feel about it, and what they ask God to do.
- Add a fourth line: one small thing they could do, such as giving, writing or speaking up.
- Invite anyone who wishes to read theirs aloud; no one has to.
Week 13 — Faithful Hands
Carried through the Bangweulu swamps, Livingstone dies at Chitambo’s village, found, by his companions’ account, kneeling by his bed. Led by Susi and Chuma, the men bury his heart under a tree and carry his body and papers about a thousand miles to the coast, and Jacob Wainwright walks among the pallbearers at Westminster Abbey. The big idea: like a grain of wheat, a faithful life bears fruit after it is gone, often through people who receive little credit.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit.” — John 12:24 (ASV)
Memory verse
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
John 12:24
Talk together
What did Livingstone’s companions decide after his death?
To carry his body and papers about a thousand miles to the coast, under the leadership of Susi and Chuma. No one ordered them; they chose it.
Why should the picture of him dying on his knees be held carefully?
It comes from the men’s later memories, recorded by Waller, and can’t be checked. Even the date of his death is uncertain.
How did his life bear fruit after his death?
The Zanzibar slave market closed, and missions in the lands he explored grew into large African-led churches. Sechele, Susi and Chuma carried the faith on.
Activity
Faithful Hands
You will need: Paper and pens
- Read the words on Livingstone’s grave, “Brought by faithful hands over land and sea,” and ask whose hands they were.
- As a group, list the African names that have appeared through this book, such as Mebalwe, Sechele, Pitsane, Manenko, Sekwebu, Susi, Chuma and Jacob Wainwright.
- Talk about how the book’s honesty changes the way you see Livingstone, and what each person most wants to remember from his story.
- Have each person write the name of one person who quietly serves in their church or school, and plan to thank them this week.
- Close by praying for the grace to be faithful when no one is watching.