German Missionary Karl Gützlaff Was His Inspiration

In David's life and work, religion had a significant influence. Livingstone spent a significant portion of his youth attempting to balance his passion for science with his unwavering belief in God. His father was a door-to-door tea seller who also taught Sunday school and was a teetotaller who distributed Christian literature. He consumed a lot of books on theology, travel, and missionary endeavors. His father read him Bible stories when he was a young child, and he went to the neighborhood church twice each Sunday. He discovered what Christian missionaries, people who travel the globe to share their faith with others, do. David was influenced by the writings of German missionary Karl Gützlaff, who counseled other missionaries to train as physicians in order to carry out their work and convert people by attending to their medical needs.

Nevertheless, Livingstone studied hard and saved money in order to enroll in Glasgow College in 1836 after hearing the German missionary Karl Gutzlaff's 1834 request for medical missionaries for China. David received his training at the London Missionary Society after completing his medical education in 1840. He then intended to travel to East Asia, but the first Opium War between Britain and China broke out. By chance, he attended a speech given by Scottish missionary Robert Moffat, who was visiting his station in Southern Africa. David chose to travel to Southern Africa as a result of being moved by Moffat's tales.