环球英语 — 210：The Slave Trader Who Found God
Voice 1
Hello. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
This is a very famous song. It is over two hundred [200] years old. The man who wrote it was once a slave trader. He bought and sold people. But God changed him. And this man ended his life fighting against slavery. His name? John Newton.
Today”s Spotlight programme tells the story of John Newton. We go back in time to the late eighteenth [18th] century. John Newton was now an old man. We join him as he sits at home in England:
Voice 2
“I always loved the sea. My father was a sea captain — the chief of his ship. And I knew I wanted to be a ship”s captain just like him. I was only eleven when I started to work on my father”s ship. No more school for me! Over the next eighteen [18] years, I travelled the world. And I had many wonderful — and frightening — experiences.
I remember when I was twenty [20] years old. The British navy needed many sailors at that time. So they sent groups of men to towns and cities near the sea. These men kidnapped other men. The navy authorities forced these kidnapped men to work as sailors on navy ships. That is what happened to me. Oh, I tried, I tried to run away. But the authorities caught me. They were about to hang me for not obeying the rules. But my father knew the ship”s captain. And he asked him for mercy. So instead of hanging me, the sailors punished me by beating me. I hated them. But I had escaped death. Still, I had to get away.
You know about the slave trade? Well, for ten years, I was involved with it. I still feel shame when I think about it. But at the time, I did not see that it was wrong. For me, it began as an escape from the British navy. A slave ship”s captain asked our captain for two sailors. He needed extra help on his ship. I persuaded our captain to let me go. And he agreed. I think he was happy that I was leaving. I know I was!
On the new ship, I travelled around the West coast of Africa. My job was to collect slaves from the storehouses on the land. I went to see how these storehouses worked. Traders brought slaves from their villages to the coast. The traders kept the slaves in these storehouses until the slave ships came. The ships then took the slaves across the ocean. For me, it was just a business. I did not think about the slaves” suffering. I just wanted to learn the trade quickly. Then, I could be captain of my own ship and make lots of money. I got a good job on another slave ship. And my future seemed good.
Life as a sailor hardened my heart. I used terrible language. I made fun of any sailor who believed in God. I drank a lot of alcohol.
Once, I was very drunk. I almost fell over the side of the ship and drowned. But again, I escaped death. It felt like someone was looking after me. Was it God, maybe?
Another night, there was a terrible storm. The sea wrecked most of the ship in a few minutes. I climbed up onto the deck. But the captain ordered me to go down again. He needed a knife to cut something. So I went to get it. A man climbed up on deck in my place. He was washed away by a huge wave. I had been saved from death once again. After many hours, the weather became calm. But I was not so calm. I wondered about the times I had survived danger and death. My heart softened. I believed that God had been helping me. And so I started to pray...
Let me move forward two years — that was ... the year 1750. I would still pray often and think about God. But I had other things to think about too. First, I had a new wife — Polly. I loved her from the minute I saw her. And second, my new slave ship. Yes, I was a captain at last! I had thirty [30] sailors working for me. And I wanted to be a good example for them. I only drank water — no alcohol. And, I kept the ship, and the slaves, as clean as possible. Only six slaves died on the first crossing from Africa. It was terrible that any of them died, I know. But you must understand what things were like then. Usually many more slaves died on such a trip. Like I said before, I am not happy about what I did. But I did try to care for those poor people.
On my travels, I made a new friend. He was Doctor Alexander Clunie. He was a great influence on me. He was also a sea captain. But he was not involved in the slave trade. He was a good Christian man. And we often talked together about God and the Bible. He helped me to understand more about what I believed. I did think there was a God. I also believed that this God cared for me. But Alexander Clunie said that believing was not enough. My behaviour had to show that I understood God”s love for me. And that meant my life needed to change even more. I started to pray out loud. And my faith in God grew more and more.
I made one more trip carrying slaves across the ocean. Then I became very sick. I could no longer work on a ship. So I found a job on land. God took care of my wife and me at this time. I missed the sea. But I found many new friends who shared my Christian faith. I trained to become a minister, a priest in the Church. I also met some brave people. They were struggling against the slave trade. I joined the struggle with them. And I started to write poems about God. My favourite was, “Amazing Grace”. It speaks of my experience of God. You see, ‘grace’ is when God reaches out to you. I did not deserve God”s love. I had laughed at people who loved God. I had treated my African brothers and sisters as things, not human beings. I was bad, but God still loved me. God’s amazing grace ‘saved a wretch like me’.
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