In 1787, George III of England commissioned a ship to sail to the
South Pacific to transplant fruit trees to barren islands. Many of the crew fell in love with the native women and were reluctant to leave when the mission was done.
The sailors mutinied and set the captain and eighteen others adrift in an open boat.
The small boat somehow made it home, and a ship was dispatched to capture the mutineers. They captured many, but nine of the mutineers escaped, taking with them six native men, ten native women, and a girl of fifteen. They found an isolated island and settled there.
What followed is what the Encyclopedia Britannica called "a hell on earth." Their experiment of a new society was a dismal failure.
There was nothing like a family structure, but many children were
born. One of the sailors started distilling liquor, and most of the men became violent and unproductive. Before long, all the native men were dead, as were all the sailors except one - and there was no way off the island.
One man was left alone with a group of frightened, disturbed native women and a crowd of mixed-race children. In a sailor's chest, he found a book and began to read it.
His life was changed; he was moved to repentance, and he taught the book to the children. Over the years, the children grew and were married, more children were born, and the community prospered under the guidance of that book.
Nearly twenty years later, the United States ship Topaz came and
observed the community of people on that island. The people were happy and prosperous. Family structures were established and children were growing up well.
There was no jail. There was no hospital. There was no insane asylum. There was no illiteracy, no crime, NS no disease. There was no liquor. The island was one hundred percent Christian.
The ship King George sent out in 1787 has been made famous by a movie - The Mutiny on the Bounty.
But the most amazing thing about the story is how the last survivor of the mutiny on the Bounty saw the island transformed from a hell on earth to a stable, blessed, prospering community.
How?
God's work through His Word, the Bible. Let God's Word work on you today.
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