John Newton had seen the worst of the British slave trade. He knew men who tried to get as many slave girls pregnant as possible on the voyages to the new world. He’d seen men so cynical that their whole mission on the slave shops was to find a Christian, ridicule him and try to talk him out of his faith. He’d seen men so cruel that they’d think of nothing of whipping the skin off the back of a young deckhand for a minor infraction. And he was reminded of the worst of those offenders every morning when he looked in the mirror. John Newton, former slave trader, knew a thing or two about the slave trade.

 

But John Newton had also experienced God’s amazing grace, heard the call to ministry and served as a pastor for more than twenty-five years. He also penned hymns. His burning passion was to find a way to abolish the evil that he once propagated.

 

His outspoken views won some converts-none more important than a twenty-seven-year-old member of Parliament who wrote a letter to Reverend Newton in 1785 requesting a secret meeting. To avoid anyone finding out, they met at the parsonage rather than the church.

 

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Excerpted from Made to Count by Bob Reccord & Randy Singer (W Publishing Group). © 2004. Used by permission. All rights reserved.