Very little of the vast literature on David Livingstone treats his decade as a missionary in South Africa, focusing instead on his later expeditions to central Africa. Described as a failed missionary who gave up evangelism for exploring, he came under fire in the second half of the 20th century for leading European imperialism in Africa. A deeper look into Livingstone’s mission experience from 1841 to 1857 shows that his highly original writing on theology, missiology and colonialism ranks alongside the better-known work of South African churchmen such as Johannes van der Kemp, John Philip and J.W. Colenso. His analysis and experience of settler colonialism on the Cape frontier and in the Transvaal were not incidental but central to his decision to seek an east–west corridor for the introduction of commerce and Christianity to a region he hoped might be free of colonial aggression and human trafficking.

关于大卫·利文斯通的大量文献很少涉及他在南非担任传教士的十年，而是关注他后来对中非的探险。他被描述为一位失败的传教士，为了探索而放弃了传福音，他在 20 世纪下半叶因在非洲领导欧洲帝国主义而受到攻击。深入研究利文斯通 1841 年至 1857 年间的宣教经历就会发现，他关于神学、宣教学和殖民主义的高度原创性著作与约翰内斯·范德肯普、约翰·菲利普和 JW·科伦索等南非教会人士的知名作品并驾齐驱。