The year was 1820 when a ship from Great Britain arrived with a crushed group of 4000 hopeful Englishmen landed on the shores of Cape Town. A land of hope awaited these families, who had been selected from a pool of around 90,000 people, all fleeing rising British unemployment following the Napoleonic Wars. There was a young Methodist minister on the ship who wished not to. escape from England, but to preach the Gospel. He didn't know how powerful an impact he would have on history. The Cape was very different from his birthplace, Glasgow, but that didn't matter to William Shaw. Ever since his conversion at the age of 17 he knew he wanted to proclaim the Gospel and meet people's spiritual needs. The group of people with whom he had traveled to Africa would need his ministry. The first months on the eastern border of the Cape Colony, which had been allotted to these settlers, brought bitter disillusionment, which was in sharp contrast to their high hopes of coming to Africa. South Africa. The land given to them by the British Cape government was unsuitable for farming and their living conditions were appalling. The nameless man who escorted the groups into their territory always ended his tour of their land by saying: “Gentlemen, when you go out to plow never leave your weapons behind.” Having said this he would get on his horse and leave. This made no sense to these settlers, but what they didn't know was that the British government had decided to bring them in, not to make them grow in prosperity, but to use them as a buffer zone between the hostile and aggravated Xhosa. tribe and the Cape Colony. Few managed to stay after the first few months in the area, and for those who did it was a difficult time. Wherever you... middle of the paper... goddess of how God used William Shaw in South Africa, consider the following: Starting from scratch, after forty years of work, by 1860, there were 36 Methodist missionaries, 96 teachers of school and catechists, approximately 5,000 church members, 80 Sunday schools and 48 day schools, 74 chapels and 183 preaching stations. Works Cited Hinchliff, P. The Church in South Africa (London, SPCK, 1968), p.31. The story of my mission among the native tribes of south-east Africa29 Quoted in Davies, H. & Shepherd, RH South African Missions 1800-1950 (Edinburgh, Thomas Nelson, 1954), p.109.William Shaw. The story of my mission among the native tribes of south-eastern Africa. Cited in Davies, H. & Shepherd, R.H. South African Source: Roy, Kevin. RSA of the city of Sion. The history of the Church in South Africa. (Cape Town, South African Baptist Historical Society 2000) p51-55.