Joseph Islands was born a Creek Indian in the Colony of Georgia. He grew up wild and sinful. But when a friend of his died during one of their drunken revelries, Joseph was heart-broken. The next day when his friend was to be buried, “Old Billy,” a local black man was commissioned to dig the grave. Seeing Joseph in great distress, Billy, a committed Baptist began to tell him about the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit commenced to work, and Joseph Islands was subsequently born again.
Earlier, the Creek Tribal Council had declared that Christianity was forbidden to the members of the tribe. Anyone found engaged in Christian worship was to be beaten with thirty-nine lashes. Secretly, Billy and Joseph began to meet together for Bible study and prayer, and over time other Creeks joined them, until they numbered nearly thirty. When the authorities were informed about the Bible study, they sought for ways to capture the Baptist villains. On one occasion a spy lay hidden in the woods where it was thought that the Christians might gather. The man heard Joseph begin to pray, but then he heard his own name as the group prayed for his salvation. He didn’t report his discovery that night and was eventually born again.
The Lord didn’t always protect His little band of native saints. One night the group was surrounded and captured. One by one, men and women, were lead away to be beaten, but their testimony remained untarnished. The next day the captain and several of his men resigned their positions and stated that they couldn’t punish people for praying and peacefully worshiping Jesus.
When eventually one of the leading chiefs of the Creeks was saved, the law against the Christians was revoked. Joseph Islands, who became known as the Apostle to the Creeks was ordained to the ministry in 1845. Sadly, his earthly life ended on this day three years later (March 8, 1848).