Bishop Samuel Ayaji Crowther returned to his native Nigeria, where he had been sold into slavery, to turn his people from idol worship to Christ. Sold into slavery several times, Ayaji was on a slave ship headed to Brazil when a British warship confiscated the enslaved people and took them to Liberia. Ayaji heard the gospel there and eventually became the first African bishop of the Church of England. He died on December 31, 1891, with his diocese covering all of West Africa.
