The African missionary was born in Scotland in 1795 to Presbyterian parents with a strong enthusiasm for missions. Robert was raised with no formal biblical instruction and quite a limited education. Ironically, he rejected his parents' zeal for missions, and pursued a career in gardening. Later on however, he applied to a missions board and embarked on a bold journey to South Africa with four other beginning missionaries. He still felt alone however. For Robert hoped that he would begin his life as a missionary with a certain woman companion. His love, Mary Smith was forbidden by her parents to travel to foreign lands so soon. So he waited.

Meanwhile, Moffat encountered some of the forlorn realities of a missionary's life. Strong prejudices against him and his companions and open sin among the missionaries themselves caused much discouragement. Robert stayed at an African camp for two years, only to leave and reunite with the soon-to-be Mary Moffat. Their marriage was followed by an unusual honeymoon: a wagon trudge through marshy swamps, violent rivers, arid deserts, and thick forests.

After this trek the two settled at Kuruman, home of the Bechuanas. But stark living conditions, theft, and powerful tribal superstitions discouraged the missionaries once again. Living in a mud hut, the Moffats slowly got used to washing their clothes in the river and cleaning the floors with cow dung. Polygamy was also common among the society, which presented a dilemma. How was a converted Bechuana to live in the faith with numerous wives? Their primary mission, to spread the Gospel, was almost impossible due to the lack of comprehension between the missionaries and the Bechuanas. For this reason, language was always a colossal impediment.

Nevertheless, the Moffats overcame these hardships when Robert began an 11-week study of the Bechuana language. He soon was able to communicate effectively with the people and began a translation of the Bible that took nearly 29 years to complete. Before long, a school sprouted with 40 pupils, baptisms began, and a stone church was built that still stands today. The Bechuana society was quite changed compared to the one the Moffats had encountered a decade earlier.

Still, Robert's career did not stop at Kuruman. Various other tribes and chiefs journeyed to hear him speak, as well as the British hearers he challenged to mission work after he retired. Although they faced frequent difficulty, the Moffats forever answered to the powerful authority of the Father's calling. They meekly chose the Lord over luxury: a concept more foreign than the lands themselves.