In Africa, Paul was put in charge of a hospital in Mvumi which had no electricity or running water. He learned Chigogo and Swahili to be understood by the countless patients seeking help. During his ministry in Tanzania, his African assistant Dan Mbogoni helped him understand how to effectively communicate to his patients and other Africans. The trick was to teach by means of a story. The idea stuck with Paul White for life.
His missionary career was cut short by his wife's illness, and they came back to Australia in 1941. Back home, he supported himself part-time through his medical practice but devoted himself to supporting mission work both home and abroad. Paul White took up his pen soon after returning to Australia, first publishing a factual account of his time in Africa. Soon he began writing fictional tales about the "Jungle Doctor".
White's "Jungle Doctor" books, proved immensely popular. They were lively tales of life in Africa, missionary adventures, and moral lessons. The books led to a "Jungle Doctor" radio program he conducted for 25 years. Over the years, he wrote over 50 books, which were translated into more than 100 languages with sales estimated at more than one million copies.
After the death of his wife Mary in 1970, Paul married Ruth Longe in 1971 and enjoyed more than twenty years of serving the Lord and sharing life with her. Paul White died in 1992 and is buried at St. Simon & St. Jude Anglican church in Bowral, New South Wales, Australia.
For a listing of available titles by Paul White published by Christian Focus, click here.
Sources:
1 - Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions by Gerald H. Anderson, pg. 729. Accessed via Google Books.
2 - Doctors Who Followed Christ: Thirty-Two Biographies of Eminent Physicians and their Christian Faith By Dan Graves, pg. 191ff. Accessed via Google Books.
3 - "WHITE, Paul Hamilton Hume (1910-1992)", Australian Evangelical Dictionary of Biography, electronic version. Accessed via WebJournals.
4 - "Paul White (missionary)", Wikipedia entry.
5 - "The Jungle Doctor comics", at the Christian Comics International website.