In a piece that was published in 1901, the London Missionary Society (LMS) historian Richard Lovett wrote in pointed terms about the difference in attitude towards missionaries between Stevenson and other writers. Lovett opined that Stevenson ‘saw the missionaries and missionary work as they are, and not as the modern pagan litterateur often imagines them to be’. The Scottish author

Lovett grasped what made Stevenson's experience truly unique and something that few others in his time understood: his recognition that Christianity's flourishing in the Pacific depended on the work of Pacific Islanders. It was they, not missionaries, who were chiefly responsible for the spread of the religion and its adaptation into local religious beliefs and practices. Through study and interaction with them, Stevenson acquired from Pacific Islanders a depth of understanding that distinguished him among the non-religious authorities on Pacific culture. As we saw in the previous chapter, such was his level of engagement that it would be more accurate to describe Stevenson as a participant in, rather than an observer of, mission work. He supported the LMS's efforts and conducted evangelical work himself through teaching, providing personal and financial support, observing and reporting on missionary efforts, and by trying to live according to established religious norms and practices in Samoa. He talked with missionaries and learned about their different attitudes, ideas, and methods. In a way that even Lovett may not have fully appreciated, by living among Samoan Christians Stevenson also began to grow aware of what Christianity looked like from the Pacific Islanders’ point of view. As a religiously literate and culturally sensitive layperson, he was in a position to observe transformations in Christianity that foreign missionaries were not easily able to recognise.