The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1892, Page 35

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NO remem 7

The Lutheran Pioneer. B85

Eager for the Bible.

they would just stop where they were, they|onlock-jaw. On his teacher entering the room,
said, and wait! he said, ‘‘Oh, massa! me going so dead.’’ He
So they gathered some dry cocoanut leaves | was asked whether he was afraid to die. ‘*No,
for a bed and lay down at thedoor. When| massa; me sh&ll go to Jesus; but pray with
the morning came, and they received the| me.’’
books, each wrapped his own in a piece of] Do you remember what I told you,’’ asked
white bark cloth, put it in his bosom, said| the missionary, ‘‘about Jesus Christ?’’ ‘‘Oh,
good-bye to the missionary, hastened to the| yes; me remember, and I am glad to die, for
boat, and, without eating or drinking, steered|I shall go to Him—to the kingdom.’’ His
over the blue waters full of joy to their home. | mother stood by his bedside crying, when he
And what has been the result? The pre-|said: ‘‘Mother, do not cry, I am not afraid to
cious Book has done its work; the South Sea| die; me love you and my brother; but me
Islands have flung away their idols; there is| love Jesus more. If you cry, you make my
no more killing and eating each other; they] pain too bad.’’
have nine hundred churches, chapels, and| He then spoke to his younger brother, tell-
schools, and these isles so lovely have been| ing him to obey his mother, and to be kind to
won for Christ. her. After this he lay for a short time and
Reader, are you as eager after your Bible| then died. :
as were these poor heathen? Or do they lie Another colored boy, when on his death-
with the dust upon them unopened and for-| bed, was very happy. His teacher inquired,
gotten? Remember, it is only the Bible truth] ‘*What has made you glad, Thomas?’’ He
which can make us wise unto salvation, wheth-| replied, ‘‘Ah! God live there; Jesus Christ
er we read it under the palm trees or by the] live there!’’ laying his hand on his breast.
fireside at home. “What is God to you, Thomas?”’
‘*He is my Father, sir.’’
‘“‘What is Jesus Christ to you?’’
. ‘*He is my Savior; sir. I do not fear to die
In the West India islands many young col-| now.’’
ored people work in the fields, pulling out the} ‘‘But have you nothing for which to answer
weeds that grow among the sugarcanes. They] after you die, Thomas?’’
work hard all the week, and when Sunday ‘‘No, nothing; I know I have sinned, but
comes they dress themselves in their white] Christ live there. Christ died for my sin.’’
jackets and trousers, and set off for the Sun- “What did Jesus do for you?’’
day-school. ‘*He shed His blood for me.”’
An officer in the navy went into a school ‘Where is Jesus?”’
where many colored boys were learning their| ‘*He has gone to heaven to prepare a place
lessons. One little boy was asked to prove|for me. I shall live again.”’
from the Bible that the body will rise from
the grave. ‘‘I can prove it, massa,’’ said he;
‘‘for Jesus once said, ‘I am the resurrection
and the life: he that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet, shall he live;’ and, in
another place, ‘ Because I live, ye shall live
also.’ ”’
He was then asked, ‘‘Can you prove it from
the Old Testament also?’’ ‘‘Yes; for Job
says, ‘I know that my Redeemer liveth, and

Eager for it, indeed, they were in that
beautiful South Sea Island called Eimeo, not
far from Tahiti. You have never known life
without the Bible, but it was a new thing to
these heathen islanders. The little children
had never heard the sweet stories so familiar
to you; the older people had never heard that
there was one true God and one Savior Jesus
Christ. They bowed down to ugly idols and
thought they could please them by killing and
eating each other.

Then the missionaries had come among them.
But for fifteen years they seemed to labor in
vain. Cruelty and cannibalism still went on.
At last, God rewarded all the waiting and
praying. J ierce men began to sit at the mis-
sionary’s feet and listen to the Gospel story.
One after another came to inquire about the
white man’s religion.

Some of them learned to read, and the next
thing was to get them the Bible in their own
language. ‘The missionaries translated it and
then started a printing press—the first ever
seen in those distant islands. Great was the
excitement it caused. A machine for making
books; who had ever heard of such a wonder-
ful thing! Nature’s beauties were around
them, palms and bread-fruit trees; bright-
winged birds and gorgeous butterflies, and
fire flies—things we only read of. But this
was 2 marvel of man’s making, and to them
it seemed magic. 7

The king went every day to watch the pro-
cess, while the people thronged the doors
and peeped in at the windows. For several
weeks the spot where the printing was going
on was like a fair, while canoes from the other
islands were drawn up on the beach, and the
fields were covered with tents occupied by
those who could get no lodging in the village.

It was the fame of the printing-press which
had tempted the concourse to the spot. And
then everybody wished to possess the wonder-
ful Book as soon as it was ready, and so they
watched and waited.

In the West Indies.

Poor Thomas continued very happy until he
died.

Two Work: Twenty Talk.

Two laborers were trying to place a stone
in position on the foundation wall of a new
building. A crowd was standing around look-
ing on, and each one offering his criticism and

Cc el freely and loudly, but not lifting so
At last one copy was finished! That was| that He shall stand at the latter day upon the Sa AA aawee to nal ¥ ‘That remin ae ne

given to the king, whose joy on receiving it | earth ; and though after my skin worms de- of church work,”’ said a passer-by to another.
knew no bounds. Then for weeks and months |stroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see “Why?” ‘Because’? was the reply, ‘two
it was hard work indeed to supply the pre-| God.’ ”’ k : men are doing the work, and twenty are doing
cious volume to all who wanted it. When A Bible was then put into his hands, and the talking.””
the materials for binding came to an end, the|he turned to John 11, 25. 14, 19. Job 19, ;
people gladly ‘gave their goats, their dogs, |25. 26., where these words are to be found.
and their kittens even, and the missionaries | Surely this little boy was in the right way to
showed them how to prepare the skins so as} become wise. :
to make covers for the Word of God. There was another who knew how to be use-| How boundless is the grace of God! ‘‘Not
One evening at sunset a canoe arrived from | ful. He was employed in carrying salt fish| willing that any should perish.”’ His love is
Tahiti with five men to buy Bibles. The min-|from the sea coast of Jamaica to the inner part| for the whole world,-and his message is to
ute they landed they hastened to the mis-|of the island; and to meet half-way another) all men. Consider what that means. Look
sionary’s house and asked for the ‘‘Word of | boy, who brought vegetablesin return. After} at the worst of men; at those in the hiding
Luke.’’ No copies were ready, but they were| they had exchanged their loads, the boy from| places of iniquity, at those who dwell where
told that if they would get themselves a lodg- | the coast, who went to school, used to sit down| vice rules and misery has her home; at those
ing in the village they should have them in| with his less favored companion, that he might| whose faces bear the seal-marks of Satan— ~
the morning. But no, they would not go/|teach him how to read. all these God would have ‘‘come unto re-
away: they were so afraid somebody else} Others have become pious. A colored boy} pentance.”” And, therefore, he would have
would come and take the copies before them, | trod upon a rake, which in a few days brought| us bear to them the message of his love.

Boundless Grace.