I want to tell you about a little girl who lived on an island where there were no schools such as we know them.
“How lovely!” do I hear some of you say? Yes, but how would you like it if you were not able to read? What a lot of pleasure you would miss, would you not? This little girl, although she was a dark-skinned native, often wished she could learn to read, but the only school was one where a fee had to be paid, and, as her ‘parents were very poor, she could not possibly hope that they would be able to pay for her to go.
Little Muyamba had to be content with hearing from other children about the school.
One sad day a great grief came to this poor little girl. Her mother died, and then soon after, little Muyambho had never been very strong—began to lose her sight, and before long she became blind.
I wonder if you have ever sat quietly with your eyes shut for one moment and tried to imagine what it must be like to be always in the dark? This was the lot of this poor little girl.
On top of all this trouble came another, for her father, who had no real love for his little daughter, deserted her, and she became dependent on an aunt who took pity on her. She lived with this aunt, who was very poor and she was in darkness, both physically and spiritually. She longed for her father, whom she loved, although he had left her. Worse than this, she had never heard of the Lord Jesus as the One who could save her, and give her joy in spite of all her sorrow.
A school teacher in the town some miles from where she lived, heard about the poor blind maiden and arranged for her to go into a Government Home for the Blind. There she started a new life, and one of the dires of her life was fulfilled, for she learned to read. Yes, in spite of her blindness, she was taught to read from a special book with her fingers. Not only this, but the best thing happened to her that can ever happen to any boy or girl. She heard about the Saviour.
Into that home came a lady who loved the Lord Jesus, and had meetings.
For a long time Muyamba would not go to these Gospel meetings. She aays pretended that she had a headache and could not go. At last she went and as she listened to the wonderful story you children know so well, her heart responded to His love, and she came to Him by faith. One day she was asked,
“Well, Muyamba, when are you going to accept Christ?”
“I have already,” she answered. “And what about your sins?” the lady asked, “O, teacher,” said Muyamba, “The Lord bore them away on the cross.”
What a wonderful answer from that blind girl! And what a wonderful change came into her life! She was able to read and, best of all, she was happy in knowing the Lord Jesus as her Saviour. She still longed after her father, but she knew that, through the Lord Jesus, God had become her Heanly Father, and that He would never desert her.
What about my readers? Do you all know Him? He is still waiting for you to come to Him. Will you today open your heart to Him, and then you will be able to say, “Once I was blind,
But now I can see,
The LIGHT OF THE WORLD IS JESUS.”
ML 06/24/1945