A lady missionary had succeeded in crossing the frontier of Thibet, that mysterious country which even now is almost closed to foreigners. But she was arrested by the authorities, who ill-treated her and conducted her out of the country under an armed escort. The child of God did not wish to have made so long a journey in vain, and it was given to her to sow the Word of God, the good Seed, in a marvelous manner. Unknown to her guardians, she let fall on the road as she went along, some leaflets, printed with texts in the Thibetan language. On one of these, spread thus in all directions, was the verse which you all know,
A young Thibetan found the leaflet and read the divine words. They made a deep impression upon him: he had never heard such wonderful things. This is how he told the story:
“When I had read these words, I thought to myself that our god Cheunaisi did not love us, and he had never promised us life eternal. I resolved to inquire diligently about the God who loves. In the meantime, I met a friend of mine and told him of my find. I asked him if he would like to come with me in my journey, for I had decided to go in search of this God so good and great, who loves the whole world, and had given His Son that everyone might receive life eternal. We knew no more about Him, but we often retired to a solitary place, and read again our verse, which had become so precious.
“At last we resolved to go and find the missionary from whom we had learned such news; we would ask her how we could have to do with her God. We went to the chief magistrate of the nearest place, and he told us that the foreigner had been conducted out of the country. We followed her to the frontier, but the soldiers arrested us and made us return.
“Then, not wishing to give up what I had planned, I went in another direction. Suddenly I found myself in the presence of a troop of bandits. It is unusual for these people to allow anyone whom they meet to live. They took all I had, but they could not take that which was the most precious thing I had; with a quick movement of my hand, I crumpled up the little paper and hid it in my ear. When I regained my liberty I did not go home, but went again in search of the missionary.
“One day, being in the mountains, I sat down on a rock to think on my text. On looking up, I saw two paces away a black Himalayan bear, which, no doubt, had been lying in wait. I had no stone, nor stick, no refuge. What could I do? Already I could feel the hot breath of the wild beast on my cheek. For the last time I looked around me with a despairing glance, and I noticed at my right a little cave. In front of the cave was a rock which I could move, for it was balanced on one edge. But there was no time to reflect. With one bound I gained the shelter of the cavern. The bear was after me, and knocked up against the rock so violently that it toppled over and came rolling in front of the cave where it stopped, closing up the entrance; I was safe!
“I thought to myself: ‘This God who has so loved the world must love me also; He has just saved me from death; surely He will reveal Himself to me.’ The bear kept watch before my prison for two days and then went away. Then I was able to shift the rock a little and slide out.
“After this strange experience I did not meet with any more difficulties on my way, and ended my long search by finding the missionary. I held out the little leaflet which she had dropped on the road.
“My visit was a great encouragement to the servant of the Lord. She taught me the truth from the Scriptures and I found peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He it is Whom I shall serve until He receives me unto Himself in His heavenly home.”
My dear reader, what do you say about this Seed, scattered along the way? Has the good Seed fallen into your heart, and has it brought forth fruit? Can you say, “God loves me, and has sent His Son here to save me?”
ML 02/19/1939