Ruth Conway had left her home in America to work in Japan, but she had not been long enough in the new country to learn anything of the language. It was heart-breaking to her to be unable to say even a word to the children playing in the streets, for she loved them and longed to make friends with them. The tiny ones were specially attractive to her, and as they gazed at her with their solemn dark eyes she thought that they looked like little yellow and black dumplings.
Some of them would smile at her and nod their heads. “But, dear me,” thought Ruth, “that is a long way from being a missionary to them! I want to talk to them and tell them about the Lord Jesus.” She would end with a sigh.
At last God sent her little Suyataka. At the back of the house where Ruth lived was a garden, and one day she saw a pair of black eyes peeping at her through the fence.
“Good morning!” she called, and to her surprise a small voice answered, “Tank ye.” Whether that remark was in Japanese or in English, Ruth could not determine, but at any rate the ice was broken. After that, she and the little girl established a kind of friendship, and many queer attempts at communication were carried on through the fence.
After a while Ruth made her understand that she wanted her to come into the house. Little Suyataka’s eyes were round as she crept into the room, and her face said plainly, “What queer things foreigners have about them!” Ruth showed her some pictures of Bible characters, and she looked again at them, and then glanced up at the missionary as if to ask who they were.
“I caught her up in my arms and kissed her,” Ruth wrote afterward. “She understood the love language, and from that moment Suyataka knew that I loved her.”
When she came indoors again, Ruth taught her to kneel down and put her plump hands together, and there she prayed aloud to God for her. Suyataka was puzzled to know whom the foreigner was talking to; she saw tears in her eyes and was troubled by them. Ruth put her hand on the little head and begged the Good Shepherd to take her into His flock; and it seemed to her that a light came into the little yellow face and made it shine.
Before long Suyataka began to understand English, and the first word she said was “Jesus.” Soon followed two sentences, “Jesus loves me,” and “Jesus died for me.” Ruth bought her a Japanese Testament, which the child delights to read. There is no doubt that she is now a little lamb in the flock of the Good Shepherd.
ML 11/05/1961