TOGNIA was a little boy who lived many years ago far away in the country of India. There are many villages in India. A village is a very little town. Tognia lived in a village on the edge of the jungle.
TOGNIA had three sisters and two brothers. They lived with their mother and their father in a bamboo house. The bamboo house was covered with mud inside and out. "Bapa" is the Indian word for father. "Ai" is the Indian word for mother. Tognia's brother-in-law and his aunt also lived there. Just think! Ten people lived in one small house! The fireplace in the house had no chimney. The smoke made the walls and ceiling black. Then it went out the door. Bapa and Ai did not care if there was smoke in their house. The smoke kept out some of the bugs.
Tognia's house there were no electric lights. They burned peanut oil or kerosene in a lamp to give them light. Lamplight is not very bright, so the family went to bed early. The animals also went to bed early. They curled up in the corner right in the house! Tognia slept on his own cloth rug on the floor. Everyone else in the family had a cloth rug to sleep on. In the daytime, they rolled them up and put them in the corner.
LA (Mother) cooked the food in a big brass kettle. There were no chairs in Tognia's house. The men and the children sat cross-legged on the floor. Each one dipped rice from the big brass platter into his own bowl. After they had finished, Ai and Tognia's aunt ate, but none of them thanked God for the food. They did not know that it was He who made the food grow for them to eat.
THERE were no water faucets in Tognia's house. In the center of the village was a well. Most of the people carried water home from the village well in pots. Tognia did not have to do that. There was a well in his own back yard! Tognia drew water from the well for Ai. She needed water to cook the rice. She needed water to wash clothes. Tognia liked to draw water for Ai. Little sister helped.
Bapa (:Father) was a carpenter. He made ox carts and sold them. One man wanted an ox cart, but he did not have enough money. Bapa let him have an ox cart for five goats. "When you grow up, Tognia," Bapa told him, "I want you to be a carpenter. I want you to help me."
boys and girls in India do not know about the one true God in heaven. They do not know His Son, the Lord Jesus. Instead, they worship idols.
In the village where Tognia lived there was a large painted rock under a tree by the river. The people bowed down to the painted rock. "This is our god," the people said.
Bapa took a few grains of rice and the tail-feathers from a chicken. He offered them to the idols by placing them on the rock. "If I give them something to eat, the idols won't harm us," he said.
MISSIONARIES are men and women who tell others about the one true God in heaven and about His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Some missionaries went to India and built a school. They taught the children how to read and write and do arithmetic. They also taught them about God and His Son, Jesus. One day an Indian Christian from the school came to visit Bapa. His name was Abraham. He, too, was a missionary to the people of his country. "May Tognia come to the Mission School?" he asked. "Yes," said Bapa. Bapa could not read or write. He wanted Tognia to learn so that he would be a better carpenter.
So off to the mission school went Tognia! He said good-bye to Ai and to Bapa. He said good-bye to his brothers and his sisters. He said good-bye to his friends. Tognia took his sleeping rug. He would eat and sleep and study in the school until vacation time. Tognia was not very old, and he had never been away from home before, but he was brave. Didn't Bapa want him to learn to read and write and to do arithmetic so that he could be a good carpenter? Abraham went with him to show him the way.
IT was night when Tognia and Abraham arrived at the Mission School. Another missionary stood at the door to meet them. "This is Tognia," said Abraham.
"We are glad that you have come, Tognia," the missionary told him. Then he showed Tognia where to go. There were forty-four boys there already. Tognia made it forty-five! Some were big boys and some were little boys. They were just going to bed, so Tognia unrolled his rug, and lay down on the floor with the others. Soon he was fast asleep.
Clang, clang, clang went the bell! All forty-five boys jumped up! They washed their faces and dressed in a hu . Soon each one was sitting in front of a bowl of steaming mush. It looked good, so Tognia started to eat. Then he looked around. No one else was eating. Everyone was very still. The missionary prayed aloud: "Dear God in heaven, we thank Thee for the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank Thee for this food, in Jesus' name, Amen." Then everyone ate his hot mush. Tognia wondered about what he had seen and heard, but he was soon to learn that all good things come from God. That is why the boys had thanked Him for the mush.
AFTER breakfast, all the boys went to Bible class. "The Bible is God's Book," the teacher said. "It is like a mirror. A mirror tells you how your face looks. The Bible tells you how your heart looks. It says, 'Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.' God looks into your heart and He sees your sin. He knows the wicked things you think. He sees your proud look. He hears your lying tongue. God is holy. God hates sin. He cannot let any man or woman or boy or girl into heaven where He is, if there is sin in the heart."
TOGNIA was worried. Until today, the only god that he had heard of was the big painted stone. Now he had heard about the one true God who made heaven and earth and everything in them. Tognia wanted to know the true God. He wanted to be ready to live with Him in heaven forever and ever. But he did not know how. All day the boys went to classes. In one they learned to read. In one they learned to write. In one they learned to do arithmetic. After school the boys ran out in the school yard to play, but Tognia did not feel like playing. Tognia had sin in his heart. He knew it. He wanted to hide, so he sat down under a big vine all alone.
ONE of the bigger boys saw Tognia crawl away by himself. He saw his sad face. "Are you homesick for your mother, little Tognia?" he asked. "No," answered Tognia. "I am not homesick. But I want to live with God in heaven forever and ever, and I can't because I don't know Him." Tognia began to cry.
"God had just one Son," the big boy told him. "His name was Jesus. He left His home in heaven and came down to this earth. He never sinned. But He died on the cross. Do you know why? He died for you. He died to save you. If you will believe in your heart that Jesus died for YOU, you will have a clean heart and you can live with God in heaven forever and ever."
THE big boy took a New Testament from his pocket. He read Tognia a wonderful verse found in John, chapter three, verse sixteen. Then he read it with Tognia's name in it like this: "For God so loved Tognia, that He gave His only begotten Son, that if Tognia believeth in Him he should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Tognia listened. "That is wonderful," he smiled through his tears. "Right this minute I believe that Jesus died for Tognia. That means that I have everlasting life." Tognia thanked the big boy for telling him. Then he ran to tell Abraham.
ON Sunday the boys did not go to school. They went to hear more about Jesus. "In school we read many books," Abraham said, "but the best book in the whole world is the Bible. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.'" The boys also sang. They learned many hymns and choruses. Some songs told about God's love. Some songs told about heaven. But the song that Tognia liked best went like this:
Christ is my Saviour. He is very dear to me.
How humble He became to take my sin away.
How shall I describe His love
Who so completely my sin forgives?
VACATION time had come! Tognia had been in school for nine months and now he could go home to visit Bapa and Ai before school started again. Everyone was glad to see him. Everyone was full of questions!
"Can you read, Tognia?" asked little sister.
"Did you have good things to eat, Tognia?" asked big brother.
"Can you do arithmetic, Tognia?" asked Bapa.
The whole family was proud of Tognia because he had gone away to school.
TOGNIA helped Ai weed the garden. Sometimes Tognia took care of the goats for Bapa. He took them outside of the village where they could find green grass, but he had to watch them. A leopard or a tiger might come out from the jungle and take one. While Tognia weeded the garden, he sang. While Tognia drew water from the well, he sang. While Tognia chopped wood for Ai, he sang. While Tognia watched the goats, he sang. Tognia was always singing. "Why do you always sing, Tognia?" asked Bapa. "What do these strange words mean?"
THE whole family listened while Tognia answered Bapa, "The one true God made heaven and earth. He wants us to live with Him forever, but we can't because we have sinned. God sent His only Son to take my sin away. Jesus had never sinned, but they killed Him by nailing Him to a cross. He died for me. Yes, and for you, too." Tognia looked at each person. "I learned verses from God's Book. Listen while I say them for you:
"All have sinned." "There is none that doeth good, no, not one." "Christ died for our sins."
"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
BAPA was the first to speak: "I have sinned. I want to be saved," he said. Right away he asked God to forgive him and he thanked Him for everlasting life. Ai said that she wanted to have everlasting life. Big brother said that he wanted to have everlasting life, too. Everyone in Tognia's family wanted everlasting life. Everyone in Tognia's family was saved by believing that the Lord Jesus Christ was his or her own Saviour. What a happy day it was! God's Book tells us that there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that is saved. What joy there was in heaven that day! A whole family had come to God.
THE next day, Bapa was gone all morning. "Where is Bapa?" asked Tognia."I do not know," answered Ai. "Here he comes," shouted little sister. And what do you think Bapa was carrying? It was a hand organ!
"I bought it," Bapa said. "Now we can sing." And they did. Tognia soon learned to play the hymn tunes on the hand organ. He taught the songs to the rest. Tognia's favorite song was the one they liked the best:
Christ is my Saviour. He is very dear to me.
How humble He became to take my sin away.
How shall I describe His love
Who so completely my sin forgives?
Why are you digging in front of the house, Tognia?" asked little sister. "I am going to plant some seeds that the missionary gave me," answered Tognia.
"But Ai planted onions and potatoes in the garden in back of the house," little sister objected.
"I am not planting onions or potatoes," Tognia told her.
"What are you planting, Tognia?" little sister wanted to know.
"Wait! You will see!" Tognia said. "First we dig the dirt, like this. Now we drop the seeds in, like this. Then we cover them with dirt, like this. Now we must wait. God in heaven will send the rain to water the seeds. God will send sunshine to warm them and make them grow. Then you will have a surprise!"
AND little sister was surprised!
Ai and Bapa were surprised! Everyone in the village was surprised! Tognia's seeds grew, and after a while there were beautiful red and yellow flowers in front of their house.
"I planted the seeds. God made them grow," said Tognia.
TOGNIA went away to school again. Then vacation time came again and Tognia was home.
"Abraham, the Indian evangelist, is coming to visit us," Tognia told Bapa. "I have asked him to baptize me."
"Why do you wish to be baptized?" asked Bapa. "Are you not saved? Do you not have everlasting life already?"
"Yes, I have everlasting life," Tognia answered. "I received it when I believed that Jesus died for me. Baptism does not save anybody. But if I am baptized, everyone in the village will know that I believe in the one true God in heaven and in His Son, Jesus, who died for me."
"I, too, will be baptized," said Bapa.
D he was. So was each one in Tognia's family. Some of the friends and neighbors wanted to watch. Together they went to the bank of the river. The missionary read out of the Bible so that all could hear: "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and ...He was buried, and ... He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." 1 Corinthians 15:3,43For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: (1 Corinthians 15:3‑4).
Then they all sang Tognia's favorite song:
Christ is my Saviour. He is very dear to me.
How humble He became to take my sin away.
How shall I describe His love
Who so completely my sin forgives?
do not like my name," Tognia had told Abraham. "Tognia' means liar or deceiver. Jesus took my sins away and He helps me not to lie or to be proud. I want a new name. I want my name changed from 'Tognia' to `Samuel.' `Samuel' means 'asked of God.'"
"When you are baptized, you may change your name," Abraham had told him. And so he did.
Abraham put his hand on Tognia's head. "Your new name will be Samuel," he said. "I baptize you unto the Lord Jesus Christ in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."
AFTER they had been baptized, the family went home. Abraham went with them. "This is a happy day," said Bapa. "Let's all sing." Samuel, whose name had been Tognia, brought out the hand organ. They all gathered around and sang. They sang about God's love. They sang about heaven. Then they sang their favorite song:
Christ is my Saviour. He is very dear to me.
How humble He became to take my sin away.
How shall I describe His love
Who so completely my sin forgives?
THAT day others of the village people were saved. Again the angels in heaven rejoiced because sinners had come to God.
"I am glad that Bapa let me go to the Mission School," Samuel, whose name had been Tognia, said.
"I am glad that Tognia sang songs to us about Jesus," Ai said.
"I am glad that he said verses from the Bible for us, too," big brother said. "Now we all know the one true God in heaven, and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who died that we might live with God in heaven forever and ever."