Biff!—Bang!—Whack!!!
As the astonished missionary watched the young Uruguayan mother, the children, Jorge, Betty, Margot, Bladimir and Tana were all but clobbered as she swatted each one impartially! "Why, Erna! Why are you doing that? What have they done?"
"Oh, nothing—yet!" Ema answered calmly. "That's so they'll behave while I'm gone. You should see what they did the last time! They broke a good vase and did plenty of other naughty things!"
Scolding as she went, the door closed behind them as the missionary, Elsa Sands, and Ema, started out for a few hours of calling upon some of Ema's unsaved relatives she longed to see trusting in the Lord. This manner of punishment in advance was both amazing, and more than a little humorous to Elsa, but a very serious matter to Ema who was most earnestly desiring that her children hear the Word of God and learn to be obedient to it.
One hot, sultry summer afternoon in Montevideo, Uruguay, Ema, with her five children strung along the bench, sat listening to a message at a Bible conference. It was hard in the heat to be alert and attentive. Many were dozing. All was quiet on the street outside except for the tinkle of a bell and the cries, "Helados! Helados!" (Ice cream! Ice cream!) as the vendor passed by.
Although a few listeners fell asleep, most were very attentive. Occasionally a mother would quietly slip out with a restless child. Ema was so absorbed she did not notice when Bladi rose and tiptoed down the aisle.
Bladi was only five years old, a thoughtful little boy, but one who could not express himself easily because of a speech impediment. When Ema became aware of his empty seat she was frightened for fear he had wandered out alone into the city streets and would soon be lost. "Bladi, oh, where is Bladi?" she whispered anxiously to little Tana who had been sitting beside him.
Tana did not know, so Ema began a hurried search. He was not in the rest room, or the patio where lunch was soon to be served, and no one had noticed a little boy wandering about by himself. Breathlessly she ran out onto the street to begin her search—and there stood Bladimir, beside the Bible coach, listening with rapt, joyful attention to the message coming through the loud speakers on top of the coach that were sending out the gospel so that it could be heard clearly up and down the street.
"Bladi! Bladi! Why did you leave? You worried me so-" Ema cried, a little crossly, perhaps like another mother, Mary, long ago.
Bladimir turned in surprise, "Don't you know—I must listen to the Word of God?" he lisped.
That very day Bladi received the Lord Jesus as his Savior. Although only five years old he seemed to clearly understand that the Lord Jesus took the punishment for his sins when He died on Calvary, and he simply put his trust in Him.
Because of his speech defect Bladimir spent three years in first grade. Impatient teachers in the public school did not take time with the little fellow to help him, and he soon became discouraged. Then the Lord put the desire in Elsa Sand's heart to see if she could help.
"Bladi! Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could read your Bible? Just think, you could hear what God has to say to you for yourself whenever you opened His Word!"
Bladimir responded eagerly, and Elsa and he spent many hours together, with the result that Bladi not only learned to read, but became an outstanding student.
Today, Bladimir is a man who not only knows and loves the Lord but is one who encourages others to get to know Him too. He is an excellent mechanic, owning his own business, and has a fine Christian wife. What wonderful blessings have come into the life of the little boy who decided,
"Tengo que escuchar la palabra de Dios!" (I must listen to the Word of God!)