Kulu lived in Africa, and Christian missionaries had come to a town not too far away from her home. She often ran away to the Christian school, for she was so very anxious to hear more about Jesus and His love. Her mother was very angry each time she went, and in despair she handed Kulu over to the witchdoctor to see what he could do with her. At all costs she must be prevented from seeing those Christians, and from their God who had “such uncanny power to change lives.”
The witchdoctor, keeping Kulu in the dark, first tried to scare her into obedience by his gruesome incantations, and grisly magic. This failed, however, and she slipped off again to school. Then he forced bitter medicines into her to kill off “this new batch of microbes"—which nearly killed her! But when her strength returned, there she was at the school again!
The disappointed mother thought of one more thing to do. She took Kulu into the forest, and bound her to a tree with bark rope, and said to her, “A worthless child you are to me, and you can just be food for the lions!” So she left her, and there Kulu was all night in the dreary African forest.
But surely the angel of the Lord encamped about that tree, for when early in the morning a Christian boy found her, and cut her loose, he saw lion tracks encircling the spot. He noticed that not one lion had dared to come within four arms lengths of her. Kulu had seen their glaring eyes as moving balls of fire, but she said she remembered what she had learned in the Christian school, that God had made the lions and that He had made her too. So fear left her. She felt so sure God wouldn’t let the great beasts eat her up.
Wasn’t that wonderful faith on the part of a little girl! In Psa. 34:77The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. (Psalm 34:7) we read, “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.” The Lord will be with you too, dear young friends, if you trust Him.
ML-12/07/1969