Books That Ran Home
Missionaries have to learn to do all sorts of things. There are no stores around the corner in the African jungle.
Many years ago a missionary was trying to teach some of the African boys and girls to read. She had no blackboard, no tablets, no pencils. With a sharp stick she made letters and figures in the red earth. School books written on the ground did not last long. Sometimes the rain came and washed the lesson away. Sometimes the people walked over it. The missionary was dreadfully discouraged. Then, too, there were only a few children who could see her book on the ground. She wanted books that could be sent to other villages.
“What are we going to do about it?” she said to the other missionary.
Now the other missionary was a man and he was very strong.
“If I knew where a printing press could be found, I’d go out to get it for you,” he said.
But both of them knew there was no printing press in that part of Africa. He took from his pocket his sharp knife and looked at it.
“I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll make you a printing press,” The teacher laughed.
“Make a printing press with a pocket knife! Who ever heard of such a thing?”
But the man missionary already had a good smooth board in his hand and he, began to whittle away with all his might. He tried one way to whittle a letter and when that wouldn’t work, he tried another way, and then, half a dozen other ways, until at last he had a wooden type that would print the letter A. After that it was ease to make all the other letters, But his troubles were not over Now that he had a printing-press, where would he find the ink?
When the next boat came in there was some printer’s ink in it, but there were no pads, and printer’s ink is so thick, it has to have pads and rolls. He found two empty tin cans and stuffed them full and running over with cotton.
“Now, if you’ll give me one of your old shoes,’’ he announced, “I’ll show you how to make the latest thing to be had in printing pads.”
The soft leather was ripped from the top of the shoes, and tied over the cotton which stuck from the ends of the two cans. The inventor rubbed the soft pads together in great glee. Then he daubed some of the ink on them and kept on rubbing them together until the ink was thin enough for printing. He pressed the wooden type down on the pads and then he pressed the type on a piece of paper. What should he print for the first words of his printing press?
One by one he made the letters in the African language:
One day a little boy, who had heard about the Lord Jesus, and loved Him very much, was watching the wonderful printing press make the letters on white cloth. He pressed one of them on his body and the letter was printed on his smooth brown body. Then he added another until there it was— “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7).
When the other children saw it, they wanted the printing press to give them some printing they could carry around with them too. So Bible verses were printed on their bodies.
The children ran home to show the wonderful printing. Fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters began to learn to read from these living books, and the Lord used it for blessing to many souls.
ML 03/31/1940