A missionary to Bolivia tells this story of a general in the Bolivian army who was saved during the Chaco war some years ago.
I was preaching the gospel of Christ to the troops during that war, and ofttimes the general would come with his staff to hear the word preached. Protected under a bomb shelter they sat on ammunition boxes, and would listen to the gospel.
The general took a real interest in the preaching, and at the close of the war when the fighting had ceased, the general attended another service I held under this same bomb shelter. The message for that night was: “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Heb. 9:2727And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Hebrews 9:27).
After the meeting the general stayed behind and said, “Smith, you know that message really affected my soul tonight.”
“Well,” I said, “General, you have escaped the bombs, you have escaped the bullets, and you have escaped the dangers of this war for three years; but there’s one thing certain you cannot escape.”
“What is that, Smith?” he asked.
“The judgment of God,” I answered. It was most touching to see how the Spirit of God wrought upon the soul of the general. Getting down on his knees right there and then in that terrible place, known as “Green Hell,” where 60,000 Bolivian troops died, he accepted the Lord Jesus as his Saviour.
After the war was over he invited me to accompany him to his residence at La Paz for supper, and said, “You know, Smith, I have an unsaved wife and an unsaved daughter, and I want you to come and give them the gospel.” I went with him and the result was that both his wife and daughter confessed Christ as their Saviour and Lord.
ML 08/06/1967