It was on a visit to a nearby village that we found poor, little orphan Mambwe. She was a pitiful sight, so neglected. We had never seen anyone so dirty and ragged. But worst of all, she was crippled. Jiggers, small crawling insects that live in the dust, had burrowed under the skin of her toes and hands, crippling them. None of the insects had ever been removed. The eggs they laid in little sacks had hatched out, digging in wherever they could.
The Lord Jesus loved Mambwe. He wanted to save her. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16).
Her uncle promised to carry Mambwe to the mission station. There she could hear the Gospel and also get rid of the jiggers. In a few days she arrived at the station.
First of all she was scrubbed and given a clean dress. How different she looked! It was quite a problem digging out those many jiggers, and it was very painful to Mambwe. Finally, after many days they were gone. She began to walk slowly and could go with other girls to pound corn into meal for porridge.
She was given a small hut with a mud-thatched roof near our house. It was close to an open shed (called a kinzanza) where Maripine did the laundry along with other odd jobs. He barred her door at night from the outside to keep her safe from wild animals.
One day Maripine got some tasty, dried fish. He put it on a shelf in the kinzanza. He beat the drum and left, to be gone for the noon hour. Now was a good time for Mambwe to get some fish, she thought. No one was around, so no one could see her climb on a stool to get it. She didn’t know that there was One who saw what she did. We know it was God. “Thou God seest me.” Gen. 16:1313And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me? (Genesis 16:13). Wouldn’t it be helpful to realize that the Lord Jesus not only sees what we do, hears what we say, but also knows what we think? It might keep us from sinning against Him.
Maripine returned to work and in the late afternoon reached up on the shelf for the fish to eat with his evening meal. It was gone! Who had tan it? He guessed it was Mambwe. Right away he went to ask her. “Did you take my fish?” She said she didn’t know anything about it. He was not satisfied with her answer, so he searched the hut and found the remains hidden under a blanket.
When it was dark we heard loud screaming and crying. Quickly the lantern was lighted, and off we hurried to Mambwe’s hut to find out what had happened. When she saw us she quieted down and said that Maripine had not barred her door. She was afraid the wild animals would get her. We thought “Oh, Maripine just forgot.”
The next morning he told the fish story. He had left her door unbarred on purpose, because she took the fish. That was the punishment she deserved, he decided. “Be sure your sin will find you out.” Num. 32:2323But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out. (Numbers 32:23). “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:99If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9).
Mambwe learned that it was wrong to steal. Stealing is sin, and all sin has to be punished. We, too, are sinners—everyone of us. God tells us in the Bible that “All have sinned.” Rom. 3:2323For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23). It was because of sin that the Lord Jesus Christ suffered and died on the cross. It was not for His sin, but for ours. The Lord Jesus was the sinless One. There was nothing in Him that could sin. Yet He loved us so much that He took the punishment for our sins. Won’t you accept Him as your Saviour and have all your sins washed away in His precious blood?
ML-04/26/1981