Kulu was very sad. She had tried so hard to learn to read, and though she had been to school for over a year she was no farther on than many girls who had just begun. She wondered if there wasn’t something that a stupid, awkward girl like her could do—especially as she loved Jesus.
“I am very sorry,” said the teacher in the African school for little black girls, “but we feel it might be better for you to try something else.”
“If I go home,” Kulu sobbed, “what will the people in my village say? And my mother will be sad because I’m not a teach-books person. Isn’t there something I can do?”
“Of course there is, Kulu,” said Miss McDonald, looking in pity at the tearful face. “If you can’t be a teach-books person you can be a ‘live-the-book’ person.”
Kulu was puzzled. She could not understand what that meant.
Miss McDonald got her Bible and read 2 Corinthians 3:22Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: (2 Corinthians 3:2), “Ye are our epistle... known and read of all men.” “People will read YOU instead of books, Kulu,” she said. “What you do will show that you are a person of the tribe of God. And others who see you will want to belong to Him too.”
Kulu clapped her hands. “Oh! can I really be a live-the-Book person, Miss McDonald?”
“Yes, indeed you can,” was the response, “but you must ask the Lord Jesus to help you. You cannot do it in your own strength, but you can
‘Ask the Saviour to help you,
Comfort, strengthen and keep you,
He is willing to aid you;
He will carry you through.’”
“In everything you do, Kulu, do it to please Him—even when you scrub floors. There is a verse in God’s Word that says, ‘Whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do ALL in the name of the Lord Jesus.’” Col. 3:1717And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. (Colossians 3:17).
A few days later Miss McDonald came to Kulu with a letter in her hand, telling her she had just received it from missionaries who had recently moved to a new village. She read, “We need a native girl right away. Is there one there who would be willing to live in a hard place—there are no Christians here?”
“Would you like to go, Kulu?”
“I’d like to go,” said Kulu quietly, “and live-the-Book. If there are no Christians there, and no one who can read, I can SHOW them what is in the Book. I’ll ask God to make me a good person of His tribe.”
When the missionaries first moved to the village the natives were very much afraid of them and would run away and hide if they came near. But one day Kulu came to live with them. She was as black as they were, but she wasn’t the least bit afraid of them! She smiled at the children peeping at her from behind trees, or out of doorways, and gradually they became less afraid. Finally the brave ones ventured near enough to ask questions.
“How long are the white folks going to sit in our village?”
“They have come to tell us about God.”
“But we have our own gods,” they answered.
And then Kulu told them about the only true God, who lives up in the sky and yet can see and hear everything we say and do. She told them that God loved them and wanted to take them up to live with Him some day, also that they were sinners and could not come into His presence until their sins were taken away. This was impossible for them to do, so He Himself provided a way in sending His own Son to die on the cross for them, “and all,” said Kulu, “who will trust in Him will be saved.”
The children came often and asked Kulu to tell them of her wonderful Friend. Before long the older ones were willing to listen to the story of Jesus’ love from the missionaries, and some of them trusted Him for themselves. So dear Kulu was able to rejoice that though she could not read, she had shown by her life and words what a wonderful Saviour she had.
May this story help each one of us to be a real “LIVE-BY-THE-BOOK” Christian, if we know Him, for “We are known and read of all men.” 2 Cor. 3:22Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: (2 Corinthians 3:2).
ML 06/11/1961