DILE WAS a little boy who lived in Malaya. He lived with his father, mother and five brothers and sisters in a one roomed thatched house built on stilts. His grandparents lived with them.
Dile liked to play, like most boys and girls, but he also liked to go to the rice paddies with Father and Mother, and when he grew older he also worked in the rice fields.
Then one day his mother took sick. They did not know about the Lord Jesus and his father called for the devil dancers to come and drive away the evil spirit out of his mother. But this did no good. Mother continued to get worse and at last Father knew that Mother would never be well again. Young Dile was very sad when he heard this.
A foreign missionary who had walked miles through the jungle arrived one day at Dile’s village. He had good news for them, he said. They need not fear the evil spirits any longer for the great God above loved them and would care for them. The missionary told them of how God had sent His beloved Son, Jesus, into the world to die for sinners and those who believe in Him are saved from their sins, made happy and have a wonderful future. Few of the natives believed his message, sad to say.
But one night when the missionary was sleeping in his tent nearby he suddenly woke up to find a boy standing beside him. It was Dile.
“Missionary,” said the boy, “I have heard you tell people about the great God who loves them and cares for them, and about His Son, Jesus, who came to save us from sin and evil spirits. I want Jesus to save me. Do you think He will?”
The missionary rejoiced to tell his young listener more of the Saviour who loved Him and of His death upon the cross for sinners. Dile believed it all in childish simplicity and was saved that very night.
He became a bright happy little Christian and many of the children in his village heard the story of the Saviour from this young missionary. Some of them believed, like Dile, and learned to love the Saviour too.
ML-09/08/1974