Mrs. Blick and her husband were missionaries in Malaya. One day as they were passing along a road which led to a river ferry, her husband caught sight of a rooftop among the trees down below. “That,” said he, “is a Chinese temple. There must be a village down there. Well, we’ll go down there the next time we come this way.”
And so they did. Under the temple porch, fishermen sat mending their nets, and Mr. Buick went to talk to them. Meanwhile Mrs. Blick went to a nearby house and read and talked and sang to the women and children, After some time Mrs. Blick joined her husband. Leaning against a pillar was a very old woman. Mr. Blick said to her, “Old lady, have you ever heard this story before?”
“Yes,” she said, “when I was a little girl, in my father’s house.”
“Well then,” said Mr. Blick, “let the lady tell you some more.”
So Mrs. Blick put her arm through her’s and lead her into the house. And during the next half hour read to her the precious Words of life. The light of the gospel dawned on her soul and her face became utterly changed. She walked out with Mrs. Blick again to tell the missionary that she believed the words of Jesus. She said that one day when she was a very little girl, a man came to their house and told the story of the love of Jesus to her father. This seed must have lain dormant for well-nigh eighty years.
Some months later when the old lady was failing, the missionary’s wife called to see and read to her. They found her happy in the Lord. Said she: “Teacher, that’s a very wonderful Book; you read a little and I swallow it, and it is just like taking medicine; it does me good.”
Fellow-Christians, we may seem to see very little fruit for our labors oftentimes, but we should never be discouraged. God has said, “Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days.” Ecclesiastes 11:11Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. (Ecclesiastes 11:1).
ML 11/21/1965