Chan had stumbled and fallen heavily, breaking his leg two weeks previously. In the little village where he lived, there was no proper surgical aid. Lying on the hard mattress in his little cottage, Chan decided on a plan which at first seemed wildly foolish, but he determined to carry it out.
Forty miles away was a hospital where he had been told the white foreign doctor was doing wonderful things for sick and injured folk.
But how could Chan expect to endure a journey of 40 miles, dragging himself along as best he could? Yet it was better to die on the road than linger miserably like this. So he made up his mind. Gathering together a little store of food for the journey, and after burning a stick of incense with a prayer that the gods might help him, Chan started out.
For 14 days he dragged his way painfully over the road of stones. Scorched with the burning heat of the sun by day and chilled at night, living on his scanty store and begging help from an occasional passer-by, Chan lost count of time, living through one weary day after another.
“May the gods have pity on me!” he groaned, as he rested on the roadside one afternoon.
Three days later the doctor in the missionary hospital was surprised when one of his Chinese attendants called him to come and see a man at the gate who had crawled 40 miles in 17 days with a broken leg in order to see the honorable doctor.
His clothes torn and covered with dust, Chan was tenderly lifted and carried inside. There he received the skilled medical attention he needed so badly; there, too, he heard for the first time the story of Jesus, the Saviour who loved sinners and who was able to save.
Six weeks later Chan walked out of the hospital strong and well again. But not only was he changed outwardly, but an inward work had been done in his soul, for he had responded to the message of love that was told out in the gospel. He had come to know and love Jesus who he learned had died to put his sins away. Now he was going back to his own village eager to carry the message of salvation to his people at home.
Four years passed. Chan had faithfully gone on for the Lord and won many to the Saviour. Seventeen had asked to be baptized — one for each day of that unforgettable journey. Was the journey worthwhile? Ask Chan.
ML-12/12/1976