Dona Veronica was born in Piedmont, north Italy. As a little girl she went to school there, but then her family decided to cross the ocean to live in Brazil. Here, after a few years, Dona married a respectable, religious Brazilian man, and having bought some land they settled down to farm life. Dona Veronica had ten children whom she brought up strictly with more care and firmness than are most Brazilian families. She feared greatly the evils abounding on every hand, though she had never read the Bible; however, she did have a book of Bible history, a mixture of true and mythical stories, which she read diligently.
One day her eldest son, Joseph, went to play the guitar at a feast. At the feast there were two young girls present who were believers; they had found Christ as their Saviour. Neither took part in the dancing that followed, and one of them greatly attracted Joseph (so much so, that she later became his wife). Between the music and the dancing they talked to Joseph about the gospel, and encouraged him to get a Bible and to read it for himself. This advice, coming from such very attractive young girls, appealed to the young man, and he bought a Bible at the very first opportunity, and soon became very interested. He went to live in the village to take a bookkeeping course, and then he entered business. In this village there were Christians who had regular gospel meetings, and Joseph began to attend them. Soon he was saved and happy in the Lord.
On his next trip home, Joseph began to bring the gospel before his mother, but she was shocked at his new ideas, and told him that he was but a child and that she knew better than he did. Poor Joseph retired, disappointed.
His mother, Dona Veronica, soon after that visited a sick woman on their farm. This lady was a believer and invited Dona to come to a gospel meeting in her house. She went, and she recognized the Bible stories she heard during the preaching as being what she had read in her Bible history, and she told her husband afterwards that it was very good. Soon after this, another farmer nearby began to have gospel meetings in his house and Dona attended regularly. She became deeply interested, and then one day she really and truly opened her heart to the Lord Jesus. A light from heaven flooded into her soul, and the knowledge that her sins were forgiven and all put away through that precious blood brought her happiness and peace. She bought a Bible and her husband too began to read it. He also was converted. Now all her children are believers, and two of her sons go about preaching the gospel. Nearly all are married and bringing up their children for the Lord.
Who can tell what the harvest shall be from a few seeds sown by two Christian girls at a feast.
ML 05/30/1965