THE following narrative was told by a missionary:
Ilondo was born in a village on the banks of the Congo river in Africa. His parents had never heard anything about the Lord Jesus, but one day, Ilondo saw a strange object in the hands of a boyfriend, who came to see him, and this strange thing was a book which was God’s Word—the Bible in Ilondo’s native language.
A few days later, Ilondo came to my house and said,
“I want to learn to read; I will gladly work for you, if you will only teach me to read.”
His desire was granted, and he was permitted to help to make bricks outside of school hours.
Four months later he came to me one day, very sad, and said;
“My father has come to get me; and I did so much want to learn to read, that I might be able to read to my relatives.”
“That is indeed very sad,” I said, “is there anything I can do for you?”
“O, if you please,” he answered, “if you will only give me the Gospel of Luke!”
I brought one, opened it and said,
“Let me hear you read.” He slowly sounded each syllable.
“See, you can’t read yet!”
“No,” he said, “but I know the letters, and if you will only give me the book, then God will help me to learn to read it.”
I gave him the Gospel, laid my hands upon his shoulders and prayed to God to bless him. He departed, smiling amidst his tears.
For several months we heard nothing of him, except that he had learned to read, and even collected a group of boys and taught them too. Not long after that, they went together to a forest to cut timber to build a “house of God,” as other villages had.
While they were at this work, a government official appeared and asked:
“What does this mean? Remove these stakes immediately; I don’t want any such nonsense in this village.”
But the boys felt they were working for God, and He must be honored at all cost, so they continued to build.
A few days later, the official came again. He locked Ilondo and his four friends into an old dark hut. Imagine the boys in this dismal place! Were they discouraged? No! In the night they prayed, and sang their favorite hymns. This provoked the official even more, and he ordered the door opened, had the boys laid flat on the ground, and whipped with a leather whip, until they were bleeding and suffering. Then they were thrust back into the dark hut again. What then happened can better be told in Ilondo’s own words:
“Our God,” he said, “is a great God, and. He always hears our prayers. After we were whipped, and put back to prison, my friends were weeping bitterly, but I felt God would help us, so I told them the story I had heard from the missionary, of the two men, who many, many years ago were preaching the gospel in a strange city, and were cast into prison for it, after having been whipped. While there, they sang and prayed, till suddenly God shook the whole prison, so that all the doors opened. Then I said, ‘Let us sing and pray too!’ which we did, and our God heard; for soon after that we heard someone opening the door. The official had sent a soldier who pulled us out, and with a kick, said, ‘Get out of here with your singing!’”
How wonderful God owned the prayers and faith of these boys! Ilondo’s school house is now finished, where he gathers a large group of boys, many of which long to know of God’s Word and His salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. Seven of them have already been converted to the Lord Jesus, and have been baptized. Isn’t that wonderful?
ML 06/19/1927