Angel Apala, a native from the village of Llica in Bolivia, had gone to the town of Uyuni to look for work. He was not disappointed since soon he had a job with the railroad there. However, while in Uyuni he heard something that sent him on a different kind of search. For the first time he heard some of the wonderful “good news” found in God’s Word, the Bible.
When Angel saw a copy of the Bible, he wanted very much to get one for himself. One day a short time later, he and his wife traveled 200 miles on the train to the larger town of Oruro. There they searched the stores and shops for two or three days looking for a Bible. But the shops in Oruro did not have Bibles then. So no matter how long Angel and his wife looked they would not have been able to find one. Disappointed after their useless search, they were walking back to the train station when they met a peddler selling things on the sidewalk. They stopped to look at the goods that he had: bright dyes and mirrors, needles and combs, etc. Angel noticed a book near the back of the table that looked like a Bible. He asked the peddler if it was a Bible, and he was so happy when the peddler said, “Yes, it is.” He then found out that the money he had saved to buy a Bible was exactly the amount the peddler wanted, so he quickly bought it.
Back home in Uyuni he was able to read for himself the wonderful words that he had heard. He and his wife were poor and did not have very much education, but they could read God’s wonderful Book.
One day while Angel and his wife were away from home, someone slipped a gospel tract under their door. In the tract Angel found not only the same wonderful message that he had been reading in the Bible, but also the name and address of the person who had left it. Missionaries had recently come to town and were having special gospel meetings in a small room.
Angel and his wife found the room and listened as the Word of God was preached.
There Angel and his wife saw that they were sinners and needed a Saviour. How happy they were when they heard that the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ could wash all their sins away. They both accepted the Lord Jesus as their Saviour that very evening. Their desire to know more of the truth from God’s Book, along with the gospel tract and help from the Lord’s servants, were all links in the chain that brought joy and peace into the lives of Angel and his wife.
Angel and his wife returned to their native village of Llica to tell their own people what they had learned from the Word of God, “which liveth and abideth forever.” Angel walks many miles and faces many problems and dangers so that others might hear the good news, too.
What about you? Is the Lord Jesus your Saviour, too?
ML-01/23/1983