Memory Verse “AND THIS IS LIFE ETERNAL, THAT THEY MIGHT KNOW THEE THE ONLY TRUE GOD, AND JESUS CHRIST, WHOM THOU HAST SENT.” John 17:3.
IN AFRICA a medical missionary had a station in the jungle, where he would tell the natives the wonderful story of Jesus and His love. He also gave them medicines for their sicknesses so that many were healed.
“The white man has great magic!” the Africans said. “Not only can he tell wonderful tales about the great God, but he can also heal the sick.” The news circulated to a village eighty miles away. One African boy named Sam was sick in that village; he walked all those miles to see if the story was true, and if the missionary could make him well.
After examination, the missionary told Sam he would soon be well if he stayed a few days for treatment. He did, and during the day he walked around the station. To his great astonishment, he saw “a hen that had ducks for children!” Why the missionary’s hen had ducklings! Each time the hen called, the ducklings hurried to her side. For awhile Sam was almost afraid to move. What magic!
Soon Sam was cured, and free to go home. His return was soon known in every hut in the village, and they asked him, “Had the white man great magic? What was he like? What can he do?” Sam told them that the missionary was indeed the greatest magician in the world. He was a great healer, but he could even make chickens have ducks. Everyone was surprised. The witchdoctor stood openmouthed. What wonderful magic, unequalled by any witchdoctor!
The news of the hen with ducks spread all over the village. The black witchdoctor realized that his authority and power in the village were being challenged. No chicken could have ducks! The witchdoctor decided he would go and see for himself, and Sam would suffer for his lies.
The witchdoctor, a hideous specimen of African evil, eventually reached the mission station. Defiant and antagonistic to all around, he stood facing the missionary, and asked him about the hen. With a smile on his face, the missionary led the unbelieving witchdoctor to the hen with her ducks. It was real. “It is easily done,” said the missionary. “If you put a hen to sit on duck’s eggs, the eggs will hatch and the little ducks will think the hen is their mother.” The witchdoctor had never heard of such a thing.
“Have you any more wonderful things like this?” he asked.
The missionary sat down and told the witchdoctor the more wonderful story of Jesus and His love. He told him how Jesus had died because He loved us, and that now we can go to heaven, if cleansed by His precious blood. This story surpassed anything the witchdoctor had ever heard.
The witchdoctor stayed a few days, and pondered over what he had heard. One thought superseded all others, and that was of the white man’s Saviour, Jesus. The last night of his stay he went into the prayer meeting, and to the surprise and joy of the others present, he began to pray, “Lord Jesus, you be the needle and I will be the cotton. You go first, and I will follow wherever you may lead.”
Thus in his own simple way, the witchdoctor publicly announced his allegiance to Christ. He went home again, and soon he was telling all the people in his village about the Lord Jesus who had died to save them. Gone were the wicked charms, and instead, a new glow shone from his radiant face.
The witchdoctor soon ordered trees to be cut, and before long a hall was built, where the Africans could come to hear about God’s great salvation. The former witchdoctor often preached to the people, and many took Christ as their Saviour. They often sang.
“The Man of Calvary, has won my heart from me,
And died to set me free — blest Man of Calvary.”
Many years have passed by, and the witchdoctor is now with Christ, but that little hall is still there. Every week the story of redeeming love is told to those who gather.
God loved you so much, dear rear, that He sent His own dear Son into this world to die for sinners, so that you might be saved. Trust Him today and He will give you a new life, a new nature, a peace and happiness you never had before, and a home in heaven at the end.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Cor. 5:17.
Dear to the heart of the Shepherd, Dear are the lambs of His fold; Some from the pastures are straying, Hungry, and helpless, and cold. See, the good Shepherd is seeking, Seeking the lambs that are lost; Bringing them in with rejoicing, Saved at such infinite cost.
He (the Lord GOD) shall feed his flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. Isaiah 40:11
ML-02/22/1970