Among the Bible Colporteurs

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 22, 1915

Among the Bible Colporteurs

“ONE day a passenger showed me his check book and said, ‘With this I can buy many things; now buy something with your book.’ I answered, ‘I should like to buy your soul.’ He laughed, called his friends together, and made fun of me. So I said to him, ‘What treasures do you expect your book to buy for you in the next life? All the checks it contains will not give you one drop of living water,’ and I read them the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Then I gave him a Gospel and went away. An hour or two later, as I was about to leave the ship, he called me and said, ‘I have read in the book you gave me, and I want to keep it. And please give me a Bible also, for I see it says here, “Search the Scriptures.”’ Thus he purchased my book, and my book purchased him.”

“On a German ship, an English-speaking sailor came to me and said, ‘I am very, very glad that I bought that Bible from you on the last voyage. In Ceylon, I was brought up as a Christian but through being thrown with men who had no religion, I had lost mine. Since reading my Bible I have come to see things differently, and now I read it every evening.’”

“On a French ship a sailor began to scoff when he caught sight of a Testament. ‘I believe I can read your thoughts,’ said I. ‘You are perhaps laughing at unworthy priests and their ceremonies. But I want you to realize that the Lord Jesus Christ was a poor man, who went about doing good; and he was crucified by priests like those at whom you are laughing.’ The man remained

silent, but a little while later he came to me and bought a book. Others followed his example, so I had good sales on that ship.”

“On the deck of an Egyptian steamer I talked to some Bedouins who had been taking camels to Egypt for sale, and were now returning to Syria. I sold one Gospel, and went on to visit other passengers. When I returned, they were seated on the deck around a man who was reading aloud to them. I asked an old Bedouin, ‘Do you know of whom this is written?’ He stood up and said, ‘Bring for each one a copy of this book, for they are the words of the Messiah.’ Besides the Gospels, the old man also bought a Bible. Handing it to his son, he said, ‘You will read this aloud to me every day, for life indeed is short, but our wisdom is much shorter; therefore it is good to learn of such a paradise of knowledge.’ I sold among these Bedouins sixteen books.”

“On a Dutch steamer a Chinaman came and showed me the book of Isaiah, who asking if Jesus is really the Messiah there foretold. I showed him from the Gospel that he is. Then the man took out a silver coin and said, ‘Give me as many books as this coin is worth.’ I did so, and these he distributed among his friends. He even explained to them the prophecies, and their fulfillment in the New Testament. His friends followed his explanations with much interest. He said to them, ‘Jesus is not in wood or stone, but in the light which shines in our hearts and souls.’”

“I sold a Bible to a lady in the third-class cabin of an Orient liner. As she took it, she asked, ‘Do you know why I bought this? My sister and I are going to Australia. We are very poor, and did not intend buying anything on the journey but what was absolutely necessary. When you showed me the Bible, I felt at once that we had forgotten the most necessary thing in this life.’ Handing it to her sister, she added, ‘We have been feeling lonely; but now we shall have the Lord Jesus with us.’”