F. E. LYNDON by F. E. Lyndon

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 3, 1910

F. E. LYNDON

By F. E. Lyndon

By a Little Child

A MAN whom I met on Aitutaki Island was once a heavy drinker of the Maori bush beer, made from bananas, pineapples, etc. It is a custom of the Maoris for one man to make a tub of beer, and then invite his friends to help drink it. This man made frequent visits to these “tubs,” and was often drunk.

His little daughter was grieved at her father’s intemperance, and made it her business to hunt for him, and bring him home from these places of evil. This little girl became very ill; and just before she died, she called for her father to come to her bedside.

“Father,” she said, “I am going to die. You are my father, but you are a wicked man. Who will bring you home from the ‘tubs’ when I go? If you

wish to see me again, you must give up drink, and become a better man, so that we may meet in the kingdom of the Lord Jesus.” After saying these words, she kissed her father and died.

The father told me that these words so touched his heart that he never drank beer again. He had heard a lecture on the evils of tobacco by one of our medical missionaries, Dr. J. E. Caldwell, who formerly was in these islands. A few years later he became ill; and when his wife reminded him of the warnings of the white missionary regarding the evil effects of tobacco, he decided to give that up also. When I found him, he was ready to receive the fulness of saving truth, and it was indeed a pleasure to open before him the way of salvation.

F. E. LYNDON

Rarotonga, South Pacific.