In the street of a city in South India, Thambu and some other little boys were playing marbles. In the midst of their play, they began to quarrel, and hit one another with their marbles. Thambu, who was very mischievous, abused the other boys. I noticed them at play, and came out to prevent further quarreling. To my great astonishment, I saw none of the boys except Thambu, with his head hung down.
Putting my arm over his shoulder, I began to converse with him in the following manner:
“Thambu, have you ever heard of the name of Christ?”
“Yes, a little,” he said.
“Do you love Him?”
“No; but I learned in my class, that He died for the whole world.”
“If so, Thambu, then He also died for you. Before His death, He was abused by some bad men; but He did not open His mouth to abuse them again. He is now in heaven, and wants us all to be with Him.”
On hearing these solemn words, Thambu, who was so fierce in his play, said to me, in a gentle and anxious tone, “Can I be with Jesus?” To this I answered that he could if he were free from his temper and bad words.
From that day forward, Thambu became a good boy. Two weeks after I left that place, I heard from him that he was endeavoring to follow Christ, and that he wanted to know more of Him. I believe that when all those who come out of darkness tell of their experiences, Thambu will be one of them.
