I always get excited at finding stories such as the following. I love celebrating. I love the significance of this day , DIA DE LA BIBLIA, a day set aside to honor God’s Word, was celebrated once a year in the churches around Mexico( while I lived there in my earlier years,) encouraged by the Mexican Bible Society.
Celebrated as another harvest/thanksgiving day with tamales, chicken soup, mole poblano, and Mexican fried rice, and tortillas.
The church services included a lot of singing and music, and recitations of portions of scripture. The older young people would recite whole chapters while the younger reciting according to their age.
Everyone was encouraged to buy a Bible if they did not have one, to read it, to memorize it. Those who were illiterate would put us to shame in the large portions memorized.
“THE ENTRANCE OF THY WORDS GIVETH LIGHT”
Ps. 119:130 How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
One of the most interesting accounts of the power of the Word came from Mexico, John T. Dale who recounted the following about Don Margarito, an Aztec Indian who lived way back up in the remote mountains.
He led a very wretched life. He was a typical Indian who drank and was vicious with his own family. He came to Tamazunchale one day because he heard that there were those there who were selling a book, which he heard was the book of the devil.
But his condition was such that he felt that even the devil might have something to offer that might be advantageous to him in his wretched condition. So he came to Tamazunchale and bought a Bible and went back.
He could read fairly well. He started reading from Genesis right on through. He read the Bible through in fifteen days and nights. Then he said to his wife, “Now this book is not the book of the devil for there are too many things that speak of God, I am going to read it through a second time.”
He did so in a fifteen day period, and then he said “No the second time is even better.” “ I’m convinced that this is God’s Book. I’m going to read it through the third time”
In the month and a half, he read it through three times. All that time of course his crops needed to be harvested and his sons insisted that he needed to be helping but he would not turn it loose.
At the end of the time he said “No this is God’s Book. Now we are going to live according to the rules of this book.”
“These things (idols) have to come down because you see we should not have any images of gods of any kind.”
 |
| Don Ricardo~Evangelist |
 |
| Dr. & Mrs. John T. Dale (Louise) |
Dr. Dale was asked later when in his opinion, God brought life to this Indians life to which he replied “My own guess would be he accepted Christ even before Don Ricardo came to visit.
The change in his life observed both by the family and the entire village would support this contention, beginning the first week of January 1964 The following story was gleaned from someones Grace Journal In Lives Transformed by the Christian Director of Christian Service Dept. at Southeastern Bible College.
Just as a post script to this story: Each year but not always, the Missionary Conference was held in Tamazunchale. It was a highlight of our year. One day I spied an open door and peeked in. Wide-eyed with awe, I saw thousands of books lined on the walls of Dr. Dale's library. I had never before seen so many books in one place.
One day my friend peeked in the window of that library and noticed Dr. Dale walking back & forth-head bent down low. "Daddy, what's he doing," I asked. "That's the way Dr. Dale prays, Honey. He falls asleep if he sits down & he wants to stay awake. He prays for every one of us every day by name & each of our special needs." ~quote from my MK sister S.
Dr. John T. Dale went Home on May 18, 1998 at the age of 92 and Mrs. Louise Dale went Home on Nov. 22, 2007 at the age of 94. They are both buried in the Tahlequah Cemetery
No comments:
Post a Comment