We gave him a Testament and some tracts on Salvation and Divine Healing and the dear little woman read them to him. Day after day he asked for more to be read to him. The woman asked if we could not give her some to take home to Ecuador to her people.
There was only one man on the ship who did not take tracts and read them and ask for more. This man said he had not read the Bible since he was a child. Now he was too old. As we looked at him and saw the hardness in his face, a great pity came into our hearts, and we asked the Lord to have mercy on him and save him.
We arrived in one port in Costa Rica on September 15th, Spain’s Independence Day. The whole country was celebrating. Our ship would have to wait here several days, perhaps a week, the captain said, because all the people got drunk on that day, and it would take several days for them to sober up. We arrived at six in the morning. The noise from the cannon and other things was terrible. We knew about how much time we had to make connections in Panama, and that we could not stay in this port over one day without missing connections. So we prayed that God would make these people unload the ship that day so that we might go on.
At twelve, when we were having lunch, our ship was moving out to sea. The men had come with their lighters and unloaded several tons of the cargo, and we were on our way. The dear old man who would not read the tract, ate at our table. He said he had lived there and in Panama for fifty years, and that was the first time he ever knew them to do such a thing. He knew it was because we prayed. So God was good not to leave him without a witness.
A man and his wife were going to South America. They took tracts and Testaments along which we gave them, and said they were glad to have the light on the Second Coming of the Lord, and on Divine Healing.
There were people on board who were going to Japan, China, India, England and the United States. All took with them the Word of God which we had cast upon the waters. Two young men on their way to school in New York, took along Testaments to read. They said they no longer believed in the Church of Rome, and wanted to read the Bible.
Another boy on his way to South America came to talk with us about the Bible. He said he wanted to read the Bible but had never had the opportunity. So he sat on deck and read it. How he did rejoice to know the truth! He told us how he had gone to the different temples of the idols and saints seeking peace, but had come away from them all without receiving any help. But now he knew the truth, and wanted to carry the good news to his people who were still in the darkness. He said, “Why don’t more missionaries come and tell us the truth? Won’t you go back to your homeland and tell them of our needs and the darkness we are in?”
Stewardesses, waitresses, captains and officers all heard the story of the Gospel, through the bread we cast upon the waters. One officer said he was glad that someone thought of the men at sea. They were always going and had no time to attend church and hear the Gospel. He had had Christian parents, but they were dead. His heart was touched and with tears running down his cheeks he said, “May God bless you for giving me this Testament. I shall read it, and pray every day, as I want to meet my dear mother in Heaven.” He had been at sea twelve years, and that was the first time anyone had said a word to him about salvation.
The doctor on the ship was so interested he would leave his office for hours and come and talk with us. He had been on that line many years and he had been shocked to see the condition in the Latin-American countries, and the church at home seemed to be doing nothing. He took tracts and papers and talked with us about prophecy. He said he knew the Lord was coming soon. We invited him to meetings with us at Colon. He came to the Bible House and to the meetings and said he was going to a Pentecostal meeting when he returned to the States.