May, 1941
TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
178
"By the S o f Beautiful !
By ADELAIDE W . LOCHER* Ontario, .California (-
O N A BRIGHT June morning at Hermosa Beach, California, the beach was rapidly becoming tanned little fellow clad only in yellow bathing trunks wandered a l o n g the slope leading down to the breakers. The sand tickled his bare feet, and the blue of the sea, broken here and there by a white boat-sail, delighted him. He shout ed with enthusiasm, but stopped sud denly, as he heard the sound of a group of voices singing: “Down by the side of the beautiful sea, Oh, that’s the place where I best love to be ! There I learn of the One who died, Jesus Christ, the Crucified; For all my sins He has taken away, He gives me gladness and joy every day— I will sing of His love for me By the side of the beautiful sea.” Looking in the direction from which the sound had come, he saw a fascinat ing picture. A large group of children were sitting under a cluster of beach umbrellas. In front of them stood a young man playing a trumpet, while at his side a n o t h e r caused marvelous sounds to come from an unbelievably tiny organ. Forgotten were all thoughts of the surf, as the lad, instinctively de siring to investigate this phenomenon further, approached the group. A half- dozen yards outside the circle he paused, dropped to his knees, and watched in tently. * From under a big sun-hat beamed the jolly face of a young woman now standing in front of the group. She spoke with such a deep clear voice that he had no trouble to hear what she was saying, in spite of the roar of the waves. On a black easel-like board, she had •A teacher Children’s Seaside Mission In the summer idVt-
placed a narrow white stairway, and the first three steps had big printed letters perched upon them—“S,” “A,” and “L.” “Today, boys and girls,” said the en thusiastic voice, “we add another letter on the stairway which leads to heaven. When we get finished, we shall have the word SALVATION. Oui1* next letter, therefore, is ‘V.’ The verse that goes with it is John 5:24: ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.’ Let’s say it all together now, part by part, so that we may learn it.” Just then another young woman, like wise equipped with a big colorful hat, approached the small onlooker. “Don’t you want to join the group ?” she asked. “No, thanks/’ was the response, “I’ll just watch.” A few minutes later, how ever, he was on his stomach, edging for ward, until finally he was within the outside circle o'f the parasol assembly. When the group began to separate into classes, each teacher carrying an um brella and planting it in the sand a little distance from the others, he ac costed a boy about his own age, and asked, “What is this, anyway?” “Children’s Seaside Mission,” came the answer. “They’ve been here every sum mer for ten years, my mother says. All the kids in our church come. What church do you go to?” “I don’t belong to any; I’m on a va cation,” said he of the yellow bathing suit. “Who are all these people?” “They’re from the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. How old are you?” “Ten.” “You’d better come to my class, then. We’re studying about how God created the world, and our teacher has a lot of pictures he puts on a board that he calls a Scripturegraph.' ”
Still wondering, but keenly interested, the newcomer followed to the class for Junior boys. He was delighted with the Scripturegraph. What made those pic tures stick? Where did the teacher get them? What was he saying? “ ‘God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts.’ Are all of you boys certain that the Light of God is in your hearts?” The visitor fidgeted. He had never before heard any one talk this way. The teach er went on to say that the Lord wanted to come into every boy’s heart, and that He would forgive everything he had ever done wrong, but that He waited to be asked t6 come in. After class the boy iri the yellow bath ing suit waited to talk to the teacher. When he returned to his home that noon, he was a different individual, filled with joy over the fact that he knew that God loved him, that he was going to heaven some day, that the Lord Jesus Christ had taken his sins away, and that He had promised to be with him always. This boy is typical of many children who have found Christ on the sands of a Southern California beach within the last ten years, under the leadership of Mr. and Mrs. Gordon E. Hooker and a corps of student workers of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. “I praise God for the children’s mis sion on the beach,” said a mother at a prayer meeting in one of the Hermosa Beach churches last summer. “Four years ago during the special services, my boy accepted the Lord as his Sav iour, and this morning my little girl came home and told me that she had received Him, too. I know the workers give every child an opportunity to make [Continued on Page 205]
alive with vacationists as a sun
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker