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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
N o v em b er, 1943
Junior King's Business By MARTHA S. HOOKER Member of Faculty,. Bible Institute of Los Angeles
that I am unable to supply her with one. My supply has been all sold out' months ago. I have only a few copies left which are reserved for friends I must not disappoint.” Mary had been looking Into Mr. Charles’ face with her great dark eyes ' full of hope, but as she understood / What he had said to Mr. Edwards,/ she dropped into the nearest chair,' covered her face with her hands, and sobbed as few young people ever sob. . All the years of praying, and sav ing, and waiting; the long walk, the ] weariness and pain—all of no use! Mr. Charles was greatly touched at the sight of her grief, and with his "'own voice unsteady, he laid his hand on her head,, and said, “My dear child, I see you must have a Bible, difficult as it is for me to spare you one. It is impossible, quite impossible, for me to refuse you.” , . Mary looked up now. with such a rainbow face of smiles and tears, such a look of joy add gratitude, that tears rushed to the eyes of both Mr. Charles and David E d w a r d s . Mr. Charles turned now to a bookcase, and took . from it a Bibie. Handing it to Mary, he said, “I am truly glad to be able to give it to you. Read it, study it, and act upon its teaching.” Mary, overcome with joy and thank fulness, began to sob once more, but now sweet and happy tears. Mr. Charles turned to his old friend and said, “Is it not a sight to touch the hardest heart, a girl so young, so poor, to walk from Llanfihangel to Bala, X total of fifty miles here and back, to buy a Bible? From this day I ■ can never rest until ! can find out some means of supplying the pressing need of my country, that cries out for the Bible.”
MARY JONES AND HER BIBLE*
K ARY JONES was born in a vil lage' in Wales in ' 1784. Her parents loved and served the sweet stories of the Bible, But in her home there was no Bible to read, for in those days Bibles were not plentiful and cheap as they are today. In a little meetinghouse on the hillside there was a Bible, and there her par ents went to hear the Word of God read and explained. Mary was most anxious to go, there and begged to be allowed to go every chanae She could. “Why have we not a Bible of our own?” Mary asked. “Because they are scarce and deary replied her mother sadly. “Your fa ther is a good tradesman, but still we can only get sufficient money for the necessities of life and cannot buy a Bible.” By and by a school was opened in her neighborhood, and Mary learned to read. •Then a Sunday-school was formed, which she eagerly attended. She Went to a friend’s home once a week to read the Bible which that family owned and to prepare her Sun
obtain a Bible. To get the Bible, she must walk this long distance, for there were not the transportation conven ienc s and ways of travel and mail which' we have today. At daylight, one spring morning, this earnest girl of sixteen years start ed off barefoot on the twenty-five- mile journey to Bala. By nightfall she reached her goal and went to the home of a Mr, Edwards. In the morn ing he took her to a friend named Mr. Charles, who had Welsh Bibles. “Tell me all about yourself, where, you live, your name, and what you wish,” said Mr. Charles. Thus encouraged, Ma r y tpld all about herself and her parents, her long years of saving for the purchase of a Bible, and how she had come now to Bala to buy one, after obtain ing the needed sum of money. His heart touched by this story of patient toil, earnest purpose and brav ery, Mr. Charles turned to Mr. Ed wards with troubled face and said, “I am indeed grieved that this dear •girl should have come all the Way from Llanfihangel to buy a Bible and
Lord Jesus and often told her the
day-school lessons. This was a great joy for her, and her longing for a Bible of her own greatly increased. “I must have a Bible of my own even if I Have to save ten years for it,” she said. She was now ten years old and began to do many, little odd bits of work for her neighbors. Diligently she w o r k e d on, doing various •things and saving all her earnings. A f t e r six years of patient, industrious ef f o r t s , she had s a v e d up enough to buy a Bible. But where could she buy a Bible? The local preacher i n f o r m e d Mary that she could not get a copy of a Welsh Bible n e a r e r than Bala, t w e n t y - f i v e miles away. Yet the long distance and unknown road did not turn her frorp her purpose to
■ Two years later Mr. Charles visited London, and at a ’me'eting of some Christians He told the touching story of the little Welsh girl and made an e a r n e s t appeal. Hearts were aroused, and in . two years the British and Foreign Bible Society was es tablished with, the resolve to - bring out an edition of the. Welsh Bible for the use of' Sunday-schools, and the first- shipment of these reached' Bala two years- later, • So* in this Short«period, the great work was accomplished, the direct r e s u l t of the ef forts of a brave, earnest girl . to obtain a copy of the Word of God. Surely, dear children, our hearts ought to be touched and moved also by this stir ring story of Mary Jones and her sacrificing 16ve for the Bible. Today we can get Bibles-of all'sizes, in many
see you < to spare it." W V
"My dear child," said Mr. Charles, “I MUST have a Bible, difficult as it is for me you one. Read it, study It, and act upon
*From Grace ■and Truth Supple ment (reprinted by permission of the publishers)."
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