“A Man from the Land of the Christians!”

Going ashore in Fiji was a difficult thing to do. It could cost your life. Captain Betram wouldn’t have done it if he didn’t have to. But when the water supply ran out or food became scarce, the sailor had to go ashore.

Captain Betram knew the character of the Fiji islanders from experience. He knew that the beautiful coral islands were home to cruel man-eaters who had already caused many a stranger a gruesome death. He was therefore in a very cautious mood when he boarded the boat from his ship with a few armed companions and headed for the island.

The natives quickly spotted the boat. A large crowd gathered on the shore.

Now the boat made landfall. Captain Betram climbed ashore. A strange figure rushed towards him, a tall South Sea islander, half dressed in European clothes. It was the chief of the island people. The captain was amazed when the man held out his hands and called out to him in English: “Welcome, my brother!”

The captain was so overwhelmed by the friendly welcome that he couldn’t get a word out at first. But the chief turned to his men and, beaming with joy, said: “A man from the land of the Christians!”

Now Captain Bertram began to understand. So they had become Christians, these once so-feared South Sea islanders. And their faith was so dear to them that “a man from the land of the Christians” was welcome as a brother.

“It is the hour when we hold evening worship on our island,” the chief continued. “Gather round, all you people! Today, our brother from the Christian land will hold the service for us.”

The captain was startled by these words. “I can’t do that,” he replied. The chief looked at him in astonishment. “Are you afraid that my people won’t understand you?” he asked after a long silence. “You’re right, they don’t understand English, but I’ll translate.”

The captain was embarrassed. He knew his way around the sea but not in his Bible. He had not studied the Word of God since he was a boy. How was he supposed to be able to hold a service for this large assembly? Ashamed, he stood before the chief, who could not understand why he was still hesitating. He could not tell an untruth to this good, loyal man. There was no other way out than an open confession.

“My mother prayed with me when I was a little boy,” he said. “Then she died, and I went to sea. That’s when I forgot God’s Word.”

“Forgot God’s Word?” the chief repeated incredulously. Was it possible to possess such a treasure and forget it?

“But you believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, don’t you?” the islander continued, looking sternly at the sailor.

The captain felt as if he were standing before the judgment seat of the divine Judge. For the first time, he felt the emptiness of a life without faith. He was ashamed in front of the South Sea islanders. So he shook his head and said a quiet, deeply ashamed “No.”

The chief’s brown face twitched with restrained pain, and deep pity sounded in his voice as he said: “A man from the Christian land – and he does not believe in our Lord Jesus!”

Then he signaled to his men, and they all followed him to an elevated place, shaded by beautiful palm trees, from where they could see far out to sea. There, as he did every evening, the chief held evening prayers – only today, for the sake of the foreign guest, he prayed in English. Never in his life had Captain Betram experienced such a moving celebration. He couldn’t take his eyes off the brown men who were confidently entrusting themselves to God’s protection for the night.

How devoutly the chief prayed – with the strength of a man – with the confidence of a child! He spoke as if to a present friend. He asked for God’s protection and blessing for the whole island people. Then he begged God to help the poor brother who had grown up in the Christian land and yet did not believe in the Lord Jesus.

“Lord Jesus, don’t let him leave our island again without having found You!” This concluded the chief’s evening prayer, and it became quiet, very quiet under the palm trees. They were probably all still praying in silence, the simple-minded South Sea islanders, and the ship’s captain joined in – for the first time in a long time.

When he then shook hands with the brown chief, he was able to say with a moved heart: “Your faith is now my faith too!”

For decades, Captain Betram had lived among the Christians like a heathen, and no one had helped him to find Jesus! Only in Fiji did he find Him, and a converted pagan was his guide.

Source: Samenkörner