"Do you think that the people in America will think that I love Jesus as much as they do?"

Onward Christian Soldiers

A fourteen-year-old Japanese girl who had only recently found the Lord came in to the missionary telling of her desire to take the message of salvation to her loved ones at home. On inquiry, the missionary found that her home was two hundred miles away over the mountains, and that the girl had no other way to cover the distance than to walk. She insisted, however, upon going and was anxious the missionary lady should accompany her. They started, and even after a steady tramp for a long distance, the Japanese girl did not care to stop. "We must hurry," she would say, "they might die before we get there."

Many more weary miles were placed behind them, and noticing that the girl's feet were bleeding and sore, the missionary insisted that the convert should go no further without rest. Resting but briefly, they continued the journey until finally both travelers fell exhausted on the mountainside. At the missionary's statement, "We cannot go any farther," the girl looked up and said, "Can't you sing 'Onward, Christian Soldiers' ?"

The song finished, the little girl asked, "Missionary do you think that the people in America will think that I love Jesus as much as they do?" At last the home was reached, the story was told, and the family joyfully found the Lord. Do you, an American, love Jesus as much as the Japanese girl? 

Copied from: Foreign Missionary Workers' Manual - Pilgrim Publishing House