KABOO, THE KRU BOY DELIVERED BY THE FLASH OF LIGHTNING

"And I want your son, Kaboo, as a pawn of war," said the fierce Kru chieftain, after he had captured a Liberian headman from a neighboring village.

In Liberia, just before the dawn of the Twentieth Century, it was customary when native chiefs warred against each other, for the victor to demand a hostage from the conquered chieftain‘s family. And in this case, the fierce cannibal chief had beaten down the Village of young Kaboo. The conquering cannibal demanded that Kaboo's father pay a price in the form of nuts and ivory tusks from elephants, as well as many large leopard skins.

These were things that the natives bartered to the white men in exchange for beads and knives, and sometimes a gun, a spear, or a sword.

As young Kaboo heard the chief tell his father that he himself was to be a hostage until the ransom was paid, the dark African boy began to weep. He remembered that in his country boys soon became men, and as men, they went into the jungles to kill the lions and leopards. And sometimes on the distant hunts, young boys traveled with their fathers on the elephant trail. All these things Kaboo wanted to do. Kaboo was looking forward to the time when he would become a famous Chieftain himself.

As he was led away to the hut of the cannibal chief who had conquered his father, instead of crying any more, he determined to be brave, though at the time he was only ten years old. Years earlier slavers had come through his country and captured boys and girls, and had shipped them to distant parts of the world, where they were sold as slaves.

Kaboo had seen slavers come through the jungles where he lived, and capture boys and girls, as well as older men and women. He knew that here was one thing he must escape.

"Your father did not bring the ransom money!" screamed the cannibal chief at Kaboo a few weeks later. "And if he doesn't bring the payments today, I will have my slaves flog you until you are nearly dead."

Young Kaboo flinched when he heard the chief speak in such tones. There was nothing he could do, for he had not as yet heard of Jesus, and he could not ask Jesus to give him strength and deliver him .

True to the chief's promise, on the following day Kaboo was flogged. And this was not a mere light beating with a small stick. Rather, the slaves doing the flogging took a poisoned vine, on which there were sharp leaves. Tying Kaboo across a log, they beat the back of the young African lad until the blood spurted out in gushes. Kaboo felt like screaming, but he remembered that as a warrior he must be brave.

"And now we will send the story of your flogging to your father, and see if he brings the ransom tomorrow, " said the savage chief.

Kaboo watched as a slave ran through the jungles to the burned-out village where his father lived. And he knew that if at all possible, his father would bring the ransom.

On the following morning, the chief, Kaboo's father, brought in the ransom payment, and young Kaboo was set free.

This happened three successive times. On the second time, when Kaboo was held as a hostage, his back was beaten until he Could not lie down. On the third time, when the ransom did not come, Kaboo was beaten again. And when he could barely sit up, the old cannibal chief threatened:

"And now I am going to dig a hole in the ground, and I am going to bury you up to your neck. And, buried up to your neck, lam going to prop your mouth open with a stick and smear honey all over it, so that the ants will come and crawl into your mouth. We will teach your father now to pay the ransom that I demand."

Kaboo knew that this savage chief meant exactly what he said, and that he wasn't merely promising him something he would not fulfill. Kaboo earlier had seen his own father treat a slave like that. He remembered that after the small ants had come and eaten the honey off of his mouth and crawled down into the slave's throat that the big driver ants came. He could still see the driver ants eat all the flesh off of the buried man's face and body. Now Kaboo knew this was what was going to happen to him . And as he stood there, he suddenly wondered if there was any way he could escape, for tomorrow he knew he would be eaten by ants.

God in His marvelous manner had a wonderful work for Kaboo to perform in the years to come. And a miracle suddenly took place.

That night as Kaboo was bound to a tree, awaiting the burial on the following day, suddenly a great flash of light blinded the natives. Everybody roundabout saw the flash, and it was just like the noonday sun bursting upon the midnight darkness. Out of that flash of lightning, the lad heard a voice speak to him:

"Kaboo, Kaboo, arise and flee! Arise and flee to the jungles!"

Kaboo listened as the voice spoke. He saw the other natives in their frightened condition lying prostrate on the ground, fearful that the world was suddenly coming to an end. Kaboo raced speedily through the jungles. Just out— side the camp, he climbed up a big -tree, and hid himself in the leaves all night. He could see the cannibal chieftain's men as they beat the brush. They would run down the trail, and then come back yelling. Then they would take another trail and still another trail, searching for the escaped boy. The following morning, just about the break of day, when the natives were exhausted from trying to find the captured hostage from the other chief's hut. Kaboo saw a light, and that Light indicated he was to follow it.

The Light, as he took the trail, led him through the early dawn until about daybreak. Then the Light stopped, and Kaboo hid all day. At dark the second night, the Light went ahead of Kaboo and was roundabout him. Wherever the Light went, Kaboo followed. After several days, the Light, shining at night upon his pathway, led him through the jungles for many, many miles. He crossed streams, climbed over trees, waded through swamps, passed by wild animals.

He heard the leopards and the lions roar. He had seen the great cats lie upon limbs of jungle trees. He heard the birds and the monkeys chattering back and forth. As he found berries and nuts, he ate them for strength. And suddenly he came upon a huge building. He had never seen a building like this, but he knew from the way it looked it must be where the white man lived. He had heard of the white men, but he had never seen them, outside of a trader or two.

Kaboo would have gone back and hidden in the jungles for fear these were slave men. He was afraid they would capture him and sell him as a slave. Kaboo didn't want to be a slave. But working in the garden Kaboo saw an- other African boy about his age. He thought, "Well, if that African boy can stay there, then I must go and stay also." So he raced up to this African and told him his story. He related how the Light had flashed that night and delivered him, and how the Voice had said, "Arise and flee."

"And I followed that Light through the jungles, until I am here. Where is this?" he asked.

"This is Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. And this is the part of Africa where slaves can be set free. "

When Kaboo heard this, he was Very happy, for he knew he had come to a place where there was no danger. On the following day the other native said to Kaboo, "I go to the mission school. Do you want to come along?“

"Yes, I would like to go with you. What do you do at the mission school ?"

When the boy told what they did at the school, Kaboo was very happy, and went to school where he met a missionary, named Miss Knolls.

Late that evening, Kaboo saw the other boy on his knees, with his hands in the air, talking to Somebody he couldn't see. And Kaboo asked, "What are you doing?"

‘'1 am talking to my Father in heaven. I am praying."

That was the first time that Kaboo had ever seen anyone pray. And from that time on, he called "praying," "talking to my Father in heaven. "

One day Kaboo learned about Jesus, and gave himself to Him as a Christian, and he decided that he wanted to live the Jesus way. And it happened that at this mission station there was a very devout mission worker who told Kaboo about Jesus coming into his heart, and about the Holy Spirit. When Kaboo had learned about the Holy Spirit, day after day he went back to the missionary and said, "Tell me more about the Holy Spirit."

"1 have told you all I know about the Holy Spirit, “ returned Miss Knolls. "Stephen Merrit, in New York City, can tell you more about Him . "

Kaboo had never heard about New York City, but he had seen the ocean. Many of his fellow Kru tribesmen were sailors on ocean boats. And Kaboo knew that if he would go down to the ocean, he could find passage on a boat to New York.

One day "talking to his Father in heaven," as he called his prayer, Kaboo said, "Father, I want to go to New York and meet Stephen Merrit, who can tell me more about the Holy Ghost."

That day Kaboo stood by the side of the Atlantic, and he watched a boat row in from a steamer anchored nearby.

Rushing up to the oarsmen, Kaboo said, "My Father told me to go to New York City and meet Stephen Merrit. "

The old captain was not a friendly captain, but was a very rough one. He swore at the black boy and laughed at him. "Get away from me. I don't need you, and I'm not going to take you to New York City, whatever your father said. Where is your father?"

Kaboo told him that his Father was up in heaven. But the old captain just laughed as loud as he could, and mocked at the very idea of a boy's Father in heaven telling him he was to go to New York City.

For three days Kaboo said the same thing to the captain. On the third day when the captain came back, Kaboo met him and said, "My Father told me that you were going to take me to New York City today to see Stephen Merrit. "

Meanwhile, the old captain had lost two runaway sailors, and he was shorthanded. Looking at the young Kru boy, he decided he would make a good sailor. And he said, "All right, lad, I will take you to New York City, and you can work your way as my cabin boy. "

After a rough passage the boat landed Kaboo in New York City. And when he arrived in New York City, he asked a bum to take him to Merrit. "I will take you to Stephen Merrit for one dollar, " said the drunken man.

When Kaboo was converted and joined the Christian church, he was renamed Sammy Morris. Sammy Morris, or Kaboo, in New York City didn‘t have a penny. All he possessed was what few African clothes he had on his back. And when he got to Stephen Merrit, the boy said, "Mr. Merrit will pay you the dollar.

And from that time on, this young native boy lived only for one thing, and that was to be "]esus' boy, and talk to his Father in heaven."

Sammy Morris went to a university to learn better how to tell the story of Jesus to the Kru boys and girls that lived in the jungles of Liberia, though he never lived to go back. After a short and marvelous career in Taylor University, he died and was buried near Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Many other young men and women, when they saw the marvelous life of Kaboo, or Sammy Morris, and saw how he trusted God, decided they wanted to be missionaries in Africa. So instead of Kaboo going back and living only one life in Africa and telling his relatives about Jesus, many, many others went and told the story.