THE LITTLE GIRL THE LIONS WOULD NOT EAT

Xidedevela lay on a straw mat in a native African kraal. It was midnight in the jungles, and nearby a lion suddenly roared. Xide shivered, not because she was cold. for she lived where it was always warm. But she shivered because she was afraid the lion might tear through the jungles and leap into the straw hut where she was sleeping. She remembered that. not long before, one of her companions had been walking through the jungles, when a lion suddenly leaped on her and ate her. All the tribesmen had found the next day was some hair and a few of the child's bones.

As she lay with the lions roundabout, she remembered that not far away a native by the name of Angilazi had opened what he called "a mission station." She had run away from her home several times and listened to his strange teachings. He said that long ago Jesus came from heaven and took little children, possibly a little black girl like herself, in His arms. and said, "Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not. for of such is the kingdom of Heaven. "

Lying there. her only clothes the peanut oil which her mother that day had rubbed on her little body. she was happy in the thought that somebody loved her. When she had run away that morning. her mother had come after her and very angrily dragged her home.

She had threatened, "I will beat the Jesus religion out of you if you ever run away again."

Now. Xide lived in that part of Africa not very far from the Indian Ocean. And many times she had wondered what was on the other side of the waters. But the native teacher only said that the missionaries had come from a faraway land with a strange Book called the Bible. And, as Xide lay there that night, and the lions roared, she deter- mined the next morning to run away again and take the "Jesus way." So, the following morning, Xide very quietly slipped off the mat and out the opening in the kraal, and rushed up the jungle trail. When she arrived at the school and the little church, the native teacher told her about Jesus, and Xide opened her heart and the Saviour came in.

About noon that day her mother, having missed her, searched through the jungles and found her. Grabbing her little daughter, she beat her with a long stick she had picked up in the jungles. "If you don't give up this Jesus religion, I will feed you to the lion," she warned. As Xide was going back along the jungle trail to her home, she knew that her mother meant exactly what she said.

"Now, Xide, I want you to forget about the Jesus religion. Tonight we are having a beer drink, and you must help make the beer. Drink and get drunk, like the rest of the good African boys and girls, and like you ought to and will when you are older, " the mother finally threatened once they were home.

Xide recalled that the missionary had said, "You must not make or drink beer, because you are a Christian, and Christians do not drink beer."

Xide decided she would not do it. Thatday the mother took Xide to the witch doctor, and he tied a rope to her feet. This was a native rope made out of vines. He placed the rope over a limb and pulled Xide, head down, up off the ground, and she hung there a long time.

Then he said, "Maybe the Jesus religion will run out of your mouth, and you'll come back and beanative again."

After the girl was about dead, he let her down. Finally, she was able to breathe again. But when he asked, "Is the Jesus religion gone?" Xide said, "No, l am a Jesus girl, and I will follow Jesus all the time."

Before dark the mother, with vine rope in hand, took Xide deep into the jungles, where the night before she had heard the lion roar. In a small, vacant spot she drove a long stake deep down into the soft earth. Then she tied Xide to that stake, and said, "Give up the Jesus religion, or the lion will eat you."

Xide believed in prayer, for the Christian teacher had said that Christ would answer. She asked Jesus to save her from the lions. After the darkness came, she saw several bright eyes peering at her. As they circled all the way round her, Xide prayed. Suddenly, she watched a lion lie down, his eyes flashing fire. Throughout the night Xide, remembering about Daniel in the lions‘ den, literally prayed those lions away from her.

About daylight the next morning, she heard a strange voice talking to somebody. As she listened, she said, "That is a Christian praying to my Jesus. "

Lifting her Voice, she called loudly, until the Christian raced to her. Finding her tied there, he cut the ropes and turned her loose. They ran through the jungles to the mission station, and found the teacher and brought him back. When he came up, he saw a circle of lion footprints all ihe way around where the girl had been bound. Lions had walked roundabout the whole night, and beaten a trail in the native grass. The missionary teacher said, "See? here is where a lion laid down. Here are the marks Of his body. "

"Yes, last night I saw a lion, as he walked around, finally lie down, and I could see his eyes bright on the grass, " replied Xide.

The little boy Xide had heard praying, who had come and cut the rope said, "See? here is where a lion sat down. Here is where his tail was in the dust, and here is where his paws were. "

Xide remembered as the lions walked roundabout her, one seemed to sit down, and remained there just like a guard, protecting her.

"And, now, when my mother says that the lions will eat me if I do not turn back to the heathen ways and follow the witch doctor, I know that they cannot eat me. Because I have Jesus in my heart. And with Jesus in my heart, I am not afraid of the lions. For as Jesus protected Daniel in the lions‘ den, so will He protect me against them."

Xide went back to her mother and told her what a wonderful thing had happened during the night, when the Master protected her against the lions. Her mother promised, “Now, Xide, you can go to the Christian school and let them tell you more about the religion of this strange Jesus that died on the Cross for little African boys and girls."