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The Book that Talks
Ruperto was an unhappy man. He looked for peace, but his search took him to all the wrong places. He owned a book that taught him how to speak with Satan. But instead of happiness, all he found was torment. Filled with anger, he often beat his wife. His life seemed hopeless.
One day as he walked along the beach, Rupert found a small booklet. It had belonged to a widow in Las Lisas, the village where Ruperto lived in Guatemala. When the widow died, her neighbors volunteered to clean out her house. As the neighbors carried away her belongings, the booklet fluttered in the wind and landed in the sand.
Ruperto quickly read a page. It talked about a Book that speaks to people and draws them closer to God. This Book could bring peace and change lives.
A talking book? Ruperto thought. I must have one.
Soon he met an acquaintance who traveled to faraway places. “I have heard about a Book that talks,” Ruperto said. “Can you get a copy for me?”
After a time, the acquaintance went away again. When he returned, he brought Ruperto a Bible. Ruperto read it eagerly, but he did not understand the words. No one he knew could explain what he read.
One evening as Ruperto sat in the sand by the sea, he fell asleep. In a dream he saw a man. Then he saw heaven where another Man was standing beside a large book. Ruperto started toward heaven, but just as he reached the man beside the book, he awakened. What should I do now? Ruperto wondered.
The next morning, a missionary named John Franklin came to Las Lisas. Although missionary Franklin had never been to the village, Ruperto knew him immediately. He was the first man in Ruperto’s dream!
Missionary Franklin saw Ruperto sitting on a log, reading his Bible. “Are you a believer?” missionary Franklin asked.
“No,” Ruperto answered. Missionary Franklin knelt beside Ruperto, opened the Bible, and read Romans 10:9—“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Suddenly Ruperto understood the words! Jesus was the Man standing beside the book in his dream. He wanted to take Ruperto’s sins. The Book had talked to Ruperto!
Immediately Ruperto asked Jesus to be his Savior. Then he called together others from the village, and missionary Franklin told them about Jesus. Within a year, everyone in the village accepted Christ, and at least fifteen believers were filled with the Holy Spirit. The good news of the gospel soon spread to other parts of Guatemala.
Many years have passed since Ruperto discovered the Book that talks. Today nearly 300,000 people attend the 1,833 Assemblies of God churches that have been planted in Guatemala. The people of Guatemala are finding that the Bible still speaks to them today.
Information for this story was provided by retired missionary Adele Flower Dalton and is used with permission from Assemblies of God World Missions.
©2002 The General Council of the Assemblies of God. All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce and adapt lesson components for exclusive use in the local church. Any other use requires written permission.
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