ARUBA, Paradera (BNc) — A child can count the seeds in an apple, but only God knows how many apples are in a seed.
He had been raised in an active Catholic family but he felt that something was missing. For several months he went off by himself during his two-hour lunch break and prayed to God, asking for help.
One day Nuevo Semeleer, an eleven-year-old neighbor boy, came to him and asked if he would like to go to church with his family.
Samuel said he was a Catholic, so would have to go to mass first, but afterwards, he would go with him.
After hearing the first sermon, Samuel thought: “This is the church I have been looking for!” From that day on he never missed a meeting, Sunday morning, Sunday night and two mid-week Bible studies, but only as a visitor.
In less than a year, Nuevo died with leukemia.
When Samuel was 20 he became engaged to Jeanette who also worked at the hardware store. He gave her a Bible and told her she should read it because it was a very important book.
As he grew in knowledge, Samuel concluded that he should be baptized according to the Scriptures. But when he told his fiancée, she replied: “If you do that, you can forget about me!”
Samuel tells of his struggle: “That was very hard for me because I knew that if I died I would be lost forever. I lived with that fear and feeling for several years.”
Samuel and Jeanette were married on April 2, 1973. When he asked if she would attend services with him, she agreed, and on August 26, 1973 they were both baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins.
Samuel regrets that he waited so long. He now advises others: “The moment the Lord touches your heart, accept Him right away. Don’t hesitate to do so, no matter what conditions or what pressure others put on you. Salvation is too precious!”
When Samuel started attending the Tamarijn church of Christ, his family were very upset. But after he became a Christian, he taught them the gospel. One by one, ten of his twelve family members were baptized into Christ.
Many years have passed. Now Samuel and Jeanette have four grown daughters who are Christians, and Samuel has been one of the preachers in that congregation for thirty years.
This began when an eleven-year-old boy, who was dying with leukemia, asked his neighbor if he would go to church with him.
Aruba is a small Caribbean island (20 x 6 miles, population 100,000) 15 miles off the coast of Venezuela. There are two congregations, one at Paradera (Papiamento-speaking) and one at San Nicolas (English-speaking).
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