by Erwin Bourne “If he were my son, I would wish he could die.” Sometimes death would seem to be a mercy. And so it appeared to my wife, Jean, as she returned from the boy’s isolated hospital ward. But life is tenacious. It hangs on when all hope of living seems swept away. Oh Thou compassionate Jesus, you once passed through this veil of suffering and tears, and you do have tears for the hurting. How eloquent is the simple verse, “Jesus wept.’ The youth, Hilton Ramos, was virtually unrecognizable. The jungle boy of 15 years—from San Juan de Soco on the Rio Loreto Yàcu—deep in the Amazonian rain forest. This was his world. His father is the head man of the village. And this village has been blessed by the Gospel of Christ Jesus. Many within this remote community are evangelicals as is this lad, Hilton. And Hilton is my friend. Now this lump of human clay lay in a hospital bed in Leticia, Colombia. His remaining leg was tied to the bed with a soft cloth, as was his right arm which had an IV tube attached to it. Though his entire jungle-brown body was badly swollen, his face was beyond recognition. His eyes were swollen shut, and his lips were thick and distended. During my brief time at his bedside, the boy never uttered a sound. There he lay in a miserable consciousness—a world seemingly apart from that of sense and reality. I spoke softly—for I had been informed that he could hear. I told him that I had been there every day, though this was the first time I was admitted to his ward. I told him that I had stood outside the plastered wall that secluded him in his sad existence—and there I had prayed for him. I said, “I am the missionary, the ‘gringo’ who walks on a wooden peg-leg.” Hilton’s free hand suddenly reached out. It frantically searched for me. I placed my hand in his, and he grasped it. He held on as I continued telling him how much we love him, and the how much Jesus loves him and suffered for him. Yes, Jesus “who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion…” (NIV). As I was in prayer at the bedside, the nurse slipped in and said my brief visiting time was over. I nodded, told the lad goodbye and started to leave. He had a grip on my shirt, and I couldn’t pull free. Through the open door I caught the nurse’s attention. She returned to the room and I lipped the words, “I need help.” The suffering, unseeing boy had a firm grip, so that the nurse had to tell him that I must go—then he released me—and I went back into the outside world. But oh, how glad I was for a few moments to slip into his world of silent suffering. —Oh, I never told you. This carefree boy of the Amazon jungles had encountered a deadly, venomous serpent that struck the boy’s leg mid-calf. I had seen the ugly fang marks. Now I have just seen—and told you—his terrible after effects of such a strike. We have yet to learn the unknown future. —But here allow me to draw a few conclusions. Satan is “the snake in the grass.” He is subtle and evil and deadly. The “old serpent” would like to poison and destroy every boy and girl living the world around. We missionaries are here to bring the message of hope and help. Would to God that everyone would reach out and touch the divine source of life and salvation  Erwin Bourne Outreach_amazon@yahoo.com <HOME <ARCHIVES