Orthodox Parables and Stories: An Indian Missionary Who Preached the Gospel

An Indian missionary called Shadou once crossed the frozen terrain of Tibet, preaching the Gospel to idolaters and natives. He even had a companion with him and another as a guide. The cold one day was so unbearable that they were in danger of being frozen. Suddenly, in the middle of the road, they met a human body, frozen and almost unconscious. So he says, "let's move this man down to a hut below, he still lives, maybe we can save him." I can't drag my feet," the guide tells him, not to be burdened with so much weight and moves on. But Shadou couldn't move on. He felt obligated. He had to help in this case, to do what he could. Slowly, he knelt down and put the man on his back, and he made every effort to walk. But by the very effort he made became heated, Shadou's body sweated so much, and this heat was also transmitted to the frozen body of the man whom he was carrying. Result; To bring this body back to life. So they both walked side by side down the road glorifying God. But after a long time, they found the guide dead who had refused to help him. He had frozen and died. Yes. There are many such cases, we should beware of, because we think that helping a person is not always our job. We may not be able to help him at all, but we must make every effort. We can't raise a big wood, yes, but we can do it together.

Dimitrios Panagopoulos (†)

translated by Orthdoox Parables and Stories