by Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001)
I PUMPED THEM TO SUNDAY SCHOOL
Occasionally I am asked to tell about the first soul I ever won. The first people that I won I actually didn't win, but I was the one responsible for their being saved.
The day after I got saved, I told James, one of my playmates, that I was saved. I remembered that the preacher told me I now had a mansion instead of a shack. (I didn't know what a mansion was, but I lived in a shack, so I knew a mansion was better!) My friend startled me when he asked, "What is a mansion?"
My first attempt at soul winning had been thwarted by a limited vocabulary, but I was not to be denied. I asked him if I could "pump" him to Sunday school on my bicycle the next Sunday and he agreed.
He lived a mile from the church. I got on my bicycle the next Sunday morning, rode a mile to his house, and pumped him to church. I then rode a mile back, got his brother, George, and pumped him to church. Then I rode back, got his kid brother, and pumped him to church. Still I wasn't satisfied! I went back again, got his big sister (Boy, was she fat!), and pumped her to church. (First I pumped up the tires!)
I had ridden my bicycle a total of eight miles before Sunday school. The preacher talked to each of the four, and they were saved. The funny thing was that after they were saved I lost my burden to pump them-they walked home!
It is strange that something like this should come across my mind, but this simple story shows that real salvation brings with it a desire to tell others. I could not win a soul to Christ because of a lack of vocabulary, but I did have a bicycle and I could pump my friends to someone who could tell them how to be saved.
I have won hundreds and thousands of souls since then, but I doubt if any has given me more satisfaction.
