Prince Kaboo: Burst of Light

Prince Kaboo, Re-named Sammy Morris

One of the most intriguing stories you will ever read concerns the escape of Prince Kaboo, son of an African chief who was scheduled to be buried alive by his enemies.

The year was 1887, the place, Liberia, West Africa. A neighboring tribe waged war on Kaboo’s tribe and took the young prince hostage. Each day they demanded ransom from his father, the village chief. And each day that his father couldn’t deliver the ransom, Kaboo was tied and beaten with a poisonous thorny vine. His beatings were so severe he could no longer stand up.

Seeing the futility of getting their ransom, Kaboo’s enemies plotted a devious method of ending his life. They would bury him alive up to his neck, then let the carpenter ants eat his head and body.

While he was tied to a cross, hanging over his open grave, a most unusual thing happened. A bright light appeared from heaven, and a voice said, “Kaboo! Arise and flee!” The ropes tying his hands and feet fell off and he received great strength as he ran into the jungle.

Guided by the light from heaven, the young prince hid in hollow trees by day and walked by night. He found a farm where he worked, and then a mission where he attended church services for the first time.

Kaboo wanted to know who had made the bright light that guided him from danger. When a missionary told the Bible story about the Apostle Paul being blinded by a bright light from heaven, Kaboo knew it was Jesus Christ who had spoken to him in the jungle. He repented of his sins, was baptized and given the English name Samuel Morris, in honor of a benefactor of the mission.

The story gets more intriguing from there.

Sammy was eager to learn all he could about his new friend, Jesus. He prayed very simple prayers and God answered in unusual ways. One of the most remarkable was the way the former prince came to America.

Sammy had become curious about God’s Holy Spirit and began asking questions. Finally, someone told him there was a man in America, named Stephen Merritt, who could answer all his questions about God. So, with great faith and no idea how far away America was from Africa, Sammy started walking toward the ocean, many miles away. He believed the God of heaven would make a way for him to get across it to America so he could find Stephen Merritt.

Arriving at the shore of the ocean, Sammy simply talked to his heavenly Father. He was led to a ship sailing to America, and got a job working on it. The crew treated him badly and gave him hard and dangerous work; however, his responses were so Christ-like that when the ship arrived in America, the captain and most of the sailors had become Christians. The former prince unwittingly had become a missionary.

Coming from the jungles of Africa, Sammy had no concept of how populated a place New York City could be. In simple faith, he asked his Father in heaven for help. Then he approached a stranger, asking where he could find Mr. Merritt. Amazingly, the stranger knew the man! God had answered Sammy’s simple prayers again.

Mr. Merritt thought Sammy should go to Taylor University in Indiana, to study the Bible. The young man indeed wanted to learn all he could about God so he could go back to Africa and tell his people.

Unaccustomed to Indiana’s cold weather, Sammy became sick and died during the winter of 1893, just two years after arriving. But his child-like faith left behind a great witness. Several American students went to Africa in Sammy’s place, to tell his people how to get to heaven.

A devoted young man with child-like faith, who loved God with all his heart; that is the testimony Samuel Morris left as his legacy.

How about you? Read any inspiring stories lately? Share your comments below.