Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Out of the mouths of babes
Photo by Josh Meltzer | The Roanoke Times
Samuel Boutwell, 7, of Mississippi preaches in Roanoke's Market Square. His family, on a mission trip to New York and Washington, stopped in Roanoke partly because of the city's prominence on the map and partly because of the Virginia Tech shootings.
Related
Audio gallery
Pint-size preacher Samuel Boutwell, 7, sat on a cardboard box near a downtown Market Square corner and belted out “Amazing Grace” as he strummed his tiny guitar.
Next to him was a sandwich board with the words “Jesus said ... Go and sin no more.” The towheaded child from Mississippi says the Lord speaks through him.
“I do this to try and get people saved,” said the 55-pound boy. “Hell burns with fire. You will be down there forever. Your days are numbered on the earth — you got to choose. You can go up or you can go down to Devil’s hell.”
His mother, Vicki, said they stopped during their six-day mission trip to Times Square, Central Park and the White House because Roanoke was a “big spot” on the map. They had also heard about the Tech shootings.
Samuel’s preaching — along with that of several adults in the caravan — distracted downtown Roanoke diners Wednesday as they sat in outdoor cafes and bar patios. Kendall Boutwell, the boy’s father and an electrician at Georgia Pacific, said they talked with about two dozen passers-by and handed out homemade DVDs of Samuel preaching.
The evangelical Baptist couple nurtured his talents with Bible readings in the womb and bought Samuel his first guitar at age four, said his mother. They read the Bible together every day as a family and have home-schooled their two boys.
Asked if their son is being exploited, his mother said, “We’re not making him preach. That’s God’s job.”
Samuel, who studies the Bible for about one hour each night, wasn’t sure if he wanted to grow up to be a minister.
“It’s harder to learn to be a pastor than to preach,” he said haltingly.
