Part 8 (1/2)
The Lord miraculously sent a good sister to our home from Was.h.i.+ngton. She arrived the morning I was leaving for Texas. When she discovered the circ.u.mstances, and that wife was sick, she said, ”Now I know why the Lord sent me here, and I'm here to stay until Sister Susag is well.”
So I went to San Antonio. This was in the year 1902. At one place where I had to change trains on the way, I took my grip and walked out on the platform toward the train I was to take. There I stood and did not get on the train, and the train pulled out without me. I walked back to the depot, and the agent asked me whether I had intended to take that train and why I did not get on it. I simply told him I didn't know why. ”Well,” he said, ”you fool, you will now have to wait four hours and take a slow train.” (I understood a little later why I was held back from boarding that train.
Only forty-five miles out it became derailed and some forty pa.s.sengers were seriously injured and, if my memory is correct, some were killed.)
When the tent meeting was over at San Antonio, Bro. Nelson left with me and we were expecting to stop over in Hamilton and Kingston, Mo. to hold some services. As we came closer to the first place Bro. Nelson said, ”Here the saints are well-to-do people.” So, I thought, if they are well-to-do we will not need to spend our time asking G.o.d for our car fare, for they well know that preachers need car fare. The congregation rented a room for us about a couple of blocks from the depot and we ate our meals in the different homes.
After the meeting had closed and we had gone to our room at eleven p. m., Brother Nelson asked me whether I had received money for our car fare. I told him I had not; that I thought he had received it all, since he had been there before. But he hadn't received any. We then decided we had better see whether we had enough money to take us to the next place.
Brother Nelson had enough for his fare and eight cents over; I was lacking two dollars. We were to leave on the four-thirty train in the morning, and now we had to pray the Lord to get us the two dollars!
As for me, I was not acquainted in the city and did not know where to go to raise a penny. We prayed until two o'clock, then I said to Brother Nelson, ”We do not need to pray any longer; the Lord says He will attend to it.” We went to bed for about an hour and a half. We went to the depot and Brother Nelson bought his ticket, then I ordered mine and put what money I had in the window of the ticket office. While the agent was counting the money, a man came running very fast into the waiting room and stuck his left hand right in front of my nose through the ticket window and left two dollars there, then turned and went out so fast that I had no chance to thank him.
Brother Nelson looked at the man, and then asked me whether I knew him, but I had never seen him before, nor had Brother Nelson. The lesson I learned from this incident was that it is better to depend upon the Lord than on well-to-do saints.
On arriving home I told wife of the incident. She at once asked me whether I was sure it was a man who brought the two dollars. I said, ”To me he looked like an angel, and he would have looked so to you if you had been in a like fix.”
ANSWERS TO PRAYER
Once, when home for two or three days I was suffering pain in the region of my heart. At every beat it would seem to say, ”Kelly, Kelly, Kelly.” (Kelly was a place in North Dakota, about 260 miles from home. There were a few saints in the community who might be needing help). I was very sick and I told my wife how badly I was feeling. She said, ”Perhaps the Lord wants you to go to Kelly.” The next day the pain was still bothering me, so I sat down and wrote to O. O. Holman and said, ”I am sick; if the pain in my heart does not soon stop I will be at your station Sunday at ten o'clock.”
This was in the month of August, the busy season for farmers. The pain did not stop, so I started out. When I had gone about one hundred miles from home the pain left me.
Having to change trains at Grand Forks and there being no train for Kelly until the next morning, I decided to go and stay over night with Brother C.
H. Tubbs. At the parsonage I met Brother Newell, a minister, Brother Shave and Brother Niles, deacons of the congregation there, and a sister who was visiting.
They all exclaimed in surprise at seeing me appear at that time of the year and wanted to know the reason for my being there. I really felt sheepish about telling them. Kelly was only fifteen miles from Grand Forks and they had not heard of there being any serious trouble there.
After I had told them how I happened to be going to Kelly, Brother Tubbs turned to his wife and said, ”Mary, you preach tomorrow; I want to go along with Bro. Susag and see what is going on.” His wife said, ”Charles, I am going along, too.” Then to Bro. Newell he said, ”You take the morning service tomorrow,” but he also declined as he, too, wanted to go with us.
And Bro. Shave made the same reply; he wanted to go to Kelly. But when Bro.
Niles was asked to preach at the morning service, he kindly consented to take charge. In the morning I started out for Kelly with three ministers, one deacon and one sister accompanying me.
I am generally quite talkative, but I did not do much talking those fifteen miles, wondering what the people would think if, when getting there, we should find nothing unusual the matter. When the train stopped at the station I waited for all the folks to get off first. As I looked out of the window I saw Brother Holman standing on the platform weeping, looking at the people as they got off the train. Then I came. I went to him and asked him why he was weeping. He said, ”We have been praying the Lord to send you to us and today I started for the station, confident that I would either meet you in person or that I would get a letter,” and taking the letter from his pocket and holding it up, said, ”and here I have both!” Then he told me that his wife was very ill, possibly dying, and that they had been praying the Lord to send me to them.
It was three miles out to their home in the country and Bro. Holman had only a one-seated buggy, so the two sisters drove and we preachers walked.
The good Lord heard prayer and healed Sister Holman. Also, an old lady of ninety years of age was baptized at this time.
On another occasion I was asked to come to Grand Forks to hold a revival meeting. On my arrival there I found that the pastor was having trouble with his eyes so that he had to stay at home in a dark room. Services started Friday night and it seemed that the whole congregation had become cooled off. This was made clear to me, so I preached three sermons--one on Friday night and two on Sat.u.r.day. But it looked as though the condition grew worse instead of better as a result of my preaching.
Sat.u.r.day night I had a dream. I dreamed that the Lord had sent me there to gather the sheep back that had wandered into a man's field and were tramping the grain down. Then I picked up one stone and threw it at them to try to get them back. I picked up another stone, and then threw the third one. They seemed now to be frightened worse than ever. This discouraged me and I said to the Lord, ”What shall I do?” He said, ”Speak gently to them.”
Then I went into the field myself and called ”Sheep! Sheep!” to them, and they began to gather together and it wasn't long before I had a nice bunch of sheep up on the highway. I asked the Lord why it was I couldn't get them together without my going into the field myself, for I preached His word to them. ”Yes,” He said, ”you preached My Word to them, but it was the way you preached it.” So Sunday I made my confession to the congregation and weeping, asked their forgiveness, and every one was brought back to the Lord, and a few sinners who were in the audience were also saved.
Through the week of services thirty-eight persons came from different states and Canada for healing--and there were some very serious cases. The night before the day we had set apart for the praying for the sick, I prayed from eleven o'clock that night until four o'clock in the morning in a dark room. When I got up from my knees the Lord stood before me and made it clear to me that He was going to heal every one of those who had been prayed for.
After all were healed and it was time for the services to close, a little nine year old girl came and sat on the altar bench. I went to her and said, ”What do you want, Sophie?” In reply she said that she had seen how the Lord had healed the eyes of Sister Hobert and that now she wanted the Lord to heal her and set her eyes straight. (Her eyes were badly crossed).