Part 12 (1/2)

Then I said, ”You had better get me to the depot now, and start for home; the road is so bad.” ”Well,” he said, ”I will not start back until you are on the train.” And so he did; and when he put my grips on the train, he said, ”Good by,” and as he shook hands with me he left $3.00 in my hand. As he was leaving me he said,

”When--” but he never finished what he started to say. No doubt he meant to say, ”When you pray remember me.” I did not hear of him, nor see him for two or three years. Going to Milwaukee one Sunday to hold services for Brother Flint, a young man came to me in the chapel and said, ”Praise the Lord Brother Susag.” I said, ”Amen.” I looked at him and he said, ”Do you know me?” I answered, ”Yes, I have met you somewhere, but I don't remember where.” ”Think of Coha.s.set, Minnesota,” he answered. I slapped him on the shoulder and said, ”Henry, when did you get saved?” ”Driving home that night,” he said; ”thinking how you treated me, almost a stranger, you spoke to me like a father--with such good understanding of everything and you called me brother and I got broken up, and going to my room on the farm, I knelt by my bed and repented and the Lord saved me. It was so good and the Lord made me so happy. I went to see my parents who lived six miles out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.” They all became members of the congregation in Milwaukee, and Henry became a much loved and respected member of the congregation in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, and for many years one of the leaders and finally went home to his reward.

One time I was holding a meeting in the neighborhood where a young man lived who was one of our first converts, and he attended my services. One day he asked me if I would go home with him. I said, ”Yes.” On the way, he stopped me and said, ”Have you got grace enough?” I answered, ”I think so.”

Finally we got near his home, and in a little grove he stopped me again and he repeated, ”Have you got grace enough?” I answered again, ”I think so, but if you think I need more, let us pray that the Lord will give me all that I need.” We knelt down in the grove there and prayed. Coming into the house he introduced me to his mother, a fine looking lady. We sat down and had a friendly chat, and before I knew it, I said, ”Praise the Lord.”

”Oh,” she said, ”You are one of them are you?” Then she gave me a real tongue las.h.i.+ng. This was because several of her sons and daughters had gotten saved, and they were very much persecuted because they left their church. Sometimes when she would find Olaf on his knees praying, she would grab him by the hair and pull him around in the house.

Finally her husband came in, and she introduced me to him.

”Susag,” he said, ”are you the husband of that witch over near Paynesville or Hawick, that goes singing and fingering on the strings on that box, getting people to weep and taking them away from their parents?” (Wife played a harp when she sang.) ”You get out of this house as fast as your feet can carry you.”

I took my hat and started for the door, and as I came near, he stood there with his hatchet in his hand and said, ”If you come nearer, I will smash your head,” and lifted the hatchet. I realized the man was so angry he did not know what he was saying, so I went back and sat down. ”Say, Mr.

Erickson,” I said, ”sit down, and let me tell you how the Lord saved us.”

”Alright,” he answered. His wife said, ”Get him out, get him out!” Then he answered, ”Let him speak out of his heart. It is the first time he has ever been in our house.” ”No,” she said, ”Get him out.” ”No, no, wife, be quiet.” And he sat down and I related how the Lord convicted wife and I.

(We used to be of the same faith as they were.) When I had told them our experience, he came over and put his hand on my shoulder, and said, ”You can stay with us over night, but don't say anything about your religion.”

I thanked him and said, ”We have services tonight, and I have to be going.”

Later on Brother Peter Peterson of Foboken, New Jersey and myself held a meeting in that neighborhood and went and called on Mr. Erickson, and had a very pleasant visit with him. Brother Peterson had been a rough seaman and he told him of his life, and how the Lord had convicted and saved him. That seemed to impress him.

Years later Olaf bought the farm and his parents moved to another house.

One morning Mr. Erickson did not come in for breakfast, and his wife went to his bedroom to see what was the matter. There he was on his knees by the bed praying. The first time she had ever seen him doing so in that position. He got up and said, ”yes, I am coming.” She went back to the kitchen, but still he did not come; so she went back to call him. Again he was on his knees by the bed. She said, ”Aren't you coming husband. The breakfast is getting cold.” He answered again, ”Yes, I'm coming.” But he did not come yet. She went back the third time, and on his knees he was, and this time he was dead. No doubt the man had been calling upon G.o.d, and the Bible says, ”Whosoever calleth on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Hundreds of prayers had gone up for those folks. After his death Mrs.

Erickson went to stay with her oldest daughter at Westlake, Minnesota.

After being there for some time she took very sick, and she said to her daughter, ”Will you send for the preacher?” Yes, she said, ”What is his address?” (thinking she wanted her own pastor). ”No,” she said, ”I want your pastor, Brother Susag.” I went and at the end of three days, she got gloriously saved and got well. Later on she took sick again and pa.s.sed on, and because I was in Europe at the time, my wife conducted the funeral service. What looks hopeless with man can be changed by prayer.

At one time when Olae Christaphersen was selling books in the country between Grove City and Litchfield, Minnesota, he came to a home where quite a number were weeping and he asked why they were so sad. The lady of the house replied, ”Our daughter, a young lady, is in the bedroom dying, and husband has gone to town to get the coffin, as she stinks already.” (Those days they took the coffin to the homes sometimes). He inquired if he could see her, and she said, yes. After standing looking at her a while, he knelt and laid his hands on her and prayed the prayer of faith, and the Lord raised her up. Years later he was selling books in N. Dakota. He came to a nice farm home and knocking at the door a fine looking lady opened the door. Surprising him, she said, ”Come in.” Unused to such courtesy, he hesitated a moment, and she said again, ”Come in, I know you. I am the lady you prayed for down by Litchfield, Minnesota, whose father had gone to the undertaker to arrange for the funeral. I am married and this is my home.”

At one time a sister-in-law of Olae Christaphersen, Bastine Christaphersen, was in childbirth. The midwife said the child could not be born without medical help. Her husband started for Wilmer to get the doctor. At seven o'clock she began to get blue and lost consciousness. They sent for Brother Olae. When he came, he looked at his sister-in-law and walked out into the woodshed, and there among the split wood he knelt down and prayed. A number of times they called for him to come in, but he did not answer. About twelve o'clock he came hurrying in and laid his hands on his sister-in-law and said, ”I command in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that this child be born, and that my sister-in-law be made well.” Immediately the child was born, and all was well. In a few minutes the doctor arrived and he said it was a wonderful miracle.

HEALED AFTER RUNNING A RUSTY NAIL THROUGH THE FOOT

One time my wife stepped on a rusty nail, running it through the shoe sole and her foot. The next morning Brother Christaphersen came and she asked him to make her a crutch, since I was in Europe at the time. She had to walk with her knee on a chair and he said he would. He went out and in a few minutes he came back and said, ”The Lord does not want me to make you a crutch. Let us pray the Lord to heal you.” They prayed and she was healed at once.

HEALED OF LOCKJAW

I had my collar bone broken three times; the third time I was in North Dakota holding meetings. It was during July and very hot, being around 85 to 90 degrees in the shade. I was staying with Brother and Sister E. Olson and lockjaw set in. I took chills until they moved me into the kitchen and had the stove red hot. Even then I could hardly quit chilling. I battled with the devil and the pain for a whole day, and finally got the victory.

Bless His name.

HEALED OF BROKEN LEG

One time I was plowing and was thrown off the seat onto the plow in such a way that my leg caught between the bars and I was thrown with my weight on my leg, breaking it near the ankle and splitting the bone nearly to the knee. The end of the broken bone protruded under the skin near the knee.