Part 26 (1/2)
THE Chief of next ihts ran in the channels of logic When I could speak a little of their language I visited and preached at his village; but theabout Jehovah was opposed to their Heathen custo ed and pronounced Agnostic (with as rily interrupted me:
”It's all lies you come here to teach us, and you call it worshi+p! You say your Jehovah God dwells in Heaven Who ever went up there to hear Him or see Him? You talk of Jehovah as if you had visited His Heaven
Why, you cannot clih we can and that with ease! In going up to the roof of your own Mission House you require the help of a ladder to carry you And even if you could hest cocoanut tree, on ould you lean its top? And when you get to its top, you can only cli is impossible You never saw that God; you never heard Him speak; don't come here with any of your white lies, or I'll send e, and furiously threatened murder, if we ever dared to return But very shortly thereafter the Lord sent us a little orphan girl froe She was very clever, and could soon both read and write, and told over all that we taught her Her visits hoers where her hoed appearance and her childish talk, produced a very deep interest in us and in our work
An orphan boy next was sent froe to be kept and trained at the Mission House, and he too took back his little stories of how kind and good to him were Missi the man and Missi the wo a lively interest in all that was transpiring One day the Chief's wife, a quiet and gentle woman, came to the Worshi+p and said, ”Nerwa's opposition dies fast The story of the Orphans did it! He has allowed et the Christian's book”
We gave her a book and a bit of clothing She went ho Woe, and so in which they showed a real interest was the children singing the little hyue, and whichvery sweetly and joyfully Nerwa at last got so interested that he came himself, and sat within earshot, and drank in the joyful sound In a short ti, and then began openly and regularly to attend the Church His keen reasoning faculty was constantly at work He weighed and co he heard, and soon out-distanced nearly all of the, joined our School, and professed hierly set hi Chief and his people, and constituted hietic and very pronounced helper to the Missionary
On the death of Naswai, Nerwa at once took his place in carryingthat all the people were seated before the stopping of the bell I have seen hi to his breast, as if he would cry, ”Oh, to have this treasure in my oords of Aniwa!”
When the Gospels of Matthew and Mark were at last printed in Aniwan, he studied them incessantly, and soon could read thee School, and delighted in instructing others
He was assisted by Ruhom he himself had drawn into the circle of Gospel influence; and at our next election these two friends were appointed Elders of the Church, and greatly sustained our hands in every good work on Aniwa
After years of happy useful service, the tireatly beloved thatillness He read a bit of the Gospels in his own Aniwan, and prayed with and for every visitor He sang beautifully, and scarcely allowed any one to leave his bedside without having a verse of one or other of his favorite hymns, ”Happy Land,” and ”Nearer, my God, to Thee”
On one very low, but he drew lad to see you
You see that group of young men? They came to sympathize with h they have spoken about everything else! They could not have weakened me so, if they had spoken about Jesus! Read me the story of Jesus; pray for me to Jesus
No! stop, let us call theo”
I called theth, and said, ”After I a Jehovah's songs, and pray to Jesus, and bury ood care ofto be with Jesus, and it was Missi that showedyou will take st you all will stand up for Jesus?”
Many were shedding tears, but there was no reply; after which the dying Chief proceeded, ”Now let my last work on Earth be this--We will read a chapter of the Book, verse about, and then I will pray for you all, and the Missi will pray forinexercise, we gathered the Christians ere near by close around, and sang very softly in Aniwan, ”There is a Happy Land” As they sang, the old rasped my hand, and tried hard to speak, but in vain His head fell to one side, ”the silver cord was loosed, and the golden boas broken”
CHAPTER LxxxI
RUWAWA
His great friend, Rua the Chief, had waited by Nerwa like a brother till within a few days of the latter's death, when he also was sht to be dying, and he resigned himself calmly into the hands of Christ, One Sabbath afternoon, sorely distressed for lack of air, he instructed his people to carry hiround on one of his plantations It was fallow; the fresh air would reach him; and all his friends could sit around hiround, slanting, sticks tied across them, then dried banana leaves spread on these and also as a cushi+on on the ground--and there sat Rua, leaning back and breathing heavily After the Church Services, I visited him, and found half the people of that side of the Island sitting round him, in silence, in the open air Rua beckonedsorely, his eye and face had the look of ecstasy
”Missi,” he said, ”I could not breathe in ot them to carry me here, where there is room for all They are silent and they weep, because they think I a If it were God's will, I would like to live and to help you in His work I aood; if He spares ood! Pray, and tell our Saviour all about it”
I explained to the people that ould tell our Heavenly Father how anxious we all were to see Rua given back to us strong and well to work for Jesus, and then leave all to His wise and holy disposal I prayed, and the place became a very Bochio first, I elcome you to Glory; if I am spared, I ith you for Jesus; so all is well!”
One of the young Christians followed me and said, ”Missi, our hearts are very sore! If Rua dies, we have no Chief to take his place in the Church, and it will be a heavy blow against Jehovah's Worshi+p on Aniwa”
I answered, ”Let us each tell our God and Father all that we feel and all that we fear; and leave Rua and our work in His holy hands”
We did so with earnest and unceasing cry And when all hope had died out of every heart, the Lord began to answer us; the disease began to relax its hold, and the beloved Chief was restored to health As soon as he was able, though still needing help, he found his way back to the Church, and we all offered special thanksgiving to God He indicated a desire to say a feords; and although still very weak, spoke with great pathos thus:
”Dear Friends, God has given me back to you all I rejoice thus to coreat Father, who made us all, and who kno to make and keep us well I want you all to work hard for Jesus, and to lose no opportunity of trying to do good and so to please Hirave, it was the memory of what I had done in love to Jesus thatI am not afraid of pain,--my dear Lord Jesus suffered far more for me, and teaches me how to bear it I am not afraid of war or famine or death, or of the present or of the future;I shall live with him in Glory I fear and love ave Hiht hand, and cried in a soft, full-hearted voice: ”My own,joyfully upward, as if gazing into his Saviour's face When he sat down, there was a long hush, broken here and there by a smothered sob, and Ruords produced an impression that is remembered to this day