su % oe H2% GETS ese Aree RAT INE Ce abe? ESATA Tot ee { Rhee hae f: 5 eous ae ties “ OG (ALY IAG tiie. aK cg Sateen a So ree a 7 4 Pree ers eo) vest, on * chia! eUN Hoe? SANS “a £ ~, a LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PRINCETON. N. J. PURCHASED BY THE HAMILL MISSIONARY FUND. 7 A AOE if ste “ y Zc 2 \) . . ra — 9 ~ lan a mt y Tal L = nt - y f ¥ i | 1} ~~ Bm wks 7 be ? OY ck. aks des ot AOk I oN “ee a VW e rs | gee £ A M 1ra eS > J: DRA Re ECUL Vit i bale i ek a Whe He rand , mea yl ik if nthe May MRO i wah 7 Aa ib Foy’ ee fa fe, By ey a 4 Rater] Udd a iy * * - An a — Ye) 4 Miracles of Modern Missions Painting by Calette MIGHTY TO SAVE ‘* All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.” “ Lo, J am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.’”’ Matt. 28:18, 20. 4 oe AAA } vj A \V/ MIRACLES of MODERN MISSIONS Gathered Out of the Mission Records wa By William Iieainee “ How great are His signs! and how mighty are His wonders! His kingdom is an ever- lasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation.” Dan. 4:3. REVIEW AND HERALD PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION TAKOMA Park, WASHINGTON, D. C., South Bend, Ind. Peekskill, N. Y. Printed in the U. S. A. A , : tg Fash = ” J Ne Dap 7 we ’ ; i r wt tae “% < ; 4 ee iy , Mi ' ats @ ate f ee . 4 =f é Wiis * Hips WO viteie ‘ ye ’ Cor . C a ¥. ‘ v7 i’ g- A , f og ie ~ ; on ou ’ } Rh : : ee ‘ , eet AG ¥ tk Veal v, A 4 “ * v* ' 3 : -Coprighted, 1926, by the _ Review and Herald Publishing Association Ail Rights Reserved - Pl ' ' t 2 / Ji * 2 ; = ; aah! - ph t “a w us h ' * o/ vos j >? ans ‘ ’ J = ' { ; na ws « ° aT P i ‘ , OY Neat Yeon | dea ‘ a ls ; Wt ket , oN 9 al ve ke a a 4 ¥, om! fj a ¥ , e * 4 _ / airy “Come Unto Me” “ Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together.” ‘‘ Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” Isa. 45: 20, 22. The Goodness of the Lord O GIVE thanks unto the Lord, for He is good: For His mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; And gathered them out of the lands, From the east, and from the west, From the north, and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; They found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, Their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, And He delivered them out of their distresses. And He led them forth by the right way, That they might go to a city of habitation. O that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS For He satisfieth the longing soul, And filleth the hungry soul with goodness. He sent His word, and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions. Let them exalt Him also in the congregation of the people, And praise Him in the assembly of the elders. He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, And dry ground into watersprings. And there He maketh the hungry to dwell, That they may prepare a city for habitation; And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, Which may yield fruits of increase. The righteous shall see it, and rejoice; And all iniquity shall stop her mouth. Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, Even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord. — From Psalm 107. Contents A New Book oF Acts - - “In JOURNEYINGS”’ TO THE FIELD By AUDIBLE VOICE - 7 - THE FooTrRINTS OF ANGELS - - MAN or ANGEL — IT Matters Not WHuicH THe RESTRAINING HAND - - THE ELEMENTS OVERRULED - “IN THE WILDERNESS ” - - SUPPLIED IN TIME OF NEED 2 MEETINGS PROVIDENTIALLY ARRANGED INSTRUCTED BY DREAM - - “IN PERILS OF ROBBERS ” - - ATTACKERS FOILED - - - STRICKEN WITH FEAR - - - DELIVERED FROM CAPTIVITY - PROTECTION FRoM ANIMALS TIMELY DELIVERERS- - - - THE CHANGED PURPOSE - - - ON THE WINGS OF THE WIND - ON THE WATERS~ - - - - On Op Inp1an TRAILS : : UNDER THE PROMISE - - - CovERED AND HIppEN - - UsELEss \WEAPONS - - - FAITHFUL STEWARDSHIP HONORED HEALING AS A SIGN ~ - - STORIES OF CHILDREN - - AMIDST THE CONVULSIONS OF NATURE 11 I aie 30 62 69 90 101 110 hea 133 bs 158 165 173 183 193 201 AV PONE tot bel tad eon 242 eke, 261 271 288 209 309 PETER DELIVERED FROM PRISON “Ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1: 8. 10 A New Book of Acts THE translators have divided the Book of Acts into twenty- eight chapters. As many chapters for a new Book of Acts might be compiled from the story of modern missions. AT PENTECOST The old Book of Acts records the amazement of the multi- tude of various nationalities gathered at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, as they heard the apostles speaking with tongues, telling “the wonderful works of God.” “Are not all these which speak Galileans?” the hearers exclaimed one to another, ‘and how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?” Sig ‘© FOR A THOUSAND TONGUES! ” The various nationalities listed as present at Jerusalem on that Pentecost might possibly have represented, say, forty or sixty spoken languages. Today the Bible societies list eight hundred tongues in which Scripture portions are repeating the story of “the wonderful works of God.” In the onward sweep of world missions, with new languages added year by year, it will not be long now until a thousand tongues will be speaking the words of life. In a way the old hymn writer never antici- pated, his prayer will be answered: “O for a thousand tongues, to sing My great Redeemer’s praise!” And wherever the words of Holy Scripture go, the story of the Book of Acts is being continued. At the close of his Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, Dr. Adam Clarke placed this note: “The Book of Acts is not only a history of the church, the most ancient and most impartial, as it is the most authentic extant; but it is also a history of God’s grace and providence.” 11 13 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS Open the Book of Acts, and what do we find? We find men and women of ordinary natural gifts going out to tell the message of salvation. What else do we see? We see angels of God going with them. The risen Christ, in glory, is watch- ing over His servants on earth, fulfilling the parting promise, “Lo, I am with you alway.” By the ministry of angels He euides and directs and intervenes. The Holy Spirit speaks to inquirers, angels bear messages to men in dreams of the night, or by voice of entreaty or warning heard in the soul. There is constant connection between heaven and earth in the Book of Acts. The living God was actually doing things on earth. And so it is in these modern chapters of the new Book of Acts. THE FINGER OF GOD These interventions of the hand of Providence do not appear merely as displays of supernatural power. They come into the mission experiences in a divinely natural way, to bear their witness under circumstances that seem particularly to call for something more than ordinary. One veteran of the East Indies, Joh. Warneck, says in his “ Living Forces of the Gospel: ”’ “The finger of God is more visibly and more frequently seen in the mission fields. of heathenism, warning the ignorant that now is the day of salvation, than it is in Christendom. Foreign missions today are not necessarily accompanied by manifold wonders, as in the days of the apostles, because there are other means of gaining the attention of the heathen. But the marks of God’s mighty presence are plainly perceptible in mission work today. God sometimes condescends to show the helplessness of their own gods and His own power to the heathen who know Him not. He sometimes condescends to punish blasphemers, to accompany with His blessing remedies given by His messengers in great weakness, to answer the stam- mering prayers of those who would like to know whether His power is with them, and in marvelous ways to preserve His servants, “The Battak Mission has witnessed many clear interpositions of God, especially in its first days. The missionaries were several times preserved from attempts on their lives. They have taken poison without injury, and restraint was put upon their e, A NEW BOOK OF ACTS 13 enemies, such as to reveal to Christian and heathen alike the finger of God. The Nias Mission has had the same experience, especially in the western region. . . . But for such clear proofs to the heathen of the divine power, these two provinces could Elders E. H. Gates and G. A. Wantzlick, With Their Battak Boys, Padang, Sumatra hardly have been held, though in both a rich harvest has been gathered in under marvelous conditions. “The reader of missionary news will frequently come upon instances of such things, reminding him of the experiences of Old and New Testament messengers of God. Such experiences strengthen the faith of the missionaries and their helpers in their many trials, striving with the powers of heathenism, unsupported by Christian fellowship. The critic will find it easy to assail these acts of God, but they are precious to those who experience 14 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS them,— mission workers, Christians, and heathen,— and they produce blessed and permanent results.” BEYOND HUMAN RANGE The stories of special providence come often from the re- motest parts. No region is beyond the circuit of Heaven’s watchful care. Away beyond the present range of missionary Missionary Launch “ Eran ” Used by C. H. Parker, superintendent of the New Hebrides endeavor, the Holy Spirit is evidently at work, turning hearts toward light, and preparing the highways for the advancing line of missions. Far beyond our ken, we may well know, this work by direct divine agencies is continually going forward. As the author of ‘“ Lead, Kindly Light,” wrote: ‘** Mid Balak’s magic fires The Spirit spake, clear as in Israel ; With prayers untrue and covetous desires Did God vouchsafe to dwell; Who summoned dreams, His earlier word to bring To patient Job’s vexed friends, and Gerar’s guileless king. ¢ e e ° e A NEW BOOK OF ACTS 1 Why should we fear the Son now lacks His place Where roams unchristened man? As though where faith is keen, He cannot make Bread of the very stones, or thirst with ashes slake.” Isaiah, the prophet of world evangelization, puts into the mouth of the church of the gospel age this prayer that God may make bare His arm as in olden times: “ Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art Thou not it that hath cut Rahab [Egypt], and wounded the dragon? “ Art Thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?” Isa. 51:9, 10. And He who made bare His arm in ancient Bible times, who is able to make ways where there are no ways, answers this prayer with the assurance (to quote Bishop Lowth’s trans- lation) : “ He marcheth on with speed, who cometh to set free the captive ; That he may not die in the dungeon, And that his bread may not fail. For I am Jehovah thy God; He who stilleth at once the sea, though the waves thereof roar; Jehovah God of hosts is His name. I have put My words in thy mouth; And with the shadow of My hand have I covered thee: To stretch out the heavens, and to lay the foundations of the earth; And to say unto Sion, ‘Thou art My people.’ ” © W. L. Haskell WILLIAM CAREY Pioneer Missionary to India 16 “In Journeyings” to the Field “Thus saith the Lord, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the nughty waters.” Isaiah 43:16. BREAKING THE WALL OF ICE READERS of the story of early missions will remember the brave attempt of Egede, of Denmark, to spread the gospel in Greenland. He it was who preceded even the Moravians in carrying a burden for remote heathen peoples lying in darkness. It was in 1721, after years of prayer and waiting, that the Danish pastor and his family sailed from Bergen, Norway. Mrs. Egede had delayed the enterprise for years, resolutely holding out against the thought of the hardships of such a journey. But at last the Spirit of God had convicted her that she was holding back the light from those for whom Christ had died, and she had turned from her opposition and was aggres- sively encouraging her husband to go forward. The good ship “‘ Hope,” on which the family were sailing, accompanied by another little ship, a galiot, so called, was nearing the icy wall of Greenland after four weeks of tossing in the northern seas. Now came the greatest peril to the voyagers. We follow the story of young Paul Egede, son of the pioneer missionary, whose journal is published only in German, entitled, “ Nachrichten von Gronland.” “It was a hateful and frightful coast,’. Paul wrote, that faced the Egede family as they sighted the Greenland shore. They were beset with constant stormy winds, preventing their turning northward to land. Recent arctic exploration has made us familiar with the perils of the Greenland coast, even in this day of steamships specially built with strong, ice-breaking hulls. The account continues: “We were at last compelled to go westward, in order to get out of the ice, which the wind and storm dashed against us. 17 18 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS “On the 24th we experienced the greatest peril to life. In the morning we saw an opening in the ice. The captain asked my father if we should venture to go forward into it. He answered, “ Yes,’ and the captain, having received his consent, went on into the ice (by this opening). “ But instead of getting through it, we were in this position shut in, so that we had not a cable length of open water. We went on with reefed sails, and the storm laid hold upon us. “Anxiety and fear were over all. This became the greater as the captain, who knew by the signal that the galiot had re- ceived injury, sprang into the cabin with fear, and cried to my mother and to us children: ‘ Pray to God, and prepare to meet death; there is no hope for our lives. The galiot has been struck and is sinking.’ ” Then it was that the missionary’s courage and faith in God took command of the situation. True enough, death seemed upon them. The missionary family betook themselves to prayer ; but the burden of their prayer was for deliverance from the ring of ice in order to reach the people of Greenland with the gospel of life. The father labored while he prayed, and went on deck encouraging the crew and rebuking the captain for his lack of faith. While they worked to save the ship, they prayed to God to make a way of deliverance for them through the ice. And God heard their prayers. “The storm and fog continued all through the day and until midnight,” says Paul Egede’s journal. Then the praying toilers noticed that the walls of ice were breaking through. God was answering their prayers for deliverance from the ring of ice that had shut them in. By dawn the little ship was out of the encompassing peril and into open water. They bore down upon the smaller ship, and found that by continuously pumping, that also had been able to weather the storm. After further perils endured, the journal says, “The Lord guided us to the land for which my father had so earnestly sighed.” * ret - HOW CAREY REACHED INDIA The providential hour had struck for the opening of the great era of modern missions, Not only was William Carey b “IN JOURNEYINGS”’ TO THE FIELD 19 the agent chosen of God for launching the movement of foreign missions, but he was to go out to India himself, to be the agent of Providence in laying the foundation of a great work on which others have built during all this century and more of missions. So important did it appear in 1792 that Carey should get to the field without delay, that he, with a Mr. Thomas, engaged passage, even though Mrs. Carey was to be left behind for the time being. The passage was secured on an English ship, and Carey and Thomas embarked in London. Without a doubt had they succeeded in getting fully off on that ship, they would have failed to secure permission to land in India, where the East India Company wanted no disturbing religious influences. Providence overturned Carey’s plans, and sent him by the right way, even though the process was so strange it seemed to him as if every- thing was working against the missionary undertaking. It was the time of the French wars, and Carey’s ship, “Earl of Oxford,” after sailing down the Thames and round to the south of England, put in to the port of Ryde, Isle of Wight, to wait for convoy. Here it was that, through some unfortunate misadventures of Mr. Thomas, Carey’s companion, it became known that the missionaries were on board. A letter reached the captain, telling him that he might be brought into serious trouble with the East India Company if he ventured to take a missionary to India. Frightened, the captain gave orders canceling the passages, and Carey and Thomas were put ashore with their baggage. Ina recent book entitled, “‘ William Carey,” F. Deaville Walker tells how God overruled it all to His glory, and sent Carey to India by the very way that Providence had in reserve for the pioneering venture, out of which was to come so great a world movement. Mr. Walker says of Carey’s feel- ings as he was ordered ashore: “Carey was moved to tears at this overthrow of all his cherished hopes. But the captain was resolute, and there was nothing left for them but to remove their baggage from the ‘Oxford,’ and store it as best they could, 20 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS “As they watched the ship leave the anchorage and sail away in company with four other vessels, Carey’s heart must have been well-nigh breaking. It was mid-May, and there was very little hope of getting another ship that season. With a heavy heart, but still undaunted, Carey wrote to Fuller of the trouble they were involved in, adding: “All I can say in this affair is that, however mysterious the leadings of Providence are, | have no doubt but they are superintended by an infinitely wise God.’ “And he was right. Never for a moment did his faith waver. Though sorely perplexed, he was undismayed. The conviction that God had called him strengthened him in that dark hour. “Leaving the baggage at Portsmouth, the missionaries took coach for London. Carey’s first idea was to go boldly to the East India Company and seek their permission to go to India, trusting God to move their hearts to grant it. Another idea was to attempt to reach India overland. He desired, however, to consult his trusted friends. In reality there was little hope of the company’s yielding, for at that very time they were harden- ing their hearts on this subject. “On reaching the city, Thomas, with his usual resourceful- ness, and realizing that it was through him that Carey had been refused a passage, went to a coffeehouse, with the faint hope of hearing of some ship of other than British nationality, and therefore not under the control of the East India Company — perchance a Swedish or a Danish merchantman. Overhearing his questions, a waiter slipped into Thomas’ hand a card on which he read and reread the words: ““A Daniso East INDIAMAN No. 10 Cannon St.’ “Hardly daring to believe his eyes, Thomas ‘ fled ’— that is the word he uses —to No. 10 Cannon Street, and learned that the ‘Kron Princessa Maria’ was even then on her way from Copenhagen, and was hourly expected in the Dover roads.” Now Carey saw the intervening hand of Providence in the overturning of his plans. Declaring himself “ convinced that God was opening a door before him,” he made one more effort to get his wife to go out with him. Her reluctance was over- come, funds were provided, and by strenuous exertion, in those “IN JOURNEYINGS”’ TO THE FIELD 21 days of coach transportation, the missionary party got off from Dover by the Danish boat, the foreign ship being the very means of insuring that Carey should be able to get into the field despite the watchfulness of the hostile East India Company. ‘* MASTER ON TOP, HE STRONG” Thus, in the pidgin English of the New Hebrides, the island- ers of Malekula declared their conviction that the invisible arm of the Master was stretched forth in power to right an over- New Hebrides Fleet Little boats in which missionaries hazard their lives in the New Hebrides turned ship, and deliver the missionary and his island crew. When an old chief first heard one of the boys telling how the ship, with mast and rigging under water, had been lifted up and set upright, he said, “ No, that cannot be true; such a thing never could be.” But when all the facts were told, the islanders agreed that the “ Master on top, He strong.” The story was told by Missionary J. D. Anderson, of the Australasian Seventh-day Adventist missions in the New Heb- rides. The missionary, with a crew of six boys of Malekula, was on a 260-mile journey to meet the steamer at Tulagi, and return to his station. His report of the outward journey, taken from the Australasian Record, continues: MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS bo IN “ After a very pleasant run of five hours, a heavy storm broke upon us just as we were about to enter an opening in one of the reefs to anchor fora short time. The wind blew fiercely, and the rain was so heavy that we were unable to see any more than the length of the boat. Charlie, my native helper, who has had much experience with boats, was acting as captain, and gave orders to put to sea. I immediately went to the engine, and being assured that all was well there, I came on deck, but at once felt that we were in danger, so again disappeared below to place the position before the Lord. “Up to this time we had been steering by the land, but while I was on my knees, almost audible words said to me, ‘ Get out your compass.’ This I did, and found we were going straight for the reef; so we put to sea. After about half an hour the storm lifted, and we were able to get in through the reef to a safe anchorage, and just in time, for a heavier storm came on, and continued all the afternoon and well into the night. “Next morning early we left again, with fine weather, and by 10:30 a. M. came to a place from which, in fine weather, we leave the Malaita coast for Gala. Everything seemed to be in our favor, so we decided to make the run. After an hour’s run a southeast wind sprang up, and grew stronger and stronger. At 2 p. M. we battened our little boat down, and from then on for six hours the deck was almost incessantly awash. “How thankful I felt that the people of Australasia had made it possible for us to have such a seaworthy boat under the conditions in which we found ourselves! ” ee SEE To shorten the account, Gala was reached, and then the next day Tulagi, where the steamer was met. After the week-end at Tulagi, the homeward run was begun. Storm-bound at Sioto, on Wednesday morning they were again at sea, with fair weather prospects. That homeward voyage, with the deliver- ances that put awe and thanksgiving into their hearts, is thus described by Missionary Anderson: “By 7:30 the wind again arose, and it was not very long before we were in a heavy sea. Up to this time the engine had been running nicely, and our sails were folded. A voice seemed to say, “ Put up your sails.’ But I felt that it was safer to run along under engine power. Almost immediately the words again came, “ The engine is going to give out, so you will have to put “IN JOURNEYINGS’”’ TO THE FIELD Zo up the sails.’ Scarcely had these words been spoken when a small piece in the engine broke, so I gave or- ders to set sail and run with the storm. “This done, we were going along at a fair speed when the thought came to me, ‘ What would you do if the boat went over?’ Then a voice seemed to say again, “You are going to turn over, but angels will lift the boat up, and you will speak, and the waves will be calm.’ I said in prayer, ‘O Lord, it is too much.’ But again the voice said, ‘Why be afraid? The angels will help you, and this will take place to show the boys that the God whom you serve is able to deliver.’ I again said in prayer, ‘Thy will be done, O Lord, not mine.’ “We had not proceeded far when two large waves came. Charlie was holding the main sail and instruct- ing two other boys who Peo 2 A baptized native teacher in the were holding the helm. The pec gay CaLCeCne little boat was turned to meet the first wave all right, but was not able to right herself again before the second wave caught her and seemed to stand her almost mast downward. All hands on deck were thrown into the sea. At the time, I was standing in the cabin with my head out, but was thrown headlong into the water. I cannot recollect what happened to me then, but I do know that, al- though the worst swimmer of all, I was the first on deck. When I did recollect myself, I was sitting on the side of the boat. 24 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS WHAT HE SAID ‘As I sat there, the boat began in a miraculous way to right herself, notwithstanding the fact that everything was against her. Everything inside the boat was thrown to one side, and some of the boys were hanging on to the sunken side. One boy came up on the boom as the boat came up. As she righted, I remembered the words spoken to me regarding the waves,— ‘You will speak, and the waves will be calm,’— so I prayed and lifted up my hand to God, which was noticed by some of the boys; and for about fifty yards back from the boat the water appeared as smooth as a pool, nor did any waves of any size reach us again until we had everything righted and were well under sail. “Charlie and I went into the cabin and thanked the Lord for the wonderful deliverance. The other five boys, who had never shown any interest in things of God, were astonished. On arriving at a safe anchorage, they could not talk quickly enough about it. They said, ‘Truly your Chief is strong. If this had been any other boat, we would have all been drowned today.’ We had been from fifteen to twenty miles from land at the time. “As the wind died down for only a few hours each night, we were able to do only short runs for the following three days, but eventually arrived home without any further exciting in- cident. “On reaching their homes the boys related their experiences during the trip, but many of the old folks would not believe what was told them. So I was called to the island where they lived, as an authority, and there asked to relate everything,— what was spoken to me before the accident, and everything that occurred at that time and afterward. If I forgot anything, the boys would prompt me, and when I was through they said, ‘ True, it was this Master up on top that helped us.’ Most of the old folks then also said, ‘ Master above, He strong, first time He win him.’ “An old sea captain who has weathered many a storm and to whom I related the incident, exclaimed, ‘ How ever did the - boat right itself?’ “All who were with us seemed to be very favorably. im- pressed. Continue to pray for us, for we are up against the very devil himself here.” “IN JOURNEYINGS’’ TO THE FIELD fs Amid the dashing spray that swept the deck in the Adriatic Sea of old, an angel stood, saying to the apostle Paul, “ Fear not.” The same angels are with the missionaries today. SUDDEN PERIL AT THE JOURNEY’S END Any one who has ever seen those heavy transport wagons of the African veld country knows what a chariot of destruction one of them would be if set rolling down a hill. One of the Seen Traveling in South Africa Eleven yoke of oxen pulling the boat out of the river for a two-mile land trip around Gonyi Falls pioneer missionaries of South Africa, G. S. Thomas, told how he saw destruction turned aside by the hand of Providence as he and his wife sent up instant cry to God. It was in 1857, as they were journeying to their station in the Kafirland moun- tains. The story is told in the old volume, “The Missionary World Encyclopedia.” Mr. Thomas says: “Toward the close of the journey we experienced a most merciful interposition of divine Providence. We had arrived within about six miles of the station, and were come to the bottom of a steep hill, so steep that one team of oxen was unable to pull the wagon to the top. We therefore took the team out of the © W. L. Haskell J. HUDSON TAYLOR For Many Years Superintendent of the China Inland Mission 26 “IN JOURNEYINGS”’ TO THE FIELD 27 other wagon, in which were my dear wife and child, and having fastened these in front of the other team, the word was given, “Trek! trek!’ and the wagon soon began to ascend the hill; when suddenly, just as we gained the summit, the trek-tow, or that by which the oxen were attached to the wagon, broke, and in an instant it began to descend the hill with fearful velocity toward the other wagon. All were panic-stricken, but nothing could be done to save either the wagon or my wife and child. She saw the danger with horror, but there was no time to escape; she had merely time to clasp the babe to her bosom and cry, ‘Lord, save us!’ And He did save; for just as it got within a yard of the two oxen still attached to the pole, without any apparent cause, it turned suddenly round along the side of the hill and stopped of itself, without sustaining the least injury or injuring anything else. Had it turned to the other side, it would have fallen over a precipice two or three hundred feet deep. To our God alone we ascribe the praise.” THE STORM COULD NOT HINDER The work of J. Hudson Taylor for China forms a striking chapter in the book of modern missions. The Lord called him as one of the pioneering agents for the time of China’s opening. He was the founder of the China Inland Mission, one of the most aggressive of missions. In his little book, “‘ A Retrospect,” Mr. Taylor tells of a providence as he embarked the first time from Liverpool for China, in 1853. He says: “We had scarcely left the Mersey when a violent equinoctial gale caught us, and for twelve days we were beating backward and forward in the Irish Channel, unable to get out to sea. “The gale steadily increased, and after almost a week we lay to for a time; but drifting on a lee coast, we were compelled again to make sail, and endeavored to beat off to windward. The utmost efforts of the captain and crew, however, were unavail- ing; and Sunday night, 25th September, found us drifting into Carnarvon Bay, each tack becoming shorter, until at last we were within a stone’s throw of the rocks. “About this time, as the ship, which had refused to stay, was put round in the other direction, the Christian captain said to me, ‘ We cannot live half an hour now; what of your call to labor for the Lord in China?’ 28 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS “T had previously passed through a time of much conflict, but that was over, and it was a great joy to feel and to tell him that I would not for any consideration be in any other position; that I strongly expected to reach China; but that if otherwise, at any rate the Master would say it was well that I was found seeking to obey His command. “Within a few minutes after wearing ship, the captain walked up to the compass, and said to me, ‘ The wind has freed two points ; we shall be able to beat out of the bay!’ And so we did.’ ON THE OLD ROUTE ROUND THE HORN It was in the early missionary times of 1835 that A. W. Murray and others, bound for the South Pacific Islands, sailed down the Thames from London. They sang the old hymn that was sung as the ship “ Duff” carried the London Missionary Society’s first missionaries down the Thames on the way to Tahiti in 1796, “Jesus, at Thy command We launch into the deep.” It was a stormy deep that Mr. Murray’s party found as they essayed to round Cape Horn, the southernmost point of South America. It was winter. Again and again the ship was driven back. In his “ Forty Years in Polynesia,’ Mr. Murray tells how deliverance came: “ Matters had well-nigh reached a crisis. Provisions were getting very short; there was no hope of a change of wind; twice had we doubled the dreadful Cape, and been driven back; and the question was being seriously discussed whether we had not better change the ship’s course and stand away for the Cape of Good Hope; but it was a choice of difficulties. Had we adopted that course, we should have had such a distance to run that we should in all probability have suffered from a scarcity of food and water.” They were shut up to look to God. They had agreed that instead of the usual Sunday evening service, a prayer meeting for deliverance should be held in the main cabin that night. The story continues: “IN JOURNEYINGS ’”’ TO THE FIELD 29 “There was a tremendous sea, and our little bark was being tossed about apparently at the mercy of the winds and waves, now mounting aloft, then descending into the yawning depths, and seeming as if at any moment it might be engulfed. “But ‘man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.’ Deliverance was at hand. lTervent prayer was offered throughout the day, but that day closed, as so many before it had done, without any change. “The hour for the evening service drew on, and we were about to meet to carry out the arrangement of the morning. But ‘ before they call [ will answer.’ An announcement from the deck, such as had not been made for many a day, was heard, ‘A change of wind!’ ‘ About ship!’ “Oh, what a joyful surprise! Our prayers were largely turned into praises. The crisis'was past, and from that time forward we proceeded on our way without further interruption. The storms of Cape Horn were soon left behind, and instead we had over us a cloudless sky, and under us the gentle waves of the Pacific.” ‘““UNTO THEIR DESIRED HAVEN ”’ Little as the ancients used the sea as a highway, as compared with moderns, the psalmist nevertheless leaves on record the story of oft-repeated deliverances from the fury of the waves. “So He bringeth them unto their desired haven,” says the 107th psalm, recognizing that God’s hand was at the helm. It is a word of thanksgiving often repeated by the missionaries among the island fields of the South Pacific, where one must travel constantly by sailboat or launch to visit the stations. Too numerous for them to record are the incidents in which these missionaries recognize a protecting Providence. Here is one story of the Fiji group, told by Missionary G. McLaren, of the Seventh-day Adventist Society : QUENCHING THE VIOLENCE OF FIRE “While sailing from Taveuni to Levuka some time ago in our little mission cutter, the ‘ Talai,) we had a remarkable ex- perience, and saw the hand of the Lord outstretched to save. “It was evening. There was a big swell on the ocean, and we were going along with our engine and sails at a fair rate. 30 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS I told the native boy to fill the benzine tank before it got dark. Tomasi opened a case of benzine, and in trying to extract a tin from the case, knocked a hole in the tin. Our steering lamp was alight on the after part of the deck. The benzine splashed Levuka, Fiji out of the tin, came in contact with the flame of the hurricane lamp, and there was an explosion. Flames shot up twenty feet in the air. There were fifteen natives on board. “We had a small dinghy that would hold four men at most. The natives in their panic rushed to lower the dinghy to get away from the burning vessel. I saw that to try to get away in the dinghy would mean death to most of us. I asked the Lord for help. Then taking hold of the burning case of benzine, I lifted it and threw it overboard, burning my arms, “IN JOURNEYINGS”’ TO THE FIELD ot “The flames on the deck were fast taking hold. One of the boys, when he saw the case of benzine put overboard, unlashed the fresh water cask, and tipped the water on the fire. This caused a greater flare. The flames ran along the deck, and the housing of the ship was soon alight. We were helpless. No — we were not helpless; the Lord was with us. “We offered a quick prayer for help, and suddenly it seemed as if a wet blanket was put over the flames, and they were ex- The Church and Congregation at Nagqia, Fiji tinguished. The decks were just smoldering. We were unable to do anything; we had done nothing; the Lord had saved us. We realized that the arm of the Lord is not shortened that He cannot save. “T wish you could have heard the songs of praise and the prayers of the native brethren when the flames were extin- guished. We were exhausted from the mental strain; but we thanked and praised God for deliverance from what seemed to be certain death.” OU. SVN. y. 32 A CHINESE BIBLE WOMAN By Audible Voice “ Thine cars shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye init.’ Tsaiah 30: 21. THE VOICE IN THE WILDS OF NEW GUINEA PERHAPS no one of the missionaries famous as pioneers was less given to imagining things than that matter-of-fact Scotsman, James Chalmers. But he tells us in his autobiography that he surely heard the voice of the Lord speaking to him in the wilds of the Fly River district of New Guinea. He had gone into this region to search for a place for a mission station, He had a remembrance of a favorable spot which he had noted on a former visit. Now in his mission cutter he had anchored in the mouth of the creek. He says: “It was an anxious night, as we did not know how we should be fixed in the morning. I did not know the creek, and there was only swamp land about, and I wondered where the sandy land was that I had seen the year before. We had prayer, and I told Maru and his wife to stay by the boat, and that I would go and look around. “T was very cast down. When walking along, I heard a voice very distinctly say to me, ‘ This is the way, walk ye in it.’ “IT sat down on a log close by, and said, ‘lf Thine, O Lord, is the voice, teach me to hear and act;’ and I heard, ‘ Fear not, for I am with thee; neither be thou dismayed.’ I thanked God and took courage.” Cheered by the evident presence of the Lord, he went for- ward through a native village, deserted save for the dogs that barked at his approach, and on yet a little way, where he found the very spot on which his future station was planted. The good hand of the Lord upon him was manifested in the friend- liness of the villagers when they returned from a fishing ex- pedition. The right place for beginning the new work had been found. 3 33 34 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS A PROVIDENCE THAT FOUNDED A MISSION In his “‘ History of the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church,” published in 1832, Dr. Nathan Bangs, one of the organizers of the society, says of their first mission to people of another tongue than English: “The introduction of the gospel among the Wyandottes, a tribe of Indians living at the Upper Sandusky, in the State of Ohio, is illustrative of one of those singular providences which tend to ‘confound the wisdom of the wise,’ and to prove that ‘the excellency of power’ by which sinners are converted from the error of their way, is ‘of God and not of man.’ ” The agent, John Stewart, was a freedman of Virginia, a mulatto, called in a remarkable way to a work which Methodist history declares fully confirmed the genuineness of his expe- rience. He had lived a godless, intemperate life, but the Lord converted his heart. The account of his call is given in Stewart’s own words: “Soon after I embraced religion, I went out into the fields to pray. It seemed to me that I heard a voice, like the voice of a woman, praising God, and then another, as the voice of a man, saying to me, ‘ You must declare My counsel faithfully.’ These voices ran through me powerfully. They seemed to come from a northwest direction. I soon found myself standing on my feet, and speaking as if I were addressing a congregation. “This circumstance made a strong impression on my mind, and seemed an indication to me that the Lord had called me to warn sinners to flee from the wrath to come; but I felt myself so poor and ignorant that I feared to make any such attempt, though I was continually drawn to travel toward the source from whence the voices came. This impression followed me from day to day; but I resisted from a sense of my unfitness for such a work, until I was laid upon a sick-bed. “On my recovery I concluded that if God would enable me to pay my debts, which I had contracted in the days of my folly, I would go. This I was enabled soon to do, and I accordingly took some clothes in a knapsack and set off toward the north- west, not knowing whither I was to go. When I set off, my soul was very happy, and I steered my course, sometimes in the road and sometimes through the woods.” BY AUDIBLE VOICE 35 The Delawares besought him to stop with them, but he felt the call urging him ever northwestward until he reached the upper Sandusky, where his labors were blessed of God to the conversion of many of the Wyandottes. As the work grew, it was taken over by the Methodist organization in Ohio, Stewart being associated with it till his death, in 1823. Reviewing the circumstances of the man’s call and the blessings upon his service, Dr. Bangs declares: “That he should succeed in awakening such attention to the things of Christianity among a people so strongly wedded to their heathenish customs or to the mummeries of a fallen church, and finally bring so many of them to the knowledge of ‘the truth as it is in Jesus,’ cannot, I think, be accounted for otherwise than by acknowledging the divine hand guiding him in all these things, and giving sanction to his labors.” THE SUMMONS TO THE CHIEF It was after a visit to the Solomon Islands that Secretary C. K. Meyers, of the Seventh-day Adventist Board, wrote this story of the conversion of a savage chief. In the village of Ramada, in the Solomon Islands, in a service which led into a testimony meeting, the chief of the village gave the following statement as to how he came to be interested in and accept the gospel message: “You are listening,’ he said, “to the word of Mavo, the chief of all this people. They can testify that I have been a very wicked man in my day, and they can also testify that by the grace of God a great change has taken place. The change came about in this way: “T first heard about Seventh-day Adventist missionaries when Brother G. F. Jones was working sixty miles away, down the coast. One day, as I was thinking of what I heard about Mr. Jones’ mission, a voice down in my heart said to me. ‘Mavo, that is what you need for your village. You must send for Mr. Jones.’ “That voice became so strong that I sent for the missionary. But he sent back word that he would come sometime. “Months passed,” said the old chief, “and he never came; and again that voice said to me, ‘It is time you were sending 36 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS again for the missionary.’ And so | kept sending for two years; but the missionary was too busy to come. “ Then finally I sent a strong deputation, and while my men were gone, some of your enemies came to me, and said, ‘ Mavo, don’t you know you have done a very foolish thing in sending for the white missionary? He is not your friend. You have seen enough of the white men to know that they are all alike, and like the traders they will come in here and steal your cocoa- nuts and reduce your people to slavery.’ And then,” said Mavo, “1 wished in my heart that the missionary would not come. “ But,” he continued, “this time the missionary came, and of course I had to be kind to him because I had sent so often for him. “And now,” he said, “we have tried the experiment, and if this thing is bad, as your enemies said, then I am whole- heartedly for the thing that is bad; for see what it has done for our village! Our children are in school, our old wicked prac- tices have been removed, and we are rejoicing in the knowledge of the great God.” Then with intensity beaming out of his black, beady eyes, he solemnly said, “ There must be no ‘tacking about’ with Mavo, but by the grace of God he must make a straight course to the kingdom.” THE GUIDING VOICE Many years ago it was, in a great city in the north of England, that a seeker after light, praying for guidance, was directed by a spoken voice to this Seventh-day Adventist people, the very denominational name being spoken to her soul. She found us after persistent searching. Here is a story of more recent times. South Africa is the place. At a conference in Cape Town, Mr. and Mrs. H were in constant attendance. He is an active business man, and must have had to neglect business that week. “It is won- derful!” said Mrs. H , as day by day the program of the conference brought all phases of the work of God before us. She had had a rather special experience of the guiding hand of God in coming into this way. This is her story: BY AUDIBLE VOICE 37 “T had heard the message preached, and was receiving Bible studies. I felt convinced that this was the truth, and that I ought to keep the Sabbath. But my husband at that time was opposed to the doctrines we had heard. He was really bitterly opposed. “T was tired and lying down one day, worried with anxiety over the question of duty. I felt very broken. I felt that I must follow Jesus, even if it meant forsaking all for Him. I prayed earnestly, as I lay there, asking God for assurance in the right way. Was this the people of God? and should I go with them? “Half dozing in my weariness, I heard a voice that instantly set me wide awake: ‘They are My people; and I will be their God.’ “T got up and looked out of the door to make sure it was not one of my girls speaking. No one was there. I was fully convinced that God had given me the assurance for which I had prayed. I took my stand fully for this truth, and soon Mr. H did the same.” So once again the promise was fulfilled: “Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to theleft.” Isa. 30: 21. Yet our sister was hearing that voice in Holy Scripture, speaking all the time. Her heart was listening to the word, and that is the sure voice, above anything that could possibly come to the senses. The one in doubt as to the way must ever follow the way that stands written in the plain old Bible. In these crises of experience that come, in deciding for or against the truth, men and women must deal with God, as it were, face to face across the written Word. Yet it is cheering as here and there these experiences of direct intervention are reported, showing that angels of God, unseen by mortal eyes, are hovering near to help all seekers after truth. Of that experience long ago in the north of England, alluded to above, it may be well to speak more fully. The story was told me by Evangelist A. S. Rodd, who has held evangelistic missions year after year in the cities of England and Scotland. He said: 38 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS “A lady, with her husband, a retired sea captain, came to the meeting. They were interested and continued attendance. As I was just getting into the Sabbath question in the addresses, the lady said to the Bible worker : “*Are you Seventh-day Adventists?’ “* Yes,’ said our worker, at the same time fearing that the interested hearers might not continue to come; but they came. “The Sabbath question was fully presented. Then the lady told the worker the following experience: “* Twelve years ago, as I was longing to know the way of truth and was praying to know which way to take, I heard a voice speak to me, saying, “ Every denomination has some truth, but the denomination that has the most truth is a small one called the Seventh-day Adventists.” I had not heard the name before, and have not heard it since until I asked you if you were Seventh-day Adventists.’ “T had that night in the discourse referred to the Lord’s speaking to hearts in the silent watches of the night. The lady came to me at the close of the sermon, and said, ‘ How did you know the Lord had spoken to me in the silent watches of the night?’ “T disclaimed any personal reference. But she said, ‘ That has been my experience,’ and turning to her husband, she said, “I am determined to keep the Sabbath.’ “ Her life has since been a credit to the church.” LED TO THE WORD BY NIGHT Brought into touch with mission effort in one of our great Eastern cities, a lady whose father was a Jew and her mother a Catholic, told me how God had directly called her to seek the light of truth. She said: “T had known nothing of the Bible. At the time of which I speak, my husband had been called away on business, and I was alone for the night in my home. “Soon after midnight I awoke, startled. Somehow a ter- rible fear was upon me. I could not explain it, but it was so real that I feared to stay in the house alone. A voice, calling me by name, said, ‘ Go to the hotel and take a room.’ I got up and dressed and went out into the city, and took a hotel room about one o’clock in the morning. When I was shown to the room at the hotel, I saw a book lying on the table in my room. BY AUDIBLE VOICE 39 It was one of the Bibles which the Gideon League distributes among hotels throughout the country. It was a new book to me. “ Thoroughly awake, I sat up the rest of the night and read that Bible. By early morning I wanted a Bible of my own. At first I thought I would ring for the boy, and ask him to ask the manager if I might not buy that copy. Then I thought it would appear strange, and they would think I was not quite balanced, coming to the hotel at one o’clock in the morning and then early in the morning trying to buy a Bible from them. So I went home. monimend.calledss Li saidssitave youra. Biblers “Surely, she said, ‘I have two or three of them.’ ‘ Let me have one,’ I said. So, finding myself in possession of a Bible, I began to study it.” Very soon the lady was rejoicing in the experience of personal faith in Christ and His salvation. In telling me the story, the narrator said she could never cease to thank God that He woke her up that night so strangely, and sent her to the hotel to come in touch with His Holy Word. ““MY CHILD, JESUS LOVES YOU ” Fifteen hundred miles up the Yangtze, in China’s Far West, a Bible woman came to me, saying, “I want to tell you what Jesus did for me. But I do not want you to think He would pay any special attention to me, or that I amount to anything.” And here is the story Dora Li told: As a small girl she had once attended a mission school, and had learned a few Bible texts. Then came her marriage, in girlhood, into a well-to-do Chinese family. She lived the ordinary life of the Chinese woman, with no thought of God. But she fell ill, and for weeks lay half conscious. Then it was that the long-forgotten Bible texts of years before kept coming to her mind. She often repeated them aloud. “Stop it!’? commanded her father. “ But I cannot help it,” she answered. “ They keep coming to my mind.” Then one day came a voice speaking to her heart. “It sounded so clearly that it seemed as loud and distinct as if a 40 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS human voice was speaking to my ear,’ said Mrs. Li. “ And it said to me, ‘ My child, Jesus loves you; get up!’ “T rose from my bed, and from that time made constant improvement until well and strong. Then I began to search to find some one to teach me about Jesus.” She found the Way, and was out Ss her Chinese sistérs in Szechwan as a Bible woman. “But I don’t want you to think that I amount to anything,” she said, “ or that Jesus would pay any special attention to me.” The spoken voice had called her out of darkness to search for the true light. TO THE JAPANESE INQUIRER Evangelist Kuniya, of Japan, reported some years ago: “An old lady about sixty vears of age became interested and attended our meetings regularly. However, her husband and son opposed her, and she finally stopped coming. “A few days ago she called one of our young workers, and related her experience. ‘For some time,’ she said, ‘I was troubled greatly because my family opposed my attending your meetings. I thought it not good to disturb the peace of the home with my new religion, so decided to study and pray alone; but one night I was shown that I should attend the meetings. “*T heard a voice say, “If you stop going to church, your soul will die.” Still I had not the courage to go. Very soon I was taken sick, and suffered for several days. I prayed the Lord to heal me, but the answer was, “ No.” I was perplexed and disappointed; but last night I saw the sin of neglecting to heed the warning of the messenger, and repented, and prayed to the Lord to heal me. Now the fever has left me, and I have promised to attend the meetings, and also to tell my friends and relatives of this truth.’ ” She accepted Christ, and her testimony was a blessing to others. THE VOICE OF ASSURANCE About the year 1824, Samuel Broadbent was in Maauassi, the head kraal of Chief Siffonello, of the Baralong tribe of the Bechuanas. The tribes of South Africa were in commotion in BY AUDIBLE VOICE 4] those days. The stronger nations, like the Zulus, were taking tribal areas by force; and lesser tribes, driven by fear and hunger, were overrunning one another. The Baralongs had been driven from their old grounds, and were holding uncertain tenure of the Maquassi district. One morning, Mr. Broadbent says in his ‘ Narrative,” the town was in confusion, and the people in a wild flight. He learned that scouts had brought word that thousands of the Mantatees, on war footing, were sweeping the country, aiming straight for the town. Everybody was fleeing. Chief Siffonello, who was friendly to the missionary, begged him to flee also. But Mrs. Broadbent had an infant only a few days old, and it was impossible to think of flight into the wilds. “‘ You will be destroyed if you do not,” begged the chief. “I cannot remain to defend you; they are too strong for us.” But the missionary said he would stay and put his trust in his God. Mr. Broad- bent says: “There remained with us, after the chief and those with him had left, the wives of our wagon drivers, and a native boy and girl; but while my wife and I were taking some food in our room, these fled also, without letting us know of their in- tention to do so. “And now we and our two children were left alone. A melancholy silence prevailed during the remainder of the after- noon. ‘The evening drew on, and the usual sounds of men, flocks, and herds were not heard around us. The sun set, and the shades of night mantled over us. “T sat alone in the center room of our dwelling, my wife and children in the adjoining lodging-room. I was not without gloomy and depressing forebodings as to what might be the events of that night; when suddenly it was spoken to me. as clearly as by a voice in the ear, ‘The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.’ I in- stantly closed the window shutter (for we had no glass), went into the room with my wife and children, and in prayer and faith committed ourselves to the protection of that Name. “ Strange as it may appear, yet it is a fact, we were sooner than usual wrapped in sleep, and rested better that night than we had been accustomed to.” 42 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS For three days thereafter, he says, the Mantatee warriors were passing through the town. But he adds: “ Mercifully, divine Providence kept them from us. This fact, and my refusal to flee, obtained for me the credit of great courage, which, indeed, I did not possess; for I should certainly have fled with my family had it been possible. The Baralongs reported long afterward that I would not flee from the whole army of the Mantatees, and that they dared not come to the station while I was there.” Well did the missionary know that the Lord who spoke the assurance in that time of peril, had sent His angels to guard His servants from the armed host overflowing the land. GREEKS LED BY A VOICE In the records of mission work in Asia Minor and Turkey, one runs across incidents that recall the fact that it was in this same region that the feet of apostolic missionaries trod the paths in New Testament times. Then it was in no wise unusual for the voice of an angel or of the Spirit to speak the word of conviction or guidance. Here are two incidents of about 1895, narrated by the late H. P. Holser, of Europe, showing how the spoken voice from above led two Greeks into the light. A young Protestant evangelist, an Armenian, was holding meet- ings in Turkey: “Among the first to attend the meetings was a Greek, a zealous member of the Greek Catholic Church. He said but little, which is a rare exception, for the Greeks are great dis- puters, as they were in Paul’s day. This young Greek was quiet all the time, and when he heard the subject of the sanctuary and of Christ’s ministry as our high priest, he embraced the truth. Hereupon he asked the brethren if they had ever heard him dispute. They told him they had not. He then explained why. ‘The first time I came into your meeting,’ he said, “a voice said to me, “ That young man has the truth. Listen to him; do not dispute!” And I followed the instructions of that voice; that is the reason I have not disputed.’ ” Yet again in those times the Lord intervened in the un- usual way. BY AUDIBLE VOICE 43 “ Another Greek was induced to come to the meeting. He opposed all that he heard, and finally decided not to come any more. One day as he was crossing the street, a voice said, ‘Turn down this street!’ He said, ‘No!’ But the impression became so strong that he finally yielded, and turned down the street. As he arrived before the house in which our meeting was held, the voice spoke to him, ‘ Enter here,’ and he said again, ‘I will not go into that meeting today!’ But the Spirit strove with him until he went in.” Still the young man opposed and disputed; but on a journey shortly after into ancient Cappadocia, the same Spirit that sent conviction into hearts in apostolic days strove with the young man until there on his journey he made his new surrender to Christ and to obedience to the truth. A VOICE FROM ABOVE It was in the Canadian Northwest, among the Russian- Ukrainian settlements, that a young Catholic was led to search for the Bible by a voice speaking to his soul. As an evangelist later among his people, I heard him tell, at a Canadian mission- ary conference, the story of his conversion. I transcribe from my notes as follows: One day he was at an auction, standing indifferently by, merely out of curiosity. The auctioneer held up a large book and otfered it. for sale. No one seemed to be interested, and as the auctioneer talked about the size of the book and begged for an offer, the Ukrainian youth good-naturedly bid 25 cents at a venture, never expecting to get it. But the auctioneer threw the book at him without waiting for another offer. The book was called “ Bible Readings for the Home Circle.” It was full of Bible pictures, and he was impressed that his mother would like to see those pictures. He would give the book to his mother. She would enjoy having so many religious pictures. But as he examined it, he saw references again and again to the Bible. 44 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS He was not acquainted with the book called the Bible. Somehow, the very references to the unknown book challenged his heart. He found that he wanted to know about God and about the Bible. The more he thought about it, the more heavily the burden pressed upon his heart that he must find God. He must know about religion. It became an earnest, sincere burden upon his heart to search for the liv- ing God. He did the best he knew; he took a Cath- olic prayer book into the woods. Instructed in the ways of penance, or self- punishment, as a means of persuading God to be merciful, he cut out a sharp block with his ax, and knelt with his knees upon the cutting edge, doing penance for his sins, conscious that he was a sinner and without hope. Hours he knelt before God in the woods, praying and pleading for mercy and for help. He continued until, from lack of food and pain from his self-imposed torture, he fainted. Now, in his own words: A Colporteur of Northwest Canada “When I came to, I was in despair. I felt that surely there was no God, or He would have somehow heard me. The heavens seemed but brass, and there was no hope in all the world, or in heaven above. “Just then a little bird burst into singing in the trees above my head. Somehow the bird’s song lifted the current of my thoughts. I thought there must be a God who made the birds sing. ‘The bird is joyful,’ thought I; ‘why have I not joy?’ “Just then a voice spoke to my heart as clearly as though spoken to my ears, ‘Rise up! You are to be a witness for Me to the Ukrainian people!’ BY AUDIBLE VOICE 45 “I went home, assured that God had spoken to my heart, and that there is a God who cares, and who had called me to serve Him. I was longing to know more. I knew so little as to what His salvation and service meant, but I was seeking now for light from God, and longing to know Him.” Next in order of Providence, a gospel colporteur came along. He talked of the Bible, and showed a religious book to the Ukrainian youth. “ You needn’t say anything more, I will take it,” he said; “but what I want to know is how to get a Bible.”” Soon he had the coveted Book in his hands, and found there the Saviour from sin for whom he had been searching. | *RISE;VAND: GO li) 7 In his book, ‘Out of Darkness,’ Andrew D. Stewart re- lates the following story of the call that came to a young girl of India years ago: “To a simple peasant couple living in a quiet little village among the hills of the Cuddagrab district of India, there was born a daughter, whom they called Radha. At five years of age she was betrothed. Ere she was of age to undertake the duties of wifehood, her betrothed husband died. It may be that this calamity increased the serious tendency of her mind, but from this time she had much serious thought of the great Unseen. ““Mother,’ said the thoughtful child, when she had not completed her eleventh year, ‘ tell me some way to heaven.’ “ But the heathen mother’s reply brought her scant comfort. As soon as she was old enough to undertake a journey, she set out on a pilgrimage to a well-known shrine, returning home with her heart no lighter. Thinking that perhaps her hard- earned money gift had not been sufficient, she resolved to visit the shrine of Venkateshwara, and that in addition to a money eift of six rupees, she would give her hair as an offering to the god. But even this brought her no satisfaction. “In turn, she visited Rasverudu and Kadiri, and at the latter she again had her head shaved, and presented her hair as an offering. She returned to the quiet mountain home with a heavy heart. Her offerings and her pilgrimages had brought her no peace. “On the occasion of a great religious festival, every man, woman, and child had left her village. She had no heart to go, 46 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS though her companions pressed her to accompany them. She was feeling very lonely and forsaken. Evening set in, and it became dark. As she sat in her loneliness, she heard distinctly some one say, as though the words had been spoken at her side, ‘Rise, and go to Rajapalli!’ “Where the voice came from, she knew not, but she an- swered, ‘ Who is there?’ “ Receiving no reply, she became frightened, and rose up and hurried out to meet the returning villagers. All the next day, the words kept ringing in her ears, ‘Rise, and go to Rajapalli.’ “Why should she go? she asked herself. There was no temple there; and her friends sought to dissuade her. Again she set off on the old quest for peace. She arrived at Rajapalli, and spent a day or two there. As nothing happened, she set out for a town two miles distant, where lived a wonderful fakir who had never been known to speak. There was a crowd of worshipers who ministered to his wants, but her worship of the holy man seemed only to displease him, for he turned away from her. But salvation was near at hand. : “In the same town she met those who told her of the Christian’s God. She was attracted by what she heard. and went again and again to those who knew of Him, asking to hear more concerning Him. “When her relatives became aware that she was attending Christian services, they cast her out. A kindly neighbor took pity on her, and through her she was brought to the mission at Avandapet. Here she found the light she had long been seeking, and here she gave her whole life into Christ’s keeping. She received Him with the simplicity of a little child, and continued joyfully and trustfully to walk with Him.” WARNED TO ESCAPE In the Matabele rebellion, of 1896, outlying mission stations were endangered by the raiding tribesmen. Missionaries fled to Bulawayo. In his book, “On the Trail of Livingstone,” W. H. Anderson tells of trips from Bulawayo to the region of the forsaken station, in order to get food supplies. The foraging for supplies had to be done by night. Of one ex- perience he says: BY AUDIBLE VOICE | 47 “When our provisions began to run low again, I thought it was my turn to take the risk, and so went through to the farm in the night on foot to get another supply. While I was there, the natives reported to me that I could buy provisions at Solusi’s village, about four miles away. I went down to see what I could find; and on my way back, a voice spoke to me, saying, ‘Get out of here quickly, for you are in danger! ’ A Matabele Village “1 wondered where the danger could come from, but hur- ried along the path as fast as I could run. That night I feared to sleep in our house at the mission, so took my blankets and slept in the thick bush about half a mile away. “Next morning some friendly natives came up to the house, and asked what path I had taken on the way home from Solusi’s kraal the night before. I told them which path I had taken, and they asked me where I was when the sun went down. I told them that I was near the river. “They looked at one another in astonishment, and inquired if I had seen none of the rebels. I said, ‘ No.’ Then I learned that within a few minutes after I heard the warning voice, about 300 of the rebels came down another footpath into the one along which I was traveling, and went on to Solusi’s kraal. “Again I was reminded of the assurance, ‘The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.’ ”’ 48 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS THE, VOICE 10 ‘HER HEARSE Attending meetings in Queensland, Australia, I met one of the aged mothers in Israel, who bore clear testimony to the direct intervention of the Lord in turning her feet into the way of obedience to His commandments. This is the narrative, as set down from her own lips, as Mother Snape talked of the Superintendent’s Home, Solusi Mission, Southern Rhodesia goodness of the Lord in guiding her through a long life. She said: “ [was a stanch Presbyterian. My husband and I had had some talk with Pastor G. B. Starr, who had come to Toowoomba. \We knew that he was a Seventh-day Adventist, and had had some talk about the Sabbath question. One Saturday my hus- band and | were out in the field at work. Pastor Starr came along, having been holding meetings over in the Ranges. He stopped for a moment as he passed us. ‘“* Ah,’ he called out, ‘I see you are breaking the Sabbath to keep the Sunday.’ “TI replied lightly, ‘Yes, that is what we are doing.’ ‘‘ Immediately a voice said to me, ‘ Yes, that is what you are doing, breaking the Sabbath.’ ‘And all day long, and all through the Sunday service at the church next day, every now and then it was ringing in my ear, ‘Yes, that is what you are doing, breaking the Sabbath.’ ”’ BY AUDIBLE VOICE 49 “ You did not hear it with your ears?” I said to Mrs. Snape, as she was relating the experience. “No,” she replied, “not with my ears, but it was so clear that I thought every one else would hear it with their ears. It was just as distinct as if it was being spoken in an ordi- nary voice.” Before the next Sabbath came, Mrs. Snape and her husband had decided to keep the Sabbath of the Lord. THE CHALLENGING s VOICE While visiting in Australia I met a resident of Sydney, an earnest Christian and an energetic man in business. His ex- perience shows that still, as of old, the Lord is able to deal with honest hearts, however careless, sometimes taking an unusual way of turning feet into the right path. The brother said: “T had been an ungodly man, and drank quite a bit. My wife and daughter had kept the Sabbath for twelve months before I knew it, as they had feared my objections to their joining this people. “One day I went into the hotel [saloon]. As I lifted the glass of beer to my lips, it tasted stale and putrid. “* What is the matter with this beer?’ I asked. “* Nothing,’ said the barkeeper. ‘ Others are drinking the same. The trouble is with you.’ “He gave me a glass of stout, but it was just the same. It was intolerable to my taste. Next I called for whisky, and it was the same experience. It was most unpalatable. I turned and left, and found that the whole desire for drink was taken from me from that moment. My mates could not understand why I had ceased going to the hotel, but I was done with the drink. I did not tell my wife, however. “Two or three weeks later the camp-meeting came on, and I attended. An appeal was made at one of the early morning meetings. Brother Knight said to me as we left the tent, ‘When will you take your stand?’ “*Not now,’ I said; ‘I am not inclined to change my po- sition.’ “ But after the meeting, as I walked with him down toward the dining-tent, I felt something as if a hand pressed against 4 50 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS my breast, and a voice said, “How far are you going before you turn back?’ ““T knew it was the voice of God. I stopped. The brother said, ‘ Why have you stopped?’ ‘““* Never mind,’ I said, ‘you go on.’ “T thereupon returned to the ministers’ tent where Pastor Fulton was, and said: ‘ I have had a call from the Lord,’ and as we talked there that morning, I made my surrender to God.” IN EARLY RUSSIAN DAYS Here is a report from early Russian times, showing how the Lord spoke directly to one Russian family: “Listen how the Spirit of the Lord works in this country: On July 27 a Baptist went with his family to his field to harvest. It was the Sabbath, and we were just gathering to study the Word of God together. After being there a little while, the man came in with two scythes on his shoulders, followed by his wife and children, all in tears. For a moment we hardly knew what to say. When we asked him, he told us that when he began to harvest, a voice seemed to say to him constantly, ‘Today is the day of the Lord, a holy day.’ He could not work any longer, and today they united with us.” ““ TAKE THE OTHER ROAD ”’ Speaking of a Seventh-day Adventist preacher’s deliverance from a hostile plot in the Brazilian interior, F. W. Spies, president of the East Brazil Union Conference, has reported: “In a certain section, an interest sprang up among Catholics. Some had already embraced the Sabbath truth, and were keep- ing the day. This exasperated those who turned against it. Satan decided to put a stop to the work by inspiring the op- posers to give the preacher a good flogging. “A secret plan was laid, and some thirty of the enemies of the truth gathered at a small rum shop by the road where the worker was expected to pass. They then encouraged each other by drinking more rum and telling how they would flog. the preacher. They even tied the gate through which he must pass, and felt sure they had him in their power. “The worker, however, was entirely ignorant of this plot, and was planning on taking this, the usual road, as he journeyed BY AUDIBLE VOICE 51 on the following day. There was another road, which wouid take the worker to the same destination, but it was more difficult and less traveled. “On the morning of his departure, as he was saddling his mule to continue his journey, the conviction seized him, and it seemed almost like an audible voice, saying to him, ‘ Take the other road.’ Though the old and known road would have been far preferable, he obeyed what seemed to him the Lord’s guid- ance, though he could not then understand it, and was soon well on his way. “Not small was his surprise when, upon a later visit, the worker was informed of the plan of the opposers, and he real- ized how marvelously the Lord had led him and frustrated the designs of the would-be persecutors of His servant.” ‘GET UP, AND GO!” In 1926, Dr. Ang, son of our veteran Pastor Ang, of Swatow, China, was captured by bandits, who held him pris- oner in a cave for ransom. Of his second night in captivity, Missionary I. B. Newcomb wrote: “He claimed the promises of Psalms 34:4, 7, and that evening went to sleep, feeling assured that the Lord would not forsake him. “About midnight he was awakened by some one’s telling him to get up and go. At first he thought the men were joking with him. He spoke to them, but they were all sound asleep. He quickly arose and slipped out past the two men on guard at the entrance, who were sleeping soundly. “He started to run, but where should he run? Here he was, miles from he didn’t know where. So as he ran he breathed a short prayer for guidance, and immediately heard the same voice that told him to get out, now telling him to follow the stars. On looking up, he saw three very bright stars. These he followed as he ran, stumbling and falling over the bowlders (he afterward showed me many bruises and cuts he had received on the jagged rocks), and even swam two or three rivers, until he arrived at a small village, where he secured lodging for the remainder of the night, then took a boat for home the next morning.” MISSIONARIES IN THE ANDES ““He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee.” Ps. 91: 11. 52 The Footprints of Angels “ Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of sal- vation?” Hebrews 1:14. PROTECTORS IN ‘‘ SHINING RAIMENT ”’ A REMARKABLE character in India is Sundar Singh, called out of Hinduism to be an evangelist in such out-of-the-way places as Tibet, Nepal, and other forbidden areas along the northern India border countries. Where no European mission- ary could go, Sundar Singh, in his robe of the Hindu holy man, or sadhu, but with the Christian evangel on his lips, made his way to and fro alone. He has related many a story of provi- dential deliverance. A Lutheran pastor in Europe, Fr. Heiler, who has published a book in Munich about the evangelist, relates the following: “Once as he [Sundar Singh] sat on the banks of a river, having lost his way in the jungle, lo, a strange man came and bore him, swimming across the rushing stream to the farther bank. But as he looked about to thank his helper, the stranger had disappeared. . . . Once a band of men armed with sticks fell upon him. He began to pray, and behold as he opened his eyes after prayer he was alone. Next morning the men who had attacked him returned, and asked him about the men in shining raiment who were round about him as they had attacked the night before, and he recognized that the angels of the Lord had encamped round about.” Sundar Singh takes a very modest, sane view of those ex- periences. To him they are but natural tokens of the promised presence of the Lord with those who go in His name, into regions where it would be impossible to go in human strength alone. He told Pastor Heiler: “The greatest, I may say the one great miracle that we can experience is the miracle of Christ’s peace. That a poor, un- a 54 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS clean, restless, sinful man may receive the forgiveness of God, and taste the peace of Christ that passeth all understanding, that is a miracle above all miracles. If one has experienced this miracle, one need not be skeptical about any _ so- called miracle without. “The greatest miracle of all is the new birth. Has any one experienced this in his lifer Then may he know that all other miracles are possible. He who believes in this mir- acle believes in all mir- acles.’ WAS IT AN ANGEL’S PRESENCE ? An elderly Japanese Wide orld Plots ——~ woman who came into an Sundar Singh evangelist’s meeting had A Christian Indian missionary from the : ' Punjab district of northern India her attention riveted upon the preacher and his mes- sage by an uncommon experience. She could not read. Later she came to feel that in her ignorance God had in mercy drawn her attention to the Christian teaching by special means. After she had destroyed her idols and become fully a Christian, she told this experience, reported by Evangelist Kuniya: “When I came to the meeting the first night, I had never heard a Christian sermon. As I came into the meeting room with my daughter and sat down, there seemed to be a strange light by you while you were speaking. “T asked my daughter if she could see it; but she said that she could see nothing strange. I continued to see it as long as you were speaking from the Bible; and since I have learned more of the Bible, I have come to believe that it must have been THE FOOTPRINTS OF ANGELS 55 an angel of the Lord sent to lead me to the true religion. [ thank and praise Him for showing the light to me, a poor heathen.”’ ‘A MYSTERIOUS RESCUE ”’ Under this title, a chapter in F. A. Stahl’s book, “In the Land of the Incas,” tells the story of a deliverance that came to the missionary and his wife, pioneering among the Indians Missionaries F. A. Stahl and His Wife Visiting the Indian Stations in the Lake Titicaca Mission Field of Peru. They were staying in a village, when a mob of about five hundred Indians attacked the party. The priests had been giving the Indians alcohol, and were inciting them to drive out the missionaries. Some of the attackers were armed with guns. On they came, picking up stones as they surrounded the house where the missionaries were staying. Missionary Stahl says: “The first thing they did was to cut loose our five horses, so that they plunged frightened down a ten-foot bank and ran 56 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS wildly off across the valley. 1 tried to stop the horses, but was attacked by some of the mob, and struck several times with stones. One stone wounded me severely on the head, and the blood blinded me. I almost fell; but Mrs. Stahl pulled me into the hut and closed the door just in time to avoid another terrible volley of missiles. “In another moment, however, hundreds of stones crashed through the door, smashing it into bits; and the yard was filled with shouting, frantic Indians. We quickly piled our baggage in front of the opening in the door, to prevent them from forcing their way in. They were shouting now loudly in the Indian language, ‘ Pitchim catum,’ which means, ‘ Catch them and burn them,’ all the while trying to push the baggage aside, and striking at us with their steel-tipped whips. The very fact that so many were trying to force their way in at one time, retarded them. Above the yelling of the Indians, we could hear the laughter of the priests. “Tn all this time we had not forgotten to seek the Lord, and we were ready to meet death for Him if He so willed. I hastily wrote a few lines to our coworkers and children at the home station, asking them to go on with the work. Mrs. Stahl prayed with and comforted the two Indian women who were with us in the hut. Our three native young men were brave and true, and were only concerned for us. With great difficulty did I restrain Luciano from rushing out upon the mob. Had he done so, he would have been torn to pieces in a moment. “At this juncture, the priests called loudly to the Indians to set fire to the straw roof; and soon some were coming with torches to obey the command. One of them climbed upon a pile of stones to light the roof; but as he applied the torch, the Indian woman who owned the hut jumped up on the stones be- side him, knocking him off, and pulled out the burning straw with her hands. Just as she succeeded in tearing out the last of it, she fell down, and some of the straw fell upon her bare head, burning her severely. She afterward proved a very important witness, because of this. “At this moment, when others of the Indians were making ready their torches to set fire to the hut, and we had given up all hope of rescue, the whole mob, priests and all, withdrew. We came out of the hut in time to see the priests mounting their horses quickly, and fleeing across the valley, the mob following them. THE FOOTPRINTS OF ANGELS 57 “We asked a frightened-looking Indian who stood near why these people had fled so precipitately. He said, ‘ Didn’t you see that great company of Indians coming, all armed, to defend you?’ I did not see them. I turned to Mrs. Stahl, and asked her if she did. She said, ‘No.’ The Indian insisted that there was a great army of Indians coming to help us. We looked around, but could see no one. We know now that God sent His angels in that form to rescue us. There is no other way to account for what occurred.” THE ‘‘ FOURTH ”’ MAN IN THE BOAT The missionary knows well that the promised presence of the angels of God round about in the work of winning souls, is to be relied upon, though no visible sign of their activities is usually in evidence. Especially may he claim the heavenly helpers’ aid in times of special peril. Here is a testimony to the presence of a heavenly guardian guiding in a stretch of river currents more perilous than the missionary was aware of. Missionary L. J. Borrowdale was pioneering along one of the rivers of Venezuela, having two helpers with him in the mission launch. Coming to a fork of the river, they decided to take the right branch of the stream, and on they went over unknown waters. They had not proceeded far when they saw that they could not go farther up that branch. They returned to the fork and took the left branch, went as far as the waning light would permit, cast anchor, and slept in the boat. The next morning they proceeded on their way, and held meetings with the people of acertain town. On returning down the river, they stopped at a house at the forks of the river, and were given permission to stay all night. We will let Missionary Borrowdale tell the story in his own words: “The owner of the house wanted to know where our com- panion was. We told him he was down at the boat, and would soon be up. I thought he had reference to the boy. “He asked, ‘ But where is the other one?’ I said we were all there. He said there were four of us when we went up. 58 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS He then asked, ‘ Didn’t you know that this is a very dangerous part of the river?’ “We replied that we did not know that it was. “Then he said, pointing to my companion, “ You were at the front steering, and you [pointing to me] were at the side leaning over to watch, and the boy was on the other side taking the depth of the river.’ _ “T asked, ‘ Where was the other man?’ “He replied, ‘ He was standing right by you.’ “He told us how each of us was dressed, and I asked, ‘What did the other man have on?’ “He replied, ‘He was dressed in white, and he stood beside you.’ “Later he told us the same thing again, and I was made to realize that ‘the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.’ We should never forget to give God thanks, for many times He delivers us from dangers that we are not aware of.” HELD BACK FROM DANGER While I was visiting the Far West of Australia, several friends were engaged in conversation regarding the delivering providences of God. Mr. H. Ward, one of the members of the Perth church, related an incident which I summarize from the notes as follows: Formerly connected with the company of believers in Perth was a blind brother, now dead. He lived at East Perth, and traveled in and out of the city by suburban trains. He was aged, but knowing the city well, he freely made his way about alone. One day he was traveling homeward by train. The last station before his own had been passed, and he was waiting, alert, so that he might step out quickly the moment his train stopped by the East Perth platform. He was alone in the compartment. The train stopped, and he stepped quickly to the door, and tried to open it, but the catch held fast. He worked at it en- ergetically, fearing the train would move on again. (It should THE FOOTPRINTS OF ANGELS 59 be understood that in the English compartment system, the door from each compartment opens outward on the side of the train, passengers stepping directly out.) As he tugged at the door in vain, an express train dashed by close alongside, almost brushing the side of his train. Then he knew that he was not at the station, but that his train had stopped in the yards in order to let the express pass. Had he been able to swing open the door of the compartment, he must surely have been struck by the on-coming express. In a moment his own train had pulled into the station, stopping at the platform. The blind man put his hand upon the door latch, and found that it opened easily as ever afore- time. He stepped out on the platform, thanking God for his deliverance. “Ever afterward as he spoke of it,” said Mr. Ward, “he would state his confident belief that the angel of the Lord had held fast the door to save him from peril when he had mis- takenly tried to leave the train in the yards.” LED TO THE RIGHT: PLACE The following experience, related by Evangelist A. S. Rodd, of England, bears witness that truly the Lord does sometimes take an extraordinary way of leading honest hearts into the light. The usual way of working brings the great ingathering of souls. Yet while acknowledging His blessing upon these usual processes of soul-winning activity, it strengthens our faith to see His hand clearly revealed in extraordinary ways. This is the story as told by Pastor Rodd: ““Some years ago a lady came to our evangelistic meetings in She had been an invalid, scarcely able to walk. She was an earnest Christian, but dissatisfied with her past expe- rience, and longing to find the way of truth more fully. To this end she had prayed. “One night in a dream, she told us, it seemed to her that an angel came and spoke to her. In the dream she said to the angel: “*T do not see how you can find the time to come to me.’ 60 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS “Her visitant replied: ‘I can spare time always to visit any one who wants the truth.’ “ He beckoned her to follow, and led her to a mission hall, and pointing her to a certain seat in the hall, he bade her listen here and receive the truth. ‘ You will find the truth here,’ the angel said. Then she awoke. “Ever since, she said to us, ‘I have looked for that mission hall.’ “She had searched long up and down the city, visiting one place and then another, without finding the hall of which she had so vivid an impression. “* But here I see it tonight,’ she said, ‘and there,’ pointing to a certain chair, ‘is the very place where I sat in my dream.’ “Needless to say, she was an attentive listener as the meet- ings continued, and with joy she accepted fully the message for these times.” If all the angels are “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation,” why should it be considered incredible that an angel should visit a praying soul and point the way to the place of truth? One cheering lesson of the story is the evidence it gives that God knows every home in all the great cities where a soul is praying for light. GUARDIAN ANGELS An Australian Christian worker, A. M. Williams, has put into verse the Scripture teaching as to angel guardianship: “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.’ Ps. 34:7. “ There are faithful angel watchers with their wings above us spread, Shielding us from unseen dangers night and day; Prompting us to seek for guidance when unconsciously we tread In the paths of hidden danger by the way. Could the veil of mist be lifted and our mortal eyes behold Silent records being taken of each scene, How we’d guard our words and actions, many tales we’d leave untold, And we'd strive to keep our records pure and clean. “And the books were opened.” Rev. 20:21. “For the solemn hour approaches when those books by angels kept, Will be opened at the page that bears our name. THE FOOTPRINTS: OF ANGELS 61 Do we fear to meet the record — deeds o’er which the angels wept, Sins for which our Saviour suffered grief and shame? When our names are called in judgment, will our Advocate appear And confess before the angels, ‘They are Mine’? Or deny, ‘I do not know them, they refused My call to hear, And those cherished sins of theirs would not resign’? “TI prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, and said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard.” ivi ty MEN ae Ieee & ‘When we stand for truth mid error and temptation’s waves resist, All is noted by these angel friends of ours; And they draw a little nearer, ever ready to assist, And thus weaken by their aid the tempter’s powers. When discouragement o’ertakes us, and we sink beneath its waves, Looking through the hazy glass of doubt and fear; Angel guards press close around us, pointing up to Him who saves, And again our hearts are filled with hope and cheer. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood.’ Eph. 6:12. “ Evil angels throng our pathway, as with eager haste they press Their temptations and their snares to trip our feet; Holding up the world before us in its artificial dress, Luring to forbidden pathways by deceit. As the brightness of the candle lures the moth to hidden death, So the glitter of this world appears to charm; But its joys are on the surface, and destruction lurks beneath, Blinding eyes to faithful signals of alarm. “ Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” Heb. 1:14. “ But our Father in His wisdom knows the weakness of our frame — Knows our adversary’s strength and subtle power ; And in tender love and mercy sends the angels in His name To sustain and keep us in temptation’s hour. Angels find their highest pleasure in this work for fallen man, Dwelling with us mid earth’s saddest scenes below; Working in co-operation with their loved Commander’s plan To uplift and save the world from sin and woe.” Man or Angel--It Matters Not Which “For thereby some have entertained angels un- awares.’ Hebrews 13:2. DELIVERED FROM THE DEATH PIT WHILE visiting America, Sundar Singh, the Indian evan- gelist, who goes into places where no European missionary can enter, told the following story in an interview secured by the New York Evening Post: “ Once when I went into Tibet, into the Forbidden Land, I was thrown into a well forty feet deep, where all the murderers were thrown. Before I was thrown in, my arm was almost broken, so that there would be no hope of escape. The bones of the murderers were about me. The well top was locked, and there was one key only, in the possession of a lama. I was condemned to death. I had no hope of escape from the well. I prayed to God only for escape from the body, and intrusted my spirit to His hands. “TI was there two days and two nights, and the third night somebody came and opened the door, and I asked him for help. He had a rope, and told me to put the rope under my legs and he would pull me up, and he did. It was a quite dark night, and I could not see him well. When I was up, he disappeared, and I waited for him to come back. But he did not come. “In the morning I preached again in Rasar, in that same village, and the lamas were surprised to see me alive and out of the well. They put the men of the village in a line, and asked me which one had done it, but I could recognize no one. And they said the key had been stolen, but it was found in the lama’s girdle. They said some one had broken the lock, but they found it was not so. The lock was quite all right. I did not think at first it was something extraordinary. I thought it was just a good man. But later I knew it must have been some- thing extraordinary. ‘Lo, I am with you even unto the end of the world,’ Christ said. And He was with me! “The lama was frightened, and asked me to forgive him, and to take his woolen shawl as a sign that I forgave him. 62 MAN OR ANGEL — IT MATTERS NOT WHICH 63 Since then the people in that village of Rasar have been my friends.” “Perhaps it was an angel,” said Sundar Singh in another relation, “or Jesus Himself, who drew me out of the well. However it was, it was a miraculous work. The greatest marvel, Tibetans in Winter Dress however, was that in the midst of these fearful sufferings Jesus filled my heart with His peace.” “Not that the days of miracles are past,’ says Sundar, “but the trouble is the days of faith are gone.” FRIEND OR ENEMY IN BORNEO WILDS? The missionary knew that if the man with the weapon was an enemy, only the restraint of God could hold him from attacking ; if a friend and guard, then surely he was sent of God. It was in Borneo. Missionary L. B. Mershon’s experience in the wilds that night is told in Mrs. Elizabeth Mershon’s “ With the Wild Men of Borneo,” in her husband’s own words. He had been into the jungle to visit an Indian inquirer, on a remote tubber plantation. He says: “1 found the Indian man and his wife at home, and both were very anxious to hear more of the gospel. As I had not had lunch, they placed food on the table, and told me to eat 64 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS while I talked. They were eager to know more of the Saviour, and why He came to this earth to die for man. They urged me to stay overnight, so that they might learn more. This was impossible. I had to hold a service at a little town near Papar on the following day, and my appointments were made to leave for Singapore the day after. “Still wearing my wet clothes, I started off on the return journey with the guide. It was late in the day; and as there is no twilight in the tropics, we hurried to pass the Bajau villages before dark. It is dangerous for a man to pass through The First Man Baptized in Borneo The stakes are to keep off the crocodiles any of these villages at night. I had in my pockets $400, which t had collected on my journey up the line, and I was a little nerv- ous about going through the jungle with the darkness coming on. When we had gone half the way, the guide told me he could not go the rest of the distance. The truth was that he had a friend who lived close by, and he wanted to visit him. Darkness was almost upon us, and there remained two villages to pass. I knew it was useless for me to urge him to come along, and although dreading the journey alone, I told him he could leave me there. “ Starting off alone, with a prayer in my heart to God for protection, I plunged into the jungle, with more than three miles yet to go. Presently a form loomed ahead of me. In the dim light I saw that it was a native with a huge club in his hand, going in the same direction. I did not want to pass him; so, lessening my pace, I followed slowly behind. Some time elapsed, and he did not seem to gain ground; so I decided to pass him MAN OR ANGEL — IT MATTERS NOT WHICH 65 and put a greater distance between us. I! knew that one blow from that club would kill me, and after being relieved of the money in my pocket, my body would provide food for the crocodiles in the river close by, and no one would be the wiser. Fear gripped my heart, but the promises of God came into my mind. “Starting forward and walking at a rapid pace, I soon overtook the native and passed him. You can imagine my feelings when I saw him fall into step with me about a pace and a half behind. Afraid to run and thus reveal to him my nervousness, I hurried still more. So did he. I slowed down; he slowed down. Again I hurried, and again he_ hurried. Seeing that I could not shake him off, I stepped aside, pre- tending to tie my shoe laces. He waited for me. Not a word was said all this time. There was nothing for me to do but to go ahead. We got into step again, I in front, and the native just behind. If I had been considered a fast walker before, this time I broke all former records. On we sped, and not an inch did I gain. My feet were sore, and my muscles began to weaken. Soon I saw the lights of Papar in the distance, and when we reached the outskirts of the town, my native com- panion vanished. “To this day, I have never known whether he was an angel sent to protect me, or a native bent on hurting me, but restrained by the power of God. I know that I was delivered, and God's hand was init. Thus we see the precious promise fulfilled.”’ THE UNKNOWN DELIVERER In his ‘Tight Corners in China,” Samuel Pollard, of England, tells how an unknown savior interposed to deliver him from surely impending death. An armed mob in western China was attacking his house. He says: ‘“T asked one of my men what it all meant. He quietly replied, ‘Capture— murder.’ Then I became aware of the fact that I was face to face with death, and in all probability a cruel death. “Seeing there was no way of escape, I slipped on my Chinese gown, and went out to the men who had come to capture me. I was immediately surrounded by the armed men, who were about sixty in all. “T can hardly tell you what my feelings were as I stood in the onen midnight air in the midst of the fierce, shouting mob. fw | . 66 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS One man of the crowd kept near me and fascinated me terribly. He was armed with a long sword, such as executioners use in China, and from the way he stuck to me it seemed that he regarded me as his prey, on whom he would soon try his skill. I found out afterward that it had already been decided that I should die by beheadal, and so it was that the man with the sword walked by my side. “Two of the three Miao who had come with me were cruelly beaten, and I could do nothing to save them, except to entreat our captors to let them go, as they were in no way responsible for anything. “T tried to keep my wits about me, and wondered if in any way I could escape. And I prayed in that dark hour for all I was worth. When I thought of my wife and children in Eng- land, life seemed so sweet to me that I longed to escape. “Presently we came to a bank, with a stream running at the bottom. There was a little confusion as we came here, and taking advantage of this, | jumped at a venture. Landing in the water, | ran for my life down the stream, hoping that in the darkness I could elude my pursuers. “As soon as it was known I was trying to escape, there was a great hue and cry. As all hands were concentrated on me, my companions in trouble managed to slip away in the dark, and my attempted escape brought salvation to them. “My run was only a short one. My pursuers knew the short cut, and before long I was again surrounded on a sand- bank in the bed of the stream. ‘““Savagely the men drove at me. ‘The first to strike me. was a strong man with a huge club. I watched him swing this club round, and as it descended I wondered what the next moment would mean for me. Crash—it came on my poor ribs, and then I was lying helpless on the sand. “Trying to rise again, I saw another with an iron weapon striking hard at me, and then it was crash once more. From this cruel second blow I have suffered more than from all the rest put together. “From all sides they came at me, and I lost count of what they did. At last I wished they would strike hard in some vital place, and let me go home to Jesus. I never thought I would live through it, after what I had endured. “There was One, however, who was watching over me, and it was not His wish that I should die at that time. 4 MAN OR ANGEL — IT MATTERS NOT WHICH 67 “As I was lying broken and hopeless, expecting every minute to be my last, there came a change, dramatic and sudden. From the ranks of the men surrounding me there stepped out a man clad in a white sheepskin jacket. What was he going to do? He stepped to my side, knelt down by me, and with arms folded around me he lay on me as I lay there. He inter- posed his body between me and the blows. “This sudden movement took the men aback, and for a moment they hesitated. He backed up his movement by shout- ing ‘No more beating! No more beating!’ “To this unknown man in the sheepskin jacket I owe my life.:: Because he risked himself, I am living today. I never found out who the man was. To me he is still the unknown “savior.” ae THE LOAF IN THE FOREST “A. Swedish colporteur was returning from the mountain settlements in central Sweden, where books had been left in many homes. ‘The story was told me by the colporteur : “[ had the money for the books in my pocket, but on the return journey through the forest roadway I| ran out of food. 1 was exhausted, and needed something to eat. It was really a serious matter. I turned aside from the path among the trees, and prayed to God to give me strength and help me to keep on until 1 could find food. The Lord blessed in that prayer season among the trees, and I turned back again to the road with my heart encouraged and my spirit strengthened. “Just as I came into the road, a man met me, the first human being I had met for hours on that lonely way. He was carrying a sack on his back. As I stepped out into the road, just as he came up, he stopped and put his hand into the sack and took out a loatoi bread. Holding it‘out to me, he said, “Here, do you want this?’ I took it, for I did want it. I realized that God had sent it to me. I turned aside after passing on a little way, and sat down by a stream, eating my bread and drinking from the mountain brook, and thanking God for His love and care.” Whether it was man or angel who handed out the loaf on that forest path, the colporteur says, is an immaterial considera- tion. The essential fact is that he was a Heaven-sent agent bringing help in answer to the prayer of a child of God in need. W. L. Haskell JOHN G. PATON Pioneer Missionary to the New Hebrides Islands 68 The Restraining Hand “ He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, He reproved kings for their sakes; saying, Touch not Mine anointed, and do My prophets no harm.” Psalms 105: 14, 15. ‘“WHY DID WE NOT DO IT? ”’ In 1877 the French pioneer of missions in Rhodesia, Francois Coillard, was pushing northward toward Bulawayo. Lobengula was king there, and a savage. But long before reaching Bula- wayo, Coillard and his wife and niece and some native Christian families found themselves in deadly peril. One of their wagons was stuck in the mire. The chief Masoula and his men sur- rounded them, foaming with fury, and refused to let them go on. These savages dragged the women of the party to the tops of some high rocks, but Coillard followed after, and by dominating their wills was able to turn the party down again to the wagons. His native teachers wanted to begin fighting with guns, saying they would rather die like men if they had to die. ‘ Yes, my friends,” Coillard said, “die like men, but like Christians, too. Lay down your guns, and put your trust in God and pray. ‘They that be with us are more than they that be with them.’ ”’ So for hours the little party was threatened, and some of the oxen were stolen. Led by the witch doctor, the savages swarmed round and round the wagons, waiting for courage to crush the little camp. ““The night is falling, they cried, ‘and you are in our hands. We will have your blood and everything you possess, and we shall see if your God will deliver you.’ “T trembled at the thought that one blow from a hatchet might explode the chest lying outside the wagon, which con- tained our whole stock of powder. Seeing me stand opposite with a sjambok [rhinoceros hide] whip in my hand, they with- drew a short distance. The sun was going down, and our position became more critical every instant. My wife on her 69 70 MIRACLES OF MODERN. MISSIONS side was doing her own work; she had assembled the wives and children of the evangelists around her, to besiege the throne of grace and gather strength and calmness in prayer. “When once the bullocks were inspanned, we thought the cry of ‘Trek!’ would be the signal for a hail of arrows and assagais. But no! It only provoked the yells of the infuriated mob, and the bullocks were so excited thereby that they gave a vigorous pull at the yoke, and dragged the wagon out! The effect upon the natives was magical. Those who were blocking the way fell back to let us pass; the others made no attempt to pursue us. “ Meanwhile what was to be done? Night fell, and the natives would not retire. All around us their fires were glow- ing along the edge of the forest; we could even hear them com- menting with animation on the events of the day. And then it was that the plot revealed itself, which laid bare the horror of our adventure the day before. To throw our ladies down from the crag we were climbing, and then fall upon us, massacre every one, and plunder our possessions — such had been their design. “* And why did we not do it?’ they kept asking each other, clacking their tongues. “ Still when we considered it calmly, we found we had more reason for thanksgiving than for murmuring. Our lives were safe; though our goods had been looted, our cases had not been rifled; and although we had lost a good many bullocks, thirty remained, ten for each wagon. “We could not go far, for the night was very dark; and at every difficult place we had to double the teams. We had to resign ourselves to wait till the morning. The natives sur- rounded us, but did not attack us. Thus ‘the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.’ ” In the morning the presence of the Lord still held off the enemy, and slowly Coillard made his way on to Bulawayo, only to be sent away hastily by King Lobengula, who was furious at the white man’s preaching, and refused the presents that were brought. However, he compelled the wild Banyai to re- store the oxen they had stolen, saying that he wished nothing to hinder Coillard’s making rapid speed in getting out of his country. I THE RESTRAINING HAND 71 “Why did we not do it?” was the cry of these savages who could so easily have done it, had they not felt the restrain- ing presence of the Lord, who again and again in the missionary wilds has said in our day, as in olden time, “ Touch not Mine anointed, and do My prophets no harm.” MOFFAT FACES THE CHIEF’S SPEAR When Robert Moffat was about leaving England for Africa, a lady asked for his autograph in her album. He wrote: “My album is the savage breast Where darkness reigns and tempests wrest, Without one ray of light: To write the name of Jesus there, And point to worlds both bright and fair, And see the native bow in prayer, Is my supreme delight.” Among the Bechuanas, Moffat met savage breasts that had little use for the gospel message. The rains failed, and by many signs the witch doctors could tell that the missionaries were responsible. Moffat was to be driven out or killed. The head chief and his men came to execute the decision. Moffat tells how he saw the good hand of Providence holding the chief’s hand: “While the chief was speaking, he stood quivering, his spear in his right hand. Mrs. Moffat was at the door of our cottage, with the babe in her arms, watching the crisis, for such it was.” The babe, by the way, was Mary Moffat, later the wife of Livingstone. Thus the chief threatened the missionary with spear poised. Deane’s story of Moffat quotes the missionary’s dauntless reply and refusal to flee: “Then throwing open his waistcoat, Moffat stood erect and fearless. ‘ Now then,’ he said, ‘if you will, drive your spears to my heart; and when you have slain me, my companions will know that the hour has come for them to depart.’ “At these words the chief man looked at his companions, remarking, with a significant shake of the head, * These men must have ten lives, when they are so fearless of death; there must be something in immortality.’ ” N Do MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS Robert Moffat, with breast bared to receive the blow, knew that the restraining hand of God alone had held the savage arm powerless to strike. FURY RESTRAINED IN TURKEY It was in ancient Asia that the apostle Paul found safety in the violent dissension that arose between the differing schools of Pharisee and Sadducee, as the Jews were trying him. In modern Asia, in earlier pre-war days, an Armenian Seventh- day Adventist evangelist, the late Z. G. Baharian, found de- liverance by dissensions that arose between members of a mob seeking his life. The building where he had held a meeting was surrounded. Stones were flying. He wrote: “Death seemed very near. We had no refuge but God, whom we trusted. One man was climbing up the wall to enter and take me out. Jf I were once in their hands, I could have no hope for life. But surely the angels of God had been sent to keep me from danger. I prayed to God, holding fast to His word, and behold, the people became divided, one class saying, ‘Let us take him out this very night,’ and the other, ‘ Let us wait till tomorrow.’ The latter prevailed, and they went home. Thanks to God, it was very still, and we rejoiced.” The preacher went away at once. But when, later, he re- turned to the same city, the wild uproar breke out again. A report tells how, this time, the eves of the mob seemed held to allow the escape. We read: ‘While they were engaged in their worship, another crowd assembled, until about a thousand people were there. They were screaming, crying to have the preacher given to them, throwing dust into the air, and stoning the house. A few brethren in the house barricaded the door, and then the mob began to dig a hole through the wall. The brethren within said, ‘ Now is the time to go.’ They went out through the crowd who were pulling and hauling one another to get at the preacher. The preacher and his friends continued on to the dwelling of the mayor of the village; and all the way not a particle of harm resulted. The mayor told the evangelist he must leave the village; that it was impossible to restore order until he did. So the mayor provided horses and soldiers, and sent him out of the village.” WW THE RESTRAINING HAND Fes ‘“‘IT IS AS IF I AM BOUND ”’ In his book, ‘“‘ Out of Darkness,” Mr. Andrew Stewart tells the story of a girl in India who, despite threats and persecu- tion, followed the Way of which she had heard by the preaching of a street evangelist. The © story goes : “She was but a little girl, but her relatives be- came alarmed when they saw what a change had come to her. They tried to force her to worship the idols, and to rub her forehead once more with the sacred ashes of Siva. She had found the living God. All other gods were henceforth dead to her. “Her parents, finding persuasion fruitless, tried all the cruel means their heathen hearts could de- vise to force her, but she would not yield. To save herself from the terrible fate that she knew awaited her if she remained longer at home, she fled: She : ‘ ae One of India’s Millions took refuge with Miss Berea, the girl wife, married at six years Wilson-Carmichael, of the of age, purchased her liberty and gave Sate herself to the work of Christ Church Mission. “ Again and again her father came to claim her. They dared not have retained her at the mission had he insisted, even had she refused to go. He had always to leave without accom- plishing his object. He had been heard to mutter, as he went away: “*What is the matter with me? My hands are strong to take her. It isas if Iam bound and held from touching her!’ ”’ 74 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS CANNIBALS HELD BACK James Chalmers, the pioneer missionary among the canni- bals of New Guinea, knew well that the Master who said, “Go,” was with him in the perilous round of pioneer service. In his autobiography and letters, prepared by Richard Lovett, we are told of one occasion when he was compelled to leave Mrs. Chalmers for a long period alone with only the native teachers. It was an arrangement justified only by faith in the power of the Lord to be the defense of His servants. Often the cannibals gathered round about for their feasts. Lovett says of Mrs. Chalmers’ determination to remain for the sake of the work: | “ Never was there a more courageous or self-denying action than this. Alone among a horde of cannibals, for the sake of Christ! There was no possibility of her hearing from her husband. All her possessions were eagerly coveted by the savages, and that the bodies of herself and the Rarotongan teachers would have been considered choice dainties for a feast, there was no doubt. “From one of the chiefs, Chalmers came to know later that again and again the murder of the whole missionary party had been determined, and that those appointed to do the deed had come once and again to the low fence surrounding the mission home. The same chief told Chalmers that at the low fence they were restrained by some mysterious thing which held them back. When we remember that Mrs. Chalmers’ only helpers were two or three Rarotongan teachers and their wives, no devout mind can but believe that God’s protecting care was ever present to keep them.” ‘““PUT AWAY THOSE GUNS ”’ This story of a rescue by Christian islanders on cannibal Tanna in the New Hebrides, is told by Nairn, in his “ Hero Tales of Mission Lands.” JIavis and Lomai, two former war chiefs, are the heroes. Near to the Christians lived enemy tribes, and beyond the enemy’s land friendly tribes had been defeated and were starving in the bush. Two women had come through the enemy lines to bring word. The story goes: THE RESTRAINING HAND 75 “Instantly Lomai called for volunteers, and soon a large band of worshipers had started southward. As they passed through the Loinio country, the heathen of their tribe thronged round them. When they learned what was being done, they besought their chiefs not to venture on so dangerous an ex- pedition, or at any rate to wait until they could gather a large force of armed men. “Tavis rose to reply, but Lomai put up his hand. ‘ This is no time for talking,’ he said. ‘ This is a day for action in God’s name. Let us who trust in God go alone.’ The worshipers, led by their chiefs, then pushed on toward the enemy’s country. Suddenly another band of worshipers joined them, carrying their guns. “““ Put away those guns,’ said Lomai. ““We are afraid to go without them,’ was the reply. ““Then go back home,’ said Lomai, ‘for we go in God’s name, and not a worshiper shall take his gun this day.’ “Shamefacedly the men turned back. At length the wor- shipers reached the gullies that were the boundary of the en- emy’s country, and immediately they pushed across them. “* Stop!’ called out Lomai, ‘I see trembling among you. Let us worship God, and He will take away all our fears and lift up our hearts.’ ” So, there in the bush, in the enemy’s land, where any step might lead into ambushment, the rescue party sang a hymn and Javis prayed. ‘‘ Immediately all their fears vanished,” we are told. They passed safely through the enemy land, found the distressed tribesmen hiding in the forests beyond, and at last persuaded them to believe that God would help them to escape by the same way over which their rescuers had come. “God has sent you deliverance this day,” said Lomai. Zack they marched, the return being the more perilous, with men, women, and children, and aged and infirm. They were again traversing the enemy country. “ Suddenly the banging of guns was heard in front of them. Instantly there was a halt, and many turned to fly. The enemy had cut them off. In another moment the stronger ones would have plunged into the bush, and left the sick and weak and their rescuers to the mercy of their foes, but Lomai stopped them. 76 MIRACLES OF MODERN MISSIONS “