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" Ani Jehovah Ropheka." 
 'I am the Lord that healeth thee. ' Ex. xv: 26. 
 
 SUS A PHYSICIAN. 
 
 THE EXPERIENCE OF 
 
 MRS, ANNA L THOMPSON. 
 
 -* 
 
 Published by 
 
 LAUER & MATTILL, 
 
 Cleveland, O. 
 
 FOR THK EDITOR. 
 
 1889. 
 

 Co^right, 1889, 
 By S. F. Hancock, (y^ 
 
 All rights reserved. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Chapter I. — Healed after Eighteen Years 
 
 of Suffering. 7 
 
 Chapter II. — Healed of Pneumonia. - 25 
 
 Chapter III. — Opening of the Ministry of 
 
 Healing. ------ 44 
 
 Chapter IV. — Opening of the Work in Cleve- 
 land, Ohio. 68 
 
 Appendix. - Notes by the Editor. - - - 85 
 
 Inaugural Gift of Rev. W. H. 
 Wilson. 99 
 
The following sketch is presented for the honor 
 of Jesus. The subject of it desires that he, and 
 not herself, shall be seen in the whole. May 
 God give it wings, as a narrative of his grace, 
 that it may bring the knowledge of his loving 
 kindness and saving power to his need}' ones 
 everywhere. 
 
JESUS A PHYSICIAN, 
 
 The Experience of Mrs. Anna L. Thompson. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Healed after Eighteen Years of Suffering. 
 
 Even when a child I felt that the Lord intended 
 to send me out into his work. I often had 
 thoughts of going to India as a missionary. I 
 would sometimes go off alone and pray, and at 
 such seasons had great freedom with the Lord. 
 It almost seemed as if I could hear him tell me 
 his will. 
 
 After I had grown up I had much sorrow. 
 My first husband died in Andersonville prison. I 
 afterwards married again, assuming my present 
 name. In the year 1863, a short time after my 
 second marriage, I was going with a friend one 
 evening to the post-office in the village of Sheak- 
 levville, Mercer County, Pennsylvania. We had 
 (7) 
 
g The Injury. 
 
 occasion to cross a bridge over the creek. A 
 horse had broken through the bridge, and a por- 
 tion of the timber had been taken awa} T in pre- 
 paration for repairing. On account of the dark- 
 ness we did not see a board which had been 
 placed in warning of the danger. Both of us fell 
 through. The distance of the fall was about 
 twenty-two feet. My companion fell into the 
 muddy bottom of the creek, and was less severe- 
 ly hurt than I, though she has never been well 
 since. I struck the back of my neck on a log, 
 and was taken home insensible. The results were 
 ver}^ serious. Physicians differed in their views 
 of the case ; but nry spine was injured, and I was 
 otherwise hurt internally. I had chills, lost my 
 voice for a long time, and m} T sufferings were 
 very great. Sometimes I lay insensible, nry 
 friends having to work with me to bring me to 
 consciousness. Many times I have had these 
 attacks in church, and have been carried out. A 
 physician from Jamestown, Pennsylvania, said 
 that my lungs were affected, and pronounced my 
 disease quick consumption. From the day of my 
 injury for eighteen } T ears I was an invalid. 
 
Medical Treatment. 9 
 
 In the year 1S72 we removed to Erie. For 
 several years I continued a sufferer, able most of 
 the time to go about, but sometimes in bed, and 
 never waking up in the morning without pain. 
 In the year 1879 a female physician, electropath- 
 ie, took my case in charge. She believed that 
 the difficult}" was spinal, and was encouraged to 
 think that with her method of treatment she 
 could deal with it. Her efforts, however, did not 
 prove successful ; and, after consultation with 
 another physician, the existence of an internal 
 tumor was discovered, the result, as they believed, 
 of my fall. I submitted to a surgical opera- 
 tion, and the tumor was removed. At first the 
 sore gave promise of healing, but it broke out 
 again, and, several physicians, pronounced it a 
 cancer. The afflicted part was greatly swollen, 
 and my body distorted. It seemed as if I suf- 
 fered every thing I could suffer, and live. 
 
 After the operation I remained in the physi- 
 cian's house for five weeks, becoming so much 
 worse that my friends thought I could not live. 
 I was then taken home, and my family physician, 
 a homeopathist, was called to attend me. I re- 
 
10 To the Hospital. 
 
 mained at home for something over three months 
 when the doctor advised removal to a hospital,, 
 as it was impossible for me to have the requisite 
 attention at home. He gave me the encourage- 
 ment of his opinion that if I should go, I might, 
 with careful nursing, get upon my feet again, but 
 he said that I should never be well. Other phy- 
 sicians, however, did not think it possible that I 
 could ever stand again. The only hospital ia 
 Erie was one under Roman Catholic management. 
 To this I was taken on Friday, the ninth day of 
 January, 1880, a day well fixed in my memory. 
 In my diary, under that date, is the following : 
 "Dreary day. Very homesick. Sisters very kind 
 to me. What should I do without thee, my dear 
 Saviour ! " 
 
 I continued in the hospital over four months. 
 The whole period of this sickness was about nine 
 months. During the greater part of this time I 
 could not sit up, could not move from side to 
 side, or turn at all, but was compelled to lie con- 
 stantly on my back. I had never heard of an}" 
 one being healed b}~ faith in Jesus. I should 
 have thought it a sin to ask to be relieved from 
 
Iii the Hospital. \\ 
 
 my sickness. I believed it was God's will for me 
 to lie there and suffer, and I would pray for pa- 
 tience and cheerfulness, that those who came to 
 see me might not see the agony on m}- face. 
 Praise God! He answered the prayer. If I had not 
 thought it God's will for me to suffer, T should 
 not have been able to bear it. I would pray that 
 the Lord would bless the means used. Just be- 
 fore taking the medicine I would say to the nurse, 
 wait, Sister, till I pray. The Lord would always 
 answer the prayer with a sense of peace and a 
 consciousness that he had heard. It seems won- 
 derful as I think of it. I always kept my little 
 Bible under my pillow or in my hand. When I 
 was in such suffering that I could not pray I 
 would hold the Bible close to my bosom. 
 
 At the time I commenced to receive the electri- 
 cal treatment I was in the habit of visiting a girl 
 in the Home of the Friendless, who was sick with 
 consumption. I used to read the Bible, and sing 
 for her. Just before she died she gave me a 
 copy of the following piece of poetry, which she 
 prized very highly. 
 
12 The Guiding Hand. 
 
 The Guiding Hand. 
 1. 
 Is this the way, my Father ? — 
 
 'Tis, my child ; 
 Thou must pass through this tangled, dreary wild, 
 If thou wouldst reach the city undefiled, 
 Thy peaceful home above. 
 
 2. 
 
 But foes are all around. — 
 
 Yes, child, I know : 
 
 Where least expecting, there thou'lt find a foe ; 
 
 But victor thou shalt prove o'er all below, 
 
 Only seek strength above. 
 
 My Father, it is dark. — 
 
 Child, take my hand ; 
 Cling close to me. I'll lead thee through the land ; 
 Trust my all-seeing care ; so shalt thou stand 
 Midst glory bright above. 
 
 4. 
 My footsteps seem to slide. — 
 
 Child, only raise 
 
 Thine eye to me, then in these slippery ways 
 I'll hold thy goings up ; and thou shalt praise 
 Me for each step, above. 
 
The Sickle Promise. 13 
 
 5. 
 
 Father. I faint.— 
 
 Child, then incline thy head 
 
 Upon my breast. It was my love that spread 
 
 Thy rugged path ; hope on till I have said, 
 
 Rest, rest, for ever rest. 
 
 These lines were now of great comfort to me. 
 Often when despondent I repeated the words, 
 "My Father, it is dark." Then the answer would 
 seem to come back to me, -'Child, take my hand." 
 
 One day I asked the Lord to give me some 
 promise from his Word, if it was his will that I 
 should ever be able to walk. I opened my Bible, 
 and the word given me was (Joel iii : 13, 14), 
 "Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe : 
 come, get }~ou down ; for the press is full, the 
 fats .overflow ; for their wickedness is great. 
 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision : 
 for the da}' of the Lord is near in the valle}- of 
 decision." (See Note i, p. 86.) I could not under- 
 stand what this meant. Then the thought came 
 that I was to put in the sickle ; but I wondered 
 how I could do it lying there. I prayed the Lord 
 
14 The "Sisters" 
 
 to show me if there was anything that I could do. 
 Just then one of the Sisters came in. I looked 
 up and said, Sister, oh, I wish you were ac- 
 qainted with my Saviour ! She replied, "Mrs. 
 Thompson, I have often thought if you only had 
 the true religion, how much good you could do in 
 visiting the sick." I told her that if I got well 
 I should spend the remainder of my life in vis- 
 iting the sick ; and that I also had thought of 
 her, how different it would be with her if she 
 only knew my Saviour. This was the Sister who 
 used to bring my meals. Other words of kindness 
 passed between us, and that evening she came to 
 me and said, "Mrs. Thompson, I wish you would 
 say one of your prayers for me." As I praj-ed 
 for her she was deeply affected, and wept. After 
 that another Sister took her place in bringing my 
 meals, so that 1 did not meet her as before. • 
 
 The Sisters were very attentive to me in my 
 sickness- The head nurse Sister Jerome, one 
 day brought me a piece of poetry, requesting me 
 to keep it by my bed, and read it whenever I 
 should be discouraged. I accepted it, and pasted 
 it in my little Bible. This sister has since been 
 
In the Hospital. 15 
 
 made Lady Superior. I regarded her as having 
 many noble traits of character. The verses were 
 the following : 
 
 Faint Not, Fear Not. 
 Life's sky may now be dark and dreary. 
 Life's journey rough — thy feet aweary ; 
 Faint not. fear not. nor give thy soul to sorrow. 
 Life's sky. though dark to-day. may brighter be 
 to-morrow, 
 The path thou treadest with such pain to-day, 
 Thou'lt smoother find when further on thy 
 way. 
 
 Life's star may now seem sinking slowly, 
 
 Its starry light extinguished wholly ; 
 
 Faint not, fear not, nor give thee to repining. 
 
 In time 'twill rise — there'll be a future shining, 
 
 Life's course shall then no longer dark or 
 dang'rous be ; 
 
 Onward canst thou march, and face eternity. 
 
 Life's sun a sad eclipse may suffer, 
 
 The world no friendly hand may offer ; 
 
 Faint not, fear not. nor wear the look of sadness, 
 
16 In the Hospital. 
 
 Hope on ; in store for thee there's many an hour 
 of gladness ; 
 Thy eye shall scarce have strength one day 
 
 to bear 
 The look of glory bright life's sun shall wear. 
 
 Fear not, faint not, there's One that's near thee 
 To succor give, and kindly cheer thee ; 
 To Him appeal ; and, oh ! thy path so dreary, 
 Thy path so dark, so lonely, sad and weary, 
 
 Will seem of roses rich, of roses rare ; 
 
 Courage, then ; nor yield thee to despair. 
 
 Fear not, faint not, whate'er assail thee, 
 
 Nor backward turn — 'twill ne'er avail thee ; 
 
 Faint not, fear not, nor shrink before life's crosses ; 
 
 Life's ledger, know, is marked by gains and losses. 
 Look up, and bravely struggle to the last, 
 Thou wilt rejoice when all the danger's past. 
 
 In asking the Lord what to do for Him, I 
 thought of singing. So the Sisters would open 
 the doors in the halls that the patients might 
 hear, and I would sing for them. I frequently 
 sang, "Must I go, and empty-handed ? " 
 
Home Again. 17 
 
 There was a man there who had a cancer in his 
 hand. He was very fond of music. Whenever 
 they were about to dress his hand he would re- 
 quest them to open the doors ^nd ask i: that 
 little woman down stairs " to sing. It helped 
 him bear the pain. The day I left the hospital 
 he became very much dejected, and said that the 
 light of the house had gone out. Thus the Lord 
 gave me real service to do. 
 
 The Sisters, under the direction of a physician, 
 taught me to walk. They first straightened my 
 lower limbs, then standing before me. they would 
 hold out their hands, and teach me to take one 
 step at a time, just as one would teach a baby. 
 In this way I became able, several weeks before 
 leaving the hospital, to walk around the room by 
 pushing a chair before me. At the time I left I 
 was able to walk by taking some one's arm. I 
 walked from the hospital to my home, ^ly 
 strength had gradually increased to this point. I 
 left on the fourteenth day of May. 1880. Since 
 my healing I have been several times to pray 
 with the sick there. I was now able to walk per- 
 haps two or three squares, but I was subject to 
 
18 Request to Dr. Cullis. 
 
 severe paroxysms of pain, sometimes requiring 
 two persons to hold me. 
 
 Up to this time I had known very little of 
 healing through faith in Jesus, and had never 
 had confidence in it. A young lady in Erie had 
 been healed in this wa} T , after having been for 
 three years unable to walk. I heard her public 
 testimony of the fact. As I was walking home, 
 a friend who was with me asked me what I 
 thought of it. I replied that I did not believe in 
 it ; that I thought the girl could have walked 
 before if she had tried. My friend said, " Now if 
 it had only been you, Mrs. Thompson, there could 
 have been no doubt, for everybody knows how 
 you suffer." I said, When you hear of me being 
 healed in that way } t ou may be sure I have lost 
 my mind ; for I don't believe in it. This was the 
 first case I had ever known, and I gave it scarce - 
 \y more than a passing thought. 
 
 One Sabbath, some time after returning home 
 from the hospital, I was at the afternoon meeting 
 of the Young Men's Christian Association, and 
 heard a man from Boston who led the meeting. 
 The subject was, Faith. He told of a woman in 
 
Request to Dr. Cvllis. 19 
 
 Boston who had been healed in answer to the 
 prayer of Dr. Cullis. I was so impressed with it 
 that I determined to write to Dr. Cullis, and ask 
 him to pray for me. I thought he had such 
 strong faith the Lord would hear his prayer. 
 After I had written the letter I had not the cour- 
 age to send it. I laid it away in a book, and for- 
 got it was there. One day my sister was at the 
 house, and found it. She said to me, --Anna, why 
 didn't you send this? It wouldn't do any harm, 
 If I were you I would send it." I followed her 
 advice, and received a reply from Dr. Cullis say- 
 ing, " Wednesday afternoon at three o'clock we 
 will pray for you. Pray for yourself at that 
 hour." 
 
 I looked forward to the time to see the effect 
 of his prayer. I did not think I had anything to 
 do. I thought if he prayed for me perhaps I 
 might be healed, on account of his strong faith; 
 but I had no special impression on my mind 
 whether I should or not. I was not sure it was 
 God's will. x\t the time appointed I did not feel 
 any different. I tried to pray. I was looking for 
 feeling, and as I did not feel any different i set- 
 
20 Request to Miss Carrie F. Judd. 
 
 tied down to the thought that it was not God's 
 will for me to get well, or I should have felt well. 
 
 But I could not get it out of my mind. Some 
 time afterward a tract was handed me to read, on 
 which was a notice of Miss Carrie F. Judd's- 
 meetings in Buffalo, with the information that 
 persons desiring prayer, and writing to them, 
 would be remembered in the meeting. I wrote 
 to her. She replied substantially as follows : — 
 " Thursday evening at half past seven o'clock we 
 will pray for you. Lay aside all means, and trust 
 the Lord fully, however sick 3-ou may be." 
 
 On the morning following this appointment I 
 was not able to sit up. I had been able to be 
 around. I was quite sick all day, but felt a little 
 better towards evening. I continued to pra} T , and 
 followed Miss Judd's directions. The next morn- 
 ing I got up and felt that I was well. I believe 
 I was healed then, but I did not understand it. 
 A friend called, and I told what I had done, and 
 said, Why, I believe I am well now, I feel so well. 
 Just a little while after I had said this I was 
 taken with one of those paroxysms of pain. She 
 said to me, " Mrs. Thompson, you certainly are 
 
Correspondence with Miss Judd. 21 
 
 not well as long as you are having such pains as 
 those." So I began to think I was not well, and 
 accordingly was worse from that time on. 
 
 After a while I wrote to Miss Judd again, and 
 asked her if she had ever heard of any cases of 
 cancer or any other severe organic disease healed 
 in answer to prayer, or whether the cases were 
 not generally nervous diseases. She replied that 
 it was just as easy for the Physician I had em- 
 ployed to heal a cancer as to heal the headache, 
 if I could trust Him : and that the trouble was 
 with nrv unbelief. She said they would pray for 
 me again on Thursday evening. Before that time, 
 however. I received a telegram from her, inviting 
 me to come to Buffalo. She wanted to explain 
 the way of faith more fully. My friends thought 
 I could not bear the journey, but I felt that I 
 was to go. I went on Thursday, reaching there 
 m the afternoon. In the meeting in the evening 
 they prayed with me, and Mr. W. L. Gregory 
 anointed me for healing. 
 
 The next morning when I opened my eyes I 
 did not know where I was. I was rilled with a 
 strange new joy. As I expressed my happiness 
 
22 Visit to Buffalo. Healed. A Test. 
 
 to Miss Judd, she said, " You are healed." I said f 
 Won't you say that again, Miss Judd ? She re- 
 peated it, "You are healed." And yet, the words 
 were so sweet that I could not be satisfied until 
 she had said them for me once more, and yet 
 again. I had such wonderful peace. I felt per- 
 fectly well. Since I was a girl I do not remem- 
 ber to have felt as well as I did then, i imme- 
 diately decided to go home that day. Mrs. Judd 
 (the mother) said, "If you feel that you must go r 
 go, and tell what the Lord has done for you." 
 
 I returned home on that day, Friday, October 
 eighth, 1880, healed. It seems wonderful as I tell 
 it. I sometimes get lost in thought over it. 
 During the ride home I did not have a pain or 
 get w r eary, though it had always tired me much 
 to ride. I walked also from the depot, which was 
 on Fifteenth street, to my home, on Twentieth 
 street, without weariness. All that day and 
 Saturday I felt so well ! 
 
 On Sabbath morning the temptation came to 
 me that it might be better not to say much about 
 it until I was sure that those terrible pains would' 
 not return* Then I thought I would tell it in the 
 
A Test Victory. 23 
 
 class. I was a member of the Methodist Church. 
 As there were but few in the class, I thought, if 
 the pains returned, the reproach would be less 
 than if a larger number had heard it. My mind 
 was so occupied with this that I did not hear 
 much of the sermon. After the sermon the min- 
 ister said, "Although this is not the Sunday for 
 it, I feel that we ought to have general class 
 to-day." So he invited the congregation to 
 stay. I knew what it meant. The Lord wanted 
 me to acknowledge openly what he had done for 
 me. 
 
 Just as I rose to my feet I was taken with one 
 of those dreaded pains, and the Enemy whispered, 
 "Would you dare, with this upon you, to tell the 
 people that you are well ?" The Spirit whispered, 
 reminding me that I knew I was healed; 
 but I thought. What about the pain? Then 
 I thought I would tell the people that I was very 
 much better, and expected to be entirely re- 
 stored. I rose and turned round to the congre- 
 gation ; but I said nothing that I intended 
 to. I said. I stand before you a well women, 
 healed in answer to prayer. The instant I spoke 
 
24 Called out into the Work. 
 
 these words the pain left me, and I have never 
 had a return of it since. I have often thought of 
 this how the Enemy followed me up to the very 
 last. If I had not acknowledged my healing 
 then, I should not have been well now ; no, nor 
 even living ; for the physicians had given me no 
 hope. The pains were dreadful, and the attacks 
 were growing more severe, so that I could not 
 have endured it much longer. 
 
 From that time I was called out into the work. 
 People sent for me to come and pray with them. 
 Whenever I had opportunity I testified what the 
 Lord had done for me. I continued this work 
 until I had the attack of pneumonia. 
 
Pneumonia. 25 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Healed of Pneumonia, 
 
 The second Sabbath evening in March, 1883, I 
 attended a class meeting in the church, and gave 
 the account of my healing. I had been suffering 
 several days with a severe cold, and was quite 
 hoarse as I spoke. On the way home the Enemy 
 whispered, i; It will do very well for you to tell of 
 that, but what if you were brought to the very 
 gate of death ? You think your faith is strong, 
 tut it would fail then." It seemed as if I could 
 almost hear a voice saying that to me. I replied, 
 if ever ! as long as I have Jesus by my side. I 
 was in such distress of body that 1 stopped on 
 my way home at the house of a Mr. P., who with 
 his wife was strong in faith, and desired them to 
 pray with me. My lungs had begun to pain me 
 severely. We three knelt together. While Mr. 
 P. was praying, the words. " My grace is sufficient 
 for thee."' came to me with much force. But my 
 
26 The Attack. The Poultice. 
 
 faith was severely tried-. The Enemy said to me, 
 " Didn't you say you were willing to take death ? 
 Where is your faith now ? " I turned to the 
 Lord, and said, Here I am, Lord ; show forth thy 
 glory through this in any way thou thmkest best ? 
 only don't leave me." The answer was whispered 
 back to me, "Lo, I am with you alway." 
 
 I went home and retired. All night I suffered 
 and tossed, coughing constantly from the moment 
 my head touched the pillow. In the morning a 
 number of friends called, including my minister 
 and his wife. They had observed my hoarseness 
 at the meeting, and were anxions for me, desir- 
 ing to send for a physician, or to relieve me in 
 some way. 
 
 The next day my sister, who lived in the city, 
 came to see me, in company with a dear friend, 
 Mrs. R. I was in great distress, and the}- pro- 
 posed making a corn meal poultice for relief. 
 Mrs. R. said, "Before we apply it we will pray the 
 Lord to bless it." I said, is he not able to heal 
 me without it ? I am willing to trust him for it. 
 But if you will feel better satisfied to make it, 
 do so ; and if the Lord will let you put it on, I 
 
Sick-bed Service. 27 
 
 will. My sister went into the other room ta 
 make it. While she was there the distress in- 
 creased, and the Enemy said, " For your friends' 
 sake you had better have it done. It would do 
 no harm. If you die without a physician, and 
 without anything done for you. your friends will 
 be censured. Just think how it would, relieve 
 you. The distress is more than you can bear/' 
 It did seem as if I could not bear it any more, and 
 I began to pray. I said. Dear Father, if this is 
 your will, and you want it done, I only say, 
 "Thy will be done.'' But I want the people to be- 
 lieve that there is truth in divine healing. 
 
 Just then sister came to the door, and said, 
 'Mrs. R., I can't make it. but if you can you may." 
 I said. Can't you let God have his own way ? 
 for I am so glad to have him. Just as I said 
 that, it seemed as though a poultice were laid on 
 my lungs. It was so cooling. I can almost feel 
 it as I tell it. All that tightness left me — the 
 pain was gone — my lungs felt so comfortable ! 
 I said, The Lord has got in before you, and re- 
 lieved me himself. This was the only time my 
 friends offered to do anything for me in that way. 
 
28 Jesus as Nurse and Physician. 
 
 My sister said, "If she dies, it will be all right ; 
 and I would not be the one to put doubts in her 
 mind." 
 
 My disease continued, and I coughed con- 
 stantly. Though my friends were reluctant to 
 leave me at night, I had them put out the light, 
 and retire, after making the necessar}' preparation 
 for my coughing during the night, I felt that I 
 could trust the Lord more full} T in this way. 
 Day after day people came to see me, all day 
 long, sometimes two or three present at a time, 
 some desiring a message from the Lord, others 
 wishing me to pra}^ and lay my hands upon them. 
 If I was coughing at the time any one desired a 
 message, the Lord would whisper, "Rest." My 
 cough would stop. I would close my eyes and 
 rest, feeling so much relieved. Then I was able 
 to give the message. It just seemed as if I was 
 dwelling under the shadow of the Almighty. 
 This promise came to my mind so much during 
 that sickness, " He that dwelleth in the secret 
 place of the Most High, shall abide under the 
 shadow of the Almighty." It seemed as if he 
 was standing by my bed. Some would come and 
 
Tasting Death. 29 
 
 offer to pray with roe. I was always relieved 
 after these prayers. I seemed to feel the very 
 arm of Jesus around rue. and when specially 
 distressed, I would say. Dear Jesus, hold me 
 just a little closer : thank you. As 1 did so, 
 I felt my precious Saviour draw me closer and 
 still closer to himself. It was very real. Thus 
 he was to me both nurse and physician. When 
 I needed rest, it was he who gave it. and it 
 was he who administered medicine by the prayers 
 of those friends. 
 
 My minister called one morning, and asked me 
 if I did not think this was presumption. Pre- 
 sumption to trust Jesus! I said. He replied, 
 -Presumption to use no remedies. You do not 
 know how sick you are.' ; I answered that I was 
 willing to trust the Lord till death. 
 
 At last the test came. It was evening. My 
 friends were gathered around my bed. I could 
 neither move nor speak, and every thing was 
 growing dark. The voices of those who stood 
 at my bed seemed as if far away. Then the 
 Enemy approached, and said, -This is death. 
 You said vou were willino; to take death, and here 
 
30 Vision of the Dark Waters. 
 
 it is." I tried to pray, but found I could not. I 
 was holding m} T Bible in both hands, but it began 
 to slip from my grasp. I tried to think of a 
 promise, but could not. One resort was left to 
 me. I could think the name of Jesus. The 
 moment that name came into my mind I found I 
 could move and speak, and the voices of my 
 friends drew near again. I now opened my Bible, 
 and the first words I found were these : " There 
 hath no temptation taken you but such as is com- 
 mon to man : but God is faithful, who will not 
 suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able ; 
 but will with the temptation also make a way to 
 escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 1 Cor. 
 x:13. 
 
 Immediately after this promise I had a vision. 
 I have generally avoided telling this and the 
 subsequent visions in relating my experience, as 
 I have been unwilling to excite prejudice. But 
 it was very distinct and real to me, and I have 
 thought it best to record it as being a part of the 
 Lord's dealings witl me. After I got the prom- 
 ise it began to grow dark again, darker and 
 darker. The Bible dropped out of my hands. I 
 
Vision of the Dark Waters. 31 
 
 seemed to be looking into a dark tunnel. At the 
 farther end was a faint, glimmering light, remind- 
 ing me of the dim light of a candle in the distance, 
 A voice said softly, -Keep your eye on Jesus." 
 I fixed my eye on that light, and advanced. At 
 the same time I heard the roaring of waters. As 
 I watched the light it grew brighter and brighter 
 until it was as bright as a gas jet ; and then it 
 became perfectly light It was very beautiful, 
 exhibiting all the colors of the rainbow, and 
 appearing like an illuminated fountain. Then 
 this disappeared, and I was standing on the bank 
 of the river. The waters w T ere dark and gloomy, 
 and the roaring I heard as plainly as ever any 
 sound in my life. I stepped into the river, and 
 felt the cold water dash up against my feet, and 
 almost up to my neck. But I did not look down. 
 My eyes were still looking straight on. During 
 the vision I spoke to those around me of what I 
 saw. I now exclaimed, Oh, look ! On the other 
 bank of the river stood my mother and father, 
 with two or three little children, also a young 
 man who stood by father, and a young woman 
 by mother. My mother had her arm around her, 
 
32 The Lord Restoring. 
 
 They stood along the bank, father at one end,, 
 and mother at the other. The young man resem- 
 bled my brother, three years older than I, who 
 was dead. Mother was seventy-nine years old 
 when she died, but now her features were }*oung 
 again. The company were beckoning to me. I 
 heard music, and also a female voice w T hich said, 
 "I am taking care of your child ; take care of 
 mine." As I told of seeing the young woman, 
 Mrs. R, who had been with me daily, minister- 
 ing to my wants, asked, "What does she look 
 like ?" As I gave the description she said, "Whj v 
 that is Addie ! " referring to her daughter who 
 had died. When I afterwards saw the picture 
 of her daughter, the features proved to be the 
 same. (See Note 2, p. 88.) 
 
 When the vision disappeared I felt an arm, as 
 real as any human arm, slipped under me as if to 
 lift me very carefully. I felt it drawing me 
 closer. Then a voice said, "Arise !" I immedi- 
 ately sat up m bed and said, I am healed. The 
 Lord tells me to get up. I asked them to bring" 
 my clothes. After considerable persuasion they 
 brought them, and I got up and walked out into 
 
Calls for Prayer. 33 
 
 the other room, and sat on the lounge. I did not 
 cough, and had no chill. After they had made 
 my bed, I heard a whisper bidding me go back 
 again. I did not question the voice, but obeyed. 
 When I got nearly to the bed I became very 
 weak, and began to stagger. As soon as my 
 head touched the pillow I began to cough again, 
 and I couched all night. 
 
 All the next day people were calling and ask- 
 ing me to pray for them. One man who had 
 for years been an elder in the Presbyterian 
 Church fell on his knees while the tears ran 
 down his cheeks, desiring me to pray with him 
 and set him apart to the Lord's service. He 
 afterwards gave Bible readings in my home, and 
 I had no better helper than him. 
 
 I had also a call from our minister's wife. She 
 had had a strange dream the preceding night. 
 She thought she saw a crowd of people standing 
 about our house. The windows in the second 
 story were open, and she seemed to hear a female 
 voice saying, "Pray for Mrs. Thompson at 4 
 o'clock to-morrow morning." She looked around 
 at the faces of the people, to see what the}' 
 3 
 
34 Vision of the Tree of Life. 
 
 thought of it, but she saw no smiles. All seemed 
 to take it seriously. She was very much im- 
 pressed with the dream, and said she was going 
 to sit up and pray for me at that hour. I told 
 her, however, to go to bed, and go to sleep, re- 
 lying on the Lord to wake her up if he wanted 
 her to pray for me. 
 
 That evening my friends stood around my bed 
 again, thinking that I was dying. They knelt in 
 pra} r er. I had the same vision again as on 
 the preceding evening, though differing in some 
 points. I did not have the dark tunnel-like 
 approach. The vision seemed light, and I saw 
 it more plainly. There was no roaring of the 
 waters, and the water did not dash upon me, or 
 touch me. It was the same river, and the same 
 group stood on the opposite shore, beckoning 
 to me, and I saw their faces more plainly, but 
 there was no voice speaking as before. I also 
 heard strains of beautiful music. In addition to 
 the company on the shore, I saw the tree of life 
 with different fruits. They seemed to be of differ- 
 ent colors, very beautiful. I also heard the sing- 
 ing of birds. (See Note 3, p. 94.) 
 
The Struggle. Belief. 35 
 
 When the vision passed away, I heard the voice 
 again gently saying, -'Arise." I was very weak, 
 but felt that I was to obey. My friends helped 
 me up, raising rne from my pillow, and I dressed 
 myself. I walked into the other room without 
 help, and sat for about two hours, after which I 
 returned to bed feeling very tired.- I suffered all 
 night. I did not cough so much. My lungs 
 were very tight, and as I was too weak to raise the 
 mucus, it had collected through the night. In 
 the morning between three and four o'clock I 
 had a fit of strangling. My husband was lying 
 on the lounge in the other room. Observing my 
 distress he sprang up and exclaimed. " Oh, I 
 can't stand this ! " 1 said, Lie still ; it is a 
 struggle between the dear Lord and the Enemy, 
 but the Lord shall have the victory. It was 
 dreadful. I clutched the bed clothes in my dis- 
 tress, and it seemed as if I should strangle to 
 death. Present!}' I looked up and said, Lord, 
 help me. I just thought it. I could not speak 
 In an instant I coughed and thus obtained the 
 needed relief. 
 
 The minister's wife afterwards told me that in 
 
36 Healed from Pneumonia. 
 
 the morning her little boy was taken with the 
 croup, and that she and her husband got up to 
 attend to him. All at once she thought of her 
 intention to pray for me, and they both prayed. 
 It was at the same time that I had the fit of 
 strangling. 
 
 About five o'clock I called my husband, and 
 told him I felt that the Lord said to me that I was 
 to eat breakfast with them at the table. At six 
 o'clock I got up and dressed myself, walked out 
 into the room feeling strong, sat down to break- 
 fast with the family, and was up all day. 
 
 At three o'clock in the afternoon a friend, Mrs. 
 F., called. She was going to a missionary meeting 
 at Mrs. R.'s on Twenty -second street. I told 
 her I believed it was the Lord's will for me to go 
 with her, and if she would wait, I would get 
 ready. Being a woman of strong faith, she did 
 not dare to discourage me. I went to the meet- 
 ing. They were all frightened. I was ver} T pale, 
 and they said afterwards that thev thought I was 
 out of my mind. When I went in, a friend said, 
 " Mrs. Thompson, don't tell us the Lord sent you 
 here, for he don't do such unreasonable things.'' 
 
Attending Meeting. 37 
 
 This was a great pain to rae. I needed encour- 
 agement. I said, Dear sister, I am so sorry that 
 you said that. There was a young girl there sit- 
 ting on the lounge, the only one who looked as if 
 she believed I knew what I was doing. There 
 was a vacant seat beside her, and I occupied it. 
 As I did so she took me by the hand and said, 
 " Mrs. Thompson, I believe you are healed." Oh, 
 how it did strengthen me when she said that! At 
 these meetings I was accustomed to start the 
 singing. The lady who led looked to me, and 
 said. --Do }'ou think you can sing, Mrs. Thomp- 
 son ?" I replied, Yes, and silently looked up to 
 the Lord to give me just the piece to sing. I 
 opened to the hymn, 
 
 "All the wa}' my Saviour leads me." 
 I led the singing through the meeting, and the 
 Lord sustained me. 
 
 This was Friday. On Sunday I went to church 
 twice. The church was on Twenty-first street, 
 one square distant. The Sunday following I did 
 not go to church. My friends thought I ought 
 to be careful, and this influenced me. I think 
 if I had gone, boldly trusting, I should not have 
 
38 The Relapse. 
 
 had the relapse which followed. On Monday 
 forenoon I called at Mrs. P's. They were wash- 
 ing, and I inhaled the steam, and as I was not 
 fully trusting, my fears of a relapse were realized. 
 By evening I was not able to sit up. I had a 
 very high fever, soreness of throat, and pain in 
 my back and limbs. My cough also returned. 
 The disease this time assumed the form of t} T - 
 phoid pneumonia, and was very bad indeed. I 
 had more fits of strangling than before, being 
 unable to raise the mucus from my throat. This 
 attack, like the former one, lasted over two weeks, 
 but my experience was very different. Then it 
 seemed more like walking by sight than by faith. 
 It seemed as if I could almost see the Saviour by 
 my bed, and hear his whispers. Now it was all 
 dark. But I was determined to trust him. 
 
 I became very low. I looked into the faces of 
 those who came into the room to see if I could 
 discern faith in their countenances, but there was 
 none. Even those who had strong faith seemed 
 to have no hope for me. I asked one lady who 
 was accustomed to pray with faith for the healing 
 of the sick, if she could pray for me. She replied 
 
Death Approaching. 39 
 
 frankly that she could not, and said that there is 
 a time for all to die. I grew worse and worse. 
 My lower limbs began to swell, and symptoms of 
 approaching death were increasing. At my sis- 
 ter s suggestion I indicated what disposal I 
 wished made of some of my things. A friend who 
 had been accustomed to lay out the dead called 
 and desired the privilege of performing this ser- 
 vice for me. A dress-maker, a friend of mine, 
 called on the same day, and consulted me on the 
 making of my shroud. Arrangements for m}' 
 burial were made, in the selection of the hymns 
 and the portion of Scripture, and in the choice of 
 the minister to conduct the services. I chose 
 Mr. Kummer, who formerly preached in Erie, but 
 who was then settled in Fredonia. New York. 
 His wife was one who had been healed by faith. 
 M}' mouth and throat became sore, and I was 
 growing cold. Cold sweat stood on my brow. 
 I breathed with difficulty. The windows were 
 open, and they were fanning me. My friends 
 stood around my bed. Then I had a vision, very 
 short, but very wonderful to me. I said, Oh, 
 look ! It seemed as if I could see the Saviour as 
 
40 Vision of the Starry Crown. 
 
 he sat upon the throne. He held up a crown, and 
 turned it round, very slowly, turned it clear 
 round. There were many stars in it — it was 
 almost full of them, but it had one place where 
 there were none. (See Note £, p. 96.) I said, Oh, 
 I am going to get well, and have all those stars in 
 my crown. Mrs. R. said, " Yes, you will soon be 
 with Jesus, dear, and have that crown." I said, 
 No, I have never done anything for him. I am 
 going to live, and work for him, and earn it. 
 
 This vision was on Tuesday evening, two weeks 
 after I was taken sick. I then lay in a stupor for 
 quite a little while, I don't^know how long, and 
 afterwards began to get easier. This continued 
 until the next morning, Wednesday, when a 
 change came on. It seemed so dark. 1 had 
 looked for encouragement in the faces of those 
 who came in, but all looked sad. I found no look 
 of faith for my recovery, I did not know but that 
 my time had indeed come. I knew I had not 
 earned my crown, I felt I had done veiy little for 
 the Saviour, and had quite a conflict in my mind 
 about it. I became discouraged, turned over on 
 my side, and for the first time gave way to tears. 
 
Longing for the Fellowship of Faith. 41 
 
 It was now about five o'clock in the afternoon. I 
 longed to see some one with strong faith, and 
 thought of Mrs. Kummer. but the Enemy told me 
 it was impossible. I should be dead before she 
 could be brought here from Fredonia. Besides. 
 I had heard that she had gone to Akron, Ohio, to 
 visit her friends, and might not be back for weeks. 
 I answered b}~ saying, Dear, dear Jesus, }'ou know 
 just where she is. You can bring her if you 
 think best. It makes no difference. I have you. 
 It is enough. I had m}' little Bible in my hand, 
 and was stronghv impressed to open it. I opened 
 to the following words: — "For the people shall 
 dwell in Zion at Jerusalem : thou shalt weep no 
 more : he will be very gracious unto thee at the 
 voice of thy ciy, when he shall hear it he will 
 answer thee." Is. xxx : 19. The moment I read 
 that I stopped ciwing, and said. Yes, dear Lord, 
 I believe what you say. I leave it all with you. 
 Immediately the door opened and Mrs. K. came 
 in, in compan} T with Mrs. R. Mrs. R. had gone 
 home to prepare supper for her family, intending 
 to get back as soon as possible. Just as she got 
 inside her gate, Mrs. K. came, and met her there. 
 
42 "It was Wonderful:' 
 
 In leaving Akron she intended returning directly 
 home to Fredonia. But before starting, she was 
 impressed to take the train for Erie, she did not 
 know why. She did not know that I was sick, 
 but she recognized it as the voice of God, and 
 obeyed it. Mrs. R. on meeting her told her that 
 she had just left Mrs. Thompson at the point of 
 death, and that she might not be living on her 
 return. They decided therefore to come immedi- 
 ately to the house. 
 
 Mrs. K. now prayed for me. I felt sure that 
 the Lord touched me. I felt the touch. It was 
 wonderful. A feeling of awe came over all who 
 were in the room. But from that night, Wednes- 
 day, I grew worse until Saturday morning at 
 about ten o'clock. My friends did not think I 
 could live. They were just waiting for me to die, 
 almost looking for every breath to be m}< last. I 
 was impressed to open my Bible. The first words 
 I saw were in the prophecy of Nahum (i :12. 13): 
 *' Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee 
 no more. For now will I break his yoke from off 
 thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder." 1 
 said to them as they were standing by my bed, 
 
Healed. 43 
 
 od means just what he says. I am well. I rose, 
 lad them bring my clothes, and dressed myself. 
 The cough ceased instantly, the soreness left my 
 ungs, the diarrhoea stopped, and I did not feel 
 ired at all, but felt as well as I do now. I got up 
 strong, and was able to go out, and go an}'where, 
 3o I think I have tested divine healing. 
 
44 Laying on of Hands. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Opening of the Ministry of Healing. 
 
 After the Lord raised me up so wonderfully 
 from my cancerous affliction, I had calls in various 
 directions to pray with the sick, and when I was 
 called I went. The way in which I was led to 
 lay hands on the sick, in addition to praying for 
 them, was as follows: At the invitation of the 
 secretary of the Young Men's Christian Associa- 
 tion, Miss Judd, soon after my healing at Buffalo, 
 came to Erie to give a series of Bible readings or 
 talks, and was entertained at my home. While 
 she was there a lady sent for me to pray for her 
 healing. Miss Judd went with me. We both 
 prayed. When Miss Judd lay ed her hands on 
 her, the lady requested me to do the same. I 
 hesitated, but this promise came to my mind: 
 " These signs shall follow them that believe ; " 
 " they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall 
 recover." With this I felt at liberty to do it. I 
 
Life Work Decided Upon. 45 
 
 knew that I believed. I felt, however, that Miss 
 Judd, rather than myself, was the instrument the 
 Lord used in this case. From this time I felt 
 free to la}' my hands on the sick in praying for 
 their healing. 
 
 One day when alone with the Lord I began to 
 wonder if this ministry of healing was the work 
 to which he had called me. I asked him to point 
 out his will to me, and promised that at any cost 
 to myself I would follow just as closely as I could 
 in the footsteps of Jesus, and that to an}' place 
 where he would lead me I would go. Such a 
 perfect peace then came into my heart that I felt 
 that this was indeed my special work. 
 
 While I was still in the room I thought, Oh, 
 if I only had a home where the afflicted could be 
 welcomed, and brought under the care of the 
 great Physician ! Then I felt that at some time 
 God would give me such a home. That day I 
 went down to my sister's. I used to go and tell 
 her everything. I told her I believed that some 
 time the Lord would give me a faith home. She 
 said. :; You are not strong enough. You never 
 could stand it to go into such a home, and have 
 
46 First Thoughts of a Faith Home. Promises. 
 
 the sick coming to you. You must not let your 
 imagination work upon it. Don't think about it." 
 My friends thought me quite imaginative, and 
 inclined to build air castles. I said, Mary, I 
 think I shall some time have a faith home. 
 
 When I returned home I asked the Lord to 
 give me some word from himself that should 
 assure me that I was not following my own 
 thoughts. I told him I would take w T hat he 
 would give me. The word which I received was 
 the following : Ezek. xii : 27, 28 — " Son of man, 
 behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision 
 that he seeth is for many days to come, and he 
 prophesieth of the times that are far off. There- 
 fore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God: 
 There shall none of my words be prolonged any 
 more, but the word which I have spoken shall be 
 done, saith the Lord God." Then I prayed that 
 if it was his will it might be soon. In answer to 
 this I received the following : Neh. i : 11 — u O 
 Lord. I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive 
 to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer 
 of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name : 
 and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, 
 
The First Dollar. 47 
 
 and grant him mere}' in the sight of this man. 
 For I was the king's cup bearer/' 
 
 Not far from this time I received one dollar in 
 a letter from a girl who had been healed. She 
 wrote that it was all she had, and she desired to 
 contribute it to my " Faith Home." Then the 
 Enemy commenced to talk to me about it. The 
 idea of her sending me one dollar! What would 
 that be toward a faith home ? I had better send 
 it back, and tell her I had no "Faith Home." But 
 I went to the Lord about it. I took the dollar 
 and my Bible, and knelt with them before him. 
 I asked him to indicate to me if the dollar was 
 sent by him for this purpose, by sending me one 
 more dollar ; and I wonld then put both in the 
 bank until he should give me such a home. I 
 then opened my Bible for a promise, and received 
 the words (Hag. ii : 8, 9), "The silver is mine, and 
 the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts. The 
 glory of this latter house shall be greater than of 
 the former, saith the Lord of hosts : and in this 
 place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts." 
 That same evening the mail carrier brought me 
 an envelope which was mailed at Mercer, Mercer 
 
48 Promises. 
 
 County, Pennsylvania, containing one dollar. No 
 signature, and no writing accompanied it, and I 
 have never learned who sent it ; but it was the 
 sign I had asked for. I deposited the two dollars- 
 in the bank until the faith home was opened. 
 Some time after receiving these two dollars I 
 received two more from a iady at Miles Grove, 
 Erie County, Pennsylvania, which I added to the 
 sum already deposited. When at last the home 
 was opened, I used these four dollars for muslin 
 for sheets and pillow slips. 
 
 For several weeks, at the time of receiving the 
 promise of the home, I was waiting on the Lord 
 about the matter. Sometimes I would feel a little 
 discouraged at its being so long coming, and 1 
 would ask the Lord for another word upon it. At 
 one time I was thinking there would be so many 
 sick coming to me that I could not bear the bur- 
 den ; also that so many persons would be against 
 me. 
 
 The Lord gave me the words, 2 Chr. xx : 15, 
 "And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye 
 inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jeho- 
 shaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not 
 
Promises. 49 
 
 afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multi- 
 tude ; for the battle is not yours, but God's." 
 Then on another da}-, with a similar request, the 
 seventeenth verse of the same chapter was given 
 me. " Ye shall not need to fight in this battle : 
 set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salva- 
 tion of the Lord with you, Judah and Jerusa- 
 lem : fear not, nor be dismayed ; to-morrow go 
 out against them; for the Lord will be with you." 
 At various times also the following passages were 
 given me : 2 Chr. vii : 14, " If my people, which 
 are called by my name, shall humble themselves, 
 and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their 
 wicked ways ; then will I hear from heaven, and 
 will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 
 
 Ver. 15, "Now mine eyes shall be open, and 
 mine ears attend unto the prayer that is made in 
 this place." 
 
 Ver. 16, "For now have I chosen and sancti- 
 fied this house, that my name may be there for 
 ever : and mine eyes and mine heart shall be 
 there perpetually." 
 
 These three verses just quoted were given me 
 at different times. I had also the following: — 
 4 
 
50 Promises. 
 
 Ezek. xliii : 10, 11, 12, "Thou son of man, shew 
 the house to the house of Israel, that they may 
 be ashamed of their iniquities : and let them 
 measure the pattern. And if they be ashamed of 
 all that they have done, shew them the form of 
 the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings 
 out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all 
 the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, 
 and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: 
 and write it in their sight, that they may keep 
 the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances 
 thereof, and do them. This is the law of the 
 house ; Upon the top of the mountain the whole 
 limit thereof round about shall be most holy. 
 Behold, this is the law of the house." 
 
 Jer. xxxi : 8, " Behold, I will bring them from 
 the north country, and gather them from the 
 coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and 
 the lame, the woman with child and her that trav- 
 aileth with child together : a great company shall 
 return thither." 
 
 Whenever I asked the Lord about the home I 
 would get a verse of this kind, which confirmed 
 the hope he had given me. The last verse I got 
 
A Case in Warren, Pennsylvania. 51 
 
 was this: 2 Chr. xv: 7, ' ; Be ye strong therefore, 
 and let not your bands be weak, for your work 
 shall be rewarded." This decided it. When I got 
 this I felt that it was sure ; and my mind rested. 
 Some time before the attack of pneumonia I 
 met for the first time the wife of Mr. P., a Meth- 
 odist minister afterwards located at Warren, Penn- ' 
 sylvania. Mrs. P. had been an invalid for years 
 with a complication of diseases. She had had 
 some advice on healing by faith, on which she had 
 acted, and had ceased taking medicines. She had 
 not been sufficiently instructed in the way of the 
 Lord on this subject, and as the result of the 
 course pursued, came very near to death. Her 
 husband, with whom I was well acquainted, fear- 
 ing a repetition of this experience, desired me, 
 when I called, not to introduce the subject of 
 healing b} T faith. I told him I would not mention 
 it if the Lord did not give it to me to sa}\ 
 When I met the patient she herself asked me 
 if I was not the Mrs. Thompson who prayed with 
 the sick. I replied that I was, and that I would 
 ask the dear Lord to give her rest. She asked if 
 she must not give up physicians and medicine. 
 
52 Visit to Warren, Pennsylvania. 
 
 I told her that I had nothing to do with that, 
 and should simply leave it to her and to the 
 Lord: but that we would pray for rest. I prayed 
 for her and she did receive the rest. The Lord 
 was dealing with her, and her mind was not yet 
 prepared for any thing further. She continued 
 to receive medical treatment, and on October 1882 
 went to a hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, where she 
 underwent a surgical operation, and remained 
 about nine weeks. Still remaining an invalid, 
 she came to our house on Wednesday, March 
 nineteenth, 1884. I prayed with her that even- 
 ing, and on Saturday morning she rose, healed, 
 her distress all gone. She remained with us until 
 the following Monday. 
 
 After returning home she wrote requesting me 
 to come to Warren. This was about the same 
 time that 1 was receiving the promises concern- 
 ing the faith home. There were some sick in 
 Warren that she wanted me to see, and she felt 
 that it was the Lord's will for me to come. I 
 went about the first of May, and expecting to be 
 gone four days. I remained there four weeks, at 
 her house. Her husband was pastor of the 
 
Visit to iVarren, Pennsylvania. 53 
 
 Methodist church. His house was opened to 
 receive the people, and they were coming daily 
 for prayer. Some came distances of six and eight 
 miles. Some were sick, some were burdened in 
 heart. The Lord was present healing and com- 
 forting. One who was present remarked that it 
 seemed as if the pool was troubled, and that all 
 they had to do was simply to step into the waters 
 and be healed. 
 
 The pastor had announced that there would be 
 a 3'oung people's meeting Sunday afternoon, and 
 that I would lead it, but on Saturday I felt that 
 it was the Lord's will for me to return home. 
 The pastor desired me to stay if possible. I told 
 him I would go alone and ask the Lord about it. 
 I received in answer to prayer the following word: 
 Eccl. ix: 7, " Go thy way, eat thy bread with 
 joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for 
 God now accepteth thy works." As soon as I 
 found it I went down and showed it to him. He 
 went directly and hired a carriage to take me to 
 the train. When I arrived at the depot I found 
 a Mrs. R. there, a lady of Warren, who had been 
 wonderfully healed of cancer just before I went 
 
54 A House Offered. 
 
 there, and who had prayed with me for the sick. 
 She was impressed to go as far as Cony with me. 
 When we got to Corry we found a Mrs. K. there 
 waiting for me. There had been a meeting with 
 fasting and prayer that day at the church, and 
 they had been praying that the Lord would send 
 me to Corry. Expecting an answer to their 
 prayer, she had come to the depot to meet me. 
 We went up to Mrs. K.'s, and prayed for a num- 
 ber of sick persons, and a number were healed. 
 
 From Corry I went home. A few days after a 
 lady called on me, to say that she had a house 
 vacant for which she had been receiving twenty- 
 five dollars a month, and that I could have it for 
 a faith home as long as I wanted it, for twelve 
 and a half dollars a month. A few days after 
 that I received a letter from Mrs. P., of Warren, 
 saying that the ladies there would pay four 
 months rent, and furnish a room, if I could find 
 a house to suit me for the work. 
 
 The house was taken, and we moved into it on 
 the third or fourth day of July, 1884. The dedi- 
 cation services were in the afternoon and evening 
 of the thirty-first. They were conducted by the 
 
The House Opened. The First Cases. 5§ 
 
 Rev. Mr. Stratton. Among those who were pres- 
 ent and took part in the services were the Rev. 
 Mr. Painter of Warren, the Rev. Dr. Edwards, 
 Presbyterian, of Erie, the Rev. Dr. Herron, Meth- 
 odist, of Erie, and Mr. TV. L. Gregory of Buffalo. 
 There was a large attendance. 
 
 The first person who came for healing was a 
 Mr. G., of Texas, who had suffered ten years with 
 epilepsy. He came on the da}' of dedication , was 
 healed on that evening, and remained with us 
 four da}^s. Eight persons were anointed that 
 evening, and all claimed their healing. 
 
 About three weeks after the home was opened a 
 Baptist minister and his wife came from Illinois. 
 He had suffered for five }~ears with softening 
 of the brain, and was given up by ph}'sicians. He 
 was healed in four days. After his return home 
 he wrote me that his physician and his nephew, 
 both skeptical, were greatly moved by what the 
 Lord had done for him. The physician called to 
 see him, and pronounced him healed, declaring 
 that something had been done for him which no 
 human being could have done, and asked him to 
 pray for him. The nephew made the same 
 
56 Chairs Furnished. Coal Needed. 
 
 request, saying, " Uncle, I want just such a relig- 
 ion as this." 
 
 In the home we needed chairs. We had noth- 
 ing when we went in but the furniture of our pri- 
 vate home. Our chapel, therefore, was without 
 seats. I went to the Lord about it one morning. 
 That evening a gentleman called at the house, 
 and asked how we were getting along. He 
 wanted to know how a faith home is conducted. 
 He said, " It seems to me that a house of this 
 kind needs mone} 7 to run it." I said, Father 
 attends to all that. It is his house, and we leave 
 it all to him. We take charge of it simply as 
 stewards. As he said "Good night," he slipped 
 twent} T -five dollars into my hand. This was only 
 a few weeks after the home was opened. The 
 next week I received a letter from a lady in War- 
 ren, which contained forty dollars to be used in 
 the home. The Warren ladies sent us in all 
 about ninety dollars in furniture and money. 
 
 One Saturday we had only coal enough for the 
 day, and there was no money. In the morning 
 when my husband went to his business I asked 
 him to order a load of coal. He said, " I haven't 
 
The Father s Care. 57 
 
 theruoney; have you?" I said, No; but the 
 Father has. He reminded me that it would be 
 necessary to pay the driver when he should 
 deliver the coal. I said, When he comes I shall 
 have the money. The coal was ordered. I went 
 to the Lord, and said, Father, we need the coal, 
 and I have ordered it. Xow please give the 
 money. Having left it with the Lord I dismissed 
 it from my mind, and forgot all about it. 
 
 The landlady was to call for the rent that day, 
 according to agreement. I prayed the Lord that 
 if it was not his will to give the money that day 
 he would prevent her calling for it until the 
 beginning of the next week. 
 
 About noon a lady, a stranger, called at the 
 house, desiring prayer for healing. She was 
 healed instantly, and was full of joy. All pain 
 and distress had left her. After she had gone I 
 had occasion to go into the room, when I found 
 on the table a five-dollar bill. After dinner the 
 coal came. The price was just five dollars, and 
 the money was ready. 
 
 The landlady did not call that day. The next 
 day, Sundav, as I was about to £0 to meeting in 
 
58 The Nest Disturbed. 
 
 the evening, I met at the door the same gentle- 
 man who gave the money which paid for the 
 chairs. Seeing that I was going to church, he 
 said he would not come in. He inquired how we 
 were getting along. I replied that the Lord wa& 
 blessing us, and that we were getting along 
 nicely. He said he would call again, and as he 
 shook hands in bidding me good-night, he again 
 left in my hand twenty-five dollars. So we had 
 double the sum needed for the rent. On Monday 
 morning the lady came. She was taken sick on 
 Saturday, and was compelled to postpone her call. 
 In Erie, houses are generally rented on the first 
 of Januaiy. When that time came the question 
 naturally arose whether we intended to take the 
 house for another } T ear. I was not prepared to 
 saj T positively that we would. I therefore al- 
 lowed the notice, To Rent, to be put out. I said 
 that if the Lord wanted us to stay he would not 
 permit the house to be rented by others ; and if 
 he allowed it, this would be an evidence that he 
 did not wish us to continue in it. For several 
 weeks there was no application. The sign still 
 remained out. Meanwhile I had received a call 
 
The Xest Disturbed. 59 
 
 to go to Warren. I intended now to take the 
 house for the year, but in going left no definite 
 word to that effect, still trusting that the Lord 
 would not permit it to be rented to any other 
 party. 
 
 I was absent perhaps two weeks. Before I 
 returned, the landlady called and inquired if we 
 intended to keep the house until spring. She was 
 answered in the affirmative, and seems to have 
 taken this answer to indicate that the house 
 would be wanted no longer than that time. She 
 had received an application for it, and the appli- 
 cants desired an immediate answer. When I 
 returned, therefore, I found that the house was 
 rented, and that we should be obliged to leave it. 
 
 Notwithstanding my determination to take this 
 as the Lord's indication of his will, I became very 
 much depressed about it. The Tempter charged 
 me with neglect in not leaving word of my pur- 
 pose before going to Warren. He told me that 
 now I had broken up the Lord's work. I felt 
 conscience-smitten and very unhappy. Then 
 again he impressed me that it was not God's will 
 for me to have a home like this : that the work 
 
£0 The Promise Renewed. 
 
 was evidently stopped, and that I must be content 
 to go back to my own home and simply visit the 
 sick in a quiet way. It began to be very dark. 
 But I said, I will go by the Lord's help to my 
 own little home, and take in all that he sends. 
 The house was small, so that we could not take in 
 many at once. These temptations disturbed me 
 repeatedly and much during the remaining time 
 that we occupied the rented house. The landlady 
 regretted my disappointment, and offered to make 
 an effort to reverse the engagement; but 1 
 requested her not to do anything about it. I told 
 her the Lord had permitted it, and it was all right. 
 During this time of trial I repeatedly went to 
 the Lord with my anxiety, and repeatedly 
 obtained relief. But the Accuser was very per- 
 sistent and held with great determination the 
 advantage he had gained against me, and it was 
 long before I had the perfect victory over him. 
 One day when the temptation came that the work 
 must be given up, I went to the Lord, and asked 
 him if this was really his will. I told him if he 
 would give me some promise concerning it I 
 would accept it as all right. To my comfort and 
 
Promises. 61 
 
 relief he gave me the same promise that came 
 with the first dollar contributed for the home, 
 " The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith 
 the Lord of hosts. The glory of this latter house 
 shall be greater than of the former, saith the 
 Lord of hosts ; and in this place will I give peace, 
 saith the Lord of hosts." Hag. ii : 8, 9. So I 
 knew that the Lord intended to give us at some 
 time a larger home. 
 
 One Sabbath evening, sitting with the matron^ 
 I was very much cast down, fearing that I had 
 sinned against the Lord in permitting the house 
 to be taken by others. I felt that he was going 
 to punish me for my carelessness in his service. 
 Together we sought a word from him for my 
 guidance and relief. We opened to the eighty- 
 ninth Psalm, and received specially the thirty- 
 third, thirty-fourth and twenty-eighth verses, and 
 in general, verses twentieth to twenty-ninth. The 
 verses specially given read as follows: Ver. 33 r 
 34. -Nevertheless m}- loving kindness will I not 
 utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness 
 to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter 
 the thing that is gone out of my lips." Ver. 28, 
 
62 Promises. 
 
 " My mercy will I keep for hirn for evermore, and 
 my covenant shall stand fast with him." The gen- 
 eral passage begins with the words (Ver. 20), U I 
 have found David my servant ; with my holy oil 
 have I anointed him: " and closes with the words 
 (Ver. 29), " His seed also will I make to endure 
 for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven." 
 The Lord very tenderly answered my fears about 
 punishment, and his displeasure, in the following 
 manner. When we had read as far as the twent\-- 
 ninth verse, we were led to skip to the thirty- 
 third, without any intention on our part, and 
 without observing that the intervening verses 
 deal with transgression and punishment. They 
 were not given to me ; or rather they were thus 
 distinctly shut out of the message as given to me. 
 Afterwards w r e looked, read, and understood the 
 loving kindness of the Lord. The omitted verses 
 are the following : Ver. 30-32, "If his children 
 forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments ; 
 if they break my statutes, and keep not my com- 
 mandments ; then will I visit their transgression 
 with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes." 
 These promises gave much assurance for a time. 
 
Removal to the Private Home. The Enemy. (33 
 
 One other promise also was given me which 
 brought me encouragement, and which is specially 
 significant because it was afterwards repeated in 
 very trying circumstances. It was the following : 
 Ezek. xxx vi : 11. '-And I will multiply upon 
 you man and beast ; and they shall increase and 
 bring fruit ; and I will settle you after your old 
 estates, and will do better unto you than at your 
 beginnings: and }^e shall know that I am the 
 Lord."' 
 
 We moved down to our own house Friday, 
 March 27. 1885. We had it dedicated to the Lord, 
 and began meetings there. The Lord blessed 
 us wonderfully, even more than in the other 
 house. It seemed as if his smiles were on us 
 from the first of our going down there. But there 
 came a very severe trial of faith. Perhaps the 
 advantage the Tempter had gained over my soul 
 in the prospect of leaving the other house, pre- 
 pared the way for the advantage he gained over 
 my body in the sickness which I will now narrate. 
 
 The house was papered the day before we 
 moved in, and the room in which I slept was not 
 dry. On Monday I was seized with symptoms of 
 
64 Typhoid Pneumonia Again. 
 
 typhoid pneumonia, the same disease from which 
 my great Physician had already once delivered 
 me. The Enemy had come to contest the point 
 once more. Fever set in, and my limbs, back, and 
 head became very painful. Then the Accuser 
 said, " It's plain enough that your work is done. 
 You've come back to your own house to die." I 
 was repeatedl} 7 , during the days of sickness which 
 followed, much discouraged. One day as I lay 
 thinking, I said, Dear Lord, if thou wilt give me 
 some promise that I can hold upon, that 1 may 
 know if my work is done, and I am not to get 
 well, I will accept it. In answer to this the Lord 
 kindly renewed to me the promise already men- 
 tioned from the prophecy of Ezekiel (xxxvi : 11), 
 "And I will multiply upon you man and beast ; 
 
 and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I 
 
 ■ 
 
 will settle you after your old estates, and will do 
 better unto you than at }^our beginnings: and ye 
 shall know that I am the Lord." 
 
 I was very anxious at that time that the 
 matron should believe that when God gave me 
 these promises they were to be fulfilled to the 
 very letter. So when I received this I showed it 
 
Very Sick Indeed. 65 
 
 to her. She said, " Mrs. Thompson, do } T ou 
 believe that will be fulfilled ? " I said, I do. But 
 after this I became ver}- sick indeed, and began 
 to think that perhaps after all my work was done. 
 During the whole sickness, in fact, I had no 
 inward light that I should recover. One day I 
 said to the matron, I don't know but it is God's 
 will for me to die. She replied, "What about 
 that promise, Mrs. Thompson? If you die I 
 never can have any more faith in getting promises 
 in this way. What does that promise mean? " I 
 was so anxious for her to believe that God speaks 
 to his children in this way, and that nothing 
 should be done through me to dishonor him, that 
 I began to pray for my recovery. 
 
 The prayer meetings had been continued at my 
 request during my sickness. 
 
 After the close of one of the meetings I 
 requested Mr. C, who led the meeting, to come 
 to my bedside. I was not able to speak above a 
 whisper. My bedroom was just off the room in 
 which the meetings were held. He came in. I 
 asked him if he believed that I could be healed 
 that evening — now, I said, now! and if, on that 
 5 
 
66 Healed. 
 
 belief, he would anoint me. Several others came 
 into the room, among them another gentleman 
 who had strong faith. I asked him if he could 
 pray that I should be healed, now while they 
 were praying for me. He said, "Mrs. Thompson, 
 I will be honest with you ; I can not." I said, I 
 don't want any one in the room to lay hands on 
 me except those who believe that I can be healed 
 now; for I believe that I can. I can unite with 
 you for it. They knelt in prayer. Four persons 
 laid hands on me, Mr. C, the matron, and 
 another gentleman and lady, and Mr. C. anointed 
 me. Then I said, Let us sing, 
 
 "Praise God, from whom all blessings flow." 
 I was compelled to whisper until they began to 
 sing, when I joined with them, my voice was as 
 clear as any of theirs. I could sing clear and 
 loud, without any distress whatever. 
 
 I cautioned them not to doubt on the way 
 home, but told them to remember that the Lord 
 had heard prayer, and answered it, and to expect 
 to find me up and well in the morning. After 
 they had gone I fell asleep, and slept sweetly the 
 rest of the night. The next morning I rose 
 
Service Here and There. 67 
 
 healed. I was quite weak indeed, but my 
 strength gradually came to me. One of the 
 gentlemen called to see me in the morning, and 
 I went to the door myself to receive him. T 
 immediately commenced to go out of doors. 
 
 I now found that I was called out to a great 
 man}' different places, sometimes by telegraph, to 
 visit the sick. I had more opportunity to go 
 than when I was in the larger house. All that 
 summer, 1885, I was busy in that way, at home 
 a few days, then out again. 
 
68 Correspondence. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Opening of the Work in Cleveland, Ohio. 
 
 
 I had been long impressed that the Lord would 
 some time send me to Cleveland. I found also 
 from time to time that impressions in harmony 
 with this were given to others. During my sick- 
 ness after leaving the large house I received a 
 letter from a lad} r of Canton, Ohio, who was at 
 the house of a physician in Cleveland, requesting 
 me to come to her. My sister replied to the let- 
 ter, telling her that I was very sick, and adding 
 at my request that as soon as it was the Lord's 
 will I would come to her ; also that I was pray- 
 ing for her for that which she had specially 
 desired, strength to get home to her family. 
 
 Then another letter came from her, saying that 
 she was better, and thought that in a few days 
 she would be able to go home. I had them prop . 
 me up in the bed, and wrote to her myself a few 
 lines. I told her that the dear Lord had laid me 
 
First Steps Toward Cleveland. (39 
 
 aside for some lessons that he wished to teach 
 me ; and that it was sweet to lie there and just 
 talk with him. Also that if it was his will to re- 
 lease me and have me come to her I would come. 
 Soon afterwards she became strong enough to go 
 home. I am sure from her experience, which she 
 afterwards told me, that she was healed then ; 
 but needed to have her faith strengthened, and 
 to understand the tests to which faith is sub- 
 jected. She afterwards invited me to her home 
 in Canton, and I went in the latter part of May. 
 1885. In the providence of God this lady was 
 one of the important instruments in turning my 
 steps to Cleveland. 
 
 In the fall I was called to Cleveland to visit a 
 lady who was sick. I was entertained at the 
 house of Rev. Mr. Cory. He felt that it was the 
 Lord's will that I should come to the city. He 
 told me of the church-building at the corner of 
 Ohio and Brownell Streets, formerly occupied by 
 a Wesieyan Methodist church. It was then not 
 in use, and he thought it could be procured for 
 mission work, and offered to see about it. The 
 da}" I started for home he drove by the church, 
 
70 Ohio Street Chapel. Rev. W. H. Wilson. 
 
 and showed it to me. The moment I saw it 1 
 was strongly impressed that I should some day 
 be in it about the Lord's work. I felt so sure of 
 it that I expressed my confidence at the time. 
 Mr. Cor}' having learned that the house had 
 been engaged by Mr. Lindus Cody for mission 
 work, went to see him, and found that he had 
 taken it for a year, and that Mr. B., a minister of 
 the Wesleyan Methodist connection, was to 
 engage in the work. The house, when we saw it y 
 had been freshly painted in preparation for open- 
 ing. 
 
 I spent Christmas at Canton at the house of 
 the lady already mentioned. At m} r first visit 
 there, in May, I became acquainted with the Rev. 
 W. H. Wilson, presiding elder of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church for the Canton district. Know- 
 ing of this lady's recover}^ in answer to prayer 
 he became much interested in my work. At this 
 visit at Christmas I told them of the Lord's lead- 
 ings with reference to Cleveland, adding, however,. 
 that I did not think the time had yet come. 
 Both of them were deeply convinced that the 
 Lord was going to send me there, and both were 
 
Seeking an Opening. 71 
 
 desirous to give me such assistance and coopera- 
 tion as might be in their power. Mr. Wilson 
 went to the city to see if he could find any suita- 
 ble houses offered for rent. On his return he 
 described what he had seen, but said, "It seems 
 to me that Sister Thompson is not to go to 
 Cleveland yet, but I believe that before long she 
 will have a home there. I believe that is God's 
 order." His whole heart seemed to be in it. One 
 day he came over to the house and said he had 
 been asking the Lord for a passage from his 
 Word with reference to this projected home, and 
 had received the thirty-fifth chapter of Isaiah, 
 commencing, "The wilderness and the solitary 
 place shall be glad.*' In expectation that the 
 home would be opened during the coming year, 
 1836, he prepared, as an inaugural gift, a veiy 
 interesting arrangement of thoughts, largely in 
 Scriptural quotations, and presented them to me 
 in fine pen-work, and nicely bound, as a New 
 Year's token. {See Appendix.} 
 
 The following summer a lady from Cleveland, 
 Mrs. D., visited me in Erie with reference to 
 healing. I told her how I had felt with reference 
 
72 Seeking an Opening. 
 
 to going to Cleveland, and how the Lord had led 
 me. Whenever I prayed with reference to it, it 
 seemed as if I were in a home there. She entered 
 into my feelings and convictions, and we prayed 
 together that if it was the Lord's will he 
 would open the way, and find me a house. While 
 she was still with me I wrote to Mr. Cod} T con- 
 cerning the chapel, saying that whenever the 
 Lord should direct him to write to me with refer- 
 ence to coming, I should be subject to the Lord's 
 will. I did not know his address, but directed 
 the letter as well as I could, and asked the Lord 
 to carry it to him. It reached him, and he passed 
 it to Mr. B., desiring him to use his own discre- 
 tion about answering it. It remained unan- 
 swered for a long time. 
 
 At last, in the month of September, Mr. B. 
 called on Mrs. D. with the letter to make in- 
 quiries. Mrs. D. had on the same day received 
 a letter from me, in which I wrote that I 
 believed the time had come for me to see about 
 finding a house in Cleveland. Mr. B., on learn- 
 ing this, said, then he knew it was of the Lord, 
 and requested her to write to me to come. 
 
A Bouse Engaged. Engagement Broken. 73 
 
 They knelt together in prayer, asking the Lord 
 to direct. 
 
 On receiving the letter I came immediately to 
 Cleveland. 3Ir. Cody told me I could use the 
 chapel for the work, and invited me also to take 
 an interest in the work at the Baden Avenue 
 chapel. He took me to see a house on Sibley 
 street. The rent was thirty dollars a month. We 
 engaged it, offering to. pay the first month's rent 
 at once, but the owner said it was unnecessary, 
 and allowed us to take the ke}\ This was left, 
 for convenience, in Mr. B.'s hands. 
 
 I went home and prepared for moving. After 
 I had commenced breaking up at Erie, and had 
 partly packed my goods, a letter came from 
 Cleveland. The owner of the house had called 
 for the key. saying that I had requested him to 
 do so. This was thought strange, but the key 
 was given up. The owner then stated that he 
 had let the house to another party at thirty -five 
 dollars a month. This was a severe disappoint- 
 ment. I had received a letter from a lad}' saying 
 that if I could find a suitable house she would 
 pay the rent for a year, and furnish the fuel. 
 
74 New Opening. 
 
 But the Enemy now said, " Don't you see? You 
 are not to go to Cleveland." Some persons in 
 Erie also said this was the hand of the Lord, 
 showing me that I was not to leave Erie. I said,. 
 I don't know what it means, but I am sure the 
 Lord wants me to go to Cleveland. I had already 
 written informing the lady who had made the 
 offer just mentioned, that I had rented the house. 
 I now wrote to her of the disappointment, and 
 left the matter of going to Clevelend in the Lord'& 
 hands, asking him to show me his will by the 
 impression he should produce on her mind. I 
 requested her to give me her first thought, with- 
 out reasoning and without considering my prefer- 
 ence. She replied that she believed the obstruc- 
 tion was of Satan, and that it was for me to push 
 through it.- At the close of her letter she said r 
 " Go to Cleveland." 
 
 The next day I received a postal card from Mr. 
 B., mentioning three houses, at the prices respect- 
 ively of twenty-five, twenty-eight, and thirty dol- 
 lars a month. I showed the card to those in the 
 house, and said at once, The twenty-eight dollar 
 house is the one we are to have. There was no 
 
Looking for the House, 75 
 
 description, but I felt sure of it. That house i& 
 the one we now occupy. 
 
 I got ready and came at once to see about it. 
 From the train I walked up to the chapel, hoping 
 to meet Mr. B. there. The sexton lived there, 
 but the door was locked. I was tired from riding, 
 and hungry. The Enemy said, (i You see you 
 have made a mistake again. You are not to come 
 here after all, or you would not have all this 
 opposition." I thought I would walk around, 
 and see if I could find the house. I walked until 
 between three and four o'clock, and returned to 
 the chapel, very tired, thinking that if still unsuc- 
 cessful I would go over to Mrs. D.'s, on the west 
 side, and spend the night, returning home the 
 next day. The door was still locked. I sat down 
 on the steps to rest. While sitting there I said, 
 Lord, what does this mean? I will never give 
 up, for I know you sent me to Cleveland ; and I 
 will trust you to carry this on in your own way. 
 In a few moments Mr. B. came. He said he had 
 just been looking at one of the houses, situated 
 on Cedar avenue, that it was only a little way, 
 and we would go over and see it. As soon as I 
 
76 Removal to Cleveland. 
 
 entered the house I said, This is the house. It 
 was the one at twenty-eight dollars. He spoke 
 of another one, on Huntington street, but I told 
 him I was sure of the Lord's choice of this one, 
 and would look no further. I engaged the house 
 at once, No. 74 Cedar avenue, and paid the first 
 month's rent before I left. About two weeks 
 later, in the month of October, 1886, we moved 
 into it. 
 
 While we were getting ready to move I re- 
 ceived a telegram from Canton informing me of 
 the fatal sickness of Mr. Wilson. I left the rest 
 of the packing to other hands, and went immedi- 
 ately. When I reached there he was dying, and 
 was unconscious. He left a message for me, to 
 the effect that a work was committed to me which 
 no one else could do ; and that I must keep close 
 to the Lord. It had been his hope to dedicate the 
 home in Cleveland, but the Lord had planned 
 otherwise. The last stanza of his new year's gift 
 for the home proved to be a prophecy for himself. 
 
 In Erie we had used a wood stove in our 
 kitchen, but learning that wood is not generally 
 used in this city, we did not bring it. I had one 
 
Supplies. "J J 
 
 dollar, and intended to buy with this an oil lamp 
 stove to serve us until the Lord should send us a 
 stove. On leaving Canton for Cleveland I 
 received from a friend the sum of twenty dollars, 
 to be used as the Lord should direct. In the city 
 
 I went to a hardware store, and found a stove at 
 twenty-seven dollars. I prayed the Lord to put 
 into the dealer's heart the price at which he 
 should offer it to me. I needed also a load of 
 kindlings for the furnace fires, and this would 
 cost two dollars and a half. The man said to me, 
 
 II Mrs. Thompson, I will tell } T ou what I will do. 
 I will set up the stove for you, and furnish it 
 with pipe, for seventeen dollars. I never sold one 
 for that, and I am losing money on it, but some- 
 how I feel that I must let you have it for that." 
 Then I told him it was all of the Lord. After 
 buying the kindlings I had fifty cents left, and 
 bought some oil and a lamp chimne}'. There was 
 no gas-meter in the house then. 
 
 About the time we came I received a letter 
 from a lady of Hornellsville. Xew York, then at 
 Chautauqua, who had decided to come and stay 
 with me a while, before returning home. She felt 
 
78 Meetings. 
 
 that the Lord had so directed her. She came, 
 and remained six weeks. The amount which she 
 gave us furnished our table nicely. When the 
 time came for her to return home she felt anx- 
 ious for our future supplies. But a lady at whose 
 house we called together desired me to accept 
 five dollars, and on the Sabbath before she left, a 
 lady who called left two dollars. At Christmas 
 time we received a barrel, half of apples, and half 
 of potatoes, twelve pounds of sugar, four pounds 
 of coffee, one pound of tea, eight cans of fruit, a 
 gallon of apple-butter, a turkey, a linen table- 
 cloth and a dozen napkins, all from one kind 
 friend whose generosity we had already abun- 
 dantly experienced. A lady brought us two cans 
 of fruit, another gave me a dollar, and another 
 four dollars. Thus the Lord has continually pro- 
 vided. 
 
 In Erie our weekly meetings had been held on 
 Thursday evenings. Our first meeting in Cleve- 
 land was held on the same evening, October 
 twenty-eighth. Only four were present, our 
 sister from Hornellsville, the matron and myself, 
 .and a friend who had called the preceding day 
 
Meetings. 79 
 
 to introduce the case of two boys for healing who 
 were nearly blind. After prayer for guidance the 
 thirty-fifth chapter of Isaiah was read in opening 
 the meeting. The reader stated that it had been 
 specially given him for this work during the da}\ 
 Before many verses had been read I recognized 
 the chapter. It was the same which was given to 
 Mr. Wilson for us, beginning: "The wilderness and 
 the solitary place shall be glad." On the morning 
 of the same day a special message had been asked 
 of the Lord by the same person with reference to 
 the home. The following was received : Matt. 
 vii : 25, "And the rain descended, and the floods 
 came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that 
 house ; and it fell not : for it was founded upon 
 the rock." The meeting was one of special bless- 
 ing from the presence of the Lord. 
 
 Wednesday evening was fixed upon as better 
 for the regular weekly meeting, and the public 
 dedication was held on that evening the follow- 
 ing week. November third. It was led by Mr. 
 John T. Dorland, a young minister of the Friends, 
 who has since often led our meetings. Thirty 
 persons were present. One week later forty were 
 
80 Meetings. 
 
 present. Mr. W. L. Gregory of Buffalo, who 
 anointed me at raj 7 healing from cancer, was with 
 us at this meeting, and remained over a week. 
 During his stay he anointed eight persons. The 
 subsequent meetings have been smaller, but of 
 much spiritual interest, and with growing faith. 
 There have been a number of cases of healing in 
 the city, and more in other places, in answer to 
 prayers offered in these meetings. Prayer for 
 other blessings also has been answered. 
 
 On Friday, November 10th, while Mr. Gregory 
 was yet with us, an afternoon meeting for the 
 sick was commenced, and has since been regu^ 
 larly held. It is freely attended also by others, 
 and has been much blessed. The two boys who 
 have been mentioned came with their mother on 
 the afternoon of the Frida} 7 immediately follow- 
 ing the Thursday meeting mentioned above. 
 Their call was thus, in fact, the inauguration of 
 the Friday afternoon meetings. All three came 
 full of hope. A partial recovery of sight was at 
 once observed, the subsequent improvement was 
 constant, and in four months the mother testified 
 that they experienced no further difficulty. The} T 
 
Blind Boys Healed. Progress. 81 
 
 had been left in their blinded condition by the 
 measles, the older boy when he was about two 
 years and eight months old, and the younger at 
 the age of three years and eight months. The 
 older could see the light, but could not discern 
 objects, while the younger could see a little bet- 
 ter. Both seemed to be totally blind, or nearly 
 so, by evening light. At the time of their resto- 
 ration their ages were respectively twelve and ten. 
 Our work has met with a deep sympathy in 
 hearts prepared by the Lord for it, and we are 
 full of confident hope in him. 
 
 This sketch, as above finished, was prepared a 
 few months after the removal to Cleveland, and 
 has been in waiting to the present time, July. 
 1889, for the Lord's pleasure concerning its pub- 
 lication. His pleasure has now been made clear, 
 and the little book is sent forth. 
 
 Mr. John T. Dorland. of the Society of Friends, 
 continued to give Bible lessons, with much ac- 
 ceptance, from the first, though relinquishing, 
 6 
 
82 Progress. 
 
 after some time, the Wednesday evening meeting, 
 and continuing on Friday afternoons until the 
 close of the year 1887. Soon after this he 
 removed from the city. 
 
 At some time during the first year in Cleve- 
 land, Miss Sarah L. Andrews became intimately 
 associated with the work, giving Bible teachings 
 on Wednesday evenings for some time before Mr 
 Dorland's departure, and then succeeding him on 
 Friday afternoons as well. This fellowship of 
 service has continued to the present time. 
 
 On the second of July, 1888, a Bible school 
 was opened in connection with this work, in the 
 large academy building, No. 156 Huron street. 
 This building, occupied by Miss Andrews' private 
 school, was free for afternoons and evenings. The 
 Bible school has been continued, with instruction 
 by Miss Andrews and others, on each afternoon 
 except Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The meet- 
 ings in the interest of healing have been held 
 regularly on Friday afternoons and Wednesday 
 evenings, and a gospel meeting on Tuesday even- 
 ings has been added. On Saturday afternoons is 
 held a sewing school, now numbering one hundred 
 
Progress. 83 
 
 and sixty children, to whom a Bible lesson is 
 also given. 
 
 On Sundays a Bible class is held in the fore- 
 noon ; and in the afternoon a class for street 
 boys, one hour, followed by a general prayer 
 meeting. In the evening a few young ladies have 
 the privilege of the chapel for the instruction of 
 some Chinese. 
 
 At the close of the second year, October, 1888, 
 Mrs. Thompson removed from the Cedar Avenue 
 home to the academy building, which is furnished 
 with accommodations for a family, and at present 
 resides there. This change became important 
 because of the distance between the two places. 
 
 Those whose sympathies have been engaged 
 by this story will be pleased to know that "sister 
 Mary,"' Mrs. Beattie, more than once mentioned, 
 has been in the home for more than a year, 
 together with her husband and daughter, deeply 
 interested and sharing in the work. 
 
 The two "blind" boys continue to see. The 
 neglect of their education hy reason of their 
 blindness, together with a natural dullness, placed 
 them both at a disadvantage. The older one has 
 
84 Progress. 
 
 for some time been at the state school for feeble 
 minded youth, located at Columbus ; and excel- 
 lent reports are received of his progress. The 
 other will probably soon be sent to enjoy the 
 same privileges. 
 
 During the time since this "Faith Rest" has 
 been opened, now nearly three years, there have 
 been many instances of God's blessing upon the 
 prayer of faith for the healing of the sick ; and 
 those who are engaged in the work feel strong 
 encouragement in continuing it. 
 
 The Editor, 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
NOTES 
 
 By the Editor 
 
 Note 1. The Message. Joel Hi : 13, 14. 
 (P. 13.) 
 
 The believing reader will easily undersand that 
 the same gracious One who subsequently wrought 
 the healing gave also this message. It was no 
 chance text, even though it was not at the time 
 understood. God does not so deal. 
 
 The sickle is a harvest tool. " The harvest is 
 the end of the world." Matt, xiii : 39 ; Rev. xiv : 
 14-16 ; Mark iv : 29. The message points to no 
 ordinary service of comfort to the needy, but to 
 nothing less than what the words themselves 
 declare, the approach of the great " day of the 
 Lord," and the events of " the valley of decision." 
 It promised the sick one that she should not 
 only stand upon her feet again, but should be 
 permitted to do some service for the Lord in the 
 hastening of this great final event. The incidents 
 86 
 
The Sickle Message. $7 
 
 immediately connected aid in showing the Lord's 
 meaning. What religious system was that with 
 which she was surrounded when these words 
 came to her? The issue between the Bride and 
 the Bride's great rival will culminate in that val- 
 ley of decision. Again, what took place when 
 this disciple of Jesus attempted to act upon what 
 she understood of the sickle service? One thirsty 
 soul was drawn to her side by the influence of 
 grace to learn something of the ways of Jesus, 
 and then — came no more. Then the song that 
 came, quite unintentionally, to this would-be 
 reaper's lips, as fit to be sung in that religious 
 house, was that sad one. " Must I go, and empty- 
 handed? ' and when at last the disciple of Jesus 
 was taken out, certain lips were made read}' to 
 say that the light of that house had gone out. 
 Rev. xviii : 4, 23. Jesus is the Light; and the 
 humblest disciple may thus be the light-bearer. 
 The Lord does not speak in vain. '-Blessed is 
 she that believed; for there shall be a fulfilment 
 of the things which have been spoken to her from 
 the Lord. ' This also is true for all those who 
 believe. 
 
The Vision of the Dark Waters. 
 
 Note 2. The Vision of the Dark Waters. 
 
 (P. 32.) 
 
 If any are distrustful of visions, let thern draw 
 near to God, and they will be safe from mislead- 
 ing. God will interpret his own, and expose the 
 false. There are indeed false visions, as there 
 are false prophecy and false teaching. The test 
 in every case is in the Word of God. Is. viii : 19, 
 20. But even with this test those who are far 
 from God are liable to be deceived, for " the 
 natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit 
 of God," "because they are spiritually judged." 
 1 Cor. ii : 14. Whether in visions or in an}- thing 
 else there is no safety apart from God. The tree 
 of the knowledge of good and evil does not yield 
 safe fruit apart from the tree of life. But the 
 Holy Spirit has expressly promised visions and 
 dreams. Acts ii : 17. They are among the tokens 
 of his powerful presence, and are therefore to be 
 welcomed, examined, interpreted. 
 
 Every thing depends upon the interpretation. 
 For this we are to look directly to God's Word, 
 
The Vision of the Dark Waters. 89 
 
 not to popular notions. "No prophec}' of the 
 Scripture," and also no divinely given vision, "is 
 of any private interpretation." 2 Pet. i : 20, The 
 visions in this narrative certainly seem to be 
 from the same One who wrought the healing. 
 Their meaning, therefore, is to be sought in the 
 light of the divine oracles. 
 
 The crossing of the Jordan by the Israelites 
 into the land of Canaan is not, as popularly con- 
 ceived, a type of death as a passage to Heaven. 
 This is plain the moment we observe the wars 
 and other events which took place on the other 
 side. The name. Jordan, the Descending, is given 
 to this stream on account of its swift, rushing 
 current, representing the driving activity of 
 human life, whether religious or secular. But the 
 conception of a river of death is in perfect har- 
 mony with the Scriptural s}-mbol of a river, a 
 stream of humanity moving on under some com- 
 mon control. Its waters are indeed dark and 
 gloomy. Nothing but the presence of Jesus can 
 sustain the soul that must pass through. They 
 are roaring waters, very threatening, uttering the 
 authority of him who has the power of death, 
 
90 The Vision of the Dark Waters. 
 
 that is the Devil. Heb. ii : 14. Death is the last 
 enemy that is to be abolished, (1 Cor. xv : 26,) 
 and so great is the authority of the Devil in it 
 that he has succeeded in brow-beating the whole 
 human race, compelling them to accept it as 
 inevitable, and to make no effort to escape. 
 
 Natural life approaching the grave is like a 
 dark tunnel. To those who are unrenewed there 
 is no light; but to the child of God the tunnel 
 opens through to a light which is faint when 
 faith is faint, but which increases as the eye is 
 fixed upon Jesus, who is, in his own person, the 
 resurrection and the life. "The path of the 
 righteous is as the shining light, that shineth 
 more and more unto the perfect day." But what 
 is the significance if the perfect day comes before 
 the dark river is reached ? Can the reader inter- 
 pret and accept this wonderful privilege ? " In 
 the way of righteousness is life; and in the path- 
 way thereof there is no death." No death ! Prov. 
 xii : 28. The grave does not legitimately lie in 
 the pathway of righteousness. Jesus said, "Who- 
 soever liveth and believeth on me shall never 
 die." John xi : 26. " The law of the Spirit of life 
 
The Vision of the Dark Waters. 91 
 
 in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin 
 and death." He "is able to do exceeding abun- 
 dantly above all that we ask or think." 
 
 Then those rainbow tints as associated with 
 the dark flood, how significant in the light of 
 God's word ! The covenant of the bow in the 
 cloud was given to Noah as a pledge against a 
 future flood. Gen. ix : 8-17. The deluge in his 
 day was a great flood of death, fit sequel to the 
 ungodly flood of humanity with which the earth 
 was already covered. Gen. vi : 1-8. He w T ho is 
 the light of the world was received into a cloud 
 out of our sight. Acts i : 9. The rainbow in the 
 cloud, typically speaking, is the effect of his 
 brightness shining out for our hope. The voice 
 in the vision said, " Keep your eye on Jesus ;" 
 and as the eye obeyed, the light developed into 
 the prismatic beauties of that covenant glory. 
 The flood, the dark river of death, was then 
 powerless, despite all its raging. 
 
 These roaring waters attacked the feet, as if 
 seeking to destroy that standing in Christ which 
 alone would make it possible to resist their 
 power. The waves tossed themselves nearly to 
 
92 The Vision of the Dark Waters. 
 
 the neck. Cf. Is. viii : 8; xxx : 28; Matt, xviii : 6. 
 The neck, as sustaining the head, is, in Scriptural 
 symbol, that by which headship is held up and 
 recognized. Those who are self-willed are 
 described as stiff-necked. In subjugation, on the 
 contrary, the neck receives the yoke. Acts xv: 
 10; Jer. xxviii : 14. The father fell upon the 
 neck of his prodigal son, and kissed him, because 
 he found himself restored to a father's relation, 
 the headship of love, to his now penitent child. 
 The neck of the Bride of Christ is beautiful and 
 graceful, (Cant, i : 10 ; iv : 4, 9 ; vil : 4,) because 
 from the depth of her being she delights in the 
 headship of the Bridegroom. In the vision, 
 therefore, the authority of the river of death 
 aimed at the neck, as if to frighten this disciple 
 from maintaining the headship of Jesus, whom 
 she had declared she would trust even though 
 death should come. 
 
 On the other side were those who had crossed 
 the river. It is only the redeemed who cross. 
 The rest are borne down by the stream. The 
 beckoning and the charge show that one interest 
 includes those on both sides. The significance 
 
The Vision of the Dark Waters. 93 
 
 of the charge is more than personal. The daugh- 
 ter on this side, and the daughter on that, are to 
 be cared for by the mothers. The weak on this 
 side are to be helped by the strong, by those whose 
 faith has grown through such trials as these. 
 Rom. xv : 1; John xxi : 15. So those of weaker 
 faith who have passed over, and who are waiting, 
 with less understanding: than the stronger, for 
 the Lord's final victory, are undoubtedly encour- 
 aged by those whose spiritual sight has become 
 more penetrating in the ways and purposes of 
 God. Weak Lazarus reclines in strong Abraham's 
 bosom. It would not be strange, also, if a mother 
 addressed as in this vision should feel a special 
 interest in the ministry of a daughter thus com- 
 mitted to her. 
 
94 The Vision of the Tree of Life. 
 
 Note 3. The Vision of the Tree of Life. 
 
 (P. 34.) 
 
 The difference between this vision and the 
 former one is important. The authorit} T of death 
 was now overcome. There was no dark approach, 
 no roaring of the waves, and the waters made no 
 assault, and imparted no chill. The voice was no 
 longer heard, because, with death conquered, the 
 heavenly mother Jerusalem herself is to come 
 into union with her earthly child, the holy and 
 beloved people of God. The tree of life with its 
 various fruits (Rev. xxii : 2), was seen across the 
 river of death. But the tree of life is not watered 
 by the river of death. In Eden it was watered by 
 the river of Eden. Gen. ii : 9, 10. In the new 
 Jerusalem it is watered by the river of the water 
 of life. (See also Ezek. xlvii : 12.) It is a tree 
 that sustains eternal life for the whole man, 
 including his bod}^. Eternal bodily life with a 
 fallen nature would be an eternal evil. Hence 
 the tree was cut off from Adam and Eve. Gen. 
 iii : 22-24 But to him who through Christ over- 
 
The Vision of the Tree of Life. 95 
 
 ■comes the fall and its effects, the privilege of the 
 tree is restored. Eev. ii : 7. In the vision the 
 subdued authority of death lay between. There 
 are three ways of encountering this river. First, 
 the impenitent are swallowed up and borne down 
 the stream. Secondly, the believer who has not 
 conquered death wades across - for the believer 
 who dies has precisely the same physical expe- 
 rience in death as the unbeliever— but on the 
 other side awaits a glorious resurrection. Third- 
 ly, as in the types of the Red Sea and the Jordan, 
 a pathway is opened for the victorious saint by 
 the shepherd's rod and the ark of the covenant, 
 and he passes through as if there were no such 
 river. Ex. xiv; Josh. iii. He obtains the resur- 
 rection change without dying. Rorn. viii : 11; 
 John xi : 26. This is the promise of the vision. 
 It was not for her alone who saw it. Her happy 
 lot is to minister to others. All things are possi- 
 ble to him that believeth. It is sn imitation and 
 privilege to be laid hold of by faith, not to be 
 idly assumed merely because it is promised. 
 
96 The Vision of the Starry Crown. 
 
 Note 4. The Vision of the Starry Crown. 
 
 (P. 40.) 
 
 The popular notion that converts are stars in 
 the crowns of those who win them is not found 
 in the Scriptures. The only crown of stars there 
 mentioned is that upon the head of the sun- 
 clothed woman who gives birth to the man-child 
 who is to rule all nations with a rod of iron. 
 Rev. xii. Stars, instead of representing converts, 
 represent those who win many to righteousness 
 (Dan. xii : 3), and those whom the Saviour em- 
 ploys as messengers or ministers to his churches. 
 Rev. i : 16, 20. The suffering church, when she 
 has conceived Christ within her, and is longing 
 for his triumphant birth in the power of the last 
 days, reigns, not by her own decrees or her own 
 ministry, but by a ministry appointed and power- 
 fully furnished by Christ himself. She does not 
 hold the crown in her own hand. She is not the 
 manager. It is on her head, and her Head is 
 Christ. The prophecy of Isaiah (lxii : 3), with a 
 
The Vision of the Starry Croicn. 97 
 
 slightly different figure, makes her to be, herself, 
 " A crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and 
 a royal diadem in the hand of" her i; God." That 
 is, he reigns by her because in her, and he reigns 
 by holding in his hand, his right hand, the stars 
 that he sends to her. Rev. i : 20. This is where 
 the crown was seen in the vision, in the Saviour's 
 hand, as he sat upon the throne, the place of 
 kingly rule. 
 
 He turned the crown slowly around to show, 
 first, that he already has with him many reigning 
 ones; (Matt, xxvii : 53; Rev. iii : 21; iv : 4; xx : 4;) 
 secondly, that there is a lack in his ministry, 
 (Eph.iv : 11-16 ; 1 Cor. xii ;) and, thirdly, that he 
 intends to make up this lack, and bring his king- 
 dom to -its completion. "The end of all things is 
 at hand." In the early da}'s of the Holy Spirit's 
 presence the Lord had an apostolic ministry 
 endued with authority and power from heaven. 
 At the present time there is a place vacant in the 
 crown. Such a ministry is wanting. But, in 
 accordance with the promise of the Holy Spirit 
 for the last days, it is to be revived. The regal 
 power of the ascended Jesus is to come into full 
 7 
 
98 The Vision of the Starry Crown. 
 
 exercise in his real church, now hidden and de- 
 spised; and "then cometh the end." 
 
 The personal bearing of this vision upon the 
 one to whom it was given is evidently this, that 
 she is to have a happy part in the hastening of 
 this glory, and is to share Zion's honor at the 
 hand of her Lord. All this is conditioned upon 
 faith and faithfulness. But the river of the water 
 of life flows freely for all, and whosoever thirsts, 
 let him drink even here. 
 
99 
 
 REV, W, H, WILSON'S 
 
 INAUGURAL GIFT 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 CLEVELAND HOME, 
 
101 
 
 OUR NEW YEAR'S OFFERING 
 
 TO 
 
 MRS. ANNA L THOMPSON 
 
 IN 
 
 Her Work of Faith, 
 Labor of Love, 
 
 AND 
 
 Patience of Hope, 
 
 W, H. WILSON. 
 F. S. WILSON. 
 
Rev. W. H. Wilson's Inaugural Gift 103 
 
 TIME'S GOLDEN CHAIN. 
 
 New Name. 
 
 JUNK. 
 Rev iii. 12. 
 
 I 
 
 New Food. 
 
 MAY. 
 1 Pet ii: 2. 
 
 New Song 
 
 APRIL. 
 
 Psa. xl : 3 
 
 New Tongue. 
 
 MA RCH. 
 Mark xvi : 17. 
 
 New Heart. 
 FEBRUARY. 
 Ezek. xxxvi:26, 
 
 
 New Creation. 
 JANUARY. 
 2 Cor. v: 17. 
 
 New Covenant. 
 
 JULY. 
 
 Heb. viii : 8. 
 
 New 
 Commandment, 
 
 AUGUST. 
 John xiii • 34. 
 
 OPEN DOOR" 
 
 I 
 
 New Way. 
 
 SEPTEMBER. 
 
 Isa. xliii: 19. 
 
 1886. 
 
 Joel ii : 26, 28. 
 
 New Mercies. 
 OCTOBER. 
 Lam. iii: 23. 
 
 I 
 
 " Behold, I make 
 all things new! 1 
 
 New Fruit. 
 NOVEMBER. 
 Ezek. xlvii:12. 
 
 New Home. 
 DECEMBER. 
 Rev. xxi : 1. 
 
 ACTS 
 i : 7. 
 
 
Rev. W. H. Wilsons Inaugural Gift. 105 
 
 THE COMING YEAR. 
 
 " Is the work difficult ? 
 
 Jesus directs thee ; 
 Is the path dangerous ? 
 
 Jesus protects thee. 
 Pear not and falter not, 
 
 Let the Word cheer thee ; 
 All through the coming year 
 
 He will be with thee." 
 
 F. R Haver gal. 
 
Rev. W. H. Wilsons Inaugural Gift. 107 
 
 OUR LETTER OF INCENSE 
 
 FOR 
 
 YOUR HOME ALTAR. 
 
 Grace, mercy, and peace be multiplied unto all 
 the dear suffering ones who seek the healing r 
 saving, comforting balm of our good and great 
 Physician through your consecration, faith and 
 prayers. May the rich aroma of heavenly breath- 
 ing, and the sweet atmosphere of divine rest, 
 spread through all the rooms of the sanctuar}' of 
 3'our home. May He, the divine Comforter, nestle 
 all its inmates under his wings, and cover them 
 with his feathers, ministering health to the sick, 
 sleep to the restless, hope to the despairing, and 
 joy to the sorrowing. 
 
108 Rev. W. H. Wilson 1 s Inaugural Gift. 
 
 FIRE FOR THE ALTAR. 
 
 The God that answereth by fire, let him be God. 
 God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy 
 Ghost and with power, who went about doing 
 good, and healing all that were oppressed of the 
 Devil, for God was with him. Is anything too 
 hard for the Lord ? Your faith should not stand 
 in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 
 Said I not unto thee that if thou wouldest believe 
 thou shouldest see the glory of God ? In the 
 lifeless body of Lazarus was death swallowed up 
 in victory, for he was made alive by the word of 
 Jesus. All the promises of God in him are yea, 
 and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. 
 He healeth all thy diseases, He forgiveth all thine 
 iniquities, and redeemeth thy life from death. 
 The prayer of faith shall save the sick, sanctify, 
 and heal. Praise God ! 
 
Rev. W. H. Wilsons Inaugural Gift. \Q<y 
 
 OPEN VISIONS 
 
 In the Glass of God's Glory. 
 
 Holy Bible. 
 
 Abide in me, and I in you. 
 
 Name shall be called. Wonderful. 
 
 Nothing for God to help. 
 
 A new commandment I give unto thee. 
 
 •Love them as I have loved you. 
 
 Testify the gospel of the grace of God. 
 
 Holiness unto the Lord. 
 
 Open door of faith be given me. 
 
 Mystery of faith in good conscience. 
 
 Power of the Highest shall overshadow thee. 
 
 Secret of the Lord is with them that fear him. 
 
 Offer the sacrifice of praise continually. 
 
 Now unto him that is able to keep you from 
 falling, and to present you faultless before the 
 throne of his glory with exceeding joy, to 
 him be glory for ever. Amen. 
 
Ill 
 
 FULL ASSURANCE. 
 
 How safe I ain ! The eternal God 
 Has pledged himself for my defense ; 
 
 31)' Rock, my Shield, my Sure Abode : 
 My Refuge is Omnipotence. 
 
 Thus, sheltered by the Almighty Arm. 
 
 I rest secure from every harm. 
 
 How safe I am if death should come 
 And quickly summon me away ! 
 
 Welcome the hour that calls me home 
 To the bright realms of endless day. 
 
 Death is the portal to the sky — 
 
 How gladly will I soar on high ! 
 
JESUS A PHYSICIAN. The Experience 
 
 of Mrs. Anna L. Thompson. 
 
 Price: Cloth boards 50 cts. 
 
 " flexible 45 " 
 
 Paper 30 " 
 
 Sent by mail on receipt of price. 
 Address Mrs. Anna L. Thompson, Faith Rest, 
 Cleveland, Ohio. 
 
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