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"My
heart praises God, as I trace the leadings of his blessed Spirit, in the past
quarter of a century, when I first sought to know and do His blessed will. My
call to Africa
in 1884; the blessed thought of going out in His name, so full of comfort and
victory; and yet my call to my native land and civilization is more wonderful
and blessed. The getting down in quietness in the presence of the Holy
Spirit, and letting him teach and show me what he would have me know of His
power and omnipresence. I found it so true, He is all love, "and in Him
is no darkness at all." My soul groans out this morning for the Holy
Spirit to have perfect control of His temple. We often hinder the blessed
wooing and power of His love by cross currents of our human mind and thought.
May God help us to be little in our own eyes, not over anxious to serve much,
but to love Him with all our heart, mind and strength. It is the simplicity
of His love in our hearts, that does the work among the heathen. The dear
children of Ham are stretching out their hands for the love that is
manifested in the sons of God. Often tears fill my eyes, as I think of their
simplicity and kindness to us, in the years of our residence among them. One
time while going down to our Annual Conference, one hundred miles from where
I was situated at Malange, we often met with a slave woman, with whom we
lodged nights, who showed us much kindness. She would listen to the story of
the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world, and say, Tell it to me
again, then I would go over it again, and she would say, tell it once more;
then she said, Tell it to me on my fingers. I said to her, Hold up your hand.
I bent down her first finger and said, That means that God's Son has died for
you, shed His blood for your sins; now bend down the second finger, that is,
if you believe it, He will take you to His home, where is no death, nor
cryings, whippings nor pain; now bend down the third finger, that is if you
do not believe, you will be obliged to live in a land of sorrow, pain, death
and crying forever and ever. She repeated it over and over again, and we
could see the truth getting into her heart. We lost sight of her for a long
time; her village was burned up, her people moved away, and she had gone out
of our mind. One day there was a commotion at the entrance of the compound at
the Mission.
I saw the same slave woman, running into the yard, leading a little boy by
the hand. I did not know her at first, and she cried out, 'Don't you know
me?' I remembered my lesson on my fingers,' and she repeated it over to me,
and said, 'Now I know what you said about God's Son is true. See my boy,' as
she pulled him by one hand. 'He was dying with smallpox and I asked the same
Jesus to make him well, and He did.' Praise God, she may have preached the
fundamental truth of the gospel, to more souls in Africa
than myself. My brother, if our love and faith were but more simple, to take
God at His word, our life would be full of sunshine and it would lighten and
brighten up the dark places, that sin has caused on God's beautiful
earth."
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