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Marvelous Stories of Evangelism

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The duty of taking the Three Angels’ Messages to the whole world rests upon us as Historic Seventh-day Adventists. Evan Sadler has had many years of experience as a street evangelist and has been doing what many more of us should be doing—sharing our faith with others. “We are living in a most solemn time. Important responsibilities are resting upon us. . . Angels of God are preparing ears to hear, and hearts to receive the message of warning. And in our very midst honest souls are living who have never yet heard the reasons of our faith. People are perishing for want of knowledge. Not one-hundredth part is being done that might be done to give the third angel’s message to the world.” Review and Herald, October 22, 1914.

May these stories encourage you in your walk with the Lord and embolden you to be a mighty witness for Him.

– The Editors

The Priest that Wept

I had a priest weep once. In 1982 I was staying with a former Catholic couple who are now Seventh-day Adventists, because I had knocked on their door—at that time I only knew five Bible texts! And now the Sabbath was about to come in, and the phone rang. When I answered, my friend Jimmy said, “I’m in the mental institution, I’ve had a nervous breakdown. Would you come and see me?” I said certainly.

We prayed together before I went that I might help this man. When I arrived Jimmy said, “I’ll tell you, Evan, I’m a bit upset. You tell me that the Catholic church has changed the ten commandments and then we go to the priests and they tell us that you’re a heretic!”

But I said, “They didn’t tell you that they didn’t change it did they?”

His answer was, “I wish that there was a priest here and you and he could sort this thing out.” I prayed, “Lord, I pray that you would open Jimmy’s eyes.”

I was there about half an hour talking to this friend in the big lounge, and who do you think walked in the door? It was a priest! Jimmy and I had been talking things over and I had my Bible out, and after this priest walked around and talked to everybody, he came and sat down next to us. He was an old Irishman, 73 years old. He said, “And what would you be doing boys?”

Jimmy said, “Oh, father. We’re just looking at the Bible.”

“Yes, sir,” I said, “We’re just reading the Bible.”

The priest said, “Oh, that’s wonderful! It’s the rock and the pillar of the faith.”

I replied, “It’s the rock and pillar of my faith, sir.”

He said, “Well, what else would you be talking about?”

I said, “Well, sir, we’re talking about deception.”

He said, “Oh, yes? Why would you be talking about that?”

I said, “Well, it says in Matthew 24:37 that as it was in the days of Noah so it would be in the days of the coming of the Son of man. Doesn’t it say that?”

He answered, “It’s true, it’s there!”

I said, “Do you think, sir, that the world will be deceived by things that look good or by things that look bad?”

He said, “Well, the way you put it, it seems they’ll be deceived by the things that look good.”

I said, “That’s right! How many were saved out of the flood?”

He said, “Well, the way you put it, it was four men and four women.”

I said, “That’s right! And what about all the rest of the people that perished, did they think they were right or did they think they were wrong?”

He said, “Well, the way you put it, they must have thought they were right.”

I said, “That’s right! Come down awhile till Jesus was killed—who was right at that time?”

He said, “Well, the way you put it, it must of been only Him.”

I said, “That’s right! What about the major church at the time?”

He said, “Well, they must have been wrong—the way you put it.”

I said, “Does this mean that Jesus was right and the whole of Israel was wrong?”

He said, “That’s right.” And I said, “Now let’s come down to about the sixteenth century.”

He said, “Wait a minute! What are you getting at?” Because he had been set up all the way, hadn’t he? I’d laid the ground, and I wasn’t trying to be funny. God wanted that man in heaven. But you can rest assured, friends, that anyone that will be there is going to have to go on God’s terms.

So he said, “Well, what are you getting at?”

“What I’m getting at, sir, is that the Catholic church has changed the ten commandments.”

He said, “Now, we-we-we-we’ve never done that! We’ve not done that. We’ve only adjusted them!”

I said, “You have changed them. I’ve got the proof.”

He said, “Well, we only adjusted them in the fourth century, but we’ve never changed them.”

I said, “Jimmy, you rang me up and asked me to pray for you that you might see; because the priests told you one thing and I told you something else and you were confused and didn’t know what to believe. And here, by the grace of God, a priest has come along and sat down here and he’s told us that they’ve never changed the ten commandments, they’ve only adjusted them. Isn’t that double-Dutch?”

Jimmy blinked and said, “Yeah.”

I told the priest, which was only my duty, “I can tell you when they changed them, why they changed them, from what they changed them, to what they changed them.”

He wept. He said, “I’ve given me whole life to the church.”

I said, “Brother, it’s time you gave the rest of your life to Jesus; because bricks and mortar can never save you.”

The Evolutionist

A friend and I were on the street one night giving out tracts outside a university in New Zealand. My friend gave a tract to a student outside a McDonalds restaurant and who came along but the professor. A student had met him on the street and had said, “Look at this sacrilege! These people don’t believe in evolution.”

Terrible isn’t it? “These people don’t believe in evolution.” How sad!

He found my friend, and he said, “Did you give this tract out?”

My friend said, “Yes, I did sir, but my friend Evan up the road, he’s responsible for giving the tract out.”

The professor said, “My name is Professor ‘Whatever-His-Name-Is.’ I’m qualified to tell you you’re wrong.”

My friend said, “How come?”

He said, “Because I have a Ph.D.”

My friend said, “Oh my! Is that right? You have a Ph.D.? Whoa!”

The professor said, “Yes.” He didn’t realize my friend was taking the Mickey out of him.

My friend said, “Wow! I can’t argue with that.” The professor grinned a bit. And then my friend said, “But I have a video at home, and it’s pro-Christianity, and it destroys evolution, and it was made by a man with two Ph.Ds. So your own argument is destroyed!”

So the professor’s head dropped and his tongue came out in exhaustion, because God will make fools out of the wise.

One Theologian

One day I was at the airport in Los Angeles and I had said a prayer that the Lord would protect me. I never take airplane flights for granted, I pray for protection. I also prayed that I might be able to talk to somebody on the plane who might be interested in salvation. We were in the air about 15 minutes. I had my old Bible open reading from Peter. I was sitting by the isle and a man was sitting by the window. He said to me, “I see you’ve been reading your Bible.”

I said, “Yeah! That’s the only real thing you can count on in this world.”

He said, “My name is Dr. ‘Such-and-Such’ from Spokane Presbyterian College and I’ve just been holding an evangelical campaign down in Brazil and I’m heading home. . .” He said, during the course of the conversation, that the ten commandments had been nailed to the cross.

I said to him, “The only thing you can count on is the Bible, and there’s only one other thing you can count on sir.”

He said, “What’s that?”

I said, “Throughout history, theologians have always been on the wrong side.”

And he said, “That’s a bit tuff isn’t it?”

I said, “That’s history friend. You tell me when the theologians have been right. At the time of the crucifixion of Christ? At the time of the Babylonian captivity? At the time of the flood? You show to me in history when the theologians have been right. They’ve never been right, the dead sure thing is that they’ve been wrong. Do you believe there’s going to be a judgment or not?”

He said, “Well, I think so.”

I said, “The Bible says there is going to be a judgment. Who do you think God will hold responsible for all the wickedness in the world in the day of judgment?”

He said, “I don’t know, you tell me.”

I said, “People like you. People like you who have said that the ten commandments were nailed to the cross. My Bible says that babes and fools will understand this truth, so I’m qualified to talk to you about this issue. You correct me if I’m wrong because I don’t want to be deluded and I don’t want to lose eternal life and I don’t want to deceive other people. I thought from what I’m seeing in the world that if ever the world needed the ten commandments it’s today, not tomorrow. I thought that Christians kept the ten commandments and heathens didn’t. And I thought Christians kept them not to be saved, that’s legalism. They keep them because they are saved. They don’t keep them in their own power, that’s not acceptable to God; they keep them through the power of the risen Christ in them.”

He couldn’t fault that reasoning. But then I showed him the time of Moses. He grinned and said to me, “One thing, sir, if the ten commandments still stand, I want you to show me where every single one of them is in the New Testament.” He looked at me with a dead serious look on his face because he knew that he had just trapped me—I could see that little grin behind his serious face. He wasn’t a professor for nothing, because he had been dealing with “legalists” for a long time.

“But you know,” I said to him, “that’s an unfair question, sir. And it’s a difficult question, because you know that not one in 10,000 could answer that.”

He said, “Probably not one in 100,000.”

I said, “But you only asked me that question to make your case right and my case wrong. If I could prove to you where every single one of them were in the New Testament, what would that do to your case?” He had not thought about that. He had only asked the question to destroy our case as Adventists and he didn’t know that I was an Adventist yet.

I said, “I’ll show you where every single one of the ten commandments are in the New Testament.” And I showed him Matthew 4:10: “Then saith Jesus unto him . . . it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” He blinked. I showed him 1 John 5:21: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” “Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and His doctrine be not blasphemed.” 1 Timothy 6:1. “For He spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all His works. And in this place again, If thy shall enter into My rest. Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: again, He limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as is said, To day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts. For if Jesus had given them rest, then would He not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His.” Hebrews 4:4–10. “But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.” Matthew 24:20. “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.” Revelation 1:10. “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath: therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27, 28. “Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Romans 13:9. “Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Matthew 19:18, 19. There’s all your ten commandments.

He was visibly shocked. I didn’t tell him why I knew those ten commandments. Two weeks before I left New Zealand, George Burnside posted me a letter. In it was a copy of all the ten commandments in the New Testament. I had said to myself, “I’m going to memorize everyone of those texts, because some day someone’s going to ask me to show them where they are.” Within two weeks it happened.

Then I said, “Well, friend, you asked me that to destroy my case; but your case is now destroyed.”

He said, “I’m going to have to start keeping them and teaching them.”

I said, “Don’t worry if you lose your $100,000 a year salary and your three cars and your big flashy house and your status in your community. Jesus said in Luke that the foxes have holes, the birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

I believe God answered my prayer and sat me there next to that man. Then he looked at me and said, “You’re a Seventh-day Adventist aren’t you?”

I said, “Well, I never used to be; I used to be a Presbyterian, the same as you. But I found that we were sitting closer to Rome than I’d thought when I was a boy.”

And he said to me, “You know, I want to come fishing in New Zealand sometime.”

I said, “Certainly. Friend, this battle is for real. Alot of people are going to be lost.”

He was visibly shaken. He said, “You know I went to college with Billy Graham, he’s a friend of mine.”

I said, “Wow, is that right? I went to college with Jesus Christ, he’s a friend of mine.”

I read to him 1 Corinthians 11, which says all these things happened for an example to us. I asked him this question, “When Moses brought Israel out of Egypt by the miracle of the Red Sea opening, God had thrown back to the Egyptians their false worship. Have you read of the Seven Last Plagues?”

He said, “Well I know a bit about them.”

“Ah, is that right? Do you know where they are found?”

He said, “Well, they’re in the book of Revelation.”

I said, “That’s right, do you know which chapter.”

He said, “No, not off hand.”

I said, “I’m going to read them to you in Revelation 16.”

I read him the first three plagues and he said, “What are you getting at?”

I said, “Well, God threw back in the faces of the Egyptians their false worship with the plagues. In the same way, when Jesus brings spiritual Israel out of spiritual Egypt, He throws back in their faces their false worship by the seven last plagues.” I read the 4th plague to him and he blinked a bit.

I said, “I’ve given you enough facts that you can work out why God threw back the sun in their faces in the fourth plague.” This man happened to be a member of the Lord’s Day Alliance.

I said, “As Seventh-day Adventists, we have reservations about that organization. Why is the fourth plague to be the heating of the sun? And why, under the fifth plague, will darkness fall upon the seat of the beast?”

And so we talked . . .

Conclusion:

We have the responsibility of taking the Three Angels’ Messages to the entire world so that those who are still in Babylon can come out from the midst of her. The seven last plagues are judgments that are poured out against those who make up Babylon (see Revelation 18:4).

We need to earnestly pray that we will be among those who will give the Loud Cry Message that will prepare a people to stand before a holy God without a Mediator.

The End

Children’s Story – Something Better: The Story of a Shrine

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Miss S was in need of a strong man to draw her jinrikisha as she made her daily rounds, visiting and superintending the work of the daily schools under her care. Our faithful cook, who had become an earnest Christian since coming to work for us, had undertaken to find a suitable man.

“Sensei,” he said, returning one day from a tour of investigation, “I have found a young man who would be just the one for the place I think, but one thing makes him hesitate.”

“And what is that?” asked the missionary.

“Well,” he replied, “he is only just married and he and his wife would be glad to come here to work but his mother, who is old and dependent upon him for support, is very faithful in the worship of her gods, and especially of her husband’s spirit. And as her worship is her only satisfaction in life now, her son is afraid to go and live at a Christian place, for fear she would not be allowed liberty in her religious worship. As for himself and his wife, he said they were not particular about such things; but it was different with his old mother, and he could never consent to anything that would interfere with the happiness of her last days. I told him,” continued our cook, “that if they came to live here, he and his wife, being servants in the household, would be expected to attend morning worship daily, but that I was sure his old mother would be allowed perfect freedom to worship as she pleased in her own room.”

“You are right,” replied the missionary. “See the man again, and tell him that as we are not engaging his mother to work for us, she will be entirely at liberty to worship as she pleases, and never obliged to attend our Christian services. Only we can not permit the display of the emblems of her religion outside her own room or on our gateposts, of course.”

So they came, and took up their abode in the gatehouse. The tiny, wrinkled old lady who claimed the dutiful Cho as her son, evidently shrank in awe from the big, fearsome, “Foreign teachers”—specimens, to her, utterly foreign, truly, to everything she had ever known.

At a stated hour each morning the servants of the household were gathered together for instruction in the things of God. Miss S was the faithful and efficient teacher of this daily class, carefully explaining the word of God and the way of salvation, and leading these darkened souls into the light. Cho and his wife were regular attendants at the morning service, and after we had smiled a cheery “Good morning, O Baa San!” often enough to the dear, wee little woman sitting on the mats in her room by the gate, so that she was accustomed to the sight of us, as we daily passed by, and was losing her fear of us, an invitation was sent her to come with Cho and listen to the teaching. However, invitation after invitation was declined, and the missionaries quietly waited for the Spirit of the Lord to woo and win her.

Meanwhile Cho’s interest was awakened, and developed until at last he took Jesus to be his own Saviour, and erelong sought and received baptism. He gave up smoking, and began to live a quiet, consistent Christian life.

One morning, just as the morning service was beginning, in slipped the little old mother, quiet as a mouse, and dropped on the mats beside her son. No notice was taken of her, and the service went quietly on to the close, and then, as the members of the class bowed low with their heads to the floor—as is Japanese custom before taking one’s departure—the missionary said, quietly but cordially: “We are glad to see you here this morning, O Baa San.” Thereafter she came regularly to hear the “Jesus doctrine,” always quietly dropping in, the last one, at the little gathering, silently listening, and as silently slipping away again at its close. Whether or not any impression was being made upon the heart so long shrouded in the darkness of heathendom we had no means of knowing. But we prayed on.

Cho’s wife was getting supper ready for the little family in the gatehouse one evening. A baby daughter had come to cheer their home, and had been the unconscious means of drawing the delighted grandmother and the sympathetic foreign teachers nearer together. Just now, however, the wee treasure was tucked away in her quilts in a corner of the room, fast asleep, while Kinu, the young mother, was boiling rice, preparing the fish, and slicing the highly odoriferous pickled radish for the evening meal. A diminutive oil lamp dimly lighted the small apartment. It was early autumn, and the night was cool and clear, and the stars shone brightly down upon the quiet, temporary home of the Bible Training School, their light filtering down through the branches of the weeping willow that stood by the well, and resting tenderly upon the figure of a dear little woman, so small and so frail standing there in the shadows, with clasped hands and upturned face. “O God!” she pleaded, “if there be one true God, who has done so much for my son Cho, reveal thyself to me also.”

Presently one of the sliding doors of the gatehouse was quietly pushed aside from without and Kinu looked up inquiringly: “Where have you been, mother? I have noticed of late that you frequently slip outdoors of an evening. Isn’t it cold?” And to the amazement of the daughter-in-law came the quiet earnest reply: “I have been praying to Cho’s God.”

In the old lady’s face there was a new light, and in her heart a strange, deep, sweet peace—the answer from the unseen Lord.

We heard with great joy that this precious soul, so near the end of a weary lifetime, had at last found rest and peace, and we watched quietly to see the Spirit of the living God still further teach and lead on the soul so newly awakened.

Nothing was said about the old idol worship, nor about the worship of the husband’s spirit—ancestral worship, ever the strongest link in the chain that binds souls in the kingdom of darkness. But daily Miss S expounded the word of the Lord, and, all unseen to human sight, the good seed took root and grew up and bore fruit. Erelong our dear little lady asked to be baptized, and her request was granted.

One day we were both sitting at our desks in the one room that served us then as offices, dining and reception room, when there came a knock at the door. In answer to our “Come In!” the door opened and in came our wee O Baa San. Approaching the table, she placed upon it a small wooden shrine, the shrine at which she had so long and so faithfully worshipped the spirit of her deceased husband.

“Semsei,” she said turning to Miss S “you may have this shrine. I don’t need it any more I have SOMETHING BETTER.”

The End

Children’s Story – Ned’s Trust

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“Boy wanted.”

That was the neatly written sign that had hung so long in the window of Mr. Drake’s grocery store that people wondered why it was that it seemed to be so difficult for him to secure a boy, when the place was such a good one, with chances of promotion. But Mr. Drake could have told them that there were plenty of boys anxious and ready for the position, but that it was hard for him to find one with all the necessary qualifications.

In the first place, Mr. Drake required exceptional references, and in addition to that, good security for the boy’s honesty; and though most of the applicants for the position could bring references, none of them were able to furnish the necessary security.

Ned Bown’s face lighted up with hope one morning when he saw the notice on his way down town. Here was just the very chance he had been looking for, and he determined to apply for the vacancy at once.

“Mr. Drake, I want a place very much,” he said, as the merchant looked up from the newspaper he was reading when the boy entered the store.

“And I want a boy very much.” Mr. Drake answered. “So perhaps we can make a bargain. Can you bring me any references and security?”

“I can bring you references Sir,” Ned answered, his hope beginning to diminish at the mention of security.”

“That is good, but I have resolved never to take a boy unless some one has confidence enough in his honesty to be willing to go his security.”

“I am afraid I couldn’t furnish any security, Sir,” Ned answered sadly, as he realized that he had no friend from whom he would like to ask such a favor.

“Then I am afraid we can’t make any bargain,” and Mr. Drake took up his paper again, as if the matter was conclusively settled.

Ned walked slowly out of the store, thinking regretfully of the position he would have been so glad to obtain, and wondering whether in any way it would be possible to get the needed security.

He had almost forgotten about the matter two weeks later, when he went to a confectioner’s store with a school-mate who wanted to buy some candy.

It was a warm day, and the boys were heated with their walk. Presently Ned’s companion exclaimed,– “Wouldn’t this be a good time to get some ice-cream? Let’s get some . I haven’t enough money myself, but can’t you lend me some?” Ned shook his head.

“I only have the club money in my pocket, and of course I couldn’t use that.”

“Why not?” Harry asked. “It wouldn’t be any harm just to use it for a little while, and you could put it back again afterwards. You’re the treasurer, so it wouldn’t matter if you did use it, as long as you put it back again. Come on, like a good fellow, and stand treat. Some ice-cream would cool us off nicely,” and he made a move for the door of the ice-cream saloon that was at the end of the store, shut off by lace curtains.

But Ned shook his head resolutely.

“No, I can’t use it,” he answered firmly. “I don’t want to be disobliging, Harry, but it wouldn’t be right of me to touch a cent of this money. I’m sorry, for I would like some ice-cream as well as you, but indeed I can’t.”

“I think you’re altogether to particular about a few cents,” grumbled Harry. “Any one would think I was asking you to steal it to hear you talk. You can replace it as soon as you go home if you like, so what can possibly be the harm, I would like to know?”

“Well, you see it’s a trust fund,” Ned answered. “It’s money that has been put in my care, and I must be worthy of the trust. Mother says that’s just the way people begin, that end up stealing large sums. They take just a little at first, and think they will only borrow it and then put it back; and so they keep on taking a little more every time, until at last they take so much that they can’t replace it, and then they are disgraced. Now, if I don’t ever take the first step, I shall not go on to anything worse; and so though I could replace this money long before it will be wanted by the club, yet I would not touch a penny of it for anything. I’ll keep my trust.”

“I suppose I’ve got to go without the cream then, since you’re so mighty particular,” Henry answered rather ill-humoredly. “But you’ll find out that you won’t gain anything by being so much more honest than other people.”

A gentleman who had been sitting in the ice-cream saloon, hidden from the boys by the lace curtains looked after them as they passed out of the store, while a satisfied look rested on his face.

The next day, when Ned was passing Mr. Drake’s store, he was surprised at being called in, while Mr. Drake inquired,–

“Well, my boy, do you still want to work for me?”

“Yes, Sir, indeed I do,” Ned answered eagerly. “But I can’t furnish any security.”

“Well, I have determined not to wait any longer for the right boy to make his appearance, and I have made up my mind to give you a trial, and see how you suit me. I have reason to feel satisfied as to your honesty since I overhead your conversation with a friend in the confectioner’s yesterday. A boy who will not violate his trust in the smallest particular, may be trusted without any other security than his own word.”

“Don’t you think it pays to be honest, now?” Ned asked Harry, when he saw him a few hours later, and told him that Mr. Drake had engaged him.

“Well, maybe it did this time,” Harry grudgingly admitted, “but it won’t always.”

He had to confess his mistake, as he found that Ned was soon promoted to a position of responsibility, because his employer learned that he always kept his trust, and could be relied upon.

I think all boys may learn a lesson from Ned. Remember that a trust fund should always be held sacred, and never appropriated to any other uses. If this lesson was only deeply implanted in the hearts of all our boys, we would not hear so much about the dishonesty of those who hold positions of trust.

The End

Children’s Story – The Wormy Puffball

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We stayed in the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota several times during a summer, a few years ago, while my parents were helping at a ministry there. Once while were there, a lady from the ministry picked a nice big puffball for us to eat (a puffball is a type of mushroom).

After waiting a day or two, we decided to cook it. We arrived at the cabin where we were staying, eager to find out what a puffball tasted like.

A little after we arrived, Dad called me up to the cabin door. He held the cut-apart puffball in his hand. Lo and behold, the whole inside seemed to be squirming! It was full of little worms!

I was thinking of how that puffball can represent us. From the outside it looked normal and appetizing. Just so, we can look pretty good on the outside—do things for people, go to Sabbath School and church every week, and act pretty nice—and yet we can still be pretty ugly on the inside—full of jealousy, anger, and pride. If we look pleasant on the outside but are nasty on the inside, we aren’t really Christians (Christians are like Jesus, you know); we are just pretending. That’s called living a lie.

A few days ago, on Sabbath, while we were walking in the hills near our house here in North Dakota, we found some more big puffballs. We broke them open and discovered something interesting—the top parts were good, while the lower parts had worms in them. The little worms evidently enter at the root end!

The devil begins to enter our minds at the deep roots. If you and I aren’t guarding our minds with Jesus’ help, we may not really even notice him until he really has control over us so that our words and actions start getting ugly, too.

Only God can help us keep the devil’s ugliness out of our minds. “Submit ourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7

Why not ask Jesus now to show you where the devil might be sneaking into your life and to help you overcome him? “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139: 23, 24

The End

Children’s Story – The Runaway Horses

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Mr. and Mrs. Wallner moved to the state of Montana, where the government was offering property free to anyone who would settle on it and improve the land. They were required to fence the property, build on it, and put part of it into cultivation. So Mr. Wallner signed up for two sections of land—a total of 1280 acres. He was only allowed to homestead one section, but he had to pay for the other one, which he did.  He had no tractor or other locomotive equipment, for in those days farming was done with horses. He had several good teams, but one was especially strong and high spirited. They were a beautiful team of dapple gray horses. They loved to work and to run. Their names were Pete and Vick.

The Wallners lived quite a distance from any city, but there was a little store and post office about 15 miles away. The store keeper and the post master were the same person, and both businesses were in his home.

One day Mrs. Wallner hitched up Pete and Vick to the spring wagon. She bundled up her one year old boy and together they set off for the little store. After she had done her business she started back home. On her way she stopped in to see the neighbors who lived about two miles from her home.

The neighbor, Mr. Huff, warned, “Watch out, those horses are acting very nervous.” Mrs. Wallner said, “Oh, I can handle them.”

But when she got over the hill and in the site of home she found out the horses were indeed too much to handle. When Pete and Vick saw the barn, they left the road and started in a beeline across the sage brush for the barn at full speed. The wagon bobbed up and down, up and down, over rocks, sage brush, and dirt mounds.

Mrs. Wallner realizing that the wagon might turn over at any moment, and that it might cost the life of her baby as well as her own, she decided to pick up the baby and jump out of the wagon.
But just as she was in the process of picking him up, the wagon hit a huge rock and bounced into the air; she was thrown out and the baby was left in the wagon. Sitting there in the sage brush she offered an earnest prayer to her Heavenly Father and said, “Oh! Lord save my baby.” In an instant, the wagon became detached from the horses and it came to a stop. Of course, the horses kept running to the barn.

She thanked her Savior, and quickly went to see what happened. First of all she found her baby safe in the wagon. She also found that the bolt that connected the double tree to the wagon tongue, had been pulled out. She knew this was virtually impossible for the bolt was ten inches long, an inch in diameter, and had a large nut on it; but there it lay on the ground.

Although she never saw the angel, she was sure that the baby’s guardian angel had saved his life.

The End

Children’s Story – Rowena and the Pills

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Mr. and Mrs. Woods were a very fine young couple. One day Jesus gave them a lovely baby girl to make their home even happier than it was. Of course, they had to think of a name for this sweet little member of their family. Thus her name became Rowena.

Rowena was a sweet cuddly little baby, and she grew very fast. Time slipped by very rapidly for Rowena’s mother and father, as they were very busy people. Almost before they could realized it, their little child was three years old.

Well, one day the Woods family had to move. This was a big job for mommy and daddy, but Rowena just thought it was great fun. Things were scattered around and she could get into everything. She loved seeing what was in this box and that box. Moving turned out to be a great adventure for little her.

Especially was it fun when they got to their new home. For it had a stair way and upstairs rooms to investigate. Rowena had fun running up and down the stairs. But there was one room upstairs that Daddy had hooked shut, thinking that it was safe to lock out a little three year old girl, who was having fun getting settled in her new home.

The locked room was the room Daddy and Mommy were using for storage of the things that they were not needing at the present time. As mommy was cleaning up her kitchen she had a box of medications that were more in the way than they were useful, so she set them up on top of the refrigerator for a while. Then she decided that was not a good place, and since she was not using any of them, she decided to put them in the store room upstairs. That would be plenty safe, as the door was locked with a hook.

Little did Mommy know how clever their little three year old daughter was. One day when mother was very busy she paused for a moment and thought, “I wonder where Rowena is. She is so quiet and I haven’t seen her for a little while.” She called Rowena, but no answer. Mother began looking, never thinking that Rowena could get the locked door open. But mother went up the stairs, and there was Rowena in the store room.

Not only was she in the store room, but she had found the box of medications, and had consumed a whole bottle of carters little liver pills and a bottle of ionized yeast. Well, Rowena was already a very sick little girl lying on the floor.

Poor Mother, what was she to do? She had no car, as daddy had taken the car to work. She called a neighbor, who, as soon as possible, got in touch with Rowena’s daddy. He came home very quickly and rushed Rowena to the hospital. By the time she arrived there, she was unconscious.

The doctor and nurses began working on her immediately. They took a long rubber tube and put it down her nose, into her stomach and pumped out everything that was in there. They found the remains of the pills that Rowena had swallowed. The doctor shook his head and said that they did not think it would be possible to save Rowena’s life.

Mother called the minister of the local Seventh-day Adventist church, who came over to the hospital. When he saw little Rowena he too, realized that only God could save her life, so he anointed her with a little oil. He and the doctor with her parents knelt beside her bed and prayed that Jesus would heal little Rowena.

Jesus did heal her, but it took her a long time to get strong again. She had to learn to walk and talk all over again.

Is not Jesus wonderful? He loves the little children, and even when they make mistakes He wants to help them. But, it would have been better if she had not eaten those pills!

The End

Children’s Story – Gilpin’s Broken Ankle

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During the early days of the Reformation in England, toward the close of Queen Mary’s reign, Bernard Gilpin, a Reformed pastor, lived in northern England. Brother Gilpin was deeply loved by the poor villagers to whom he ministered; and from them, he had received the title, “Apostle of the North.”

One of Bernard’s favorite Bible texts, and one he used to inspire everyone he knew with hope and courage, was Romans 8:28, which says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His promise.” Whatever came, whether good or bad, his word was always the same, “Ah, well, God’s will be done; all is for the best.”

Queen Mary was a bitter enemy of Protestantism; and during her reign, many people lost their lives for accepting the Reformed faith. One day, as Mr. Gilpin was deep into his study of the Bible, there was a knock on his door. A detachment of soldiers had been sent by the queen to arrest him for heresy. He was to be taken to London, there to be charged with treason and given the typical mock trial that all received who were suspected of heresy. While Gilpin was preparing to go with the soldiers, the word of his arrest spread rapidly. Soon a large group of villagers had gathered to mourn the loss of their pastor and to bid him farewell. As he was preparing to leave them, nothing doubting that he would soon die at the martyr’s stake, Brother Gilpin tried to encourage them with the words, “God’s will be done; all is for the best.”

Near sunset on the second day of horseback riding, the soldiers and Gilpin arrived at a small village. The captain inquired about an inn in which to spend the night. As they dismounted, Gilpin fell. This so excited his horse that it bolted down the cobblestone street, dragging Gilpin behind.

When one of the soldiers finally stopped the horse and Gilpin tried to stand on his feet, a sharp pain raced up his leg. Closer examination revealed a bloody and broken ankle, as well as some other severe cuts and scrapes. Badly injured, He had to be carried into the inn by three other men.

The captain was furious. He knew that this meant a delay in their traveling. The next morning he sent all of the men ahead to report the unfortunate accident to his commander, while he remained with the prisoner. Turning to Gilpin, the captain angrily said, “I suppose that you are going to tell me that this is all for the best?”

“Sir, I make no question that it is,” Gilpin meekly replied. The rough captain laughed as he looked at the man who was soon going to lose his life for preaching against the established religion of England.

“I suppose you believe,” the captain continued, “that everything worked out well for your friends Latimer and Ridley when her royal highness burned them at the stake.” Before Gilpin could reply, the unfriendly captain continued, “and what about the Archbishop of Canterbury? You cannot tell me that he felt that when she ordered him to give his life that he was happy about it.”

A little more than two weeks passed in the little inn as the captain kept up his unrelenting attack on Gilpin’s confidence that God was going to work out things for his best good. The captain did not do all of the talking, however, and there can be little doubt that in listening to the patient answers of the quiet man of God, the rough captain’s heart was touched.

Just prior to the day that it had been determined that Gilpin’s condition had improved sufficiently so that he could make the trip to London to face trial and certain death, the town crier came past the inn announcing that Mary had died and that Elizabeth now reigned in her place. Elizabeth was a Protestant; and the captain, realizing that it would be futile to take Gilpin any farther, released him on the spot.

The Protestant Reformer returned to his flock, and the captain to his duty in London. Even though their backgrounds and beliefs were as different as night and day, there was one thing that they both knew to be true; and that is that, “All things work together for good to them that love God,” even to the breaking of an ankle.

Children’s Story – Rescue At Sea

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In the days of sailing vessels, a Moravian missionary who had been serving in Jamaica, along with his wife and their small daughter, set sail for Mississippi. As it was a trip of only a few days, the ship carried very few provisions. They had not gone far, however, when a storm arose and drove them far from their course. The storm was followed by a dead calm that settled down, making it impossible to sail.

As the days lengthened into weeks, their food and water was almost gone. Each day everyone was given a small biscuit to eat and half a pint of water to drink. Under the hot tropical sun, this was not nearly enough water, and the suffering from thirst became almost more than words can describe. The passengers’ tongues became so swollen from thirst that they could hardly close their mouths.Though they had offered many prayers for help, the day came when the supply of food was nearly gone. The missionary’s wife decided to spend the entire night in prayer, asking God to send someone to help them. Early the next morning, she finally fell asleep. Not long after she fell asleep, she was awakened by her husband’s voice.

“My dear,” he said, “we think we see a sail. I would not disappoint you, but if it is God’s will for us, it will come to our relief.”

As quickly as possible, they made their way up on to the deck. The distant ship was still too far away to be seen by the naked eye, but the passengers took turns looking through the ship’s spyglass. It certainly looked as if it were a ship. Yes; now they were sure it was a ship, but would it come their way. They had seen ships far in the distance before, but each time the ship had passed out of sight without having seen them.

But this ship was coming nearer and nearer. Soon they could see it with the naked eye. Still it kept coming closer until it came close enough that a small boat was let down and four men, one of them evidently the captain, stepped into it and came across to where the stricken vessel sat floating in the water.The captain was the first to come aboard. When he saw their desperate condition, he lifted his hat and solemnly said:

“Now I believe that there is a God in heaven!”

The ship that had rescued them proved to be one of the small steamers that towed sailing vessels into the harbor. By the rules that then bound them, they were only allowed to go a certain distance out of port to look for vessels needing their assistance. Following is the strange story that the captain told.One day after he had gone the full limit, he felt unaccountably impelled to go still farther, although there was not a vessel in sight. His mate remonstrated with him, reminding him of the fine to which he was subject if he continued on beyond the range that was permitted.

“I cannot help it! I have to go on!” was his only reply.

By and by the captain became desperately seasick, something that he had not experienced in twenty years. He became so sick that he was forced to take to his berth, yet he refused to turn back. The crew finally mutinied, for they were now growing short on provision. Thinking their captain had lost his senses, they determined to take things into their own hands and return home with the ship. At this point, the captain became so distressed that he begged them to go on, promising them that if they saw nothing to justify his action by sunrise the next morning, he would give up and promptly return home. The men reluctantly agreed to continue on through the night. When the day dawned, the man at the masthead reported a black, motionless object far out to sea.”Make for it!” exclaimed the captain, emphatically. “That is what we have come after.”

At that instant, the seasickness left him; and he took the post of command. On reaching the ship with the missionaries and seeing their terrible condition, although he had been an infidel for many years, the conviction came to him with overwhelming power that he had been supernaturally guided and that there was a God in heaven. Later, when he learned of how the feeble missionary mother had spent the entire night in prayer, he became fully convinced that He was also a prayer-hearing and prayer-answering God.

This is a modern illustration of the fact that God “delivereth and rescueth, and He worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth.” Daniel 6:27

The End

Children’s Story – Hurricanes and Shredded Sails

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You have all heard the story of Jonah and how the prophet of the Lord tried to run away from doing the job that God had given him to do in warning Nineveh. Our story this time is about a missionary and how God again directed a ship by a great storm. This time, however, God used the storm to take a man to a place where people had been praying for missionaries to come.

In 1786, a party of Methodist missionaries sailed from England on their way to Nova Scotia in Canada. There was already some mission work going on in the area, and these missionaries were going there to help strengthen the mission work that was already begun. They set sail from England on September 24. Their progress was very slow; for week after week, they found themselves being buffeted by storms. The seas were rough and the winds blew hard. Two months later, on December 4, they were finally approaching Newfoundland, but still seemed unable to complete their crossing of the Atlantic Ocean.

About this time, Dr. Coke, the leader of the mission party, received a very strong impression that they were going to be driven to the West Indies. This was a very strange thing, as they were even then getting very close to Newfoundland, and the West Indies were thousands of miles away.

Because of the contrary winds, it was becoming almost impossible for the captain to hold his course. He became convinced that somehow the missionaries were responsible for his trouble. Crying out that there was a Jonah on board, he threw many of Dr. Coke’s books and papers overboard and even threatened to throw the doctor himself over.

At ten in the evening, a dreadful gale blew from the northwest. Mr. Hilditch, one of the passengers, came running to Dr. Coke, crying, “Pray for us, Doctor, pray for us, for we are just gone!” Coming out of his cabin, Dr. Coke learned that a dreadful hurricane had just arisen. The crew, being taken by surprise, had not had time to take down the sails and expecting that at any moment the ship would be filled with water and sink, in desperation were about to cut the mast down. Once the mast and sail had been cut down the ship would no longer be able to travel with the wind and would float helplessly on the sea.

After meeting for prayer, the missionaries sang a hymn together. Just at that moment, the foresail shredded to pieces, allowing the crew to save the mast, and probably the ship itself.

The captain decided to head across the Atlantic for the West Indies, the very place that Dr. Coke had felt impressed they were to go. The half-wrecked ship landed at Antigua in the West Indies on Christmas day. On this Island, two thousand miles from their intended destination, the Methodist missionaries found a shipwright [a carpenter who works on building and repairing ships] preacher by the name of Baxter, who had been working with the Black slaves of the island. Through his labors, more than two thousand had been converted to the gospel. These faithful people had been praying that God would send them missionaries!

Dr. Coke clearly understood God’s providence to have directed them to these islands to work for the people there, and he determined to make it his place of labor. He saw in their experience the “stormy wind fulfilling His Word” (see Psalm 148:8) in sending messengers of light across the seas. These missionaries were almost the first ray of light to have come to the slave population of these dark islands.

Dr. Coke was the agent used of God to plant the light of truth among the slaves of the West Indies. During his lifetime, he crossed and recrossed the Atlantic Ocean a number of times. Finally, in his old age on his way to start a mission on Ceylon, an island country not far from the coast of India, he died aboard a ship and was buried at sea.

Children’s Story – Prayer for the Pirates

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In the days of sailing vessels, a party of Moravian missionaries was sailing toward St. Thomas in the West Indies. The ship on which they were sailing was called the Britannia. In those days, the southern seas were full of pirates; and one day a pirate ship was seen rapidly approaching the Britannia. Though poorly equipped for defense, all hands on the Britannia were called to prepare to resist the pirates. The Moravian missionaries, however, retired to their cabin. There they began praying for God to intervene and to not only spare human life, but to make it possible for them to continue on their trip so that they could carry the gospel message to a dark and waiting land.

The pirate ship continued to draw closer until it was within gunshot range of the Britannia; and then, from its many cannons, it began to pour out a heavy fire. As the ships came closer together, the men along the pirate ship’s deck next prepared themselves to board the Britannia. In order to do this; they would throw large metal hooks attached to ropes onto the deck of the ship they wanted to board. As soon as the hooks, called grappling irons, fastened themselves to something, they would quickly pull themselves across to the ship on the ropes. Just at the moment the pirates their grappling irons across toward the Britannia, their own ship was suddenly tossed violently by the waves and the men who held the ropes were thrown headlong into the sea.

Irritated with this disaster, the pirate captain sent others to take the place of the fallen men. When they also tried to board the Britannia, the same thing happened to them. Seeing that he could not succeed in this manner, the captain ordered his guns to fire again; but, strange to say, the balls all missed the Britannia, falling harmlessly into the sea. The smoke of the frequent firing of the guns was, however, very dense and hung about the vessels for quite some time, hiding them from each other’s view. When at last a gust of wind cleared away the smoke, to the amazement of the pirate captain, the Britannia was seen to be far away with all of her sails set, speeding rapidly away from him. The pirates gave up the chase as hopeless; feeling completely frustrated by their failure to capture the ship on which the missionaries were sailing.

For five years after their arrival, the missionaries continued to faithfully preach the gospel in St. Thomas. On the fifth anniversary of their narrow escape, they, along with the other brethren on the island, assembled together to celebrate. As they were sitting together, word was brought that a stranger wished to speak to them. At their permission, a tall, fine-looking man with a pleasant expression on his face entered. He asked if they were the missionaries who had come to the island in the Britannia five years before.

“We are,” replied the brother whom he addressed.

“And were you attacked upon the sea by pirates?” asked the stranger.

“Yes, replied the brother, “but why are you asking these questions?”

“Because,” answered the stranger, “I am the captain who commanded the pirate ship that attacked you. The miraculous way in which your ship escaped was the reason for my own salvation from the power of sin through faith in Christ.”

The stranger then proceeded to tell them how, on making inquiry, he was led to conclude that it was through the prayers of the missionaries that the Britannia escaped. As a result, he was determined to visit their place of worship. Finding a Moravian mission, he was there converted from the error of his ways.

“And thus,” he concluded, “from a pirate captain I am become a poor sinner, justified by the grace and mercy of Christ. My hope has been that I might some day be able to find you and tell you of my miraculous conversion. This joy has now been granted me today.”