,how ,i ,know ,god ,answers ,prayer ,the ,personal ,testimony of ,one ,life-,time ,by ,,rosalind ,,goforth 7,mrs4 ,jonathan ,goforth7 ,missionary in ,china since #ahhh ,they shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness4--,psalm #ade3g4 ,go 4 4 4 and tell them how great things the ,lord hath done for thee4--,mark #e3ai4 ,,harper ,,brothers ,,publishers ,,new ,,york ,,and ,,london ,copyright1 #aiba1 by ,harper ,brothers ,,printed ,,in ,,the ,,united ,,states ,,of ,,america ,,foreword ,,it seems fitting that this little book of personal testimonies to answered prayer should have a brief introductory word as to how they came to be written4 ,the question has been asked by some who read many of these testimonies as they appeared in the pages of ,the ,sunday ,school ,times3 ,how could you write such personal and sacred incidents in your life8 ,i could not have written them but for a very clear1 ,god-given leading4 ,the story is as follows3 ,when in ,canada on our first furloughs ,i was frequently amazed at the incredulity expressed when definite testimony was given to an answer to prayer4 ,sometimes this was shown by an expressive shrug of the shoulders1 sometimes by a sudden silence or turning of the topic of conversation1 and sometimes more openly by the query3 ,how do you know that it might not have happened so1 anyway8 ,gradually the impression deepened3 ,if they will not believe one1 two1 or a dozen testimonies1 will they believe the combined testimonies of one whole life8 ,the more ,i thought of what it would mean to record the sacred incidents connected with answers to prayer the more ,i shrank from the publicity1 and from undertaking the task4 ,there were dozens of answers far too sacred for the public eye1 which were known only to a few1 others known only to ,god4 ,but if the record were to carry weight with those who did not believe in the supernatural element in prayer1 many personal and scarcely less sacred incidents must of necessity be made public4 ,again and again ,i laid the matter aside as impossible4 ,but ,i know now that the thing was of ,god4 ,as months1 even years1 passed1 the impelling sense that the record of answers to prayer must be written gave me no rest4 ,it was at the close of the #aijh-aj furlough--during which1 as a family1 we had been blessed with many and1 to our weak faith1 wonderful answers to prayer--that my oldest son urged me to put down in some definite form the answers to prayer of my life1 and extracted from me a solemn promise that ,i would do so4 ,but months passed after returning to ,china1 and the record had not been touched4 ,then came a sudden and serious illness which threatened my life1 when the doctor told me ,i must not delay in getting my affairs in order4 ,it was then that an overwhelming sense of regret took possession of me that ,i had not set down the prayer testimonies1 and solemnly ,i covenanted with the ,lord that if he would raise me up they should be written4 ,there was no more question of what others might think2 the one thought was to obey4 ,the ,lord raised me up2 and although he had to deal with me very sternly once more before ,i really set myself to the task1 the testimonies that are given here were written at last--most of them in odd moments of time during strenuous missionary journeys among the heathen4 ,thus it will be seen that these incidents of answered prayer are not given as being more wonderful1 or more worthy of record1 than multitudes the world over could testify to2 but they are written and sent out simply and only because ,i had to write them or disobey ,god4 ,,rosalind ,,goforth4 ,,contents ,,foreword ,how these testimonies came to be written iii ,i ,,getting ,,things ,,from ,,god ,the simplicity of petition #a ,,ii ,,early ,,lessons ,,in ,,the ,,life ,,of ,,faith ,led by a bird4 ,toothache taken away4 ,reward of seeking first the ,kingdom4 ,financial aid4 ,sunday-school scholars given4 ,guidance in time of crisis4 ,a prayer preparation for ,china4 ,a beautiful seal on the new life #f ,,iii ,,go ,,forward ,,on ,,your ,,knees 7#ahhg-ahid7 ,the key-note of pioneer years4 ,help in the language from the ,home ,base4 ,prayer-opened doors4 ,deliverance in time of peril4 ,kept by the power of ,god4 ,prayer and medical work4 ,converts from the first4 ,wang ,feng-ao1 the proud ,confucian scholar4 ,wang ,fu-,lin1 the opium fiend4 ,dr4 ,hunter ,corbett's testimony4 ,the result of obedience4 ,from the gates of death4 ,lord ,sandwich's testimony #ae ,,iv ,a ,,god-,,given ,,field 7#ahid-aijj7 ,a promise given4 ,the promise fulfilled4 ,our great need4 ,one need supplied--an evangelist4 ,a second need supplied--a ,bible-woman4 ,paying the price of petition4 ,a touch of healing4 ,a ,chinaman's faith1--the locust story6 ,a ,christian woman's faith for her child4 ,our child died--a case of unanswered prayer4 ,a ,god of deliverances #bh ,v ,,our ,,deliverance ,,from ,,the ,,boxers 7#aijj7 ,a clear answer to prayers in the home church4 ,led on through dangers and trials4 ,safely brought through #dc ,,vi ,,proving ,,god',s ,,faithfulness 7#aijb-aijh7 ,god must come first4 ,a hard proposition4 ,in the furnace4 ,made willing in the day of ,god's power4 ,testimony to ,god's abundant faithfulness4 ,a ,bible-woman of exceptional power given4 ,god meeting the ,home message--,retrench4 ,abundant funds provided4 ,a beautiful instance of ,god's wireless4 ,a case of ,while they are yet speaking ,i will hear4 ,the life made easier4 ,a child's fever restrained4 ,blessing in the work1 converts given4 ,a ,god-suggested remedy4 ,chinese prevailing prayer for ,mr4 ,goforth4 ,women sent to us4 ,doors for preaching opened4 ,workers supplied abundantly4 ,kept from smallpox4 ,we may trust ,him wholly4 #fi ,,vii ,,the ,,story ,,of ,,one ,,furlough 7#aijh-aiaj7 ,meeting a condition of petition--obedience4 ,six difficult doors opened4 ,trusting for everything4 ,apples sent in abundance4 ,fruit1 the best1 in abundance4 ,a telephone supplied4 ,a fur coat4 ,god's wonderful keeping power1 a blessed experience4 ,help for the children's sewing4 ,another case of ,god's wireless4 ,a timely offer4 ,a daughter's guardian provided4 ,a case of the ,lord's lovingkindness--a red cloth ulster6 ,too many to record #hi ,,viii ,,our ,,god ,,of ,,the ,,impossible ,a blessed incident from ,keswick4 ,a verse of a hymn given4 ,a governess provided4 ,rain withheld in answer to prayer4 ,five pounds sent4 ,sewing and prayer4 ,a gracious leading1 and a great need supplied4 ,an incident in ,tientsin4 ,more help with the sewing4 ,a sewing machine supplied4 ,a case of tuberculosis healed4 ,two incidents of prayer and revival4 ,fifty dollars sent for friends in need4 ,another case of spiritual wireless4 ,led to a lost key #aje ,,ix ,,to ,,his ,,praise6 ,trusting ,god to supply needs4 ,his faithfulness4 ,prayer and dress4 ,the restraining power of prayer--my son in the ,great ,war4 ,a prayer answered abundantly for one at home4 ,our ,god-given site4 ,closing words4 ,all in abide4 ,bible study on prayer #abd ,x ,,victory ,,found ,childhood yearnings for the presence of ,christ4 ,half-hearted conflict with sin in early years in ,china4 ,pride and bad temper4 ,secretly criticized by ,chinese women4 ,how to live ,christ as well as preach him4 ,heights and depths of spiritual experience4 ,lifelong prayer for the fulness of the ,spirit4 ,the conference at ,niagara-on-the-,lake1 ,june1 #aiaf4 ,a speaker's message and leaflet on ,the ,victorious ,life4 ,christ accepted as ,saviour from the power of sin as well as from its penalty4 ,the joy of realizing his ,indwelling ,presence4 ,all summed up in one word1 ,resting4 ,bible-study on ,the ,life of ,victory in ,christ #aca ,i ,,getting ,,things ,,from ,,god ,are not five sparrows sold for two farthings1 and not one of them is forgotten before ,god8 4 4 4 ,fear not therefore3 ye are of more value than many sparrows4--,the ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,,the pages of this little book deal almost wholly with just one phase of prayer--petition4 ,the record is almost entirely a personal testimony of what petition to my ,heavenly ,father has meant in meeting the everyday crises of my life4 ,a prominent ,christian worker1 who read some of these testimonies in ,the ,sunday ,school ,times1 said to the writer3 ,to emphasize getting things from ,god1 as you do1 is to make prayer too material4 ,to me this seems far from true4 ,god is my ,father1 ,i am his child4 ,as truly as ,i delight to be sought for by my child when he is cold or hungry1 ill1 or in need of protection1 so is it with my ,heavenly ,father4 ,prayer has been hedged about with too many man-made rules4 ,i am convinced that ,god has intended prayer to be as simple and natural1 and as constant a part of our spiritual life1 as the intercourse between a child and his parent in the home4 ,and as a large part of that intercourse between child and parent is simply asking and receiving1 just so is it with us and our ,heavenly ,parent4 ,perhaps1 however1 the most blessed element in this asking and getting from ,god lies in the strengthening of faith which comes when a definite request has been granted4 ,what more helpful and inspiring than a ringing testimony of what ,god has done8 ,as ,i have recalled the past in writing these incidents1 one of the most precious memories is that of an evening when a number of friends had gathered in our home4 ,the conversation turned on answered prayer4 ,for more than two hours we vied with one another in recounting personal incidents of ,god's wonderful work2 and the inspiration of that evening still abides4 ,a ,christian minister once said to me3 ,is it possible that the great ,god of the universe1 the ,maker and ,ruler of mankind1 could or would1 as you would make out1 take interest in such a trifle as the trimming of a hat6 ,to me it is preposterous6 ,yet did not our ,lord ,jesus ,christ say3 ,the very hairs of your head are all numbered2 and not one sparrow is forgotten before ,god2 and again1 ,your heavenly ,father knoweth what ye have need of before ye ask him8 ,it is true that ,there is nothing too great for ,god's power2 and it is just as true that ,there is nothing too small for his love6 ,if we believe ,god's ,word we must believe1 as ,dan ,crawford has tersely and beautifully expressed it1 that ,the ,god of the infinite is the ,god of the infinitesimal4 ,yes1 he ,who clears the grounding berg ,and guides the grinding floe1 ,he hears the cry of the little kit fox ,and the lemming of the snow6 ,no more wonderful testimony1 perhaps1 has ever been given of ,god's willingness to help in every emergency of life1 than that which ,mary ,slessor gave1 when asked to tell what prayer had meant to her4 ,my life1 she wrote1 is one long daily1 hourly record of answered prayer4 ,for physical health1 for mental overstrain1 for guidance given marvelously1 for errors and dangers everted1 for enmity to the ,gospel subdued1 for food provided at the exact hour needed1 for everything that goes to make up life and my poor service4 ,i can testify1 with a full and often wonder-stricken awe1 that ,i believe ,god answers prayer4 ,i know ,god answers prayer6 ,i have been asked the question3 ,has ,god always given you just what you have asked for8 ,oh1 no6 ,for him to have done so would have been great unkindness4 ,for instance3 when ,i was a young woman ,i prayed for three years that ,god would grant me a certain petition4 ,sometimes ,i pleaded for this as for life itself1 so intensely did ,i want it4 ,then ,god showed me very clearly that ,i was praying against his will4 ,i resigned my will to his in the matter1 and a few months later ,god gave what was infinitely better4 ,i have often praised him for denying my prayer2 for had he granted it ,i could never have come to ,china4 ,then1 too1 we must remember that many of our prayers1 though always heard1 are not granted because of some sin harbored in the life1 or because of unbelief1 or of failure to meet some other ,bible-recorded condition governing prevailing prayer4 7,see ,bible ,study on pages #abi1 #acj47 ,the following incidents of answered prayer are by no means a complete record4 ,how could they be1 when no record of prayer has been kept all these fifty years8 ,had there been1 ,i doubt not that volumes could have been written to the glory of ,god's grace and power in answering prayer4 ,but even from what is recorded here ,i1 too1 can say from a full heart1 ,i know ,god answers prayer4 ,he answered prayer3 so sweetly that ,i stand ,amid the blessing of his wondrous hand ,and marvel at the miracle ,i see1 ,the favours that his love hath wrought for me4 ,pray on for the impossible1 and dare ,upon thy banner this brave motto bear1 ',my ,father answers prayer4' ,,ii ,,early ,,lessons ,,in ,,the ,,life ,,of ,,faith ,i love the ,lord1 because he hath heard my voice and my supplications4--,psalm #aaf3a4 ,,when a very little child1 so young ,i can remember nothing earlier1 a severe thunderstorm passed over our home4 ,terrified1 ,i ran to my mother1 who placed my hands together1 and pointing upward repeated over and over again the one word ,jesus4 ,more than fifty years have passed since that day1 but the impression left upon my child-mind1 of a ,being invisible but able to hear and help1 has never been effaced4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the most precious recollections of early childhood are associated with stories told us by our mother1 many of which illustrated the power of prayer4 ,one that made a specially deep impression upon me was about our grandfather1 who as a little boy went to visit cousins in the south of ,england1 their home being situated close to a dense forest4 ,one day the children1 lured by the beautiful wild flowers1 became hopelessly lost in the woods4 ,after trying in vain to find a way out1 the eldest1 a young girl1 called the frightened1 crying little ones around her and said3 ,when mother died she told us to always tell ,jesus if we were in any trouble4 ,let us kneel down1 and ask him to take us home4 ,they knelt1 and as she prayed one of the little ones opened his eyes1 to find a bird so close to his hand that he reached out for it4 ,the bird hopped away1 but kept so close to the child as to lead him on4 ,soon all were joining in the chase after the bird1 which flew or hopped in front or just above1 and sometimes on the ground almost within reach4 ,then suddenly it flew into the air and away4 ,the children looked up to find themselves on the edge of the woods and in sight of home4 ,with such influences bearing upon one at an impressionable age1 it is not surprising that ,i came even as a very little child to just tell ,jesus when in trouble4 99 99 99 99 99 ,through the mists of memory one incident comes out clearly1 which occurred when ,i was six or seven years of age4 ,while playing one day in the garden1 ,i was seized with what we then called jumping toothache4 ,i ran to my mother for comfort1 but nothing she could do seemed to ease the pain4 ,the nerve must have become exposed1 for the pain was acute4 ,suddenly ,i thought1 ,jesus can help me1 and just as ,i was1 with my face pressed against my mother's breast1 ,i said in my heart3 ,lord ,jesus1 if you will take away this toothache right now1 now1 ,i will be your little girl for three years4 ,before the prayer was well uttered the pain was entirely gone4 ,i believed that ,jesus had taken it away2 and the result was that for years1 when tempted to be naughty1 ,i was afraid to do what ,i knew was wrong lest1 if ,i broke my side of what ,i felt to be a compact1 the toothache would return4 ,this little incident had a real influence over my early life1 gave me a constant sense of the reality of a divine presence1 and so helped to prepare me for the public confession of ,christ as my ,saviour a few years later1 at the age of eleven4 99 99 99 99 99 ,about a year after my confession of ,christ an incident occurred which greatly strengthened my faith1 and led me to look to ,god as a ,father in a new way4 ,when ,easter ,sunday morning came it was so warm only spring clothes could be worn4 ,my sister and ,i decided at breakfast that we would not go to church1 as we had only our old winter dresses4 ,going to my room1 ,i turned to my ,bible to study it1 when it opened at the sixth chapter of ,matthew1 and my eye rested on these words3 ,why take ye thought for raiment 4 4 4 seek ye first the kingdom of ,god1 and all these things shall be added unto you4 ,it was as if ,god spoke the words directly to me4 ,i determined to go to church1 even if ,i had to humiliate myself by going in my old winter dress4 ,the ,lord was true to his promise2 ,i can still feel the power the resurrection messages had upon my heart that day so long ago4 ,and further1 on the following day a box came from a distant aunt1 containing not only new dresses but much else that might well be included in the all these things4 99 99 99 99 99 ,an unforgetable proof of ,god's loving care came to us as a family about this time1 when my parents were face to face with a serious financial crisis4 ,isaiah #fe3bd was literally fulfilled3 ,before they call1 ,i will answer2 and while they are yet speaking1 ,i will hear4 ,at that time1 it is necessary to state1 we depended on a quarterly income1 which came through my mother's lawyer in ,england4 ,unusual circumstances had so drained our resources that we found ourselves1 in the middle of the quarter1 with barely sufficient to meet a week's needs4 ,my dear mother assured us that the ,lord would provide2 that he would not forsake those who put their trust in him4 ,that very day a letter came from the lawyer in ,england1 enclosing a draft for a sum ample to meet our needs till the regular remittance should arrive4 ,this unexpected and timely draft proved to be a bonus1 which did not occur again4 99 99 99 99 99 ,some years later1 having moved to a strange city1 a great longing came to do some definite service for my ,master4 ,one day there came to the ,bible class ,i attended a call for teachers1 to aid in a ,sunday-school near by4 ,when ,i presented myself before the superintendent of this ,sunday-school the following ,sunday1 and offered my services1 it is not much wonder ,i received a rebuff1 for ,i was young and quite unknown4 ,i was told that if ,i wished a class1 it would be well for me to find my own scholars4 ,i can remember how a lump seemed choking me all the way home that day4 ,at last1 determining not to be baffled1 ,i prayed the ,lord to help me get some scholars4 ,i went forth praying every step of the way1 the following ,saturday afternoon2 and canvassing just one short street near our home1 ,i received the promise of nineteen children for ,sunday-school4 ,the next day a rather victorious young woman walked up to the ,sunday-school superintendent with seventeen children following4 ,needless to say ,i was given a class4 ,in the autumn of #ahhe the ,toronto ,mission ,union1 a faith mission1 decided to establish a branch mission in the ,east ,end slums of that city4 ,three others with myself were deputed to open this work4 ,everything connected with it was entirely new to me2 but most helpful and inspiring ,i found it4 ,for in face of tremendous difficulties1 that seemed to my inexperienced eyes insurmountable1 ,i learned that prayer was the secret which overcame every obstacle1 the key that unlocked every closed door4 ,i felt like a child learning a new and wonderful lesson--as ,i saw benches1 tables1 chairs1 stove1 fuel1 lamps1 oil1 even an organ1 coming in answer to definite prayer for these things4 ,but best sight of all was when men and women1 deep in sin1 were converted and changed into workers for ,god1 in answer to prayer4 ,praise ,god for the lessons then learned1 which were invaluable later when facing the heathen4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the time came when two diverse paths lay before me--one to ,england1 as an artist2 one to ,china1 as a missionary4 ,circumstances made a definite decision most difficult4 ,i thought ,i had tried every means to find out ,god's will for me1 and no light had come4 ,but in a day of great trouble1 when my precious mother's very life seemed to hang in the balance1 ,i shut myself up with ,god's ,word1 praying definitely for him to guide me to some passage by which ,i might know his will for my life4 ,my ,bible opening at the fifteenth chapter of ,john's ,gospel1 the sixteenth verse seemed to come as a message to me3 ,ye have not chosen me1 but ,i have chosen you1 and ordained you1 that ye should go and bring forth fruit4 ,going to my dear mother and telling her of the message ,god had given me1 she said3 ,i dare not fight against ,god4 ,from that time the last hindrance from going to ,china was removed4 ,surely the wonderful way ,god has kept his child for more than thirty years in ,china is proof that this call was not a mistaken one4 ,in all thy ways acknowledge him1 and he will make plain thy paths 7,prov4 #c3 #f1 marg474 ,during the summer of #ahhg a book written by ,dr4 ,hudson ,taylor came into my hands4 ,in ,china's ,spiritual ,needs and ,claims the writer told many instances of ,god's gracious provision in answer to prayer4 ,the incidents related impressed me deeply4 ,a little later1 a few weeks before my marriage1 when ,i found ,i was short fifty dollars of what ,i would need to be married free of debt1 ,i resolved not to let others know of my need1 but to just trust ,god to send it to me4 ,the thought came--if you cannot trust ,god for this1 when ,hudson ,taylor could trust for so much more1 are you worthy to be a missionary8 ,it was my first experience of trusting quite alone for money4 ,i was sorely tempted to give others just a hint of my need4 ,but ,i was kept back from doing so2 and though ,i had a week or more of severe testing1 peace of mind and the assurance that ,god would supply my need1 came at length4 ,the answer1 however1 did not come till the very last night before the wedding4 ,that evening a number of my fellow-workers from the ,east ,end ,mission called1 and presented me with a beautifully illuminated address and a purse4 ,after these friends had left ,i returned to my home circle assembled in the back parlor1 and showed them the address and the purse unopened6 ,not for a moment did ,i think there was anything in the purse till my brother said3 ,you foolish girl1 why don't you open it8 ,i opened the purse1 and found it contained a check for fifty dollars6 ,this incident has ever remained peculiarly precious2 for it seemed to us a seal of ,god upon the new life opening before us4 ,,iii ,,go ,,forward ,,on ,,your ,,knees #ahhg-ahid ,i will go before thee1 and make the crooked places straight3 ,i will break in pieces the gates of brass1 and cut in sunder the bars of iron 7,isa4 #de3b74 ,,in ,,attempting to record what prayer meant in our early pioneer days1 other than purely personal testimonies must be given2 for we were1 as a little band of missionaries1 bound together in our common needs and dangers by a very close bond4 99 99 99 99 99 ,in ,october1 #ahhg1 my husband was appointed by the ,canadian ,presbyterian ,church to open a new field1 in the northern section of the ,province of ,honan1 ,china4 ,we left ,canada the following ,january1 reaching ,china in ,march1 #ahhh4 ,not till then did we realize the tremendous difficulties of the task before us4 ,dr4 ,hudson ,taylor1 of the ,china ,inland ,mission1 writing to us at this time1 said3 ,we understand ,north ,honan is to be your field2 we1 as a mission1 have tried for ten years to enter that province from the south1 and have only just succeeded4 ,it is one of the most anti-foreign provinces in ,china4 4 4 4 ,brother1 if you would enter that province1 you must go forward on your knees4 ,these words gave the key-note to our early pioneer years4 ,would that a faithful record had been kept of ,god's faithfulness in answering prayer6 ,our strength as a mission and as individuals1 during those years so fraught with dangers and difficulties1 lay in the fact that we did realize the hopelessness of our task apart from divine aid4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the following incident occurred while we were still outside ,honan1 studying the language at a sister mission4 ,it illustrates the importance of prayer from the home base for those on the field4 ,my husband was finding great difficulty in acquiring the language2 he studied faithfully many hours daily1 but made painfully slow progress4 ,he and his colleague went regularly together to the street chapel1 to practise preaching in ,chinese to the people2 but1 though ,mr4 ,goforth had come to ,china almost a year before the other missionary1 the people would ask the latter to speak instead of ,mr4 ,goforth1 saying they understood him better4 ,one day1 just before starting as usual for the chapel1 my husband said3 ,if the ,lord does not give me very special help in this language ,i fear ,i shall be a failure as a missionary4 ,some hours later he returned1 his face beaming with joy4 ,he told me that he realized most unusual help when his turn came to speak2 sentences came to his mind as never before2 and not only had he made himself understood1 but some had appeared much moved1 coming up afterward to have further conversation with him4 ,so delighted and encouraged was he with this experience that he made a careful note of it in his diary4 ,some two months and a half later a letter came from a student in ,knox ,college1 saying that on a certain evening a number of students had met specially to pray for ,mr4 ,goforth4 ,the power of prayer was such1 and the presence of ,god so manifestly felt1 that they decided to write and ask ,mr4 ,goforth if any special help had come to him at that time4 ,looking in his diary1 he found that the time of their meeting corresponded with that time of special help in the language4 ,i cannot tell why there should come to me ,a thought of some one miles and years away1 ,in swift insistence on the memory1 ,unless there is a need that ,i should pray4 ,we are too busy to spare thought ,for days together of some friends away2 ,perhaps ,god does it for us--and we ought ,to read his signal as a sign to pray4 ,perhaps just then my friend has fiercer fight1 ,a more appalling weakness1 a decay ,of courage1 darkness1 some lost sense of right2 ,and so1 in case he needs my prayers--,i pray4 ,at last the joyful news reached us women1 waiting outside of ,honan1 that our brethren had secured property in two centers4 ,it would be difficult for those in the homeland to understand what the years of waiting had meant to some of us4 ,the danger to those dear to us1 touring in ,honan1 was very great4 ,for years they never left us to go on a tour without our being filled with dread lest they should never return2 yet the ,lord1 in his mercy1 heard our prayers for them2 and though often in grave danger1 none received serious injury4 ,this is not a history of the mission1 but ,i cannot forbear giving here one incident illustrating how they were kept during those early days4 99 99 99 99 99 ,two of our brethren1 after renting property at a town just within the boundary of ,honan1 and near the ,wei ,river1 moved in1 intending to spend the winter there2 but a sudden and bitter persecution arose1 just as they had become settled4 ,the mission premises were attacked by a mob1 and everything was looted4 ,the two men were roughly handled1 one being dragged about the courtyard4 ,they found themselves at last left alone1 their lives spared1 but everything gone4 ,their position was serious in the extreme--several days' journey away from friends1 with no money1 no bedding1 and no clothes but those upon them1 and the cold winter begun4 ,in their extremity1 they knelt down and committed themselves to the ,lord4 ,and according to his promise he delivered them out of their distresses2 for even while they prayed a brother missionary from a distant station was at hand4 ,he arrived unexpectedly1 without knowing what had occurred1 a few hours after the looting had taken place4 ,his coming at such an opportune moment filled the hearts of their heathen enemies with fear4 ,money and goods were returned1 and from that time the violent opposition of the people ceased4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a few months after the above incident several families moved into ,honan1 and a permanent occupation was effected2 but the hearts of the people seemed as adamant against us4 ,they hated and distrusted us as if we were their worst enemies4 ,the district in which we settled was known for its turbulent and anti-foreign spirit1 and as a band of missionaries we were frequently in the gravest danger4 ,many times we realized that we1 as well as our fellow-workers at the other stations1 were kept from serious harm only by the over-ruling1 protecting power of ,god in answer to the many prayers which were going up for us all at this critical juncture in the history of our mission4 ,the following are concrete examples of how ,god heard our prayers at this time4 ,we had for our station doctor a man of splendid gifts4 ,he was a gold medalist1 with years of special training and hospital experience1 and was looked upon as one of the rising physicians in the city from which he came4 ,imagine his disappointment1 therefore1 when month after month passed and scarcely a good case came to the hospital4 ,the people did not know what he could do1 and moreover they were afraid to trust themselves into his hands4 ,we1 as a little band of missionaries1 began to pray definitely that the ,lord would send cases to the hospital which would open the hearts of the people toward us and our message4 ,it was not long before we saw this prayer answered beyond all expectation4 ,several very important cases came almost together1 one so serious that the doctor hesitated for days before operating4 ,when at last the operation did take place the doctor's hands were strengthened by our prayers1 the patient came through safely1 and a few days later was going around a living wonder to the people4 ,very much depended upon the outcome of this and other serious operations4 ,had the patients died under the doctor's hands1 it would have been quite sufficient to have caused the destruction of the mission premises and the life of every missionary4 ,three years later the hospital records showed that there had been twenty-eight thousand treatments in one year4 ,again1 we kept praying that the ,lord would give us converts from the very beginning4 ,we had heard of missionaries in ,india1 ,china1 and elsewhere1 who had worked for many years without gaining converts2 but we did not believe that this was ,god's will for us4 ,we believed that it was his pleasure and purpose to save men and women through his human channels1 and why not from the beginning8 ,so we kept praying and working and expecting converts1 and ,god gave them to us4 ,the experience of thirty years has confirmed this belief4 ,space permits the mention of but two of these earliest converts4 ,the first was ,wang ,feng-ao1 who came with us into ,honan as ,mr4 ,goforth's personal teacher4 ,he was a man of high degree1 equal to the ,western ,m4 ,a41 and was one of the proudest and most overbearing of ,confucian scholars4 ,he despised the missionaries and their teaching1 and so great was his opposition that he would beat his wife every time she came to see us or listen to our message4 ,but ,mr4 ,goforth kept praying for this man1 and using all his influence to win him for ,christ4 ,before many months passed a great change had come over ,mr4 ,wang2 his proud1 overbearing manner had changed1 and he became a humble1 devout follower of the lowly ,nazarene4 ,god used a dream to awaken this man's conscience--as is not uncommon in ,china4 ,one night he dreamed he was struggling in a deep1 miry pit2 but try as he would he could find no way of escape4 ,when about to give up in despair1 he looked up and saw ,mr4 ,goforth and another missionary on the bank above him1 with their hands stretched out to save him4 ,again he sought for some other way of escape2 but finding none1 he allowed them to draw him up4 ,this man1 later on1 became ,mr4 ,goforth's most valued evangelist4 ,for many years his splendid gifts were used to the glory of his ,master in the work among the scholar class in the ,changtefu district4 ,he has long since passed to his reward1 dying as he had lived1 trusting only in the merit of ,jesus ,christ for salvation4 99 99 99 99 99 ,another of the bright glints1 in the darkness of those earliest days in ,honan1 was the remarkable conversion of ,wang ,fu-,lin4 ,for many years his business had been that of a public story-teller2 but when ,mr4 ,goforth came across him he was reduced to an utter wreck through opium smoking4 ,he accepted the ,gospel1 but for a long time seemed too weak to break off the opium habit4 ,again and again he tried to do so1 but failed hopelessly each time4 ,the poor fellow seemed almost past hope1 when one day ,mr4 ,goforth brought him to the mission in his cart4 ,the ten days that followed can never be forgotten by those who watched ,wang ,fu-,lin struggle for physical and spiritual life4 ,i verily believe nothing but prayer could have brought him through4 ,at the end of the ten days the power of opium was broken1 and ,wang ,fu-,lin came out of the struggle a new man in ,christ ,jesus4 ,i shall have occasion to speak of this man again4 99 99 99 99 99 ,in all the cases of divine healing cited in this record it will be noted that ,god healed in answer to prayer either when the doctors had done all in their power and hope had been abandoned1 or when we were out of reach of medical aid4 ,soon after coming to ,china the ,rev4 ,hunter ,corbett1 one of the most devoted and saintly of ,god's missionaries1 gave a testimony which later was used of ,god to save the writer from giving up service in ,china and returning home to ,canada4 ,dr4 ,corbett said that for fifteen years he had been laid aside every year with that terrible scourge of the ,east--dysentery2 and the doctors at last gave a definite decision that he must return at once to the homeland and forsake ,china4 ,but1 said the grand old man3 ,i knew ,god had called me to ,china1 and ,i also knew that ,god did not change4 ,so what could ,i do8 ,i dared not go back on my call2 so ,i determined that if ,i could not live in ,china ,i could die there2 and from that time the disease lost its hold on me4 ,this testimony was given over twenty-five years ago1 when he had been almost thirty years in ,china6 ,in ,january1 #aibj1 when well-nigh ninety years of age1 this beloved and honored saint of ,god passed to higher service4 ,for several years ,i had been affected just as ,dr4 ,corbett had been1 and each year the terrible disease seemed to be getting a firmer hold upon me4 ,at last1 one day my husband brought me the decision of the doctors1 that ,i should return home4 ,and as ,i lay there ill and weak1 the temptation came to yield4 ,but1 as ,i remembered ,dr4 ,corbett's testimony1 and my own clear call1 ,i felt that to go back would be to go against my own conscience4 ,i therefore determined to do as ,dr4 ,corbett had done--leave myself in the ,lord's hands--whether for life or for death4 ,this happened more than twenty years ago1 and since then ,i have had very little trouble from that dread disease4 ,yes1 the deeper the need1 and the more bitter the extremity1 the greater the opportunity for ,god to show forth his mighty power in our lives1 if we but give him a chance by unswerving obedience at any cost4 ,in the day when ,i cried thou answeredst me1 and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul 7,psa4 #ach3c74 99 99 99 99 99 ,during our fourth year in ,china1 when we were spending the hot season at the coast1 our little son1 eighteen months old1 was taken very ill with dysentery4 ,after several days' fight for the child's life came the realization1 one evening1 that the angel of death was at hand4 ,my whole soul rebelled2 ,i actually seemed to hate ,god2 ,i could see nothing but cruel injustice in it all2 and the child seemed to be fast going4 ,my husband and ,i knelt down beside the little one's bedside1 and he pleaded earnestly with me to yield my will and my child to ,god4 ,after a long and bitter struggle ,god gained the victory1 and ,i told my husband ,i would give my child to the ,lord4 ,then my husband prayed1 committing the precious soul into the ,lord's keeping4 ,while he was praying ,i noticed that the rapid1 hard breathing of the child had ceased4 ,thinking my darling was gone1 ,i hastened for a light1 for it was dark2 but on examining the child's face ,i found that he had sunk into a deep1 sound1 natural sleep1 which lasted most of the night4 ,the following day he was practically well of the dysentery4 ,to me it has always seemed that the ,lord tested me to almost the last moment2 then1 when ,i yielded my dearest treasure to him and put my ,lord first1 he gave back the child4 99 99 99 99 99 ,while writing the above ,i came across an extract from the ,christian of ,march #ab1 #aiad1 in which the editor said3 ,speaking at the annual meeting of the ,huntingdon ,county ,hospital1 ,lord ,sandwich referred to the power of spiritual healing1 and premising that the finite mind cannot measure the power of the infinite1 said he 'looked forward to the day when the spiritual doctrine of healing and the physical discoveries of science will blend in harmonious combination1 to the glory of ,god and the benefit of humanity4' ,,iv ,a ,,god-,,given ,,field 7#ahid-aijj7 ,lord1 there is none beside thee to help1 between the mighty and him that hath no strength2 help us1 ,o ,lord our ,god2 for we rely on thee1 and in thy name are come against this multitude 7#b ,chron4 #ad3aa74 ,,the story of the opening of ,changte is so connected by a chain of prayer that to give isolated instances of prayer would be to break the chain4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a few months after our arrival in ,china an old1 experienced missionary kindly volunteered to conduct ,mr4 ,goforth and his colleague1 who had just arrived1 through ,north ,honan1 that they might see the field for themselves4 ,traveling southward by cart1 they crossed the border into ,honan early one morning4 ,as my husband walked beside the carts1 that morning1 he felt led to pray that the ,lord would give that section of ,honan to him as his field4 ,the assurance came that his prayer was granted4 ,opening his daily textbook1 he found the passage for that morning was from ,isaiah #ee3h-ac4 ,like a precious promise of future blessing for that field came the words3 ,as the rain cometh down1 and the snow from heaven1 and returneth not thither1 but watereth the earth1 and maketh it bring forth and bud1 that it may give seed to the sower1 and bread to the eater3 so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth3 it shall not return unto me void4 ,for six years1 however1 our faith was sorely tested4 ,of all places1 ,changte seemed most determined to keep out the missionary4 ,and there were other difficulties in the way4 ,a presbytery had been formed as others joined us1 and all matters had to be decided by that body4 ,two stations that had been opened1 where a foothold could first be gained1 required all1 and more than all1 the force we then had4 ,so for six years the door to ,changte remained fast closed4 ,but during all those years ,mr4 ,goforth never once lost sight of ,god's promise to him1 nor failed to believe it4 ,again and again1 when ,mr4 ,goforth and his colleague visited the city1 they were mobbed and threatened1 the people showing the utmost hostility4 ,but the day came1 at last1 when the long-prayed-for permission from the presbytery to open ,changte was granted4 ,the very next morning found ,mr4 ,goforth en route for ,changte1 to secure property for a mission site4 ,often has he told how1 all the way over that day to ,changte1 he prayed the ,lord to open the hearts of the people1 and make them willing to give him the property most suitable for the work4 ,within three days of his reaching ,changte he had thirty-five offers of property1 and was able to secure the very piece of land he had earlier chosen as most ideal for the mission4 ,thus the ,lord did break in pieces the gates of brass which had kept us so long from our promised land4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a year later ,i joined my husband there1 with our three little children4 ,it was arranged that our colleague should take charge of the outside evangelism1 while we opened work at the main station4 ,to understand what it meant for us to have our need supplied1 there should be some knowledge of what that need was4 ,we decided1 from the first1 that no one should be turned from our doors4 ,mr4 ,goforth received the men in the front guest room1 while the women and children came to our private quarters4 ,during those first weeks and months hundreds1 nay thousands1 crowded to see us4 ,day by day we were literally besieged4 ,even at meal-time our windows were banked with faces4 ,the questions ever before us those days were--how to make the most of this wonderful opportunity1 which would never come again after the period of curiosity was past2 how to win the friendship of this people1 who showed in a hundred ways their hatred and distrust of us2 how to reach their hearts with our wonderful message of a ,saviour's love8 ,all that was in our power was to do1 day by day1 what we could with the strength that was given us4 ,from early morning till dark1 sometimes nine or ten hours a day1 the strain of receiving and preaching to these crowds was kept up4 ,my husband had numbers of workmen to oversee1 material for building to purchase1 and to see to all the hundred and one things so necessary in building up a new station4 ,besides all this he had to receive1 and preach to1 the crowds that came4 ,he had no evangelist1 ,mr4 ,wang being then loaned to ,mr4 ,mac,g----4 ,i had my three little children1 and no nurse or ,bible-woman4 ,when too exhausted to speak longer to the courtyard of women1 ,i would send for my husband1 who though tired out would speak in my stead4 ,then we would rest ourselves1 and entertain the crowd1 by singing a hymn4 ,so the days passed4 ,but we soon realized that help must come1 or we would both break down4 ,one day ,mr4 ,goforth came to me with his ,bible open at the promise1 ,my ,god shall supply all your need1 and asked3 ,do we believe this8 ,if we do1 then ,god can and will supply us with some one to help preach to these crowds1 if we ask in faith4 ,he prayed very definitely for a man to preach4 ,with my doubt-blinded heart1 ,i thought it was as if he were asking for rain from a clear sky4 ,yet1 even while he prayed1 ,god was moving one to come to us4 ,a day or two later there appeared at the mission the converted opium fiend1 ,wang ,fu-,lin1 whose conversion has been already recorded4 ,no one could have looked less like the answer to our prayers than he did4 ,fearfully emaciated from long years of excessive opium smoking1 racked with a cough which three years later ended his life1 dressed in such filthy rags as only a beggar would wear1 he presented a pitiable sight4 ,yet the ,lord seeth not as man seeth4 ,after consulting together ,mr4 ,goforth decided to try him for a few days1 believing that he could at least testify to the power of ,god to save a man from his opium4 ,soon he was reclothed in some of my husband's ,chinese garments2 and within an hour or two of his entering the mission gate1 practically a beggar1 he was seated in charge of the men's chapel1 so changed one could scarcely have recognized him4 ,from the first day of his ministry at ,changte there was no doubt in the minds of any who heard him that he had indeed been sent to us by our gracious ,god1 for he had in a remarkable degree the unction and power of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,his gifts as a speaker were all consecrated to one object--the winning of souls to ,jesus ,christ4 ,he seemed conscious that his days were few1 and always spoke as a dying man to dying men4 ,little wonder is it1 therefore1 that from the very beginning of his ministry in our chapel men were won to ,christ4 ,god spared him to us for the foundation laying of the church at ,changte1 then called him higher4 99 99 99 99 99 ,mr4 ,goforth's need was relieved by the coming of ,wang ,fu-,lin1 but not mine4 ,the remarkable way ,god had sent him1 however1 gave me courage and faith to trust ,god to give me a ,bible-woman4 ,those who know anything of mission work in ,china will agree with me that it is far more difficult to find women than men who are able to preach the ,gospel2 or if able1 who are free for the work4 ,but ,i was beginning to learn that ,god is limited only from the human side2 and that he is always willing to give beyond our asking1 if the human conditions he has so plainly laid down in his ,word are fulfilled4 ,a short time after ,i had begun to ask my ,heavenly ,father definitely for a ,bible-woman1 ,mr4 ,mac ,g---- came in from a tour1 and his first words were3 ,well1 ,mrs4 ,goforth1 ,i believe we have a ready-made ,bible-woman for you6 ,then he told me how he had come across a widow and her son in a mountain village1 who had heard the ,gospel from a recent convert out of one of the other stations4 ,this man had been a member of the same religious sect as the widow and her son4 ,when he found ,christ he at once thought of his friends1 and went over the mountain to tell them4 ,mrs4 ,chang received the ,gospel gladly4 ,she had been a preacher in that heathen sect1 and had gained the fluency in speaking1 and power in holding audiences1 so necessary in the preaching of the ,gospel4 ,the way was soon opened for her to come to me1 and she became my constant companion and valuable assistant in the women's work during those early years4 ,she witnessed a good confession in #aijj--;being strung up by her thumbs when refusing to deny her ,lord4 ,faithfully she served the ,lord as a ,bible-woman1 until the time of her death in #aijc4 ,during the first two or three years at ,chang ,te ,fu we lived in unhealthy ,chinese houses1 which were low and damp4 ,it was therefore thought best that we should have a good semi-foreign house built for us4 ,the work at this time was so encouraging--converts being added weekly1 and sometimes almost daily--that we feared lest the new house would hinder the work1 and become a separating barrier between ourselves and the people4 ,we therefore prayed that ,god would make the new house a means of reaching the people--a blessing1 and not a hindrance4 ,the answer to this prayer1 as is often the case1 depended largely upon ourselves4 ,we had to be made willing to pay the price that the answer demanded4 ,in other words1 we came to see that in order that our prayer could be answered we would have to keep open house every day and all day1 which was by no means easy4 ,some assured us it was wrong1 because it would make us cheap in the eyes of the ,chinese2 others said it was wrong because of the danger of infection to the children4 ,but time proved these objections to be unfounded4 ,the very highest as well as the lowest were received1 and their friendship won by this means4 ,and1 so far as ,i can remember1 our children never met any contagion because of this way of receiving the people into our house4 ,the climax in numbers was reached in the spring of #ahii1 when eighteen hundred and thirty-five men and several hundred women were received by us in one day4 ,these were first preached to in large bands1 and then led through the house4 ,we have seen evidences of the good of this plan in all parts of our field4 ,it opened the hearts of the people toward us1 and helped us to live down suspicion and distrust as nothing else could have done4 99 99 99 99 99 ,in ,may of #ahih we started down to ,tientsin by houseboat1 with our children1 for a much-needed rest and change4 ,cold1 wet weather soon set in4 ,twelve days later1 as we came in sight of ,tientsin1 with a bitter north wind blowing1 our eldest child went on deck without his overcoat1 in disobedience to my orders4 ,shortly after the child came in with a violent chill4 ,that afternoon1 when we arrived in ,tientsin1 the doctors pronounced the verdict--pneumonia4 ,the following day1 shortly after noon1 a second doctor1 who had been called in consultation1 met a friend on his way from our boy's bedside and told her he did not think the child could live till morning4 ,i had taken his temperature1 and found it to be #ajf4 ,he was extremely restless1 tossing in the burning fever4 ,sitting down beside him1 with a cry to the ,lord to help me1 ,i said distinctly3 ,p----1 you disobeyed me1 and have thus brought this illness upon yourself4 ,i forgive you2 ask ,jesus to forgive you1 and give yourself to him4 ,the child looked at me for a moment steadily1 then closed his eyes4 ,i saw his lips move for a moment2 then quietly he sank into a sound sleep4 ,when he awoke1 about dusk1 ,i took his temperature1 and found it #aja4 ,by the time the doctor returned it was normal1 and did not rise again4 ,although he had been having hemorrhage from the lungs1 this ceased4 ,is not ,jesus ,christ the same yesterday1 to-day1 and forever8 ,why should we wonder1 therefore1 at his healing touch in this age8 ,according to your faith be it unto you4 99 99 99 99 99 ,during those early pioneer years1 when laying the foundation of the ,changte ,church1 my own weak faith was often rebuked when ,i saw the results of the simple1 child-like faith of our ,chinese ,christians4 ,some of those answers to prayer were of such an extraordinary character that1 when told in the homeland1 even ministers expressed doubts as to their genuineness4 ,but1 praise ,god1 ,i know they are true4 ,here are two concrete examples4 ,li-ming1 a warm-hearted1 earnest evangelist1 owned land some miles north of ,chang ,te ,fu4 ,on one occasion1 when visiting the place1 he found the neighbors all busy placing around their fields little sticks with tiny flags4 ,they believed this would keep the locusts from eating their grain4 ,all urged ,li-ming to do the same1 and to worship the locust god1 or his grain would be destroyed4 ,li-ming replied3 ,i worship the one only true ,god1 and ,i will pray him to keep my grain1 that you may know that he only is ,god4 ,the locusts came and ate on all sides of ,li-ming's grain1 but did not touch his4 ,when ,mr4 ,goforth heard this story he determined to get further proof1 so he visited the place for himself1 and inquired of ,li-ming's heathen neighbors what they knew of the matter4 ,one and all testified that1 when the locusts came1 their grain was eaten and ,li-ming's was not4 ,the ,lord ,jesus once said1 after a conflict with unbelief and hypocrisy3 ,i thank thee1 ,o ,father1 ,lord of heaven and earth1 because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent1 and hast revealed them unto babes4 ,our little ,gracie became ill with a terribly fatal disease1 so common in malarious districts--enlarged spleen4 ,the doctors pronounced her condition quite hopeless4 ,one day a ,chinese ,christian woman came in with her little child1 of about the same age as our ,gracie1 and very ill with the same disease4 ,the poor mother was in great distress1 for the doctor had told her also that there was no hope4 ,she thought that if we would plead with the doctor he could save her child4 ,at last ,mr4 ,goforth pointed to our little ,gracie1 saying3 ,surely1 if the doctor cannot save our child1 neither can he save yours2 your only hope and ours is in the ,lord himself4 ,the mother was a poor1 hard-working1 ignorant woman1 but she had the simple faith of a little child4 ,some few weeks later she called again1 and told me the following story3 ,when the pastor told me my only hope was in the ,lord1 ,i believed him4 ,when ,i reached home ,i called my husband1 and together we had committed our child into the ,lord's hands4 ,i felt perfectly sure the child would get well1 so ,i did not take more care of him than of a well child4 ,in about two weeks he seemed so perfectly well that ,i took him to the doctor again1 and the doctor said that he could discover nothing the matter with him4 ,that ,chinese child is now a grown-up1 healthy man4 ,and our child died4 ,yet we had prayed for her as few1 perhaps1 have prayed for any child4 ,why1 then1 was she not spared8 ,i do not know4 ,but ,i do know that there was in my life1 at that time1 the sin of bitterness toward another1 and an unwillingness to forgive a wrong4 ,this was quite sufficient to hinder any prayer1 and did hinder for years1 until it was set right4 ,does this case of unanswered prayer shake my faith in ,god's willingness and power to answer prayer8 ,no1 no6 ,my own child might just as reasonably decide never again to come to me with a request because ,i have1 in my superior wisdom1 denied a petition4 ,is it not true1 in our human relationships with our children1 that we see best to grant at one time what we withhold at another8 ,what ,i do thou knowest not now1 but thou shalt know hereafter4 ,and one of the most precious experiences of ,god's loving mercy came to me in connection with our little ,gracie's death4 ,we had been warned that the end would probably come in convulsions2 two of our dear children had been so taken4 ,only a mother who has gone through such an experience can fully understand the horror of the possibility that such might come again at any time4 ,one evening ,i was watching beside our little one1 ,miss ,p---- being with me1 when suddenly the child said very decidedly3 ,call ,papa2 ,i want to see ,papa4 ,i hesitated to rouse her father1 as it was his time to rest2 so ,i tried to put her off with some excuse2 but again she repeated her request1 and so ,i called her father1 asking him to walk up and down with her until ,i returned4 ,going into the next room ,i cried in an agony to the ,lord not to let ,gracie suffer2 but1 if it was indeed his will to take the child1 then to do so without her suffering4 ,as ,i prayed a wonderful peace came over me1 and the promise came so clearly it was as if spoken3 ,before they call ,i will answer2 and while they are yet speaking ,i will hear4 ,rising1 ,i was met at the door by ,miss ,p----who said3 ,gracie is with ,jesus4 ,while ,i was on my knees our beloved child1 after resting a few moments in her father's arms1 had looked into his face with one of her loveliest smiles1 and then quietly closed her eyes and had ceased to breathe4 ,no struggle1 no pain1 but a falling on sleep4 ,like as a father pitieth1 4 4 4 so the ,lord pitieth4 99 99 99 99 99 ,ever-darkening clouds gathered about us during the months following ,gracie's death2 and while the storm did not burst in all its fury till the early summer of #aijj1 yet the preceding winter was full of forebodings and constant alarms4 ,on one occasion thousands gathered inside and outside our mission1 evidently bent on serious mischief4 ,my husband and his colleagues moved in and out all that day among the dense crowd which filled the front courtyards2 while we women remained shut within closed houses1 not knowing what moment the mob would break loose and destroy us all4 ,what kept them back that day8 ,what but trustful prayer6 ,and the ,lord heard that day1 and wonderfully restrained the violence of our enemies4 ,we did not know then1 but those experiences were preparing us for the greater trials and perils awaiting us all4 ,v ,,our ,,deliverance ,,from ,,the ,,boxers 7#aijj7 ,god is unto us a ,god of deliverances 7,psa4 #fh3bj1 ,r4 ,v474 ,who delivered us out of so great a death1 and will deliver3 on whom we have set our hope that he will also still deliver 7#b ,cor4 #a3aj1 ,r4 ,v474 ,,many times we were asked in the homeland to tell the story of our escape during the ,boxer uprising1 and often the question was put1 ,if it was really ,god's power that saved you and others on that journey1 then why did he not save those of his children who were so cruelly done to death8 ,for a time this question troubled me4 ,why indeed8 ,one day when seeking for light on the matter ,i was directed to the twelfth chapter of ,acts4 ,there ,i found the only answer that can be given4 ,we are told in the second verse that ,james was put to death by the sword2 then the rest of the chapter is given to the detailed record of ,peter's wonderful deliverance in answer to prayer 7vs4 #e1 #ab74 ,in that day when all things shall be revealed ,i am convinced we shall see that prayer had much to do in the working out of our deliverance4 ,when the first cable was received in ,canada informing the home church of our party starting on that perilous journey1 we are told a great wave of prayer went up for us from ,christians of all denominations4 ,the ,presbyterian ,assembly of ,canada was meeting at the time1 and one session was given up entirely to prayer on behalf of the missionaries in ,china4 ,never had that body witnessed such a season of intense1 united intercession4 ,later when giving the story of our escape in the homeland1 repeatedly we have had people come to us telling how1 during the weeks which elapsed between the first cable informing the home church of our danger1 and the second cable1 which told of our safe arrival at the coast1 they had never ceased to cry to ,god to save us4 ,then1 too1 after all is said1 we must believe ,god was glorified and ,god's purposes were fulfilled in the death of some as in the saved lives of others4 ,the blood of the martyrs is still the seed of the ,church4 ,it was in the month of ,june1 #ahie1 that an incident occurred which has ever been linked in my mind with the events of #aijj4 ,i was about to leave ,toronto with my four children to join my husband in ,china1 when a cable was received telling of the cruel massacre of ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,stewart and others4 ,deep and widespread sympathy was expressed and much anxiety felt for missionaries generally in ,china4 ,many urged me to delay our return2 but ,i felt it best to keep to our original plans1 and a few days later found us bidding farewell to friends at the ,union ,station1 ,toronto4 ,just as the train was leaving a lady stepped forward quickly to the window and said1 ,you do not know me1 but ,i have prayed the ,lord to give me a promise for you2 it is this1 take it as from ,him1 and handed me a slip of paper4 ,i opened the paper and read1 ,no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper 7,isa4 #ed3ag74 ,then and there ,i raised my heart to ,god in prayer that he would fulfil this promise to me and those dear to me2 and as ,i prayed there came the clear assurance that the ,lord heard4 ,never can we forget that winter of #ahii-aijj4 ,the clouds had begun to gather1 and the mutterings of the coming storm were heard on all sides of us4 ,repeatedly we were as a mission in gravest danger1 and at such times were literally shut up to ,god4 ,the temper of the people was such that any little thing angering them would have been as a spark to gunpowder4 ,from the time of the government crisis of the autumn of #ahii1 we1 in company with all other foreigners in ,china1 realized that conditions were becoming serious1 yet never did we expect or prepare for such a cataclysm as took place when the storm clouds suddenly burst in the early summer of #aijj4 ,the first indication we had of coming danger was when our mail carriers running to and from ,tientsin were stopped and our mails returned4 ,thus1 cut off from the outside world1 we had to depend solely upon the wild rumors afloat among the ,chinese for information4 ,the country around us became daily more disturbed2 day by day we could hear the beating of drums and the cries of the people for rain4 ,the darkness and horror of those days1 in the midst of which sickness and death entered our home1 can never be forgotten4 ,on the nineteenth of ,june our eldest daughter1 ,florence1 after a week of intense suffering1 was released from pain4 ,it was while her life was still hanging in the balance that we received the first communication from the ,american ,consul in ,chefoo urging us to flee4 ,this message was quickly followed by another still more urgent4 ,the question was1 where could we flee8 ,our usual route was by river boat two weeks to ,tientsin1 but this way was blocked1 the whole region being infested with ,boxers1 and ,tientsin even then in a state of siege4 ,the only possible route left open to us was southward by cart1--fourteen days to ,fan-cheng1--then ten or more days by houseboat to ,hankow4 ,we faced such a journey at that time of the year with fear and trembling because of the children1 the danger from heat and sun being very great4 ,gladly would we have stayed1 but the ,chinese ,christians urged us to go1 saying they could escape more easily were we not there4 ,we had with us our four remaining children3 ,paul1 nine2 ,helen1 six2 ,ruth1 under three2 and baby ,wallace1 eight months4 ,their faithful ,chinese nurse1 though weeping bitterly at parting from her old mother of almost eighty1 decided to come with us4 ,there were altogether in the party five men1 six women1 and five children1 besides the servants and carters4 ,many were the difficulties in the way of getting carts and other necessary things for the journey1 but one by one all things needed were provided as we besought the ,lord to open the way4 ,there were many indications on that journey that ,god's purpose was to save us2 one of the most striking of these happened just as we were about to leave4 ,the day previous to our departure a message passed through the city of ,chang ,te ,ho1 the messenger riding at breakneck speed4 ,this messenger1 we learned later1 was en-route for the ,provincial ,capital with the sealed message from the ,empress ,dowager commanding the death of all foreigners4 ,we had planned first to take the direct route south1 which would1 as far as we can now see1 have led us to our death1 for this route would have taken us through the capital4 ,almost at the last moment1 and quite unaware of the danger on the direct route1 we were led to change our plans and take a route farther west1 though it made a considerably longer journey4 ,we left ,chang ,te1 ,june #bh1 #aijj1 at daybreak4 ,at ,wei ,hwei ,fu1 the first large city to which we came1 an attempt was made to break into our inn1 but as we prayed the mob dispersed and we were left in peace4 ,on ,july first we reached the north bank of the ,yellow ,river1 and there for a short time 7it was ,sunday afternoon7 we rested under the trees4 ,little did we dream that even then many1 very many1 of our fellow-missionaries and personal friends were being done to death by the merciless ,boxers4 ,at sunset the ferry which carried us across the river reached the south bank1 and here we found several missionaries and a party of engineers waiting for us4 ,these latter were fully armed and had a fair escort4 ,after some difficulty it was decided that we should all keep together1 but in reality this party kept by themselves1 except that we stayed in the same towns at night4 ,each day that passed seemed harder than the last1 the heat was intense1 and the ten or twelve hours of bumping over rough roads in springless carts made even a bed spread on the ground a welcome resting-place4 ,once1 when ,mr4 ,goforth had jumped off our cart to get fresh water for our head cloths1 a crowd gathered round him and became very threatening1 raising the cry1 ,kill1 kill4 ,all the other carts were ahead1 and the carter would not wait for ,mr4 ,goforth1 as he was afraid4 ,during the few moments that elapsed before my husband was allowed to join us even the carter turned pale with suspense1--and oh1 how ,i prayed6 ,except for a few similar passing dangers1 nothing special occurred until the evening of ,july seventh1 when we reached the small town of ,hsintien4 ,we had heard during the day that the whole country ahead of us was in a state of ferment against the ,roman ,catholics4 ,scarcely had we reached the inn when the engineers and the missionaries with them who had become increasingly alarmed at the condition of the country1 informed us that they were going on to the large city of ,nan ,yang ,fu that night1 but would leave us two soldiers and two of their carts4 ,mr4 ,goforth did not wish them to go1 for he felt it would greatly increase our danger4 ,shortly after they left us the mob began to gather outside our inn4 ,the gate was barricaded with carts4 ,for hours stones were thrown against the gate and demand was made for our money4 ,a messenger was at once sent after the engineers' party1 asking them to return4 ,all that night was spent in sleepless suspense4 ,early in the morning the messenger returned with the reply that they had failed to get help from the ,nan ,yang ,fu official and were obliged to push on4 ,as soon as the carters heard we were thus left helpless a panic seized them1 and it was with great difficulty they could be persuaded to harness their animals4 ,all this time the crowd had been becoming more dense1 as we could see through the cracks of the gate1 and were ominously quiet4 ,hints had been given us of coming danger1 but that was all2 none spoke of what all felt1--that we were probably going to our death4 ,suddenly1 without the slightest warning1 ,i was seized with an overwhelming fear of what might be awaiting us4 ,it was not the fear of after death1 but of probable torture1 that took such awful hold of me4 ,i thought1 ,can this be the ,christian courage ,i have looked for8 ,i went by myself and prayed for victory1 but no help came4 ,just then some one called us to a room for prayer before getting into our carts4 ,scarcely able to walk for trembling1 and utterly ashamed that others should see my state of panic1--for such it undoubtedly was1--,i managed to reach a bench beside which my husband stood4 ,he drew from his pocket a little book1 ,clarke's ,scripture ,promises1 and read the verses his eye first fell upon4 ,they were the following3 ,the eternal ,god is thy refuge1 and underneath are the everlasting arms3 and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee2 and shall say1 ,destroy them4 ,the ,god of ,jacob is our refuge4 ,thou art my help and my deliverer2 make no tarrying1 ,o my ,god4 ,i will strengthen thee2 yea1 ,i will help thee2 yea1 ,i will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness4 4 4 4 ,the ,lord thy ,god will hold thy right hand1 saying unto thee1 ,fear not2 ,i will help thee4 ,if ,god be for us1 who can be against us8 ,we may boldly say1 ,the ,lord is my helper1 and ,i will not fear what man shall do unto me4 ,the effect of these words at such a time was remarkable4 ,all realized that ,god was speaking to us4 ,never was there a message more directly given to mortal man from his ,god than that message to us4 ,from almost the first verse my whole soul seemed flooded with a great peace2 all trace of panic vanished2 and ,i felt ,god's presence was with us4 ,indeed1 his presence was so real it could scarcely have been more so had we seen a visible form4 ,after prayer we all got on our carts1 and one by one passed out into the densely crowded street4 ,as we approached the city gate we could see that the road was black with crowds awaiting us4 ,i had just remarked to my husband on how well we were getting through the crowds1 when our carts passed through the gates4 ,my husband turned pale as he pointed to a group of several hundred men1 fully armed1 awaiting us4 ,they waited till all the carts had passed through the gate1 then hurled down upon us a shower of stones1 at the same time rushing forward and maiming or killing some of the animals4 ,mr4 ,goforth jumped down from our cart and cried to them1 ,take everything1 but don't kill4 ,his only answer was a blow4 ,the confusion that followed was so great it would be impossible to describe the escape of each one in detail4 ,each one later had his or her own testimony of that mighty and merciful deliverance4 ,but ,i must give the details of ,mr4 ,goforth's experience4 ,one man struck him a blow on the neck with a great sword wielded with two hands4 ,somehow the blunt edge of the sword struck his neck2 the blow left a wide mark almost around his neck1 but did no further harm4 ,had the sharp edge struck his neck he would certainly have been beheaded6 ,his thick helmet was cut almost to pieces1 one blow cutting through the leather lining just over the temple1 but without even scratching the skin6 ,again he was felled to the ground1 with a fearful sword cut1 which entered the bone of the skull behind and almost cleft it in two4 ,as he fell he seemed to hear distinctly a voice saying1 ,fear not1 they are praying for you4 ,rising from this blow1 he was again struck down by a club4 ,as he was falling almost unconscious to the ground he saw a horse coming at full speed toward him2 when he became conscious again he found the horse had tripped and fallen 7on level ground7 so near that its tail almost touched him4 ,the animal1 kicking furiously1 had served as a barrier between him and his assailants4 ,while dazed and not knowing what to do a man came up as if to strike1 but whispered1 ,leave the carts4 ,by that time the onlookers began to rush forward to get the loot1 but the attacking party felt the things were theirs1 so desisted in their attack upon us in order to secure their booty4 ,a word as to myself and the children4 ,several fierce men with swords jumped on my cart4 ,one struck at the baby1 but ,i parried the blow with a pillow1 and the little fellow only received a slight scratch on the forehead4 ,then they dropped their swords and began tearing at our goods at the back of the cart4 ,heavy boxes were dragged over us1 and everything was taken4 ,just then a dreadful looking man tried to reach us from the back of the cart with his sword1 missing by an inch4 ,i thought he would come to the front and continue his attack1 but he did not4 ,i had seen ,mr4 ,goforth sink to the ground covered with blood twice1 and had given him up for dead4 ,just then ,paul1 who had been in the last cart1 jumped in1 wild with delight at what he seemed to think was great fun1 for he had run through the thick of the fight1 dodging sword thrusts from all sides1 and had succeeded in reaching me without a scratch4 ,a moment later my husband came to the edge of the cart scarcely able to stand1 saying1 ,get down quickly2 we must not delay in getting away4 ,as ,i was getting down one man snatched away my hat1 another my shoes2 but we were allowed to go4 ,ruth was nowhere to be seen1 and we hoped she was with the missionaries who had charge of her at the time of attack4 ,i saw that ,mr4 ,goforth's strength was failing fast1 for he could scarcely walk1 and as men began to follow ,i urged him forward with the baby and the other two children1 and turning faced the men1 begging them to have mercy on my children1 for they had begun to stone us4 ,some of us were black for days from the blows received then4 ,they stopped and listened1 then the leader said1 ,we've killed her husband1 let her go4 ,with this they ran back to the carts4 ,i knew ,mr4 ,goforth could not go far4 ,we could see a small village not far distant1 and to this we hastened1 praying as we went that the ,lord would open the hearts of the people to receive us4 ,here again ,paul seemed to feel no fear1 but said1 ,mother1 what does this put you in mind of8 ,it puts me in mind of the ,henty books6 ,as we neared the village men came out to drive us away1 but ,i begged them to help us4 ,by this time ,mr4 ,goforth had sunk to the ground4 ,putting the baby in an old woman's arms1 ,i knelt down beside my husband4 ,the children were crying bitterly4 ,mr4 ,goforth looked as if he were dying4 ,the women standing round us were weeping now4 ,this was too much for the men1 who came forward saying1 ,we will save you4 ,one ran and got some stuff to put in the wounds1 assuring us it would stop the flow of blood1 and it did4 ,this man helped me to bandage up the wounds with bandages made from garments taken from myself and the children4 ,they helped my husband1 and we followed them into a little hut1 where they laid him on a straw bed and locked us in4 ,hot water for bathing our bruises1 food and drink were handed us through a small window1 and we could hear them planning how they would save us4 ,we told them how anxious we were to hear of our friends and little ,ruth1 so they sent a man to inquire4 ,we found that these people--the whole village--were ,mohammedans1 and had taken no part in the attack4 ,we felt that ,god had wonderfully directed our steps to that village4 ,all that day ,mr4 ,goforth lay still1 but looked at times so very white that ,i feared the worst4 ,never for one moment1 ,i believe1 during that day did ,i cease to pray for his life4 ,and when ,mr4 ----1 one of our party1 arrived about four o'clock looking for us1 ,mr4 ,goforth at once got up as if perfectly well1 insisting on walking to the cart4 ,to me1 knowing how he had looked that day1 it seemed only a miracle4 ,his only answer to my protest was1 ,only pray2 the ,lord will give me strength1 as long as he has work for me to do4 ,as we were leaving1 the kind friends of the village gathered round insisting on my taking some old clothes to put round the children1 who were almost naked1 saying1 ,it will be chilly at night4 ,as we went forward to join the others1 ,mr4 ---- told us how one by one all had escaped4 ,dr4 ---- was the only one beside ,mr4 ,goforth seriously injured1 the poor fellow having had his kneecap severed and the tendons of his right wrist badly cut1 besides many other wounds4 ,all that day our friends had been waiting by the roadside1 unable to proceed without carts1 owing to the doctor's condition4 ,they had joined in one petition1 that ,god would move the carters to come4 ,those who know ,china and heathen carters will readily acknowledge that it was nothing short of a miracle--the miracle of answered prayer--that made these heathen carters come1 after all they had already gone through4 ,for come they did1 five of them1 all that were needed1 now that our luggage was gone4 ,we learned too1 that our faithful ,chinese nurse1 who had charge of ,ruth1 had saved the child at the risk of her own life1 lying upon the child and taking many cruel blows1 till greed for loot drew the men off4 ,we soon joined the rest of the party1 and by six o'clock that evening we reached the large city of ,nang ,yang ,fu4 ,the city wall was black with people1 and as we entered the gate the wild crowds crushed against our carts4 ,sometimes the animals staggered1 and it seemed as if nothing could save the carts from being overturned4 ,every moment or two a brick or stone would be hurled against the carts1 and that cry1 ,kill1 kill1 which can never be forgotten when once heard1 was shouted by perhaps hundreds of voices4 ,yet the ,lord brought us through1 and no weapon prospered4 ,when we reached the inn a wild mob of over a thousand men filled the inn yard2 and as we alighted from the cart these men literally drove us before them into one room1 which in a few moments was packed to suffocation4 ,for probably an hour the crowd kept crushing us into one corner2 then those outside became impatient at not being able to get in1 and demanded that we be brought out4 ,we managed to keep some of the ladies from going out2 but the rest of us--men1 women1 and children--stood facing that seething multitude until relief came in the darkness4 ,why did they not kill us then8 ,why1 indeed8 ,none but an ,almighty ,god kept that crowd back4 ,as soon as we had reached the city a servant was sent to the official demanding protection4 ,it was dark when this man returned1 in a state of great agitation2 his story was that as he was waiting for an answer from the official he overheard a conversation between two soldiers1 and gathered from what they said that the official had sent a party of fifty soldiers along the road that we would have to take1 with the order that every one of us must be put to death4 ,the official was afraid to have us killed in the city lest he should afterward be blamed2 but by this plan he could say brigands had done the deed4 ,so sure was this servant that we were all to be massacred that he would remain with us no longer1 but returned that night to ,honan with the report that we were all killed4 ,a consultation was held1 and the question was1 should we stay in the city and again demand protection1 or should we go on and trust ,god to open our way8 ,the latter course was decided upon4 ,but for a long time the carters utterly refused to go farther with us4 ,again prayer opened up our way1 and by two o'clock in the morning all were ready to start4 ,the official had sent a few foot-soldiers to guide us to the right road6 7to the waylaying party74 ,the night was very dark1 and as we were passing through the gate of the city we noticed what seemed to be signal lights put out and drawn in4 ,we all felt these to be signals to the waylaying party ahead4 ,a short distance from the city1 probably about one hundred yards1 our carts suddenly stopped4 ,some one ran up and whispered to ,mr4 ,goforth1 ,paul and ,mr4 ---- are missing4 ,search was made for them1 but without success4 ,a veil must be drawn over those terrible hours of suspense2 my faith seemed to fail me1 and ,i could only cry in my agony1 ,if ,paul is gone1 can ,i ever trust ,god again8 ,then ,i remembered how marvelously ,god had given me back my dear husband's life1 and ,i just committed ,paul into his hands and waited to see what he would do4 ,when all hope was given up of finding the missing ones1 a cart was left behind with a trusted servant1 and we went on4 ,then we saw ,god's wonderful plan for us4 ,while we were waiting the soldiers had fallen asleep in the carts1 and were not aware that the carters were taking a side road until we had gotten miles from the city and beyond the reach of our would-be murderers6 ,the soldiers were infuriated at this discovery2 but after some threatening they left us and returned to the city4 ,thus again we saw that ,god was indeed unto us a ,god of deliverances4 ,again and again that day we were surrounded by mobs4 ,many times ,i held up the poor1 dirty clothes which the ,mohammedans had given us1 and the story of how these had been given quieted the people perhaps more than anything4 ,once the cry was raised to drag our children's nurse out of the cart2 but as we cried to ,god for her the people let us alone1 and we passed on4 ,at another time a man snatched the remains of ,mr4 ,goforth's helmet away from us1 and tore it to pieces4 ,i had hoped to keep it as a trophy should we ever get out safely4 ,we were at this time in a pitiable condition4 ,most of the men had head or arms bandaged2 ,dr4 ---- was unable to raise his head4 ,what we suffered in those carts with nothing but the boards under us cannot be told4 ,nine persons were packed in our cart1 which under ordinary circumstances would have held four or five4 ,at noon we reached a large city1 where the animals had to rest and feed4 ,then again we saw an evidence of the ,lord's loving kindness over us4 ,just as we were getting down from our carts the crowd became very threatening1 and it looked now as if our hour had indeed come2 but at this critical juncture two well-dressed young men of official class came through the crowd1 greeting ,mr4 ,goforth in great surprise4 ,they had been received by him in our home at ,chang ,te ,ho4 ,a few words of explanation were spoken1 then they turned quickly to the crowd and told them who we were and of the work at ,chang ,te ,ho4 ,the attitude of the people changed instantly1 and they made way for us1 giving us good rooms1 and food was brought which was greatly needed4 ,that noon1 as one after another came up to express their sympathy at ,paul's loss1 ,i could say nothing--,i was waiting to see what ,god would do4 ,when ,mr4 ,goforth told the young officials about ,paul and ,mr4 ----1 they were greatly concerned1 and promised to send men at once to search for them4 ,these friends in need sent with us a man of the district to guide and help us1 and also wrote an urgent letter to the official of the city we were to stay in that night1 asking him to give us an escort and help us in every way he could4 ,about four o'clock that afternoon a man came running after us with the joyful news that ,paul and ,mr4 ---- were safe1 and would reach us that night4 ,as ,i heard this news my unbelief and faithlessness in the hour of testing came over me with overwhelming force1 and ,i could only bow my head and weep4 ,oh1 the goodness and mercy of ,god6 ,never had the love of ,god seemed so wonderful as in that hour4 ,could we with ink the ocean fill1 ,were the whole sky of parchment made1 ,were every blade of grass a quill1 ,and every man a scribe by trade2 ,to write the love of ,god above ,would drain that ocean dry1 ,nor could the scroll contain the whole ,though stretched from sky to sky4 ,that night we reached our destination about nine o'clock1 having traveled seventeen hours over those roads1 with but a short break at noon4 ,it was marvelous how ,mr4 ,goforth was sustained1 for he was obliged to start at once for the official's residence with the note ,i have already referred to4 ,on the way through the street the mob about succeeded1 several times1 in getting him down under their feet2 but ,god was with him1 and he reached the ,yamen in safety1 being courteously received by the official1 who promised us protection1 and sent him back to the inn under escort4 ,when ,paul and ,mr4 ---- arrived that night1 they tried in vain to wake me1 but nature had to have her way4 ,i knew nothing till ,i wakened with a start at about two ,a4,m4 ,jumping up1 ,i started to look for ,paul1 and never can ,i forget the scene6 ,the whole party was lying on the bare earthen floor1 practically without bedding or mattresses4 ,a word concerning the experiences of ,mr4 ----and ,paul4 ,the two had got down from their cart and were walking behind4 ,in some way they missed the road in the dark1 and became separated from us4 ,during that day they were repeatedly in the gravest danger4 ,on one occasion1 when surrounded by a violent mob1 and one man had raised a club above ,paul's head to strike him down1 ,mr4 ----felt impelled by some unseen power to shout out1 ,we are not ,roman ,catholics1 but ,protestants4 ,at this the man lowered his club1 exclaiming1 ,why1 these are not the bad foreign devils1 but the good foreign devils1 like those missionaries at ,chow ,chia ,k'eo 7,china ,inland ,mission74 ,at this same place the hearts of the people seemed turned toward them in a wonderful way4 ,one man gave ,paul one hundred cash 7five cents7 to buy some food2 another man carried the lad on his back for miles to give his feet a rest1 they were so sore4 ,this same man1 when he could carry ,paul no longer1 ran ahead to try and find us4 ,when they reached the inn where we had been so helped by the two ,chinese gentlemen1 they found that these friends had food prepared and a barrow waiting1 also a guide ready to lead them to us6 ,less than an hour from the time ,i awakened we were on the road again4 ,the official was true to his promise1 and a large mounted escort accompanied us4 ,that day we were on the road twenty hours1 reaching ,fan ,cheng at midnight4 ,here we found the engineers' party waiting for us with boats hired1 but we were obliged to remain twenty-four hours in the most loathsome inn we ever had the misfortune to be in in ,china4 ,it was an unspeakable relief to get into the houseboats1 even though we only had bare boards to lie on1 and the boat people's food to eat4 ,we were ten days going down stream to ,hankow4 ,one after the other became ill4 ,when still a day from ,hankow1 a steam tug met us with provisions4 ,our children cried at the sight of bread and milk6 ,we were not allowed to stop long enough at ,hankow1 as we had hoped1 to get clothes and other necessaries1 but were obliged to hasten on by the first steamer1 which left the following morning4 ,i was obliged to borrow garments for myself and the children from our fellow-passengers4 ,at ,shanghai the streets were being paraded1 and every preparation was being made for an attack4 ,we learned with deep sorrow of the death of many dear friends at the hands of the ,boxers4 ,ordered home by the first steamer1 without anything left to us but the old clothes we had on at the time of the attack1 how could we get ready in such a short time for the long home voyage8 ,there was no lack of money1 for our ,board had cabled all we needed4 ,the question that faced us was how could ,i get clothes made for six of us in such a short time1 with ,chinese tailors too busy to help1 no machine to be had1 and no ready-made clothes to be bought except for ,mr4 ,goforth and ,paul4 ,again ,i found that man's extremity was but ,god's opportunity4 ,he was true to his promise1 ,god shall supply all your need4 ,even as ,i knelt in an agony of prayer1 beseeching ,god's help1 and asking definitely that some one should be sent to me to help with the sewing1 two ladies were at the door asking for me6 ,these were perfect strangers1 but had seen our names among the recent refugees1 and ,god had moved them to come and offer their assistance6 ,they worked for me night and day until we had to get on board the steamer4 ,never shall ,i forget their ,christian fellowship and practical help at that time4 ,but in the rush to get the older children ready1 baby ,wallace's clothes were neglected4 ,there was nothing for it but to take materials and make things for him on the voyage4 ,in this connection came a most wonderful and precious evidence of ,god's power to answer prayer4 ,for the first few days of the journey ,i worked early and late trying to make something for the little one1 who had scarcely anything to wear2 but as we were nearing ,yokohama ,i realized ,i had almost reached the end of my strength4 ,my needle refused to work2 try as ,i would ,i could not even see where to put the needle4 ,folding up my work ,i went down to the stateroom1 and kneeling down ,i spread the work before the ,lord4 ,too far gone to agonize in prayer1 ,i could only quietly1 almost mutely1 just tell him how the poor child had no clothes4 ,rising with a great sense of the burden having been lifted1 ,i put the work away1 locking it in a trunk1 then went up on deck and lay down almost insensible from exhaustion4 ,how long a time passed ,i do not know1 but it could not have been more than half an hour when some one came and touched me1 saying1 ,we have dropped anchor in ,yokohama ,bay1 and a large bundle has been thrown up on deck from the lighter for you4 ,for me6 ,i cried4 ,surely not2 ,i know no one in ,japan4 ,then ,i thought1 ,it is the answer come6 ,going down ,i found a letter from ,mrs4 ,o4 ,e41 of the ,china ,inland ,mission4 ,she said that her little son1 the same age as baby ,wallace1 had died four months before1 and the ,lord had pressed her to send his complete outfit to me for my child6 ,opening the parcel1 ,i found not only everything the child could possibly need for a year or more1 but much else4 ,had some one stood beside that dear sister and told her what ,i most needed1 she could not have done differently4 ,yes1 surely ,some ,one did direct her loving hands1 and ,some ,one just used her as one of his channels2 for she lived near to him1 and was an open channel4 ,three days later my own collapse came2 but praise his great name1 he was with me in the darkness and brought me through4 ,,vi ,,proving ,,god',s ,,faithfulness 7#aijb-aijh7 ,the safest place 4 4 4 is the path of duty4 ,,one of the results of our gracious and merciful deliverance from the hands of the ,boxers was an increased desire to make our lives tell in the service of ,god--to spend and be spent for him4 ,our ,heavenly ,father saw this and just took us at our word1 and led us out into the path which meant absolute surrender as ,i had never known it before4 ,it is so true that ,god will be no man's debtor4 ,when he asks for and receives our all1 he gives in return that which is above price--his own presence4 ,the price is not great when compared with what he gives in return2 it is our blindness and our unwillingness to yield that make it seem great4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the following story has been asked for many times4 ,believing that it has a lesson for others1 ,i give it1 though to do so means lifting the veil from a very sacred part of my life4 ,after the ,boxer experience1 my husband returned to ,china in #aija2 and1 with my children1 ,i left for ,china in the summer of #aijb1 leaving the two eldest children at the ,chefoo schools1 en route to ,honan4 ,mr4 ,goforth met me at ,tientsin1 and together we traveled by river-boat inland a journey of about twenty-four days4 ,during those long1 quiet days on the river-boat my husband unfolded to me a carefully thought out plan for future mission work4 ,he reminded me that six missionaries1 from a mission-station which had been destroyed by the ,boxers1 were now permanently stationed at ,changte2 and that the main station1 now fully equipped1 no longer needed us as before4 ,he felt that the time had come when we should give ourselves to the evangelization of the great regions north and northeast of ,changte--regions which up to that time had been scarcely touched by the ,gospel1 because of lack of workers4 ,his plan was that we--husband and wife1 with our children--should go and live and work among the people4 ,to make this possible a native compound would be rented in the center1 where we would stay a month for our first visit1 leaving behind an evangelist to carry on the work2 and we would revisit this and other places so opened as many times as possible in the year4 ,what this proposition meant to me can scarcely be understood by those unfamiliar with ,china and ,chinese life4 ,smallpox1 diphtheria1 scarlet fever1 and other contagious diseases are chronic epidemics2 and ,china1 outside the parts ruled by foreigners1 is absolutely devoid of sanitation4 ,four of our children had died4 ,to take the three little ones1 then with me1 into such conditions and danger seemed literally like stepping with them over a precipice in the dark and expecting to be kept4 ,but1 on the other hand1 ,i had the language and experience for just such work1 the need was truly appalling1 and there was no other woman to do it4 ,in my innermost soul ,i knew the call had come from ,god1 but ,i would not pay the price4 ,my one plea in refusing to enter that life was the risk to the children4 ,again and again my husband urged that the safest place for myself and the children was the path of duty2 that ,i could not keep them in our comfortable home at ,changte1 but ,god could keep them anywhere4 ,still ,i refused4 ,just before reaching our station he begged me to reconsider my decision4 ,when ,i gave a final refusal1 his only answer was3 ,i fear for the children4 ,the very day after reaching home our dear ,wallace was taken ill4 ,for weeks we fought for his life2 at last the crisis passed and he began to recover4 ,then my husband started off alone on his first trip6 ,he had been gone only a day or two when our precious baby ,constance1 a year old1 was taken down with the same disease that ,wallace had4 ,from the first there seemed little or no hope4 ,the doctors1 a nurse1 and all the little mission circle joined in the fight for her life4 ,her father was sent for1 but arrived just as she was losing consciousness4 ,a few hours later1 when we were kneeling round her bedside waiting for the end1 my eyes seemed suddenly opened to what ,i had been doing--,i had dared to fight against ,almighty ,god4 ,in the moments that followed ,god revealed himself to me in such love and majesty and glory that ,i gave myself up to him with unspeakable joy4 ,then ,i knew that ,i had been making an awful mistake1 and that ,i could indeed safely trust my children to him wherever he might lead4 ,one thing only seemed plain1 that ,i must follow where ,god should lead4 ,i saw at last that ,god must come first4 ,before the precious body was laid away preparations for our first trip were begun4 ,was ,god faithful to the vision he had given me8 ,or did he allow the children to suffer in the years that followed1 when months each year were spent with them right out among the people8 ,as ,i write this1 eighteen years have passed since we started on that first trip1 and none of our children have died4 ,never had we as little sickness as during that life4 ,never had we so much evidence of ,god's favor and blessing in a hundred ways--as may be gathered from the definite testimonies which follow4 ,without one exception1 every place in which we stayed for a month1 and opened as my husband had planned1 became in time a growing church4 ,and ,i found1 to my surprise1 that ,i was able to give more time to the children1 that ,i was able to guard them better when on those trips than when in the ,changte ,station4 ,for the mission compound was large1 and often the children were out of my sight for hours at a time2 whereas the outside native compounds we lived in were so small the children were always within sight and reach4 ,even when groups of women were listening to the ,gospel1 ,i was able to direct the children's lessons4 ,as ,i look back on that time1 my heart is filled with overflowing gratitude to ,god for the wonderful grace and strength he gave for that life4 ,my great regret is that ,i did not keep a record of answers to prayer4 ,i find it most difficult to record just what asking and getting things from ,god meant at that time1 but it now seems to me to have been the very foundation of the whole life4 ,the instances of answers to prayer1 here recorded1 are simply the ones connected with that life which stand out most clearly in my memory of those years4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the first answer came the morning after our dear ,constance died1 and was the one that had the greatest1 most far-reaching effect on the new life and its work4 ,as ,i thought of facing the crowds of heathen women day by day1 and what it would mean to carry on aggressive evangelism outside1 there was one need ,i felt must be met--that of a ,bible-woman4 ,as ,i prayed for direction1 a ,mrs4 ,wang ,hsieh-sheng came to mind as the one ,i should ask4 ,but when ,i laid my request before her1 that she come with me1 she burst into tears1 saying3 ,i dare not4 ,i have only one child left1 and it would risk her life too much4 ,seeing how she felt1 ,i did not urge her1 but told her to go and pray about it for a day1 and bring me her answer after the funeral that night4 ,when she came that evening her face was shining through tears1 as she said3 ,o my ,shepherd ,mother1 ,i will go4 ,if you are willing to risk your children for the sake of my sisters1 how much more should ,i6 ,eighteen years have passed since that day4 ,i would need to write a volume to record all that ,mrs4 ,wang meant to me in those years2 yes1 and to the work4 ,as the years passed she became my beloved companion1 sharing in all the responsibilities and hardships of that life1 and also in its joys4 ,i realized more and more that she was indeed a ,god-given co-worker4 ,though circumstances have led me away from that life1 she still remains and works for her sisters in the ,changte ,church4 99 99 99 99 99 ,one of the hardest words a missionary can get from his ,home ,board is the word retrench4 ,my husband and ,i were on one of our evangelistic tours north of ,changte4 ,every door seemed wide open before us1 and the time ripe for a specially aggressive campaign of evangelism for the heathen4 ,but1 just as we were planning for this1 word reached us from our station treasurer of a message received from the ,home ,board that funds were low1 and retrenchment must be carried out along all lines4 ,to us this meant dismissing helpers1 and a general curtailing of our work4 ,we faced the question squarely4 ,our own tithe had been long overdrawn4 ,how then could we support the men we had1 and go on with the work which was opening so gloriously before us after years of hard pioneer preparation8 ,but we decided to go on as we had planned1 and to trust ,god for the necessary funds2 believing that1 though for the time being the home church had disappointed us1 ,god would not fail us4 ,the following ,friday a home mail reached us1 in which was a letter from a lady in ,new ,zealand4 ,the writer said she had read a letter of ours in ,the ,life of ,faith1 and wished to support an evangelist under us4 ,this relieved us of the support of one man1 but there were many other needs as yet unmet4 ,the following ,monday1 when our next mail was forwarded to us1 a letter came from a lady in ,australia1 enclosing a draft ample to meet every special need in the work for a year to come4 ,she stated very plainly that she did not wish the money put into the general funds of the mission1 but to be used by ourselves in any way we thought best4 ,indeed1 had she known the special circumstances in which the letter would find us1 she could scarcely have written more exactly to fit our case4 ,again1 a year after this experience of ,god's faithfulness to meet all our needs1 we began to feel the need of special funds for the work4 ,my husband1 as usual1 seemed quite sure that we should keep on as we had been doing1 and that the money needed would be sent4 ,in spite of all the blessed lessons of the past1 my faith seemed to fail me2 and ,i spoke decidedly against using our salary1 when we needed it all for ourselves and our children's education4 ,we were traveling homeward by cart at the time and the matter was dropped2 though ,i felt my husband was hurt by my lack of faith4 ,when we reached home1 that evening1 a letter from a lady in ,canada was awaiting my husband4 ,he read it first2 and ,i cannot forget the look on his face as he handed it to me1 with the words ,i told you so4 ,as near as ,i can recall it the letter said3 ,my mother and ,i are strangers to you1 never having seen or heard either you or your wife4 ,but my mother1 who is an invalid1 has for some time been restless because of a conviction that has come over her that she should send you some money4 ,so to quiet my mother ,i am sending you fifty dollars4 ,as ,i read the letter1 ,i certainly did feel ashamed of my lack of faith4 ,in writing our acknowledgment1 ,i told how wonderfully opportune the gift had been4 ,a couple of months or so later came a reply1 telling us that the invalid mother passed away soon after my letter reached them2 and that the story of how ,god had used her in this matter greatly strengthened her faith1 blessing and helping her during the closing days of her life4 99 99 99 99 99 ,on one occasion1 when we were traveling from ,wuanhsien to ,pengcheng1 we reached the town of ,hotsun late in the afternoon1 expecting to stay over night4 ,but on our arrival we found that the ,christian whom we had sent to arrange for our accommodation had failed to get us a place1 every one absolutely refusing to take us in4 ,while the animals were feeding1 and we were trying to eat our dinner of ,chinese dough-strings in the midst of a curious crowd1 my husband told the ,christian to go out again and look for a place while we prayed4 ,we dared not close our eyes1 lest the superstitious heathen crowd crushing against us on all sides would take fright1 thinking we were mesmerizing them4 ,so we just lifted up our hearts silently to our ,father2 and before many minutes had passed1 indeed before we had finished our meal1 the ,christian returned greatly rejoiced1 saying3 ,a wealthy man has offered you a fine empty place which has just been fixed over4 ,and you can have it as long as you like1 free of rent4 ,for three days we preached in that place--morning1 noon1 and night--to great crowds2 and a work was begun which has gone on ever since4 99 99 99 99 99 ,there were times when my faith was severely tested1 and ,i fear too often ,i did not stand the test2 but oh1 how patient ,god is with us in our human weakness4 ,like as a father pitieth1 4 4 4 so the ,lord pitieth4 ,the ,chinese have often said to me1 ,your children seem made for this life4 ,but ,i know it was ,god's great goodness4 ,he knew how hard the life was1 and how difficult it would have been for me to continue that work had the children been peevish or hard to manage4 ,time and time again we had to get the little ones up before daybreak to start on a cart journey1 but ,i do not remember that they ever even cried4 ,they would just wake up enough to get dressed and ask sleepily1 ,are we going again1 ,mama8 and then go off to sleep as soon as we were settled in our carts4 99 99 99 99 99 ,on one occasion1 arriving at a certain town1 we found the place in which we were to stay unfit for the children4 ,it was simply horrible4 ,on either side of us1 almost reaching to our door1 were two great pigstys--,chinese pigstys6 ,in front of the door were eight or ten great vessels1 filled with fermenting stuff which had been there all summer1 and which added to the other varied and oppressive odors4 ,i greatly feared for the children1 and wanted to leave at once1 but my husband seemed calmly certain of the ,lord's power to keep them from all harm4 ,on the second evening the youngest child became very feverish4 ,mr4 ,goforth was holding a meeting with the men4 ,i was almost overwhelmed with fear lest the child had diphtheria4 ,kneeling down beside him1 ,i cried to the ,lord as only a mother under like circumstances could pray4 ,at last1 tired out1 ,i fell asleep on my knees4 ,awakened by the entrance of my husband1 ,i felt the child's head again and it seemed cooler1 and the child quieter4 ,the following day he was quite well4 ,is it much wonder ,i can say ,i know ,god answers prayer8 99 99 99 99 99 ,returning from our summer holiday the first of ,september1 #aiab1 we hoped to find a place rented at a certain large center where we had planned to begin work2 but to our disappointment learned that the evangelists had secured premises in a small market village1 where there was just one ,christian4 ,there was nothing to do but to go there1 though it seemed almost useless1 for it was the busiest season for those farming people4 ,on our way to this place we prayed much that the ,lord would prepare the people1 and open their hearts to the ,gospel4 ,we had not been there many days when we became convinced that we had been led there1 and that the ,lord was opening the hearts of the people in a most unusual way4 ,crowds of men and women heard the preaching every day4 ,our evening ,gospel meetings1 with organ and hymn scroll1 were crowded out on to the street4 ,everywhere we met with the utmost friendliness1 and before our month's visit was ended we had the joy of seeing some of the leading people in the village and district come out boldly for ,christ4 ,one was the chief doctor2 another was the head man in the market4 ,in the store1 through which we women had to pass to get to the evening meeting1 there were three men and a young lad of fifteen2 all of these were brought to ,christ4 ,the men were opium users1 gamblers1 men of evil lives4 ,two of them are now preachers of the ,gospel1 and one is the leading man in the little growing church there4 ,had ,i time and space ,i could go on multiplying cases where the same results have followed when the cross of ,christ has been the pivot of all ,christian teaching1 and prayer has been the source of power4 99 99 99 99 99 ,on one of the early visits to the city of ,linchang1 a woman came with a little child whose foot was terribly burned4 ,the whole foot was badly swollen1 the inflammation reaching some distance up the leg4 ,the child was feverish1 and seemed in a serious condition4 ,it happened that on that trip ,i had forgotten to bring the simple remedies which ,i was accustomed to take out with me1 so the woman was told nothing could be done4 ,but she begged so piteously that ,i could not turn away2 and lifting up my heart in prayer ,i asked the ,lord to guide me1 if there was anything ,i could do4 ,even while ,i prayed the thought of a bread poultice came to mind4 ,this remedy seemed almost absurd4 ,i had never heard of such a thing being used before under like circumstances1 but ,i resolved to try it4 ,twice a day the foot was cleansed and put in the poultice1 and it was really wonderful to see how it healed4 ,we were there ten days1 and when we left the foot was almost completely well4 ,the mother1 father1 the child herself1 and indeed the whole family1 became ,christians4 ,on a later visit ,i examined the foot1 and found not even the sign of a scar remaining4 ,i told this incident not long ago to a medical doctor1 and he said3 ,why1 there is no miracle in that6 ,it was just up-to-date hygiene--giving nature a chance by cleanliness6 ,i replied3 ,doctor1 to me the miracle lay1 not in the poultice1 but in ,god's telling me what to use2 and now it is to me all the more a miracle of prayer1 since you say it was up-to-date hygienic treatment4 99 99 99 99 99 ,at the same place1 some years later1 we were conducting special tent meetings for ,christians in the day time1 and for the heathen at night4 ,just after our meetings began the weather turned bitterly cold1 with wind and sleety rain4 ,the tent was like a drafty ice-house4 ,my husband caught a severe cold1 which became worse each day4 ,he had fever and severe pains in head and chest1 but would not give up his meetings4 ,one noon he came from the meeting looking very ill1 and lay down to rest till the afternoon meeting4 ,i determined to take the ,christians into my confidence1 and tell them of my anxiety for ,mr4 ,goforth4 ,so1 some time before the afternoon meeting ,i slipped out and called them into the tent1 telling them of my husband's condition and asking them to pray for him4 ,oh1 what a wave of earnest1 heart-overflow of prayer went up without a moment's pause6 ,the tears came to my eyes as ,i thought1 ,surely ,god will answer such prayers6 ,then1 fearing my husband might arrive1 ,i gave out a hymn4 ,a few moments later he walked into the tent in his old brisk way1 looking quite well4 ,at the close of the meeting he told me that shortly after he heard me go out the pain in his head and chest ceased1 the fever seemed to leave him1 and when he started for the tent he felt quite well4 ,the symptoms did not return4 99 99 99 99 99 ,when on a visit to a certain out-station1 after being there two whole days1 scarcely any women had come to see us4 ,we were so circumstanced that ,i could not leave the children4 ,the third day ,i became so burdened in prayer that ,i could only shut myself up in an empty room and cry to the ,lord to send women to us1 as he knew ,i could not leave the children4 ,from that day we always had plenty of visitors to keep us busy1 either ,christian women studying or heathen women listening to the ,gospel4 ,at ,tzuchow1 the first place we opened together1 the people seemed much set against us4 ,after the first period of curiosity was over1 no one came to hear the ,gospel4 ,as we had a nice place for the children to play in with their faithful nurse1--the one who saved ,ruth's life in #aijj1--,mrs4 ,wang and ,i determined to go out each afternoon and try to reach the heathen women with the ,gospel4 ,before going out we always prayed the ,lord to open a door to us for preaching4 ,and as ,i now recall that time1 never once did we return home without being invited into some home to preach1 or at least being asked to sit on a doorstep and tell of a ,saviour from sin4 99 99 99 99 99 ,one of the most outstanding evidences of ,god's favor and blessing was seen1 at this time1 in the way he provided my husband with native helpers4 ,to carry on the plan of work we had adopted required a good force of trusty evangelists4 ,time and again we looked to the ,lord for men and women to help us1 and the answer always came4 ,as my husband always seemed to have plenty of men to help him1 he was frequently asked for evangelists by his fellow-missionaries of both our own and other missions4 ,i was at first opposed to his giving away his best men1 but he would answer1 ,the ,lord has been good to me2 should ,i be less generous with my brethren8 ,and it certainly was remarkable how1 whenever he gave a really valuable evangelist1 another man1 even better1 was raised up shortly after4 ,the secret of his getting men may be seen best through words of his own1 taken from a letter to a friend in ,canada about the time of which ,i am now writing3 ,we came to this little market town in ,september of last year4 ,my wife had two women workers4 ,i had ,mr4 ,tung1 the old evangelist1 and a young high school graduate without experience1 and the only ,christian man in the district1 very ignorant but with this to recommend him1 that he was converted or quickened by the ,holy ,spirit in the ,changte revival1 and was intensely in earnest4 ,we were here only about twenty days when dozens began to inquire1 among whom were robbers1 opium sots1 and gamblers4 ,the work went on all day and well on till midnight4 ,we were all tiring out4 ,we had not enough workers4 ,it was like a very heavy burden that forced me to my knees4 ,i told the ,lord that he was the ,lord of the harvest1 and that he must send more harvesters4 ,there was a time of intense looking to ,god1 almost amounting to agony1 and then the burden lifted1 and ,i knew that ,god had answered4 ,i told my wife that ,i was sure that ,god was going to send me workers4 ,now what is the result8 ,since then he has sent me two ,chinese ,b4,a4's1 both excellent speakers4 ,he moved an excellent elder to give up his business1 and he has been appointed an evangelist4 ,at this center a scholar1 who was an opium user and gambler1 got converted last year4 ,his progress has been most remarkable1 and it looks as if he is going to make one of the front-rank preachers4 ,also two brothers here1 who were among the first converts last year1 help to preach1 their father--also a convert of last year--providing their food4 99 99 99 99 99 ,another gracious evidence of ,god's over-ruling providence was seen in the way we1 especially the children1 were kept from contracting contagious diseases4 ,the ,chinese carry their children about everywhere in their arms1 even when sick with all sorts of contagious diseases4 ,i give the following instance to show how impossible it was to know when one would run into danger4 ,going to a certain village for a day's preaching1 ,i took with me little ,mary1 then three years of age4 ,we were waited on by a ,christian woman who was most kind and attentive1 bringing water and food for both ,mary and myself4 ,being much taken up with preaching to the women1 it did not occur to me to ask why she kept her baby's face covered1 for the child was always in her arms4 ,just as we were leaving ,i asked her2 then she uncovered the baby's face1 and to my horror ,i found that the child was suffering from smallpox6 ,for weeks ,i watched ,mary's temperature1 but nothing developed4 ,through repeated instances of this kind ,i came to see that ,mr4 ,goforth was right when he said1 ,the safest place for yourself and the children is in the path of duty4 ,as ,i recall those years of touring life with our children1 words fail me to tell of all the ,lord's goodness to them and to me4 ,though there were many hard1 hard places1 these were but opportunities for special grace and help4 ,many times1 when discouraged almost to the point of never going out again with the children1 there would come evidence that the ,lord was using our family life1 lived among the people1 to win them to ,christ4 ,then ,i would take new courage1 and go again4 ,oh1 it is so true that ,we may trust him fully ,all for us to do2 ,those who trust him wholly ,find him wholly true4 ,,vii ,,the ,,story ,,of ,,one ,,furlough 7#aijh-aiaj7 ,call upon me in the day of trouble3 ,i will deliver thee1 and thou shalt glorify me 7,psa4 #ej3ae74 ,,in ,,the summer of #aijh ,i was obliged to return to ,canada with five of our children1 leaving ,mr4 ,goforth in ,china for the revival work4 ,reaching ,toronto1 ,i learned that my eldest son was at death's door from repeated attacks of rheumatic fever4 ,he was then almost a day's journey away4 ,on my way there1 as ,i recalled the times in which he had been given back to us from the very gates of death1 my faith was strengthened to believe for his recovery again4 ,but1 as ,i prayed1 it became very clear that the answer to my petition depended on myself2 in other words1 that ,i must yield myself and my will to ,god4 ,i had been planning to take no meetings during that furlough1 but to devote myself wholly to my children4 ,i confessed the sin of planning my own life1 and definitely covenanted with the ,lord that if he would raise my son for his service ,i would take meetings1 or do anything1 as he opened the way for the care of the children4 ,there were six difficult doors1 however1 that would have to be opened--not one1 but all--before ,i could possibly go out and speak for ,christ and ,china1 as ,god seemed to be asking4 ,first1 the ,lord would need to restore my son to complete health1 as ,i could never feel justified in leaving a sick child4 ,second1 he would need to restore my own health1 for ,i had been ordered to the hospital for an operation4 ,third1 he would need to keep all the other children well4 ,fourth1 a servant must be sent to take care of the house--though my income was so small that a servant seemed out of the question1 and only the strictest economy was making both ends meet4 ,fifth1 a ,christian lady would need to be willing to take care of the children1 and act as my housekeeper in my absence from home4 ,sixth1 sufficient money would need to be sent to meet the extra expenses incurred by my leaving home4 ,yet1 as ,i laid these difficulties before the ,lord1 ,i received the definite assurance that he would open the way4 ,my son was brought back to ,toronto on a stretcher1 the doctor not allowing him to raise his head2 but on arrival he would not obey orders1 declaring that he was so well he could not and would not remain still4 ,fearing the consequences of his disobeying orders1 ,i telephoned for the doctor to come at once4 ,on his arrival he gave the lad a thorough examination1 and then said3 ,well1 ,i cannot make him out2 all ,i can say is1 let him do as he pleases4 ,within a month the boy was going back to his high school1 apparently quite well4 ,some months later he applied for a position as forester under the government4 ,he had to pass through the hands of the official doctor4 ,my son told him of his recent illness1 and of what the doctor had said concerning his heart2 but this physician replied3 ,in spite of all you have told me ,i can discover nothing whatever the matter with you1 and will therefore give you a clear bill of health4 ,as for myself1 ,i did not go to the hospital2 for all the symptoms that had seemed to require it left me1 and ,i became perfectly well4 ,a servant was sent to me who did her work sympathetically1 as helping me to do the ,lord's work4 ,a married niece1 living near1 offered to stay in the home whenever ,i needed to be absent4 ,and so there remained but one condition unfulfilled--the money4 ,but ,i believed this would come as ,i went forward2 and it did4 ,each month that followed1 as ,i made up my accounts1 ,i found that my receipts exceeded my expenditures sufficiently to enable me to spend money for work in ,china1 and to purchase things which ,i needed for ,china1 including an organ4 ,all these accounts were laid before our beloved ,mission ,board secretary1 who approved them4 ,under these circumstances ,i dared not refuse invitations to speak4 ,yet1 so weak was my faith1 for months ,i never left home for a few days without dreading lest something should happen to the children during my absence4 ,i even accepted meetings with the proviso that if the children needed me ,i must fail to keep my appointment4 ,but as the days and weeks and months passed1 and all went well1 ,i learned to trust4 ',be still2 be strong to-day4' ,but1 ,lord1 to-morrow8 ,what of to-morrow1 ,lord8 ,shall there be rest from toil1 ,be truce from sorrow8 ',did ,i not die for thee8 ,do ,i not live for thee8 ,leave me to-morrow4' ,in giving the following ,i wish to make clear that1 had ,i been living a life of ease or self-indulgence1 ,i could not have been justified in expecting ,god to undertake for me in such matters as are here recorded4 ,it must be remembered that ,i had stepped out into a life which meant trusting for everything4 ,before leaving ,china for ,canada my husband had said to me3 ,do not stint the children with apples2 give them all they want4 ,but when ,i began housekeeping ,i found this was not very easy to do4 ,apples were expensive1 and the appetites of my six children for them seemed insatiable4 ,however1 ,i began by buying a few small baskets2 and then ,i did not need to buy more1 for apples came in a most wonderful way4 ,first in baskets2 then1 as the season advanced1 in barrels4 ,these came from many different sources2 and in some cases long distances1 express paid to the door4 ,on one occasion a barrel of large1 hard ,greenings came just as we had finished the last barrel4 ,the children complained that they were too hard to eat1 and begged me to buy them some ,snows--very expensive1 but delicious apples for eating4 ,i had only purchased one small basket of ,snows when a large supply1 almost a barrelful1 came from a distant friend4 ,i feel that the ,lord saw that ,i had given up all for him1 so just showed how he could provide1 thus evidencing his love and care for my dear children4 ,we had set up housekeeping at the end of the fruit season1 and so ,i had not been able to do canning for winter use4 ,that winter1 again and again1 gifts of canned fruit came1 sometimes from unknown sources4 ,altogether1 seventy jars of the finest fruit were sent to us4 ,i will give the details of just one of these gifts4 ,shortly before leaving home for ten days1 the servant informed me that the canned fruit was finished4 ,accordingly1 ,i went down and ordered enough dried fruit to last till ,i should return4 ,on reaching home ,i was greeted at the door by a rush from the children1 all trying at once to tell me that a lovely valentine had just arrived4 ,leading me back to the kitchen1 they showed me the table covered with twenty jars of the most delicious looking fruit1 and a large can of maple syrup4 ,on a card accompanying the gift was written3 ,a valentine for our dear 'substitute in ,china1' from her sisters in ,renfrew4 99 99 99 99 99 ,early in the winter it became evident that a telephone was a necessity1 with my numerous calls and engagements4 ,i hesitated about going into this expense1 not being quite sure that it was right to use in that way the money given me4 ,at last1 ,i prayed that the ,lord would show me his will in the matter by sending me half the amount needed for the telephone within a certain time1 if it was right for me to get it4 ,before the time expired the money had come2 so ,i got the telephone4 99 99 99 99 99 ,as the weather became cold ,i began to suffer on the long drives in the country to appointments1 and was soon longing for a fur coat4 ,i consulted our mission secretary as to whether1 if sufficient money were given me1 ,i could put it into a fur coat4 ,the answer was a decided ,yes4 ,there was no doubt that the coat was a necessity in the ,lord's work4 ,so ,i began to pray the ,lord to send the money quickly1 for the cold was severe4 ,in less than two weeks ,i received the money needed1 and of course got the coat4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ladies of the ,winnipeg ,presbyterial had arranged a series of meetings for me in ,winnipeg1 ,brandon1 and other places in that vicinity1 about ten in all4 ,the collections from the meetings were to defray my traveling expenses1 which would amount to over one hundred dollars4 ,on my way by train from ,toronto to ,winnipeg ,i caught a severe cold1 which settled in my throat and chest4 ,i did not want the women to be disappointed1 and also put to all the expense1 if ,i failed them4 ,just before reaching ,winnipeg ,i was enabled to commit myself definitely into the ,lord's hands1 for strength and voice for the meetings4 ,the days that followed can never be forgotten1 for the bodily weakness1 fever1 and throat trouble were removed only while ,i was giving my addresses4 ,in each case1 though so hoarse before and after speaking as to be scarcely able to make myself heard above a whisper1 my voice cleared for the address4 ,for example3 while at ,dr4 and ,mrs4 ,c4 ,w4 ,gordon's home the ,sunday ,i was to speak in ,winnipeg1 ,i was advertised to speak that night in ,dr4 ,gordon's church4 ,at the supper table ,i asked ,dr4 ,gordon if he would be ready to speak should ,i fail4 ,just before my time came to speak ,i slipped up on to the platform behind ,dr4 ,gordon1 who was praying2 and oh1 how ,i cried to the ,lord for help and courage6 ,for the church was packed1 and even the ,sunday-school room partitions were opened to accommodate the crowd4 ,my throat was as if in a vise1 and ,i felt weak and ill4 ,but1 as ,dr4 ,gordon introduced me1 ,i stepped forward possessed by a feeling of wonderful calm and absolute confidence4 ,it seemed ,i could just feel ,one like unto the ,son of man beside me1 and never had ,i felt so completely and only a channel4 ,for more than an hour ,i spoke so that every one heard distinctly2 but when ,i sat down my throat tightened as before4 ,dr4 ,gordon told me later that he had a man sit in the most difficult place in which to hear1 and that he had heard every word4 ,so it was till the end of my appointments4 ,on the homeward journey ,i asked the ,lord either to heal my throat1 or to provide a way for me to get a needed rest from speaking1 for ,i had many appointments awaiting me in ,ontario4 ,a few days after reaching home four of my children were taken down with measles4 ,during the weeks ,i was in quarantine with them my throat received the rest it needed1 and became quite restored4 99 99 99 99 99 ,one day the following early summer1 in looking over the children's clothes1 ,i found there was so much to be done ,i was fairly overwhelmed4 ,i saw it was quite impossible to do the necessary sewing and keep my appointments too4 ,the question that weighed heavily was1 ,should ,i cancel the meetings for which ,i had given my word8 ,my husband urged me to buy ready-made clothes1 but ,i knew how expensive they would be1 and could not bring myself to do so4 ,i went alone and laid my burden before the ,lord1 praying that1 if he wanted me to speak further for ,china1 he would show his will by sending me some gift that would enable me to get ready-made clothes for the children4 ,a few days later ,i was speaking at a ,presbyterial gathering in western ,ontario4 ,at the close of the evening meeting an old gentleman put into my hands some money4 ,i asked him what he wished me to use it for1 and he replied1 ,for your children4 ,use it in a way that will help you to be free for ,god's work4 ,my heart rose in thanksgiving1 and ,i decided to accept it as the token ,i had asked of the ,lord4 ,on my return to ,toronto ,i spent this gift in buying ready-made clothes for the children1 to save my time and strength for the ,lord's work4 99 99 99 99 99 ,when busy in my home one day1 the thought of two dear friends of the ,china ,inland ,mission kept coming constantly to mind1 and ,i began to wonder if ,i should not send them some money4 ,looking into my purse1 ,i found ,i had only fifty cents on hand4 ,i put the matter out of my mind1 with the thought that if the ,lord wanted me to send them anything he would provide a way4 ,that afternoon's mail brought a letter from a distant place in ,ontario where1 a year before1 ,i had visited and spoken for a friend4 ,the letter was from the treasurer of the ,christian ,endeavor ,society for which ,i had spoken4 ,he enclosed five dollars1 and said the money was to have been given me at the time ,i spoke for them1 but had been overlooked4 ,my first thought was to return it1 as it would be dishonoring my friend to accept money for such a service2 and then ,i remembered my friends for whom ,i wanted money1 and ,i decided to send the five dollars to them4 ,my husband1 returning the following morning1 handed me another five to put with it1 and the ten dollars was sent off4 ,in due course a reply came from my friends1 saying that the very morning my letter arrived they both had been given assurance that a certain sum would come1 for which they had been praying4 ,this was to meet a need which they did not wish to bring before their ,board4 ,my letter brought the ten dollars2 and another letter in the afternoon's mail contained a sum which1 with mine1 exactly made the amount they had been asking the ,lord for4 ,say not my soul1 ',can ,god relieve my care8' ,remember that ,omnipotence hath servants everywhere6 ,on one occasion1 when about to leave home on a ten days' trip to ,montreal and other places1 word came that the children's ,sunday-school treat was to take place during my absence4 ,little ,mary had no best dress for the occasion4 ,i had planned to make her a white woolen dress1 but now there was no time2 and ,i knew ,i could not make it while away1 with so many meetings ahead4 ,but1 that very day1 a lady from our church called and said she had wanted for a long time to help me1 and asked if she could do any sewing for me4 ,with dim eyes and a grateful heart ,i accepted her offer4 ,on my return1 ,mary told me of her wearing a pretty white cloth dress for the ,sunday-school treat4 99 99 99 99 99 ,once more we planned to leave ,canada for ,china1 and a serious problem faced me4 ,our eldest son could be left to face the world alone1 but not our daughter of sixteen4 ,it was necessary that a suitable guardian be found for her4 ,i called on three different ones whom ,i thought would feel some responsibility toward the missionary's daughter1 but all three declined to accept the responsibility4 ,i then saw that it was not for me to try to open doors1 but for this also ,i must look to the ,lord4 ,i prayed that1 if he wished me to return to ,china1 he would send me one to whom ,i could commit her4 ,a short time passed2 then a lady called1 whose life had been devoted to the training of young women4 ,her beautiful ,christian character made her the one above all others in whose care ,i could gladly leave my daughter4 ,this lady told me that in her early years she had hoped to give her life for service in ,china1 but the way had been closed4 ,she now felt that the ,lord had laid it upon her heart to offer to take charge of my child4 ,years have passed since then1 and she has fulfilled my highest expectations of her4 ,rarely has a more definite answer come from a loving ,father1 nor one that brought greater relief and help2 for this offer1 coming as it did in answer to my prayers1 seemed to be unmistakable proof that the ,lord would keep my child as ,i gave her up4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the time had almost arrived for beginning the last preparations for the long journey to ,china1 when one day ,ruth came in from her play with her heavy coat almost in shreds1 she having in some way torn it on a barbed wire fence4 ,the coat was the only heavy one she had1 and ,i had planned to make it do for the ocean voyage1 intending to get a new one in ,england4 ,i tried to find a new one in the stores1 but the season was past and ,i could not2 and ,i had no time to make another4 ,i just took the need to the ,lord and left it there1 believing that in some way he would provide4 ,a few days later a friend telephoned me that her mother had recently returned from a visit to ,chicago1 and wished me to come over to see a parcel she had brought for me4 ,oh1 the relief that came when ,i found that the parcel contained1 among other things1 a handsome red cloth ulster1 which fitted ,ruth perfectly4 ,this fresh evidence of the ,lord's overshadowing care touched me deeply4 ,those who have never known such tokens of the ,lord's loving care in the little things of life can scarcely understand the blessedness that such experiences bring4 ,whether it be so heavy that others cannot bear ,to know the heavy burden they cannot come and share2 ,whether it be so tiny that others cannot see ,why it should be a burden1 and seem so real to me1 ,either and both ,i lay them down at the ,master's feet ,and find them alone with ,jesus mysteriously sweet4 99 99 99 99 99 ,as ,i attempt to recall the answers to prayer on this furlough1 so many come to mind it is impossible to record them all--help in keeping my appointments1 courage and power for public speaking1 physical strength1 and guidance in facing many difficult problems4 ,it was at this time ,i formed a habit of getting a message for a meeting on my knees4 ,it often seemed to me very wonderful how1 as in a flash1 sometimes1 an outline for a talk on ,china would come4 ,never having kept notes1 nor even outlines of addresses1 ,i have frequently been placed in circumstances when ,i have felt utterly cast on the ,lord4 ,and ,i can testify that he never failed to give the needed help1 and the realized divine power4 ,yet sad1 sad is it that often at just such times1 no sooner would the address be ended than the ,satan-whispered thought would come1 ,i have done well to-day4 ,oh1 is not the goodness and forbearance of our ,god wonderful2 wonderful that he ever again would deign to give help when asked for it8 99 99 99 99 99 ,a short time since ,i asked a dear friend whose writings have reached and inspired multitudes throughout the ,christian world3 ,how did you do it8 ,softly1 with deep reverence in look and tone1 she replied3 ,it has been done all in and through prayer6 ,with deepest gratitude and praise to our ever faithful ,god1 ,i too can testify that any little service ,i have been able to do has been done by his grace in answer to prayer4 ,i stood amazed and whispered1 ',can it be ,that he hath granted all the boon ,i sought1 ,how wonderful that he for me hath wrought6' 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,oh1 faithless heart6 he said that he would hear1 ,and proved his promise1 wherefore didst thou fear8 ,how wonderful if he should fail to bless ,expectant prayer with good success6 ,,viii ,,our ,,god ,,of ,,the ,,impossible ,behold ,i am the ,lord1 4 4 4 is there anything too hard for ,,me8 7,jer4 #cb3bg47 ,ah1 ,lord ,god6 there is nothing too wonderful for thee 7,jer4 #cb3ag1 margin74 ,,the following illustration of the truth1 ,what is impossible with man is possible with ,god1 occurred while we were attending the ,keswick ,convention in ,england1 in #aiaj4 ,one evening my husband returned from an evening meeting1 which ,i had not attended1 and told me of a woman who had come to him in great distress4 ,she had been an earnest ,christian worker1 but love for light1 trashy fiction had so grown upon her as to work havoc in her ,christian life4 ,she had come to ,keswick three years in succession1 hoping to get victory1 but had failed4 ,my whole soul went out to the poor woman2 ,i longed to help her4 ,but ,mr4 ,goforth did not know her name1 and the tent had been so dark he could not recognize her again2 besides1 there were about four thousand people attending the convention4 ,that night ,i lay awake asking the ,lord1 if he knew ,i could help her1 to bring us together1 for ,i1 too1 had at one time been almost wrecked on the same rock4 ,three evenings later the tent was so crowded that ,i found difficulty in getting a seat4 ,just as the meeting was about to begin1 ,i noticed a woman change her seat twice1 and then rise a third time and come to where ,i was1 asking me to make room for her4 ,i crowded the others in the seat and made room for her--,i fear not too graciously4 ,while ,mr4 ,f4 ,b4 ,meyer was speaking ,i noticed she was in great distress1 her tears falling fast4 ,i laid my hand on hers1 and she grasped it convulsively4 ,at the close of the meeting ,i said1 ,can ,i help you8 ,oh1 no1 she replied1 there is no hope for me2 it is those cursed novels that have been my ruin4 ,i looked at her in amazement1 and almost gasped3 ,are you the one who spoke to ,mr4 ,goforth ,saturday night8 ,yes2 but who are you8 ,scarcely able to speak for emotion1 ,i told her1 and also of my prayer4 ,for the next few moments we could only weep together4 ,then the ,lord used me to lead the poor crushed and broken soul back to himself4 ,as we parted1 a few days later1 her face was beaming with the joy of the ,lord4 ,while addressing a gathering of ,christians in ,glasgow ,i was giving a certain incident1 the point of which depended upon a verse of a certain hymn4 ,when ,i came to quote the verse1 it had utterly slipped my memory4 ,in some confusion ,i turned to the leader1 hoping that he could help me out2 but he said he had no idea what the hymn was4 ,turning again to the people1 ,i had to acknowledge that my memory had failed me1 and1 feeling embarrassed1 ,i closed my message somewhat hurriedly4 ,sitting down1 ,i lifted my heart in a cry to the ,lord to lead me to the verse ,i wanted1 if it was in the hymn-book used there4 ,i took up a hymn-book and opened it1 and the very first lines my eyes fell on were those of the verse ,i wanted1 though it was the last verse of a long hymn4 ,rising again1 ,i told the people of my prayer and the answer1 and gave them the verse4 ,the solemn stillness which prevailed indicated that a deep impression had been made4 ,some two years after1 a newly arrived missionary in ,china told me he had been present at that meeting1 and how this little incident had been a great blessing to him4 ,they cried unto thee1 and were delivered3 they trusted in thee1 and were not confounded 7,psa4 #bb3e74 ,before leaving ,canada we had written to the ,china ,inland ,school at ,chefoo1 ,china1 hoping to get our children admitted there2 but1 shortly before we left ,england for ,china1 word reached us that both the boys' and girls' schools were overflowing1 with long lists of waiting applicants4 ,this was a great blow to me1 for ,i had been looking forward to engaging once more in the aggressive out-station work4 ,but the children could not be left1 and were too old to be taken away from their studies4 ,it seemed necessary1 therefore1 that a good ,christian governess should be found1 who would teach the children and take charge of the home in my absence4 ,all the way across the ,siberian route this matter was before us4 ,earnestly did ,i pray that the ,lord would direct the right one to us2 for ,i knew that to get a young woman1 who could fill the position we wanted her for1 would be very difficult in ,china4 ,we had planned to go direct to our station1 but illness forced us to break the journey at ,peitaiho1 where we met a young lady1 the daughter of a missionary4 ,many difficulties appeared in the way of her coming on with us1 but one by one these were removed2 and when we continued our journey this young woman was one of our party4 ,time proved her to be truly ,god-given4 ,not only was she all and more than ,i could have hoped for1 but the ,lord answered my prayers that her young life might be consecrated to the ,lord's service in ,china4 ,she later went through her training in ,england as a nurse1 and is now in ,china as a missionary of the ,china ,inland ,mission4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the summer holidays at ,peitaiho were drawing to a close4 ,heavy rains had fallen1 making the roads to the station1 six miles distant1 almost impassable4 ,word had come that our two children1 ,ruth and ,wallace1 must leave by the ,monday morning train in order to reach the steamer at ,tientsin1 which was to take them to ,chefoo1 where they were attending the ,china ,inland ,mission schools4 ,all day ,saturday and ,sunday torrents of rain continued to fall1 with a fierce wind from the north4 ,i rose before daybreak ,monday morning1 to find the rain still pouring down in torrents4 ,i roused the servant1 and sent him off to make sure about the chair1 cart1 and donkeys4 ,a little later he returned to say that the chair had been blown over1 and the chair-bearers had refused to come4 ,the carters also refused1 saying the roads were impassable2 and even the donkey boys said they would not go4 ,i was truly at wit's end corner4 ,i went alone1 and did not take time even to kneel down1 but just lifted up my heart to my ,father to stop the rain and open a way for the children to get to the station4 ,i felt a sudden1 strong confidence that the ,lord would help1 and going out again ,i ordered the servant to run fast to the village near by and get fresh donkeys4 ,he was unwilling1 saying it was useless1 no one would venture2 but ,i said3 ,go at once1 ,i know they will come4 ,while he was gone the children had their breakfast1 boxes were closed and taken out1 and the children put on their wraps4 ,then the rain stopped6 ,just then the servant returned with several donkeys4 ,within five minutes1 children and baggage were on donkeys1 and started for the station4 ,a few hours later one of the donkey boys returned with a hastily written note from ,ruth1 saying they had reached the station without any mishap1 and quite dry2 for it had not rained on the way over1 but had started to pour again just after they had got on the train4 ,the rain continued for days after4 99 99 99 99 99 ,at the close of our four months of meetings in ,great ,britain1 in #aiaj1 ,i felt a strong desire to send a gift of five dollars to five different objects in ,britain1 to show in a practical way our sympathy with the workers in these various branches of the ,lord's work4 ,my husband was in the midst of his accounts when ,i asked him to give me five pounds for this purpose4 ,he told me it was impossible1 as we had barely enough for the journey to ,china4 ,as ,i left him ,i wondered why ,i seemed to have these gifts so definitely laid upon me to send away1 when there was no money4 ,reasoning that if the thing were really of the ,lord he could himself give me what he wished me to send1 ,i put the matter from my mind4 ,that evening's mail brought a letter from a stranger living some distance away1 judging from the postmark2 for the letter had no address1 and was not signed4 ,the letter said3 ,i do not know you1 nor have ,i met you1 but the ,lord seems to have laid it on my heart to send you this five-pound note as a farewell gift1 to do what you think best with4 ,it was with a joyful heart ,i sent off the gifts to the five ,christian workers in ,britain4 ,had the giver said it was for work in ,china1 as was usually the case1 ,i could not have used it for any other purpose4 ,how to get the sewing done for my family and yet meet the pressing calls made upon me as the wife of a pioneer missionary1 for almost thirty years has been perhaps the most difficult and constant problem of my missionary life4 ,in connection with the solving of this problem1 ,i have seen some of the most precious evidences of ,god's willingness to undertake in the daily details of life4 ,the following story must be given in detail to be really understood1 as one of the striking instances of how ,god1 in his own wonderful way1 can work out the seemingly impossible4 ,returning home to our station from an unusually strenuous autumn's touring1 ,i planned as usual to give the month of ,december to the children's sewing1 so as to leave ,january largely free for a ,bible-women's training class4 ,but my health broke down1 and ,i could make scarcely any headway with the thirty-five or forty garments which had to be made or fixed over1 before the children returned to their school in ,chefoo4 ,by the eighteenth of ,december we decided to cancel the class on account of my ill-health2 and to all the women1 except one whom ,i entirely forgot1 ,i sent word not to come4 ,as the days passed1 the burden of the almost untouched sewing became very great4 ,at last ,i cried to the ,lord to undertake for me4 ,and how wonderfully he did6 ,on ,december twenty-eighth1 when ,i was conducting the ,chinese women's prayer-meeting1 ,i noticed in the audience ,mrs4 ,lu1 the very woman to whom ,i had forgotten to send word4 ,she had come a long distance1 with her little child1 over rough mountainous roads1 so ,i felt very sorry for my thoughtlessness4 ,mrs4 ,lu accompanied me home1 and ,i gave her money for a barrow on which to return the next day4 ,i then sat down to the sewing machine4 ,the woman stood beside me for a little1 and then said3 ,you are looking very tired1 ,mrs4 ,goforth2 let me run the machine for you4 ,you6 ,i exclaimed1 astonished1 why1 you don't know how4 ,yes1 ,i do1 she replied4 ,she was so insistent that at last1 in fear and trembling1 ,i ventured to let her try--for ,i had only one needle4 ,it took but a few moments to convince me she was a real expert at the machine4 ,when ,i urged her to stay and help me1 she replied that1 since the class was given up1 she would return home on the morrow4 ,that night ,i was puzzled4 ,why should the ,lord lead this woman to me--the only one1 so far as we knew1 who could do the machine work--and then permit her to leave8 ,i could only lay the whole matter before the ,lord1 and trust him to undertake4 ,and again he answered4 ,that night a fierce storm came on1 lasting several days and making the roads quite impassable4 ,mrs4 ,lu1 finding herself storm-tied1 gladly gave all her time to me4 ,the roads remained impassable for a whole month1 during which time ,i did not once need to sit down at the machine4 99 99 99 99 99 ,while in ,tientsin with my children during the revolution in #aiab1 ,i had occasion to go into the ,chinese city with my servant4 ,we visited three stores4 ,on our way home by the tramway ,i discovered ,i had lost a five-dollar bill and one of my gloves4 ,i had foolishly put the bill inside the glove4 ,ashamed to let the ,chinese servant know of my carelessness1 ,i sent him home when we reached the end of the tram line4 ,as soon as he was out of sight ,i took the tram back to the city4 ,on the way ,i confessed to the ,lord my carelessness1 and asked him to keep the glove and money1 and lead me to where they were4 ,i retraced my steps back to two of the stores where we had been4 ,as ,i entered the second1 which was a shoe store1 a number of men were in the shop2 but there1 right in sight of all1 on the floor lay my glove1 and ,i knew of course with the five dollars inside4 ,it was with a heart full of gratitude to my loving ,heavenly ,father1 and an enlarged vision of his love1 that ,i picked up the glove and returned home that day4 99 99 99 99 99 ,on one occasion when on furlough with several little children1 and my husband in ,china1 ,i had no settled home4 ,when the time came to do the sewing for the long journey back to ,china1 ,i had simply no way to get it done4 ,i just had to look to the ,lord2 and1 as so often before1 he was again faithful1 and opened the way4 ,when shopping down town1 one day1 ,i met a minister's wife from a distant country charge1 who said3 ,i want you to come with all your children1 and get your sewing done with me4 ,a number of the ladies of our congregation sew well1 and will be delighted to help you4 ,i gratefully accepted her invitation1 and while staying with her a sewing-bee was held in the church4 ,in one week the sewing was finished1 which would have taken me many weeks of hard1 constant labor to accomplish alone4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the winter of our return from ,china1 after the ,boxer tragedies1 ,i felt keenly the need of a good sewing machine1 as ,i could not possibly do the children's sewing by hand and still get time for meetings4 ,one day1 as my husband was leaving on a deputation tour1 ,i asked him for money for a machine4 ,he assured me it was impossible2 that we had only sufficient for bare necessities4 ,i knew well he would gladly give me money for the machine if he had it4 ,so ,i laid my need before my ,father1 confident that he knew it was a real need1 and that according to his promise he could and would supply it4 ,i was so sure that somehow the money would come1 that ,i went down town especially to choose a suitable machine4 ,i found it would cost thirty-six dollars4 ,a few days later ,i received a letter from a band of ladies in ,mount ,forest1 ,ontario1 enclosing twenty-three dollars and some odd cents1 and saying3 ,please accept the enclosed to buy something you have lost as our substitute in ,china4 ,only a day or two later another letter came1 from quite another part of ,ontario1 enclosing twelve dollars and some cents4 ,the two amounts came to exactly the sum ,i needed to purchase the machine4 ,the second letter stated that the money was sent to help me buy a sewing machine4 ,it has always been a puzzle to me how they came to send the money in that way1 for ,i had not spoken to any one but my husband about wanting a machine4 ,when ,mr4 ,goforth returned ,i was able to show him what the ,lord could give me1 though he could not4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i had been holding a class for women at an out-station1 staying in the home of the elder1 ,dr4 ,fan4 ,the day before ,i was to return home1 ,mrs4 ,fan asked me to go with her to visit a very sick boy whom the missionary doctor had sent home from the boys' school1 ,wei ,hwei1 because of his having tuberculosis of the lungs4 ,mrs4 ,fan told me the mother was in great distress1 and begged me to come and pray with her4 ,i found the lad in a truly pitiable condition4 ,his mouth was swollen1 his face a ghastly hue1 and every moment a cough racked his frame4 ,he seemed to me quite beyond hope1 and looked as if he could not live long4 ,on our way home to ,mrs4 ,fan's1 the message of ,james #e3ad1 #ae1 kept coming persistently to me1 as if spoken by a voice3 ,is any sick among you8 let him call for the elders of the church2 and let them pray over him1 4 4 4 and the prayer of faith shall save the sick1 and the ,lord shall raise him up4 ,i simply could not get away from those words4 ,on reaching ,dr4 ,fan's home1 ,i sent for him1 and asked if he and the other elders would be willing to pray with me over the lad4 ,he consented1 though at first he seemed rather dubious4 ,there were quite a number of ,christians gathered around as we placed the boy in our midst4 ,all knelt down1 and ,i read the words from ,james4 ,i told them plainly that ,i could not say that it was indeed the ,lord's will to heal the boy2 all that was clear to me was that we must obey as far as we had light1 and leave the rest in ,god's hands for life or death4 ,several prayed1 and we then dispersed4 ,early the following morning ,i left for home4 ,circumstances prevented my return to that place1 and in time we moved to another field4 ,more than two years later1 while visiting ,wei ,hwei1 ,i met ,mrs4 ,fan1 who told me that the lad had completely recovered and was then working with his father4 ,still a year later ,i met ,dr4 ,fan1 and upon inquiring about the lad1 the doctor told me he was perfectly well1 and was in business in ,wei ,hwei ,city4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the power of intercession is shown in the following two incidents3 ,in the winter of #aije a call came for my husband to hold special meetings in ,manchuria4 ,on reaching ,liao ,yang for these meetings1 one of the missionaries showed him a letter from ,mr4 ,moffat1 of ,korea1 which said3 ,i have a thousand ,christians here who have promised to pray for ,mr4 ,goforth1 and ,i know their prayers will prevail with ,god4 ,can we doubt that their prayers had something to do with the marvelous revival movement which followed8 ,when in ,england1 in #aiji1 my husband was the guest of a lady in ,london who was noted for her power in intercession4 ,he was telling her of the great revival movements he had been through1 which took place in different provinces of ,china2 and she asked him to look at her diary1 in which were notes of times when she had been led out in special intercession for ,mr4 ,goforth4 ,these dates exactly corresponded to the times of greatest revival power4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a few months after we returned to ,china from a furlough1 ,i invited a certain missionary and his wife and children to pay us a visit4 ,peculiarly touching circumstances had led me to give this invitation4 ,both husband and wife were in ill health1 and greatly needed a change4 ,they resided in a far inland station1 quite cut off from other missionaries4 ,they were not connected with any ,society1 and were looking only to the ,lord for their support4 ,just as these friends had started toward us1 on their five-days' journey1 smallpox broke out at our station1 and one of the missionaries died4 ,a telegram was sent1 hoping to catch them before they left1 but it did not reach them until they were a short distance from our station4 ,then the whole family had to turn around1 and once more take the long1 trying journey1 homeward4 ,as the weather was very cold at the time1 one could imagine what a terrible trial to faith the whole experience meant to them4 ,i felt so deeply for them that ,i planned to send sufficient to cover at least the expense of the journey4 ,but1 on getting out of quarantine1 ,i found ,i could not draw on our treasurer for the fifty dollars needed1 as ,mr4 ,goforth was not at home4 ,however1 the ,lord had seen the need long before ,i felt it1 and had the exact amount ready4 ,three days after ,i got out of quarantine ,i received a letter from ,mr4 ,horace ,goven1 of the ,faith ,mission1 ,glasgow1 enclosing a draft for five pounds which1 at the rate of exchange at that time1 came to fifty dollars ,mexican4 ,the gift came from the workers of the mission1 and he stated that they wished me to accept it as a personal gift4 ,needless to say1 the draft was sent off that same day to the needy friends in the far-off station4 ,on one occasion1 while we were temporarily stationed at ,wei ,hwei1 ,honan1 ,i was called to nurse a fellow missionary who had contracted black smallpox4 ,this missionary died2 and it was while shut away from every one during the time of quarantine that ,i had the following experience3 ,i awoke suddenly one night feeling greatly troubled for one in ,canada4 ,so strong was the impression that this friend needed my prayers1 that ,i felt compelled to rise and spend a long time wrestling with ,god on this one's behalf2 then peace came1 and ,i again slept4 ,as soon as ,i was out of quarantine ,i wrote to my friend and told of this experience1 giving the date4 ,in time the answer came1 which said that--though no date could be given1 as no note had been made of it--as far as could be judged1 it was about the same time that ,i had had the burden of prayer that my friend was passing through a time of such temptation as seemed almost overwhelming4 ,but the letter said3 ,i was brought through victoriously2 ,i know that it was your prayers that helped me4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the following incident may seem trifling to some2 but to me no answer in my life ever brought more intense relief4 ,for this reason ,i have reserved it1 as the final testimony of the original prayer record4 ,my husband had gone to hold revival meetings in a distant province1 and while he was away ,i went with my ,bible-woman to a certain out-station at the urgent request of the ,christians1 to preach at a four-days' theatrical1 which brought great crowds4 ,the four days there were enough to wear out the strongest2 for many hours daily we had to face unruly crowds coming and going2 and at the end of our stay ,i turned my face homeward utterly worn out4 ,my one thought was to get to ,wei ,hwei1 our next station1 for a few days' rest with my youngest children1 who were attending school there4 ,a sight of them1 ,i knew1 would recover my energies better than anything else4 ,but in getting home ,i in some way lost the key of the money-drawer4 ,it was ,friday1 and the train for ,wei ,hwei left on ,saturday at ten o'clock4 ,different persons came for money1 but ,i had to put them off with some excuse4 ,there was too much money in the drawer for me to leave with the key lying around somewhere2 besides1 ,i myself could not go without money4 ,as soon as ,i had my supper ,i started searching everywhere4 ,drawers1 pigeonholes1 shelves1 were all searched in vain4 ,after hunting for two hours1 until ,i was too exhausted to hunt any more1 ,i suddenly thought1 ,i have never prayed about it4 ,stopping still just where ,i stood by the dining-table1 ,i lifted my heart to the ,lord4 ,o ,lord1 you know how much ,i need a rest2 you know how much ,i long to see the children2 pity me1 and lead me to the key4 ,then1 without wasting a step1 ,i walked through the dining-room1 hall1 and women's guest room into ,mr4 ,goforth's study1 to the book-case 7which covers one side of the room71 opened the door1 slipped two books aside1 and there was the key4 ,so near did the ,lord seem at that moment that ,i could almost feel his bodily presence4 ,it was not that ,i remembered putting the key there1 but he led me there4 ,yes1 ,i know ,god answers prayer4 ,,ix ,,to ,,his ,,praise6 ,they shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness4 ,,this chapter is written more than seven years later than the foregoing1 in further testimony and praise4 ,returning to ,canada at the time of the ,great ,war1 we came face to face with a serious financial crisis4 ,only two ways seemed open to us4 ,one was to lay our affairs frankly before the ,board1 showing that our salary was quite insufficient1 with war conditions and prices1 to meet our requirements4 ,the other course was to just go forward1 get a suitable home and whatever we required1 and trust our ,father to supply what was needed above our income4 ,we decided on the latter course4 ,a dear daughter felt indignant that we should have a salary insufficient for our needs2 but we assured her that to trust ,god for what was lacking was not begging4 ,the day came when this child and myself took possession of our new home4 ,as we entered the dining-room we found a large mail from ,china on the table4 ,one letter was forwarded from the lady in ,australia whose gifts1 in the past1 seemed always to have met some felt need4 ,her letter enclosed fifty pounds1 with the expressed wish that thirty pounds should be used for work in ,china1 but twenty pounds was to be used to meet some personal need4 ,i handed the letter to my daughter1 saying3 ,shall we not believe that ,god will undertake for us8 ,it seems to me as if our ,father were beside us saying1 ',my child1 take this hundred dollars as an earnest of what ,i am going to do for you4' ,tears stood in her eyes as my daughter gave the letter back1 saying3 ,mother1 we don't trust ,god half enough6 ,were ,i to attempt to write the history of the months that followed1 a long chapter would be required2 but my testimony along this line is surely sufficient4 99 99 99 99 99 ,it was on this same furlough that ,i came to have an enlarged vision of my ,heavenly ,father's willingness to undertake in what some might term the minor details of everyday life4 ,missionaries1 especially we missionary women1 know only too well how we are criticized in the matter of dress1 when in the homeland and when traveling4 ,i have had1 through the years1 not only many amusing but trying experiences in this connection1 and ,i resolved to make the question of dress a definite matter of prayer4 ,and ,i rejoice to testify that the result of this decision became a constant source of wonder and praise4 ,yes1 ,i found the ,lord could guide me even in trimming my hat to his glory6 ,that is1 so that ,i could stand up before an audience and not bring discredit to my ,master4 ,praise his name6 ,there is nothing too great for his power1 ,and nothing too small for his love6 ,at the time of the ,great ,war a son had gone to ,england with the first ,canadian contingent4 ,when this news reached us in ,china1 ,i began to pray definitely that the ,lord would use my son's gifts in the best way for his country's good1 but would keep him back from the trenches and from actual warfare4 ,my boy did not know of this prayer4 ,some weeks after reaching ,england he was looking forward to leaving for the trenches in ,france1 when orders came that he was needed in the ,orderly ,room1 and his unit left without him4 ,months later a call came for volunteers1 to fill the great gaps made at the time of the first use of gas4 ,my boy resigned his position1 and joined the company of volunteers to be sent to ,france4 ,just before they were to leave he was again sent for from ,headquarters1 and told he was to go to the ,canadian ,base in ,france as adjutant4 ,his duties in this capacity kept him at the ,forwarding ,base4 ,a year later he again planned to resign1 in order to get to the trenches4 ,he had begun making arrangements for this step1 when he had a fall from his horse1 which caused him to be invalided home to ,canada1 where he was kept till the close of the war4 ,it would indeed be difficult to persuade his mother that all this happened by chance2 for one day1 when in great distress1 expecting any day a cable to say he had left for the trenches1 ,i received a most clear assurance from the ,lord that he had the boy in his keeping4 99 99 99 99 99 ,after our return to ,china1 when in great trouble1 ,i prayed the ,lord to grant me a clear sign of his favor by giving me a certain petition1 which affected a child in the homeland4 ,the request was a complicated one1 including several definite details4 ,a little more than a month later1 a letter reached me from the one for whom ,i had asked the ,lord's favor4 ,she wrote joyously1 telling that she had received just what ,i had asked for1 and in every detail as ,i had prayed4 99 99 99 99 99 ,when my husband resigned the regular field work of ,changte1 ,honan1 it became necessary for us to find a home elsewhere4 ,the only suitable place1 meeting all our requirements1 was on the hills at ,kikungshan1 ,south ,honan4 ,on going there to get a site for our home1 though we looked for more than a week1 we could find no place4 ,as we started down the hill1 one morning soon after midnight1 ,i was feeling our failure very keenly1 for we had given up our old home4 ,when my husband saw how bad ,i felt1 as he told me later1 he began to cry earnestly to the ,lord to give us a site4 ,and before we reached the station the assurance had come that we would get a place4 ,a friend on the train1 traveling third class1 saw us getting on the second class1 and came in for a few words before getting off the train4 ,when he heard we had failed to get a site1 he said3 ,i know of a beautiful site which our ,mission is reserving for a future missionary4 ,i'll ask them to give it to you4 ,a few days later the treasurer of this ,mission wrote us that they had unanimously and gladly voted to give us the site4 ,i am now writing these closing words in our ,god-given home1 built on this beautiful site1 one of the most lovely spots to be found in ,china4 ,so from this quiet mountain retreat1 a monument of what ,god can give in answer to prayer1 this little book of ,prayer ,testimonies is sent forth4 ,as the past has been reviewed1 and ,god's wonderful faithfulness recalled1 there has come a great sense of regret that ,i have not trusted ,god more1 and asked more of him1 both for my family and the ,chinese4 ,yes1 it is truly wonderful6 ,but the wonder is not that ,god can answer prayer1 but that he does1 when we so imperfectly meet the conditions clearly laid down in his ,word4 ,in recent years ,i have often tested myself by these conditions1 when weeks1 and perhaps months1 have passed without some answer to prayer1 and there has come a conscious spiritual sagging4 ,as the discerning soul can plainly see1 all the conditions mentioned in the list below may be included in the one word ,abide4 ,conditions of ,prevailing ,prayer #a4 ,contrite humility before ,god and forsaking of sin4--#b ,chron4 #g3ad4 #b4 ,seeking ,god with the whole heart4--,jer4 #bi3ab1 #ac4 #c4 ,faith in ,god4--,mark #aa3bc1 #bd4 #d4 ,obedience4--#a ,john #c3bb4 #e4 ,dependence on the ,holy ,spirit4--,rom4 #h3bf4 #f4 ,importunity4--,mark #g3bd-cj2 ,luke #aa3e-aj4 #g4 ,must ask in accordance with ,god's will4--#a ,john #e3ad4 #h4 ,in ,christ's ,name4--,john #ad3ac1 #ad1 and many other passages4 #i4 ,must be willing to make amends for wrongs to others4--,matt4 #e3bc1 #bd4 ,causes of ,failure in ,prayer #a4 ,sin in the heart and life4--,psa4 #ff3ah2 ,isa4 #ei3a1 #b4 #b4 ,persistent refusal to obey ,god4--,prov4 #a3bd-bh2 ,zech4 #g3aa1 #ac4 #c4 ,formalism and hypocrisy4--,isa4 #a3b-ae4 #d4 ,unwillingness to forgive others4--,mark #aa3be1 #bf4 #e4 ,wrong motives4--,james #d3b1 #c4 #f4 ,despising ,god's law4--,amos #b3d4 #g4 ,lack of love and mercy4--,prov4 #ba3ac4 ,x ,,victory ,,found ,,at ,,the close of this little volume it seems fitting to recount again a wonderful personal experience1 narrated in ,the ,sunday ,school ,times of ,december #g1 #aiah4 ,i do not remember the time when ,i did not have in some degree a love for the ,lord ,jesus ,christ as my ,saviour4 ,when not quite twelve years of age1 at a revival meeting1 ,i publicly accepted and confessed ,christ as my ,lord and ,master4 ,from that time there grew up in my heart a deep yearning to know ,christ in a more real way1 for he seemed so unreal1 so far away and visionary4 ,one night when still quite young ,i remember going out under the trees in my parents' garden and1 looking up into the starlit heavens1 ,i longed with intense longing to feel ,christ near me4 ,as ,i knelt down there on the grass1 alone with ,god1 ,job's cry became mine1 ,oh1 that ,i knew where ,i might find him6 ,could ,i have borne it had ,i known then that almost forty years would pass before that yearning would be satisfied8 ,with the longing to know ,christ1 literally to find him1 came a passionate desire to serve him4 ,but1 oh1 what a terrible nature ,i had6 ,passionate1 proud1 self-willed1 indeed just full was ,i of those things that ,i knew were unlike ,christ4 ,the following years of half-hearted conflict with sinful self must be passed over till about the fifth year of our missionary work in ,china4 ,i grieve to say that the new life in a foreign land with its trying climate1 provoking servants1 and altogether irritating conditions1 seemed to have developed rather than subdued my natural disposition4 ,one day 7,i can never forget it71 as ,i sat inside the house by a paper window at dusk1 two ,chinese ,christian women sat down on the other side4 ,they began talking about me1 and 7wrongly1 no doubt7 ,i listened4 ,one said1 ,yes1 she is a hard worker1 a zealous preacher1 and--yes1 she nearly loves us2 but1 oh1 what a temper she has6 ,if she would only live more as she preaches6 ,then followed a full and true delineation of my life and character4 ,so true1 indeed1 was it1 as to crush out all sense of annoyance and leave me humbled to the dust4 ,i saw then how useless1 how worse than useless1 was it for me to come to ,china to preach ,christ and not live ,christ4 ,but how could ,i live ,christ8 ,i knew some 7including my dear husband7 who had a peace and a power1--yes1 and a something ,i could not define1 that ,i had not2 and often ,i longed to know the secret4 ,was it possible1 with such a nature as mine1 ever to become patient and gentle8 ,was it possible that ,i could ever really stop worrying8 ,could ,i1 in a word1 ever hope to be able to live ,christ as well as preach him8 ,i knew ,i loved ,christ2 and again and again ,i had proved my willingness to give up all for his sake4 ,but ,i knew1 too1 that one hot flash of temper with the ,chinese1 or with the children before the ,chinese1 would largely undo weeks1 perhaps months1 of self-sacrificing service4 ,the years that followed led often through the furnace4 ,the ,lord knew that nothing but fire could destroy the dross and subdue my stubborn will4 ,those years may be summed up in one line3 ,fighting 7not finding71 following1 keeping1 struggling4 ,yes1 and failing6 ,sometimes in the depths of despair over these failures2 then going on determined to do my best1--and what a poor best it was6 ,in the year #aije1 and later1 as ,i witnessed the wonderful way the ,lord was leading my husband1 and saw the ,holy ,spirit's power in his life and message1 ,i came to seek very definitely for the fulness of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,it was a time of deep heart-searching4 ,the heinousness of sin was revealed as never before4 ,many1 many things had to be set right toward man and ,god4 ,i learned then what paying the price meant4 ,those were times of wonderful mountain-top experiences1 and ,i came to honor the ,holy ,spirit and seek his power for the overcoming of sin in a new way4 ,but ,christ still remained1 as before1 distant1 afar off1 and ,i longed increasingly to know--to find him4 ,although ,i had much more power over besetting sins1 yet there were times of great darkness and defeat4 ,it was during one of these latter times that we were forced to return to ,canada1 in ,june of #aiaf4 ,my husband's health prevented him from public speaking1 and it seemed that this duty for us both was to fall on me4 ,but ,i dreaded facing the ,home ,church without some spiritual uplift1--a fresh vision for myself4 ,the ,lord saw this heart-hunger1 and in his own glorious way he fulfilled literally the promise1 ,he satisfieth the longing soul1 and filleth the hungry soul with goodness 7,psa4 #ajg3i1 ,a4 ,v474 ,a spiritual conference was to be held the latter part of ,june at ,niagara-on-the-,lake1 ,ontario1 and to this ,i was led4 ,one day ,i went to the meeting rather against my inclination1 for it was so lovely under the trees by the beautiful lake4 ,the speaker was a stranger to me1 but from almost the first his message gripped me4 ,victory over ,sin6 ,why1 this was what ,i had fought for1 had hungered for1 all my life6 ,was it possible8 ,the speaker went on to describe very simply an ordinary ,christian life experience--sometimes on the mountain-top1 with visions of ,god2 then again would come the sagging1 and dimming of vision1 coldness1 discouragement1 and perhaps definite disobedience and a time of down-grade experience4 ,then perhaps a sorrow1 or even some special mercy1 would bring the wanderer back to his ,lord4 ,the speaker asked for all those who felt this to be a picture of their experience to raise the hand4 ,i was sitting in the front seat1 and shame only kept me from raising my hand at once4 ,but ,i did so want to get all ,god had for me1 and ,i determined to be true2 and after a struggle ,i raised my hand4 ,wondering if others were like myself1 ,i ventured to glance back and saw many hands were raised1 though the audience was composed almost entirely of ,christian workers1 ministers1 and missionaries4 ,the leader then went on to say that life which he had described was not the life ,god planned or wished for ,his children4 ,he described the higher life of peace1 rest in the ,lord1 of power and freedom from struggle1 worry1 care4 ,as ,i listened ,i could scarcely believe it could be true1 yet my whole soul was moved so that it was with the greatest difficulty ,i could control my emotion4 ,i saw then1 though dimly1 that ,i was nearing the goal for which ,i had been aiming all my life4 ,early the next morning1 soon after daybreak1 ,i went over on my knees carefully and prayerfully all the passages on the ,victorious ,life that were given in a little yellow leaflet that the speaker had distributed4#a ,what a comfort and strength it was to see how clear ,god's ,word was that victory1 not defeat1 was his will for his children1 and to see what wonderful provision he had made6 ,later1 during the days that followed1 clearer light came4 ,i did what ,i was asked to do--,i quietly but definitely accepted ,christ as my ,saviour from the power of sin as ,i had so long before accepted him as my ,saviour from the penalty of sin4 ,and on this ,i rested4 ,i left ,niagara1 realizing1 however1 there was still something ,i had not got4 ,i felt much as the blind man must have felt when he said1 ,i see men as trees1 walking 7,a4 ,v474 ,i had begun to see light1 but dimly4 ,the day after reaching home ,i picked up a little booklet1 ,the ,life ,that ,wins1#b which ,i had not read before1 and going to my son's bedside ,i told him it was the personal testimony of one whom ,god had used to bring great blessing into my life4 ,i then read it aloud till ,i came to the words1 ,at last ,i realized that ,jesus ,christ was actually and literally within me4 ,i stopped amazed4 ,the sun seemed suddenly to come from under a cloud and flood my whole soul with light4 ,how blind ,i'd been6 ,i saw at last the secret of victory--it was simply ,jesus ,christ himself--his own life lived out in the believer4 ,but the thought of victory was for the moment lost sight of in the inexpressible joy of realizing ,,christ',s ,,indwelling ,,presence6 ,like a tired1 worn-out wanderer finding home at last ,i just rested in him4 ,rested in his love--in himself4 ,and1 oh1 the peace and joy that came flooding my life6 ,a restfulness and quietness of spirit ,i never thought could be mine took possession of me so naturally4 ,literally a new life began for me1 or rather in me4 ,it was just the ,life that is ,christ4 ,the first step ,i took in this new life was to get standing on ,god's own ,word1 and not merely on man's teaching or even on a personal experience4 ,and as ,i studied especially the truth of ,christ's indwelling1 victory over sin1 and ,god's bountiful provision1 the ,word was fairly illumined with new light4 ,the years that have passed have been years of blessed fellowship with ,christ and of joy in his service4 ,a friend asked me not long ago if ,i could give in a sentence the after result in my life of what ,i said had come to me in #aiaf1 and ,i replied1 ,yes1 it can be all summed up in one word1 ',resting4' ,some have asked1 ,but have you never sinned8 ,yes1 ,i grieve to say ,i have4 ,sin is the one thing ,i abhor--for it is the one thing that can1 if unrepented of1 separate us1 not from ,christ1 but from the consciousness of his presence4 ,but ,i have learned that there is instantaneous forgiveness and restoration to be had always4 ,that there need be no times of despair4 ,one of the blessed results of this life is not only the consciousness of ,christ's presence1 but the reality of his presence as manifested in definite results when1 in the daily details of life1 matters are left with him and he has undertaken4 ,my own thought of him is beautifully expressed in ,spurgeon's words3 ,what the hand is to the lute1 ,what the breath is to the flute1 ,what's the mother to the child1 ,what the guide in pathless wild1 ,what is oil to troubled wave1 ,what is ransom to a slave1 ,what is flower to the bee1 ,that is ,jesus ,christ to me4 ,the special ,bible-study which ,i made at that time was embodied in a leaflet4 ,proving helpful to others1 it is added below4#c ,god's ,presence ,the secret of ,victory is simply ,christ himself in the heart of the believer4 ,this truth1 of ,christ's indwelling1 is1 and always has been1 a mystery4 ,romans #af3be4 ,ephesians #c3i with ,colossians #a3bf1 #bg4 ,ephesians #e3cj1 #cb 7,r4 ,v474 ,colossians #d3c4 ,christ himself taught this truth4 ,john #ad3bj1 #bc2 #ae3a-g2 #ag3ba-bc4 ,matthew #bh3bj4 ,revelation #c3bj4 7,see also ,mark #af3bj74 ,it was a vital reality to the ,apostle ,paul4 ,romans #h3aj4 #a ,corinthians #f3ae4 #a ,corinthians #ab3bg 7,r4 ,v474 #b ,corinthians #e3ag4 #b ,corinthians #ac3e4 ,galatians #b3bj4 ,galatians #c3bg4 ,galatians #d3ai4 ,ephesians #c3ag4 ,philippians #a3ba #a ,thessalonians #e3aj4 ,hebrews #c3f4 ,the words in ,christ1 which recur in many other passages1 will have a new literalness when read in the light of the above4 ,the ,apostle ,john had a like conception of ,christ's indwelling presence4 #a ,john #b3bh to #c3f1 #bd4 #a ,john #d3d1 #ab1 #ac1 #af4 #a ,john #e3bj4 ,god's ,purpose ,as ,victory is the result of ,christ's ,life lived out in the believer1 it is important that we see clearly that ,victory1 and not defeat1 is ,god's ,purpose for his ,children4 ,the ,scriptures are very decided upon this truth4 ,luke #a3gd1 #ge4 ,romans #e3b4 ,a,romans1 chaps4 #f and #h4 #a ,corinthians #ae3eg4 #b ,corinthians #b3ad4 #b ,corinthians #aj3e4 ,ephesians #a3c1 #d4 ,colossians #d3ab4 #a ,thessalonians #e3bc4 #b ,thessalonians #c3c 7,r4,v474 #b ,timothy #b3ai4 ,titus #b3ab4 ,hebrews #g3be4 #a ,peter #a3ae4 #b ,peter #c3ad4 #a ,john #b3a4 #a ,john #c3f1 #i4 ,and many other passages4 ,that ,christ came as the ,saviour from the power as well as the penalty of sin we see in ,matthew #a3ba1 with ,john #h3cd1 #cf1 and ,titus #b3ad4 ,god's ,provision ,god knew the frailty of man1 that his heart was desperately wicked1 that even his righteousness was as filthy rags1 that man's only hope for victory over sin must come from the ,god-ward side4 ,he1 therefore1 made kingly provision so rich1 so sufficient1 so exceeding abundant1 that as we study it1 we feel we have tapped a mine of wealth1 too deep to fathom4 ,just a few suggestions of its riches3 ,god's greatest provision is the gift of a part of ,his ,own ,being in the person of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,the following are but some of the many things the ,holy ,spirit does for us1 as recorded in the ,word3 ,he begets us into the family of ,god4--,john #c3f4 ,he seals or marks us as ,god's4--,eph4 #a3ac4 ,he dwells in us4--#a ,cor4 #c3af4 ,he unites us to ,christ4--#a ,cor4 #ab3ac1 #bg4 ,he changes us into the likeness of ,christ4--#b ,cor4 #c3ah4 ,he helps in prayer4--,rom4 #h3bf4 ,he comforts4--,john #ad3af4 ,he guides4--,rom4 #h3ad4 ,he strengthens with power4--,eph4 #c3af4 ,he is the source of power and fruitfulness4--,john #g3ch1 #ci4 ,some of the victorious results in our life1 as ,christ has ,his way in us1 are shown in3 ,romans #h3cb1 #bg4 ,romans #ae3ac4 #b ,corinthians #i3h1 #aa4 #b ,corinthians #b3ad4 ,ephesians #a3ai4 ,ephesians #c3af1 #bj4 ,philippians #d3g1 #ac1 #ai4 ,colossians #a3aa4 #a ,peter #a3e4 #b ,timothy #c3ag4 ,jude #bd4 ,john #ae3g4 ,to the seeker for further ,scripture help the writer would suggest a plan that has proved a great blessing to herself4 ,read the ,psalms through1 making careful record of all the statements of what the ,lord was to the writers of the ,psalms4 ,the list will surprise you4 ,then on your knees go over them one by one1 with the prayer that ,christ may be to you what he was to ,david and the others4 ,take a ,cruden's1 or better still a ,young's1 concordance and look up the texts under such headings as ,love1 ,fulness1 ,power1 ,riches1 ,grace1 etc41 grouping them into usable ,bible studies4 ,as a sample1 taking this last word1 grace2 the more one studies it the more wonderful does it become4 ,here are some of these headings3 ,grace for grace4--,john #a3af4 ,sufficient grace4--#b ,cor4 #ab3i4 ,more ,grace4--,james #d3f4 ,all ,grace4--#b ,cor4 #i3h4 ,abundant grace4--,rom4 #e3ag4 ,exceeding abundant grace4--#a ,tim4 #a3ad4 ,exceeding riches of ,his grace4--,eph4 #b3ag4 ,but let us remember that to simply know of riches will never materially benefit us4 ,we must make them our own4 ,all fulness dwells in ,christ4 ,it is only as we apprehend 7which means take hold or take in7 ,christ through the ,holy ,spirit can it be possible for these spiritual riches to become ours4 ,the slogan of this glorious life in ,christ is just ,let go and let ,god4 ,,footnotes3 #a ,this leaflet1 giving a carefully selected list of ,scripture references on the ,victorious ,life1 may be had from ,the ,sunday ,school ,times ,company1 #ajca ,walnut ,street1 ,philadelphia1 ,pa41 at #ej cents per #ajj copies2 or #ae cents for #be copies2 postpaid4 #b ,the ,life that ,wins may be obtained from ,the ,sunday ,school ,times ,company at #b cents each2 or #bj cents a dozen copies1 or #a4ej per hundred1 postpaid4 #c ,this leaflet may be obtained from the ,christian ,life ,literature ,fund1 #fjj ,perry ,building1 ,philadelphia1 at #ae cts4 a dozen1 #fj cts4 a hundred1 or #b cts4 each4 ,a ,the #gth chapter of ,romans should be read in the light of the #fth and #hth chapters4 99 99 99 99 99 ,transcriber's notes3 ,obvious punctuation errors repaired4 ,page #abi1 #d missing from list of ,conditions of ,prevailing ,prayer4 ,the list was renumbered to correct this4