{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_57432/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_57432","id":"gutenberg_57432","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/57432","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Adventure","Category: Biographies","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Category: Travel Writing","Central America -- Description and travel","Crawford, Mattie","Missionaries -- Central America -- Biography","Missionaries -- United States -- Biography","Missions -- Central America"],"text":"Produced by Bryan Ness and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was\nproduced from images generously made available by The\nInternet Archive/American Libraries.)\n\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber\u2019s Note: Illustrations have been moved so as not to fall in\nthe middle of paragraphs (leaving them as close to the original position\nin the book as possible). A few minor printing errors were corrected.\n=Bold text= is thus marked.\n\n\n\n\n On Mule Back\n Thru Central America\n\n WITH THE\n GOSPEL\n\n A THRILLING MISSIONARY STORY\n\n Giving personal experiences on the mission field; of an\n unshaken confidence in the God who took the\n family to the field; supported them while\n there; gave them many precious souls\n for their hire, and brought\n them back victorious.\n\n SECOND EDITION\n\n Copies of this book may be obtained from\n\n MATTIE CRAWFORD\n _Missionary and Evangelist_\n 3573 Shurtleff Court, Los Angeles, California\n\n Copyright, 1922, by\n MATTIE CRAWFORD\n (_Published in the United States of America_)\n All Rights Reserved\n\n\n\n\nTABLE OF CONTENTS\n\n\n Preface 7\n\n A Message Given to Me in Tongues with Interpretation 15\n\n Preparing to Start 17\n\n Home Leaving 18\n\n The Church in Unity. (The Wonderful Vision) 32\n\n Opening the Way 36\n\n Bread Upon the Waters. (From Los Angeles to\n Nicaragua, C. A.) 48\n\n The Stars and Stripes and Beautiful Manzanilla 59\n\n Salina Cruz, Mexico. (My Vision Interpreted) 64\n\n The Virgin of the Angels 71\n\n Arriving in Our Port at Nicaragua 82\n\n Our Stay in Matagalpa 97\n\n Leaving Matagalpa for Leon 110\n\n Our Arrival in Leon 138\n\n Leaving Nicaragua for Panama 183\n\n Sailing from Panama 190\n\n The Needs of Central America 200\n\n The Indians of Nicaragua. (Extract from Article by\n Brother Schoenich) 212\n\n \u201cWhere is the white man\u2019s Book of Heaven?\u201d 216\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n Frontispiece. Mattie Crawford 9\n\n The Crawford Family 13\n\n Father N. J. Norris, who paid our way to the\n Mission Field 45\n\n S. S. Curacao on which we sailed to the Mission\n Field 49\n\n On Board Ship 53\n\n Carl on bridge of ship at sea 57\n\n Some natives of a tribe in Guatemala, C. A. 61\n\n \u201cCome over and help us\u201d 65\n\n Taking their morning bath 69\n\n A native village 75\n\n Picturesque street scene of the Port of Corinto,\n where we landed 83\n\n Resting during the heat of the day 85\n\n Where they heard the Gospel for the first time 89\n\n An Indian hut where we preached the Gospel 93\n\n Indian girls grinding corn for tortillas 95\n\n Alma and her music class in Matagalpa 99\n\n Washday at the river for native women. Their only\n way to clean clothes is to rub them on a flat\n rock 101\n\n Where we stopped for the night. Note the glare of\n the sun on the white sand 105\n\n Alma and Carl among the banana trees 107\n\n Leaving Matagalpa 111\n\n Leaving in the early morning for a day\u2019s journey 113\n\n Alma and Carl feeding the pet deer 117\n\n On our way through the mountains 119\n\n Carl with his faithful pony 123\n\n Bringing coffee down from the mountain plantations 125\n\n The only Jesus they know 129\n\n One of the first to accept the Gospel 131\n\n Carl and his father, as they distributed tracts to\n the Indians by the roadside 135\n\n Street scene in Leon 139\n\n Mother with child that was raised up from death 143\n\n Waiting for the Gospel 147\n\n Carl with his boys 151\n\n Where I preached until midnight; and the entire\n family was brought to the Lord 159\n\n Where the entire family was brought to Jesus, and\n the mother\u2019s hand was healed of blood poisoning 163\n\n Where Carl attended native school to study Spanish 167\n\n Women coming from the market place 171\n\n Alma with her music class in Leon 175\n\n Alma with her English class of native girls 181\n\n Alma reading a Bible story to her girls 187\n\n An Indian woman who came to the meeting and was\n saved 191\n\n I am just a brown-faced Indian girl, but I want\n to learn to read God\u2019s Word. Will you send\n missionaries to teach us? There are thousands\n just as I am 203\n\n One Indian who found Jesus and loves his Bible 209\n\n An Indian woman whose attention was attracted\n and picture taken without her knowledge.\n Indians are very superstitious and are\n afraid to have their pictures taken 217\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nThe days of miraculous achievements are not past, as the accounts\nchronicled in this book will testify. Four people make a missionary trip\nfrom Los Angeles, Cal., down the coast of Mexico, preaching in many\nof her towns while the ship discharges or loads cargo. They arrive in\nNicaragua and preach to the natives, seeing numbers of them baptized in\nthe Holy Spirit. Returning to the States by way of the Panama Canal, and\nNew Orleans, they reach St. Louis and Granite City, having been gone less\nthan two years.\n\nWithout missionary board, or other promised support whatever, the\nLord provided some $3,000.00 for the trip. It is a testimony to His\nfaithfulness, a sample of what He can and will do for those who will\nput their trust in Him. Some might question the wisdom and value of the\nshortness of their stay, but they moved under Divine direction. If any\npossible critic had accompanied them in their journeyings, and seen the\nfire in the hearts of those native people there would have been no doubt\nin their minds as to the exceeding profitableness of the journey in the\nadvancement of the kingdom of God. Many remote and scattered people were\nreached. Praise God! They will be seen in Heaven because of the Gospel\nmessage which they heard.\n\nThen, too, this sketch of many happenings will, we trust, kindle a flame\nof missionary fire in many hearts, and give them a sense of the great\nneed of these Central American republics, so that they, too, will have\nto go, pray, or give. Brother, Sister, have you not some responsibility\ntoward sending the Gospel to those benighted people so long neglected?\nLet us not share in the great age-long crime of the church in her neglect\nof the heathen. Do not pass the time in mere happy dreams of spiritual\nblessings while the procession of your lost brethren of other nations\ntramps on into eternity with no Christ. Be not like drones, who eat the\nhoney but do nothing for the advancement of the kingdom.\n\n Seeley D. Kinne.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAffectionately dedicated to my precious Master, the Lord, who made\npossible this service, and to my dear husband, son, and daughter, who\nwere noble sharers in the battles and triumphs described.\n\n Oh agony of wavering thought\n When sinners first so near are brought.\n It is my Maker\u2014dare I stay?\n My Savior\u2014dare I turn away?\n In the ripe harvest fields the day is cried,\n And reapers with their sickles bright\n Troop, singing, down the mountain side.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nA MESSAGE GIVEN TO ME IN TONGUES WITH INTERPRETATION, March 15, 1919\n\n\n=It was on this message from the Lord that we went to the mission field\nby faith, without any earthly board behind us, knowing that what God had\npromised He would perform.=\n\n\u201cThe time has come when I will send thee forth. Arise! put away all doubt\nand say to the dark clouds, \u2018Depart from before my face!\u2019 and to all fear\nthat may arise to stop you from following in the way that I shall lead\nthee, \u2018Flee ye, far from me, to return no more! for the Lord my God hath\nspoken, and I shall not be dismayed nor put to shame!\u2019\n\n\u201cBegin this day to prepare to go forth, for I will send thee unto the\nland to which I have called thee, and every need shall be supplied.\n\n\u201cOnly be strong and of good courage, for My left hand is under thy head,\nand My right hand doth embrace thee. Thou shalt sit down under My shadow\nwith great delight, and My fruit shall be sweet to thy taste. I will\nplant thee in a fruitful land, and thou shalt bring forth fruit in My\nname, some thirty, some sixty, and some an hundred fold. Do not fear to\ngo forth in My name, for I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward.\nI Am that I Am hath spoken unto thee this day, and I AM THAT I AM will go\nbefore thee.\n\n\u201cThou shalt see of the travail of thy soul, and shall be satisfied, for\nthou shalt see many that sit in darkness and the shadow of death see the\nlight of My glory, and come to praise My name. For from the rising of the\nsun even unto the going down of the same, My name shall be great among\nall nations.\u201d\n\n \u201cWould you like to know the sweetness\n Of the secret of the Lord?\n Go and hide beneath His shadow,\n This shall be your sure reward.\n And when\u2019er you leave the silence\n Of that happy meeting place,\n You must mind and bear the image\n Of the Master in your face.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nPREPARING TO START\n\n\nAfter receiving the wonderful message in tongues, with its\ninterpretation, telling us the time had come for us to make ready to\ngo to the mission field, we began packing our trunks, putting away the\nthings which we would not need during the summer. We had been working\nin a hard field that winter, the income had been very small, and poor\nhusband had worked as much as possible, to get the children clothes and\nbooks for school. But work was scarce and the battle had been long and\nhard, for we felt we must settle down again that the children might be in\nschool, which matter the Lord had dealt with us about many times before.\n\nWe were preparing to start as soon as the way was opened, when there\ncame a letter from a brother asking if we would not come and have some\nmeetings with them. We felt led to go, and on arriving found the revival\nspirit was in the air. The first night the place was packed, and the\naltar was filled with hungry people seeking the Lord. We were there\nthree weeks, and they certainly were blessed weeks of victory, for many\nprecious souls received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and many were\nhealed, and the Lord sent in money for some clothing, which we were all\nneeding badly.\n\nAfter the meeting we returned for our trunks and to prepare for the trip\nacross the country to California, for from there we were to sail for our\nfield in Central America.\n\n The livelong night we\u2019ve toiled in vain,\n But at Thy gracious word,\n I will let down the net again,\n To do Thy will, O Lord.\n\n\n\n\nHOME LEAVING\n\n\nBidding our loved ones good-bye we left Granite City, Illinois, May 29th,\n1919. We took train from St. Louis at 4 P. M., for Stanton, Missouri,\nwhere God had definitely led us to go.\n\nAs the train sped out of the city and over the long stretch of country\nbeyond, I was meditating over the many things that had happened at our\nfarewell. My dear mother had said she did not understand this thing,\nand my brothers and sisters had spoken against our going out in such a\nfoolish way, without money and without backing of any kind. They just\nknew that we would all starve and die in that far-off country. None of\nthem being Christians, they could not understand how the dear Lord could\nsupply our every need. But the blessed Holy Spirit had spoken to my heart\nand said, \u201cYou have left all, brothers, sisters, father, mother, houses\nand lands for My sake, and the Gospel\u2019s, so I will give you brothers,\nsisters, fathers and mothers, houses and lands, wherever you go.\u201d\n\nAs we rode on, we were praying that God would lead us every step of the\nway, and not let us miss His will in any thing we did or said. As I took\nsome tracts from my hand bag to distribute among the passengers I noticed\na white-haired gentleman take a seat just across from us. The Spirit said\nto me, \u201cThat is one of your Pentecostal brothers. Ask him what you want\nto know about the place to which you are going.\u201d\n\nWe were not acquainted with any one at Stanton, and had been wishing that\nwe could find out something about the place and the people before we\narrived. I began distributing the tracts through the car, and when I came\nto this man he looked up and said, \u201c=Praise the Lord!=\u201d We had a blessed\ntime from there on, talking of the work over the country, and learning of\nconditions at Stanton.\n\nArriving at the station we bade our brother good-bye and got off the\ntrain. It was now quite dark, and raining, and our funds were down to\ntwenty cents. We stopped under the shed of the depot long enough to\npray for leadings from the Lord, for it was late, the agent had gone,\nthe depot was closed and the brother had told us that he thought most\nof the saints lived out in the country. As we looked to our Heavenly\nFather to guide us He directed us to a store on the hill. The owner was\njust closing the door as we came up. My husband asked him if any of the\nmission people lived in the town and he said he did not know. As we\npassed down the street we heard some one say, \u201c=Well, \u2018Praise the Lord!\u2019=\nWhere did you come from?\u201d It was dear brother Armstead. We had met him\nand his wife in some meetings in St. Louis, but did not know they lived\nin Stanton. Also others were there whom we knew, having met them in other\nplaces. We stayed about ten days and had blessed meetings. The blessing\nof the Lord came down upon our souls, the dear little band of faithful\nsaints were refreshed, and the altar was filled with those seeking the\nLord.\n\nA remarkable incident occurred here. A woman across the street from where\nwe were having the meetings became very much incensed at us because she\nthought we prayed and sang too loud. She sent her children over to throw\nrocks and sticks at us, while she sat in her house and made light of the\nshouting. One night the power fell in a wonderful way and the people were\nvery happy. This woman was sitting barefoot in her bedroom reading the\nevening paper, and felt something cold touch her foot, but did not give\nit any attention at first. Feeling it again she looked down, and there\nwas a very large snake coiled ready to strike her foot. She sprang away\nand screamed, then ran to the meeting crying for some one to come and\nkill the snake, as it had gotten on the bed where the baby was asleep.\nSome of the brothers went over, found the serpent on the bed, and killed\nit. After that the woman felt different toward us and our shouting and\npraising the Lord. We had been praying for her and the Lord had told us\nHe would take care of it all. We find the Lord uses different means to\nbring people to Himself.\n\nFrom Stanton we went to Rolla, Missouri. We knew no one in Rolla, or\nanything about the place, but the Lord had told us to go there, so we\nwent. We just had money enough to get there. As we stepped off the\ntrain a brother threw his arms around my husband and said, \u201c=Well,\nHallelujah!= My wife told me to come and meet this train, for the Lord\nwas sending some one on it to help us in the meetings we have just\nstarted, and here you are, just in time.\u201d They had opened a little work\nthere and had been asking the Lord to send someone to help them, so He\nhad sent us, bless His dear Name! He also sent the Holy Spirit, for we\nhad a wonderful time. One of the hard fighters of Pentecost received\nthe Baptism, and many others were blessed in their souls, and some were\nhealed in their bodies.\n\nFrom Rolla we went to Springfield, Missouri, and stayed over Sunday with\nthe dear saints there, having a refreshing time for our souls, and a rest\nfor our bodies. From there we went to Everton, Missouri, where we had\nbeen led to hold some meetings.\n\nOn arriving in this little town we found that the only building there was\nfor the meetings had burned down the day before. We spent the day in a\ngrocery store praying for a door to be opened for the Gospel, for we had\nbeen told it was a very wicked town and that the Pentecostal message had\nnever been preached there.\n\nIn the evening we went out to see about getting some rooms where we\ncould stay while there. Going to a certain place we met the Presbyterian\nminister. When he found that we had come to have revival meetings he\nhastened to open his church to us and insisted that we begin the services\nthat night. He told us that he had been praying for a revival as they\nhad not had a convert in that town for over thirty years, and that he\nhoped we could do something to stir the people up. He had not asked us\nwhat we were preaching, as many others do when we arrive in a new place.\nIf he had known how we would stir up things in that dead town and that\nfine Presbyterian church I don\u2019t know whether he would have been so quick\nto invite us in.\n\nHe rang the church bell, we went in and began to sing and pray, and soon\nthe crowd came. Such a hungry-looking lot of people they were, yet they\nlooked like they were ready to run if something happened that they did\nnot understand. As we prayed and testified the glory settled down over\nus. Each night the people moved up a little closer to the fire, and some\ndared to come up in the rostrum and help us sing. Once in a while we\nheard a faint Amen from the dear old pastor, and one night, after the\nLord had met us in a very sweet and wonderful way, he came and said,\n\u201cThere is something so different about you people from what we have ever\nseen in others. Why,\u201d said he, \u201cit is no trouble at all for you to pray\nand testify, and there is something about these meetings that fills my\nheart with joy, and I want you to pray that I will get this blessing that\nyou have, for we need a great spiritual awakening here.\u201d\n\nI felt like jumping up and down and telling him we had the Baptism of the\nHoly Ghost and it was that which made us different from other folks. =O\nHallelujah!= But I knew we must use wisdom with them, so left it to the\nLord to work out in His own way and time.\n\nThe next night the power fell on Sister Hagg, and she went up and down\nthe platform singing in the Spirit and speaking in tongues. We were\nwonderfully anointed and had a blessed meeting. The dear people had never\nseen anything like that before. They looked so hungry.\n\nThe next morning the pastor and his wife came to our rooms and he said,\n\u201cI want this blessed experience. Pray for me, and pray for my wife\u2019s\nhealing.\u201d She was deaf. We had a sweet time praying together, the dear\nold pastor calling on God to send the Holy Spirit into his life and into\nthe church.\n\nThe next day we had to move on to Kansas City. But I am sure there was\na work done and seed sown in Everton that will bring forth fruit. The\npeople came to bid us good-bye, saying they were so glad we had come and\nbrought them the light of Pentecost.\n\nAt the depot we were told the price of our tickets was $20. We found we\nwere short of that amount by $4.20. We had only $14.80. We went aside and\nprayed, telling the Lord He had told us to go to Kansas City, Missouri,\nand now the train was arriving and we did not have sufficient money.\nThe Lord said, \u201cGo to the window and call for the tickets.\u201d We obeyed,\nknowing the Lord was able to send money right straight from Heaven.\nAs husband received the tickets through the window, the agent said,\n\u201c$14.80.\u201d We were soon on the train speeding on our way. We do not know\njust how it came about, but we know God did it. =Hallelujah!= He makes a\nway where there is no way, if we believe.\n\nIt was after dark when we arrived in Kansas City. We prayed and asked the\nLord just where He wanted us to go as we did not know anyone there. He\ndirected us straight up a street. We walked several blocks, not knowing\nwhere there were any missions. We saw a nice little brick church on a\ncorner, but no sign to tell about meetings, and the doors were closed. As\nwe stood there praying, the Lord told me to open the door and go in.\n\nAs we pushed on the door it opened into a vestibule. From there some\nsteps led into the auditorium through another door. We heard some one\nsaying, \u201c=Praise the Lord!=\u201d and knew they must be Pentecostal people. A\nbrother came with outstretched hands to greet us, asking, \u201cWhere did you\ncome from?\u201d It was dear Brother Huff from Chicago, who was in charge of\nthe mission. We had a blessed time together praising God and seeing souls\nbrought in and baptized in the Spirit. We were also blessed with Brother\nScott in the mission in Kansas City, Kansas, and with his saints.\n\nWe then went on to Topeka, Kansas, by the direction of the Lord. We\nnever went anywhere until we had prayed and received instructions from\nthe Lord. Most of the time He spoke through my lips the name of the next\nplace, even telling us when to go, and what train to take. Oh, the\nblessedness of the sweet Holy Spirit flowing in and upon our souls till\nwe are lost in Him.\n\n=\u201cHe leadeth me, oh, blessed thought.\u201d=\n\nWe arrived in Topeka, knowing nothing of the missions there or how to\nfind them. As we were walking down a street the Lord said, \u201cAsk that boy\nwhere the mission is.\u201d He was the son of one of the saints, and lived\nnear the mission. We were at that mission two weeks and had a precious\ntime.\n\nThe Lord provided for us to travel to Colorado Springs with Sister Bowers\nin her car. Many were the times and ways God showed His mighty arm\nout-stretched toward us. We started with very little money to buy food\nand gasoline, or to pay for repairs for the car. But He provided for all.\n\nOne morning as we were crossing a bridge, some drunken men ran their car\ninto ours, throwing it over the edge of the bridge which had no rail, the\nbridge being a new one and not completed. Our machine hung out over the\nwater fifty feet below. But as we went over the edge the power came upon\nus all, and we began speaking in tongues. The glory of God came down like\na great white cloud, and the machine was picked up and set in the middle\nof the bridge without a scratch on us or on it.\n\nAnother time when we came into a town we were told that the road ahead\nwas impassable; that twenty cars had been pulled out of the place where\nthe water covered the road for about a mile. We asked the Lord if we\nshould go on or not. He said we should go on, and if we believed we\nshould see the glory of God. As we approached the water, which came up to\nthe doors of the machine, and with great ditches on either side, filled\nwith water, we could not see where the road was, nor where the ditches\nwere. The power came down over the machine, and we all began to sing in\ntongues. Sister Bowers\u2019 hands went up in the air, and never touched the\nwheel till we were over the place, about a mile in length. The mud and\nwater did not even splash the wind shield or machine anywhere.\n\n=\u201cWe will rejoice in Thy salvation, and in the name of God we will set up\nour banners. The Lord fulfil all thy petitions.\u201d=\u2014Psalm 20:5.\n\nWe stopped at several places on the way and held meetings. We also gave\nout tracts and papers, filling the rural mail boxes along the highways\nwith gospel literature. Each morning we cooked our breakfast and had our\nmorning worship by the roadside, then went on our way praising God for\nall His goodness in permitting us to preach His glorious gospel.\n\nOne night when we were sleeping out on the open prairie\u2014as we were too\nheavily loaded to carry a tent\u2014there came up a terrible storm. The wind\nblew at a terrific gale and the thunder and lightning were awful.\nWe were fast asleep when a large coyote came near and began his loud\nbarking, evidently sent by the Lord to awaken us just in time to see our\nclothes and hats sweeping across the plain before the fierce wind. We ran\nafter them, and prayed the Lord to stop the storm, telling Him He had\npromised us that it should not rain on us. Then the wind stopped, also\nthe thunder and lightning, and we had nice dry weather the rest of the\nway.\n\nArriving in Colorado Springs, we were welcomed by the dear pastor and\npeople. They had a nice assembly, and the Lord sweetly worked the few\ndays we were there.\n\nSome people from the plains came asking us to come and hold meetings\nfor them in a school-house. They had never heard Pentecost preached,\nexcepting one woman who had read some about it and was hungry for the\nBaptism. We found the whole country Free Methodist, and they said they\nhad the Holy Spirit.\n\nWe had meetings every night for about a week, everybody sitting back and\nlooking on. On Sunday we were invited to the home of some of the leading\npeople for dinner. After we had eaten, someone went to the piano and\nbegan playing a hymn, and we started to sing. Soon we heard a terrible\nnoise. Looking around we saw the man of the house laid out in the middle\nof the floor, shaking from head to foot under the power of God. In fact\nhis feet were up in the air and his whole body was shaking violently.\nHis wife and the people were running out after water to throw on him.\nBut we told them it was the power of God, and they must leave him alone.\nThey declared he had a spell with his heart and was dying, but we kept on\nsinging and holding on in prayer till he came through.\n\nThe news spread all over the country, and that night all the rigs and\nautos for many miles around were there bringing the people to see the\nstrange sights. While we were singing, the daughter of this same man\narose, came to the altar and fell under the power. The fire spread over\nthe house, God working in a wondrous way. Some said it was the power of\nGod, others said we were hypnotizing the people, and that was what made\nthem fall. The whole country was stirred, and many heard the last-day\nmessage of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to prepare the people for\nthe coming of the Lord. We still receive letters from these people. They\nare holding on to God, and He is blessing them.\n\nWe also visited with dear Brother and Sister Roper and their sister\nStout, at Immanuel Faith Home, in Pueblo. This is a school for orphan\nchildren, and a faith home where saints and missionaries can come and\nrest for a while. We were there for a week, and those were days of great\nblessing and refreshings from the Lord. These clear saints have opened\nthat wonderful work in faith, looking to God to supply every need, and\nsurely He has done according to His promise. The way we saw God work\nthere in answering prayer was far beyond anything we had ever witnessed\nbefore, and the way the dear little children were taught to pray and\ntrust God for their needs was blessed.\n\nFrom there we went in the machine to Denver, where we spent two weeks\nat the camp-meeting. How the blessing of the Lord did come down on our\nsouls! We were greatly refreshed and our faith was quickened. The latter\nwas needed, for we were going to the mission field by faith, looking to\nthe Lord alone to supply every need.\n\nThe camp-meeting was coming to a close and the tents were being taken\ndown, but we did not know where we were to go next. As I was packing the\nsuit-cases, and getting ready to leave, the Lord said to me, \u201cArrange\nyour clothes, for you will go to Los Angeles in a few days.\u201d\n\nOfferings had been small and expenses heavy, so we had but little money,\ntherefore we did not see how we could get to Los Angeles. But never\nmind. \u201cThe natural man receiveth not the things of God.\u201d Don\u2019t reason,\nbut believe. As I walked out by the lake, and saw the pretty little fish\nso at home in the beautiful water, without a care, for God took care of\nthem, He spoke to my heart, and said, \u201cNot a worry, for as I made this\nbeautiful crystal lake for the fish, so I have made a great and beautiful\nway for My children. And just as the fish swim through the water and\ndrink it, so My little children shall live and move in Me.\u201d \u201cFor in Him\nwe live and move and have our being.\u201d\n\nJust then three women came up in a machine and stopped near where I was.\nAll were strangers to me, but the Spirit said, \u201cJoin yourself to them.\u201d\nI went over and spoke to them, asking if they were Christians. They\nsaid they were, and were wanting to see me. They had heard me speak the\nnight before, and wanted to see more of me. When I bade them good-bye\none of them went with me to my tent. She said she had some of the Lord\u2019s\nmoney for me, but did not know how to find me, as the camp was breaking\nup and everyone was going away, but she had been directed back to the\ncamp-ground. \u201cGive me your address on the mission field,\u201d she said,\n\u201cas I am to help support you there.\u201d Besides what she gave me at the\ncamp-meeting, she was one of our main supports on the field, sending her\nofferings in no small sums.\n\nWe then went to Colorado Springs with a brother in his auto. All the way\nthe Lord kept saying to me, \u201cYou will leave for Los Angeles soon after\narriving at the Springs.\u201d As we must have $100.00 more for our tickets,\nwe did not know how it was going to work out. When we went to the post\noffice we received a letter from a brother in Kansas with a check for\n$100.00. In the letter he said, \u201cI supposed you were in California, but\nas I was writing this check I was led to send it to Colorado Springs.\nHope you receive it o. k.\u201d So here was the rest of our fare. Just as God\nhad said, we were to go to California. He had the money right on hand,\nbless His name! After buying our tickets and a little lunch, we had $3\nleft. We praised the Lord we were on our way to the mission field, to\ntell the heathen of this wonderful salvation.\n\nAs the train pulled out of the station, a little sister who had been very\nkind to us threw $4 in at the window.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHURCH IN UNITY\n\nThe Wonderful Vision\n\n\nWe passed through Royal Gorge, and over the mountains, reaching the\nhighest point just as the sun was sinking behind the western hills.\n\nThey call it \u201cThe Top of the World.\u201d There is a post office there where\ntourists mail folders and cards to all parts of the country, describing\nthe beautiful scenery. Here is the Arkansas River, dividing at an\nelevation of 10,000 feet, running two ways, growing wider and wider as\nit flows down the mountain beside the railroad. I sat looking out the\nwindow at the stream which waters the fields all along the sides of the\nmountains and in the valleys. The water is conducted through great flumes\nrunning in all directions, even carrying the water up hill in some places.\n\nThe scene faded before my eyes, and in its place I saw a great desert, O,\nso big and barren! There was nothing but bits of thorny cactus growing\nhere and there. The sand was dry and parched. Far out in the middle of\nthe desert there was an old house. It was only a shack. The roof boards\nwere so old and weather beaten they were curling up at the ends. The\nsides were beginning to fall away from the roof. The door was small and\nfalling off the hinges. There seemed not one ray of hope for the little\nold shack so far away in the desert. The winds of many centuries had\nbeaten upon its sides. It was ready to fall.\n\nAs I looked far away on every side I saw nothing but hot dry sand. Over\nthe sand came a man. He was weary, and the hot sun beat fiercely upon\nhis bare head. As he came nearer I saw he was reading a Bible. He was\nso interested in it that he looked not to the right or left. His face\nwas right down in the Book. Behind him came another, and still another,\nuntil there was a great company of people, thousands of them, both men\nand women. All had their faces buried in the Bible. They were entering\nthe little old shack, passing in one by one. I wondered at so many people\nbeing able to get into so small a house. But soon I discovered that the\nhouse was enlarging. The door became new and swung upright on new hinges.\n\nAs far as I could see across the plain people were coming. Each one\u2019s\nface was down in the Word of God. They were all moving toward and into\nthe house, now no longer a dilapidated shack but becoming a great strong\nbuilding. The roof was now of new material, of such a bright red color\nthat my eyes could not look upon it. The sides had become new. From the\ndoor clear water was beginning to flow. I could see the sands of the\ndesert carried before it as it went down and out of the building. Then\nthe water burst forth from all sides of the house, till all but the roof\nwas clear, crystal water.\n\nThe water spread over the desert, until it had become a mighty river\ncovering the whole country, and people of every nation came running to\nit. The great house in the center was of such beauty that my eyes could\nnot look upon it. The people began to come out of the house, but they\nwere not the same as when they went into it. They were now large men\nand women, as tall as telephone poles. Their countenances were shining\nwith the glory of God. In their hands were large nets. These they cast\ninto the stream, in which there were many fish, for as the people of all\nnations ran and fell into the water they became fish. I could see their\ntails as they swam about. Each net was brought up full of fine, large\nfish.\n\nOver the top of the building was written in letters of fire, \u201cTHE CHURCH\nIN UNITY.\u201d As the vision disappeared, I realized I was still on the\ntrain. Having my Bible in my hand I opened to this Scripture, \u201cDECLARE\nHIS GLORY AMONG THE HEATHEN, =HIS MARVELLOUS WORKS AMONG ALL NATIONS=.\u201d I\nChron. 16:24.\n\nThen the Lord showed me that when His people receive, through the Holy\nSpirit, the revelation of the Word, they will come together in unity;\nnot merely be brought together by some creed or doctrine, but by the\nrevelation of the scriptures, as they are made Spirit and life. This\nwill cause the dilapidated building, which represents the church out in\nthe desert of unbelief and false doctrine, to become new, strong and\ngreat, with the waters of the Spirit flowing out to all nations. And\njust as the Arkansas River, rising at the mountain summit, divided and\nran both ways, watering the fields on either side of the mountain, so\nas the church reaches the mountain summit of God\u2019s love and revelation\nof the scriptures, the waters of salvation will flow both ways, to the\nhome and also to the foreign field, and there will be a Heaven-taught and\nSpirit-trained ministry of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and\nteachers, for the perfecting of the saints, and for the evangelization of\nthe heathen.\n\n\n\n\nOPENING THE WAY.\n\n\nArriving in Salt Lake City at noon the next day, we were told the train\nwe should take for Los Angeles did not carry chair cars, so we would have\nto wait for a train that left at midnight. We were very tired from our\nlong train ride and went aside in the station to rest. I lay down on a\ncouch in the ladies\u2019 rest room, but just as I had settled down for rest\nthe Lord said to me, \u201cGo and buy your berth on this train, for it will\nbe the last train through.\u201d I did not know what it meant, but I did not\ndoubt the voice of God that had spoken to me so many times in the fifteen\nyears I have been saved.\n\nI went to my husband and told him, and together we went to the Pullman\nticket office. The agent said, \u201cI have not a berth left. The train is\nfull and leaves in fifteen minutes.\u201d I told him the Lord had said we were\nto go on that train, and there must be a place somewhere for us. He said\nhe knew he had not a berth left. I said we must have two upper berths, as\nwe did not have sufficient money for lower berths. The $4 given by the\nlittle sister in Colorado Springs as our train was leaving and the $3.00\nwe had was all we had for the berths. Just then a man stepped up and said\nthere were two upper berths left, as some people had decided not to go on\nthat train. \u201cWell,\u201d said the agent, \u201cI guess they are for you, but you\nwill have to hurry, as the train is ready to go.\u201d Entering the coach\nwe found the two berths were together. How the Lord does plan for His\nchildren, opening doors which no man can shut. =Hallelujah!=\n\nAs we neared the California border the strike came on that paralyzed all\nstreet-car and train service for ten days. Three times the men were about\nto leave our train out on the desert. But we prayed, and God took the\ntrain through to Los Angeles. Other trains that started were forsaken by\nthe trainmen and hundreds of people were left in the desert without food\nor water. Relief was sent to them by auto trucks, and they came through\nin that way. But God spoke to us, and we obeyed, and went on the last\ntrain that got through for over ten days.\n\nHow God does care for His own! We were going out as missionaries and He\nwanted to teach us lessons of faith. That is why He took us along with\njust enough money for one trip at a time. Many times we were without\nmoney or had but little. Then, He would tell us not to look at our little\nmeans, but to look to Him, with Heaven\u2019s great storehouse full for all\nwho would believe. \u201c=The just shall live by faith.=\u201d The new creature in\nChrist Jesus becomes heir to ALL His riches in glory. \u201c=O the depth of\nthe riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are\nHis judgments, and His ways past finding out!=\u201d Rom. 11:33.\n\nWe arrived in Los Angeles with seventy-five cents. The taxi man asked\n$4 to take us to the camp-grounds, and no street cars were running. We\nasked Father how we were to get out there. It was too far to walk. I was\ndirected to a little lunch-counter across the street, to ask the man\nabout a machine standing in front of his place. He told me he would take\nus out there, as he was carrying passengers since the strike was on. We\nasked him the fare and he said, \u201cSeventy-five cents.\u201d We laughed, for\nFather knew just how much we had, and would not let him ask more.\n\nWe reached the camp-grounds about nine o\u2019clock. The Evangelist was\npreaching on faith, and how we should trust God. She stretched out\nher arm toward us and said, in a loud voice, \u201c=The just shall live by\nfaith=.\u201d This was a familiar text to us, as it had been our motto for\nsome three months, or more, but it is always new.\n\nBrother Fisher came and said, \u201cWe have a tent up and ready for you,\nbut we have made no arrangements for meals for you, as everybody makes\ntheir own arrangements for those.\u201d We praised God for the tent and knew\nHe would take care of the rest, for He had sent us there, so He would\nprovide.\n\nWe were invited home with some friends that night, but returned to the\ncamp to stay the next morning. Noon came. Everybody was going out to the\nstand to get lunch. We had to pray. So we went into our little tent,\nknelt down and told our Heavenly Father about our needs. He says He\nknows our needs before we ask Him, but we receive by asking. It is so\nsweet to tell Him about every little need. We had spoken to no one else\nabout them, as that would not be faith. We went across the grounds to the\nbig tent. A sister came, put her arms around me, and said, \u201cSister, are\nyou a missionary?\u201d I told her we were just going out for the first time.\nShe said the Lord had laid it on her heart to open a dining tent for\nthe missionaries on the camp-ground, and she wanted to invite me and my\nlittle family to eat with them. I need not say that dining tent was one\nof the sweetest places I have ever seen. We would gather there and sing\nand praise God and eat the food He had provided. It was Heaven on earth.\nI am sure dear Sister Craton and her sister, who worked so faithfully,\nwill receive abundant reward when Jesus comes.\n\nThe meeting was wonderful. The Word was preached under the mighty\nanointing every afternoon and night. Hundreds were brought in and\nbaptized in the Holy Spirit, and many were healed. One day they carried\nin a Jew. He was an invalid, had been sick for many years and did not\nbelieve the Bible or in God. We gathered around him and prayed. A great\nball of fire came down through the tent, struck that man on the head,\nknocked him out of his chair and on to his feet, and almost knocked down\nall who were praying with him. He was healed and baptized in the Holy\nSpirit, and ran over the grounds leaping and praising God. Many things\nGod did there that strengthened our faith and prepared us for the life of\nfaith on the mission field.\n\nAfter the camp-meeting we rented a little apartment where we might live\nand make ready for our trip, for there was sewing to be done and things\nto be made ready. We were expecting to sail about the first of October.\nBut one day, as we were praying about when we should sail, the Lord said,\n\u201cYou will sail about the first of the year.\u201d We thought that was a long\ntime off, and did not understand why we were to wait so long. Going to\nthe steamship office we learned that the port of Corinto, where we were\nto land, was under quarantine for yellow fever, and had been for several\nmonths, but the ban would be lifted about the first of the year, and it\nwas.\n\nThey were precious months that followed. Everything that we needed had to\nbe prayed in\u2014trunks, suitcases, clothing, everything came in answer to\nprayer.\n\nWhile in San Francisco I was very busy in meetings and had many letters\nto write. Sister Kerr said, \u201cAsk the Lord to give you a typewriter to\ntake with you.\u201d \u201cOh,\u201d I said, \u201cI could never have faith for a typewriter,\nas I could get along without that, and need so many other things.\u201d While\nI was praying in my room the Lord said to me, \u201cYou can have faith for a\ntypewriter. Ask for one, and you shall have it.\u201d I said, \u201cLord, I do not\nknow how to use a typewriter.\u201d He told me that when I went back to Los\nAngeles I could go to night school and learn to use a typewriter, and\nthen He would give me one. This I did, and soon learned how to typewrite.\nThen I received a letter from a brother enclosing a check for $50, saying\nit was for a Corona typewriter to take to the mission field. I had never\nseen the brother and do not know how he knew of me, but God knows. I\nalmost ran to the Corona office to get my typewriter, and with it I am\nwriting this book.\n\n=\u201cI love the Lord, because He hath heard my voice and my supplications.\nBecause He hath inclined His ear unto me, therefore will I call upon Him\nas long as I live.\u201d=\u2014Psalm 116:1, 2.\n\nWhile in Oakland dear sister Rawlins told me the Lord had spoken to her\nto take her new Singer sewing machine, go home with me to Los Angeles and\ndo up all my sewing. Here again was the dear loving hand of my Heavenly\nFather. He said He would give me mothers and brothers and sisters. This\ndear sister was truly a mother to me. She came with me, did up the\nsewing, and, as we were packing ready to leave for the mission field, and\nshe to return to Oakland, she gave me the machine to take with me. How\nsweet that God has so many precious children who are ready to lay down\ntheir lives for the Gospel. We may not all be called to go, but we all\ncan do our part. God bless every one who has given so freely and made it\npossible for the missionaries to go. As I think of the many things and\nthe money that have been given by the dear children of God, it makes me\nfear I may not prove true and use it all to His glory. But there is a cry\nin my soul that the Lord will help me to be faithful, and render unto the\nLord for all His benefits unto me. Psalm 116:12.\n\nEverything was provided for the trip. New trunks were sent up to the\nhouse. Two nice handbags were given. One woman gave my daughter and me\nbeautiful riding suits made to order. A certain book I had long been\nwanting to read, and had not been able to get, was brought and laid on\nour table when I was out. Many little tokens of love were brought by the\nsaints\u2014nice useful things.\n\nBut there was one thing lacking, a most important one. That was our\nfare. The Lord had miraculously interfered and gotten us our passports,\nand everything was packed and ready, but no money for the fare, which\nwas near $700.00, including excess baggage. One morning, while praying\nin my room, the Lord said, \u201cGo to the steamship office and make your\nreservations.\u201d \u201cBut, Lord, I haven\u2019t the money to pay down.\u201d He said,\n\u201cGet ready; I will send the money.\u201d By the time I was dressed and ready,\na friend entered the room and gave me $15. Well, why hadn\u2019t the Lord sent\nall that was needed for the fare? Never mind; He had another lesson of\nfaith to teach us. I went to the office and found out about the steamers.\nOne sailed January 12th. The Lord said \u201cTake that one.\u201d Different\nfaithful friend, asked, \u201cWhen does the steamer sail?\u201d We told them.\n\u201cAnd you haven\u2019t your fare yet?\u201d \u201cNo, we haven\u2019t the fare yet, but it is\ncoming.\u201d They said they did not believe we were to sail so soon or God\nwould have sent the fare. But we knew God had spoken and we believed.\n\nOne afternoon a woman came with a message which she claimed was from God.\nSome of them had been praying about our going, and had received a message\nthat we were not to go yet. Instead we were to go to a certain place and\nopen a work. For that reason God had not sent us our fare. I replied,\n\u201cI can\u2019t believe that, for God has spoken to me many times, and this\nmessage is the same that came through my lips in San Francisco, when He\ntold me that we were to sail about the first of the year.\u201d At that time,\nas already related, we found the port was under quarantine that would be\nlifted about the first of the year. Later we found it had been lifted,\nand the Lord had told us we were to sail on the steamer that went on Jan.\n12.\n\nWe kept in sweet communion with the Lord, and every time these friends\ncame with a message, He whispered to us to be still and know He was God;\nand we should see His salvation. Time went by. Only a week more before\nsailing, and we must have our ticket in three days in order to have our\nbaggage attended to, still there was no money in sight. We kept praising\nthe Lord that He had spoken, and it would come to pass. A dear saint,\nwe thought much of, came in. She asked if we had our fare. We said we\nhad not. She said, \u201cSurely there is something wrong. God does not want\nyou to go now.\u201d But we quietly praised God. He had spoken, and it was\nso. Like Paul, we thanked God and took courage, when it seemed that\neverything was against us on every side, and the darkest hour was there.\nThen came dear Brother Norris from San Bernardino, California. He said\nthe Lord had sent him to pay our fares. So he went down and paid for our\ntickets and excess baggage.\n\nWhy did we have this test? It was just one more lesson for us to learn.\nWe must come to the place where we know the voice of the Lord and there\nmust be no mistake about it. He wants us to know beyond the shadow of a\ndoubt. We are in dark days and there are many spirits to deceive. We must\nknow the voice of God, and then, no matter how impossible it may seem,\nfollow His voice.\n\nMany were the tests and trials we passed through, but glorious was the\nvictory He gave in the end.\n\n[Illustration: Father N. J. Norris, who paid our way to the Mission\nfield]\n\n The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want;\n He leadeth me out of the dry and thirsty land,\n He bringeth me forth in pastures of green\u2014\n My eyes may not see all the ways He has planned,\n Far out with Him in the way of faith, unseen.\n\n The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want,\n Over the way of thorns and rocks I may go,\n But He is the one who taketh me through;\n Through the thick darkness of doubt and woe,\n But out from the clouds of darkness falls Heaven\u2019s sweet dew.\n\n The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want,\n So lead me on by Thy Spirit, O God,\n Take me into Thyself so dear;\n Leave me not, though I pass under Thy rod,\n Breathing the breath of fragrant air, leaving behind all fear.\n\n The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want,\n Out to the mission field, alone with Him;\n To tell the poor heathen that Jesus has died;\n Breaking the bread to one and all,\n Telling them His death redeemed from the fall.\n\n\n\n\nBREAD UPON THE WATERS\n\nFrom Los Angeles to Nicaragua, C. A.\n\n\nWe sailed from Los Angeles, on the S. S. Curacao, January 12th, 1920.\nAfter five days we arrived at the port of Matzalan, Mexico. The first\nsight of the city was the large cathedral on the hill. Our boat came to\nanchor, and as it was to stay a whole day, we took a launch and went\nashore.\n\nThe city was very beautiful, nestling in the valley, surrounded by\nmountains and sea. The beach was thronged with bathers. The streets and\ncourts were lined with tropical flowers, palm and cocoanut trees. The sun\nwas so warm that we were soon persuaded to remove our coats and sweaters,\nand we stepped into a hotel court to rest.\n\nWe noticed one beggar after another coming in and asking alms. Going\nout into the streets again we noticed they seemed to be filled with\npoor, ragged, barefoot people begging. On inquiry we were told this was\n\u201cBeggars\u2019 Day,\u201d when the poor came out and received help.\n\n[Illustration: S. S. Curacao on which we sailed to the Mission field]\n\nAs we sat in the plaza and saw all the sin and wickedness around us, we\nwere reminded of Paul\u2019s experience at Athens. His spirit was stirred when\nhe saw the city wholly given to idolatry, and found the altar with the\ninscription, \u201cTo the unknown God.\u201d Truly our spirits were stirred when we\nsaw the high spires on the cathedral, and the altar within, and realized\nthat God was not known to the people. The many beggars were a striking\npicture of the great need of the whole city. The beggars\u2019 dirty rags told\nof their need of the robes of righteousness. Their bare feet showed the\nneed of being shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace, for truly\nthey had no peace. Many of them were blind, and surely they were blind to\nthe truth. Beggars would come and touch us, and ask alms. Like Peter and\nJohn, silver and gold we did not have, but we could tell them of Jesus,\nand we did so. But they were so blind and deaf they did not seem to know\nwhat we were talking about.\n\nWe were taken by a gentleman in a carriage to see the places of interest\nin the city, which were many. Then we returned to the ship, but found it\nwould not be ready to sail for some time yet. We seated ourselves on the\ndeck and watched the many boats and launches that covered the waters. The\nwind was strong and the waves ran high. We saw a small row-boat with two\nmen in it, rowing hard for the shore. It made me think of the great mass\nof people here who were being tossed by the waves of sin.\n\n=\u201cCaptain, Lower the Gang-Plank for I am Coming.\u201d=\n\nThen the Spirit gave me a picture of the sinner as the small boat\ntossed to and fro by the high waves of sin. The large steamer, with\nall her passengers, very peaceful, and with no toiling to keep afloat,\nrepresented the children of God with all His cargo of love and grace in\ntheir souls. They did not have to work to keep saved, but He saved them\nand they were at home on the waters of His love. I seemed to hear the\nLord say that as the waters of this mighty ocean could come in on that\nlittle boat, and sink it beneath its waves, never again to be found, even\nso His great love for the sinner could come in on his frail bark of sin,\nswallow it up, and sink it in the sea of forgetfulness, never again to be\nfound.\n\nDarkness began to settle over the waters. The whistle had blown, the gang\nplank been pulled in, and the vessel was slowly moving away. Suddenly\nwe heard a cry coming over the waves, =\u201cCaptain, lower the gang plank,\nfor I am coming.\u201d= In the dim evening light we could see a man standing\nin the launch that was coming as fast as it could. Again the cry came,\n=\u201cCaptain, lower the gang plank, for I am coming.\u201d= It was our freight\nclerk, who had been ashore, drinking and indulging in sin, until he had\nalmost missed his opportunity to get on board. But at the captain\u2019s\ncommand they lowered the gang plank, the clerk jumped on it and came on\nboard.\n\n[Illustration: On Board Ship]\n\nTo me this taught a lesson. The big ship Salvation has pulled into the\nharbor of the needy, the needy one comes in his little row-boat of\ntrouble and cries for help, and the gang plank, the Gospel of love, is\nlet down to him, and he jumps on and is saved. So, as we go among these\nneedy people, in their little old row-boats toiling on the angry waters\nof sin, we hope to see the dear old Gospel ship of Zion pull into many\na harbor, and lower the gang plank of love and mercy, and see people\njumping on and coming aboard for the glory-land. For truly, Jesus is\ncoming soon, and what we do we must do quickly, ere they perish.\n\nAt another port we had to wait a day for the unloading of cargo. Many\nnatives came to the ship to sell birds and different things, and we had a\nwonderful opportunity to give out the Word of God to them. How eager they\nwere to hear of the love of God to save them. One old man came up out of\nhis little boat and said. \u201cAre there many people in your country who know\nabout this great God, and how He sent His Son to die for us?\u201d We told him\nthere were many who knew about it. Then he said, \u201cWhy don\u2019t they come\nand tell us about it and help us to find Him.\u201d We were speechless, for\nwe knew there were few who would leave all to tell them of Jesus and His\npower to save.\n\n=\u201cI\u2019ll Be Waiting for You When Your Ship Returns.\u201d=\n\nSeveral little boys came on board from the many boats and lighters, and\nplayed with Carl. He brought out his little train, that ran on a track.\nThey had never seen anything like that before, so they spent the day with\nhim. We gave each one tracts and a Testament to carry home. How their\nlittle dark faces did shine with delight when we told them of the love of\nJesus for every one of them, and how God had sent us to tell the people\nto get ready, for He was soon coming back to earth. One little fellow\nwas very much interested, asking many questions about the Bible and the\ntracts we had given him.\n\nJust then the bell rang, and orders were given for every visitor to get\noff, for the ship was ready to go. As this dear little fellow took Carl\u2019s\nhand and shook it he said, =\u201cI will be waiting for you when you come\nback. I will wait every day till I see this ship return, and then you can\ntell me more about Jesus and how to find this peace you have.\u201d=\n\nHe rowed away in a small boat, and, as far as we could see, we saw his\nlittle hand waving, and heard him saying, =\u201cI will be waiting for you\nwhen you come back.\u201d=\n\nHow we wept, for we knew we would not come that way again, and realized\nthat the little fellow might never again hear the Gospel. Shall we fail\nto go to them with the bread of life?\n\n[Illustration: Carl on bridge of ship at sea]\n\n\n\n\nTHE STARS AND STRIPES AND BEAUTIFUL MANZANILLA\n\n\nWe reached Manzanilla on January 19th. Pulling ourselves up on the dock\nout of the little boat that brought us ashore, and walking a short\ndistance, we came to the street on the water front. It was filled with\npeople who had gathered to see the ship come in. With eager faces they\nwatched the unloading of the cargo. We thought if only the many launches\nand boats that had gone to the ship for passengers and cargo could bring\nmessengers and messages to this hungry people\u2019s souls, what a blessed\nthing it would be!\n\nWe walked through the little city. The streets were filled with barefoot\nmen, women, and children, many of whose clothes were ragged and dirty.\nMany pigs and sick dogs were roaming about eagerly hunting food, which\nappeared to be scarce. Our hearts were touched. As we looked up to Heaven\nthere came a cry from my soul for the deliverance of these people.\n\nOur attention was attracted by the ringing of a bell away up the mountain\nside. There we saw a small white Temple. The people began to swarm up\nthere, answering the call of the bell. We went up with them. As we\nstepped inside the great iron gate that is kept closed at all other\ntimes, but was now opened for the people to enter, we saw the poor\nbarefoot, ragged creatures enter, and kneeling down, make the sign of\nthe cross and worship the tall image before them, then rise to their feet\nand pass out.\n\nThe floor of the temple was dirty, and the seats covered with dust. We\nwere made to think of the Scripture in Isaiah 1:6:\n\n=\u201cFrom the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in\nit; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores; they have not been\nclosed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. Your country\nis desolate.\u201d=\n\nSurely the whole country is devoid of the power and glory of the God who\nmade them in His own image.\n\nAs we stood there in the gate of the temple, we saw, high up on the\nmountain, the American flag waving in the ocean breezes. The flag was on\nthe home of the American consul. It seemed to speak of freedom for that\npoor suffering people.\n\nOh that God\u2019s children, who have been touched by Divine power and filled\nwith God\u2019s love, would go in upon the wings of faith and prayer, lift the\nblood-stained banner of Jesus, and wave it o\u2019er this desolate land till\nit resounds with the falling of the Latter Rain, which is able to make it\nbud and bloom and bring forth fruit unto eternal life!\n\n[Illustration: Some natives of a tribe in Guatemala, C. A.]\n\nUpon returning to our ship the burden was so heavy on me that I fell on\nmy knees and cried to God to save these people. Then the Lord said,\n\n=\u201cWhat thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the churches.\u201d\u2014Rev.\n1:11, 19.=\n\nWe saw men with bands around their heads holding great packs on their\nnecks. They were carrying loads from the boats which were bringing the\nship\u2019s cargo to shore. Truly they were pictures of the spiritual bondage\nof the people staggering under their burdens of sin, and with the yoke of\nthe devil on their necks.\n\n O, my Lord, in travail of soul I cry,\n That Thou wilt hear and answer from the sky,\n And send Thy Holy Spirit down in power!\n O let it fall, my Lord, in a mighty shower!\n\n O save this people from the tempter\u2019s snare!\n Let them in Thy heavenly glory share\u2014\n Save them, O Lord, from sin and shame,\n That they may know the power of Jesus\u2019 name.\n\n\n\n\nSALINA CRUZ, MEXICO.\n\nMy Vision Interpreted\n\n\nHere God gave me the interpretation of the vision which I had when I was\nsaved, fifteen years before. From under the altar where I was kneeling I\nsaw a great white cloud boiling out, full of upstretched black hands.\n\nWe were in Mexican waters and there was some trouble at this port. We\nexpected to stay there about two days. Everyone was cautioned to be\ncareful not to do or say anything that would stir up trouble. As we had\nbeen giving out tracts and Bibles at every port as we came down, we\nthought to do the same here, but we were told it would be dangerous to do\nso for it might cause a disturbance.\n\nAs we sat there and saw the dear people come down to the boat to sell\nthings, our hearts were stirred, for we saw them as sheep having no\nshepherd. A group of fruit peddlers was sitting near. Taking some Spanish\ntracts and Testaments, I went over and talked to them as much as I\ncould with my limited knowledge of the language, and gave them Gospel\nliterature. A crowd gathered around, each holding out a hand for tracts.\nEven the custom house officers dressed in white, as is customary in the\ntropics, came over. The people came running from all sides, till soon I\nwas pressed upon by them. Some flat cars were standing near. I climbed\nupon one of these to get out of the press, but the people climbed up,\ntoo, holding out their black hands for the little messengers. There must\nhave been two or three hundred crowding around.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cCome over and help us\u201d]\n\nAs I was up there on that flat car looking down upon the poor hungry\nsouls, holding out their black hands for the Bread of Life, I began to\nweep, and to speak in tongues. God spoke through me in Spanish to these\ndear hearts, telling them the story of the cross, and how and why Jesus\ndied for us. It must have been an hour that I stood there in the hot sun,\ntalking to them. They wept and begged for more tracts to carry home to\ntheir loved ones. One man, who could speak English, said to me, \u201cWe did\nnot think you could speak our language so well,\u201d then he told me what I\nhad said.\n\nAnd there my vision of the white cloud full of black hands was\ninterpreted. Dressed in white, they were reaching out black hands for\nthe gospel. Shall they call in vain? Oh, no! We will carry to them the\ngospel, the blessed story of Jesus and His wonderful love. They, too,\nshall be saved and ready when He comes.\n\nIn many places in Mexico the power of God is falling. In one place a\nMexican heard the gospel and was saved. He began preaching to the people.\nThe Holy Spirit fell, and about a hundred received the Baptism. They were\ncalling for a missionary to come to them. Shall we linger? Shall we not\nanswer these calls?\n\n The wonderful love of God is better far than gold;\n The wonderful love of God is better felt than told;\n The wonderful love of God so deep, so full, so free;\n The wonderful love of God as fathomless as the sea;\n The wonderful love of God from Heaven to earth is sent;\n The wonderful love of God for each poor sinner is meant.\n Tell it! Sing it! Preach it! Till all the earth around\n Shall hear thereof, and God be found.\n\n[Illustration: Taking their morning bath]\n\n\n\n\nTHE VIRGIN OF THE ANGELS\n\n\nThe people worship many different kinds of idols. Sometimes they walk\nhundreds of miles to do penance to some stick of wood or piece of stone\nwhich has been set up by the priests.\n\nWe met one young man who told us he had crawled three hundred miles,\ncarrying a golden dish, valued at ten thousand dollars. This idol to\nwhich he crawled is in Costa Rica, and is called \u201c=The Virgin of the\nAngels=.\u201d The people have been made to believe that this little image\nof black stone, three and a half inches high, can perform all sorts\nof miracles such as opening blind eyes, healing the deaf, and driving\naway evil spirits. The temple in which this idol is kept was built at a\ncost of one million dollars. Once a year this \u201cVirgin of the Angels\u201d is\ncarried to visit all the other santos (saints-idols) that she may bless\nthem, and give them more power for the ensuing year. This immense temple\nis literally lined with gold and silver dishes and cooking utensils\nbrought there by the rich inhabitants of the country, with the hope\nthat the image would bless and heal them. Just outside the temple are\nstacks of corn, bananas, coffee, sticks and stones, which the poor people\nhave brought that they, too, might have their sins taken away and their\ndiseases healed.\n\nThey are begging for the Gospel. Their call comes to you and me,\n\n=\u201cCome over and help us!\u201d=\n\nand God asks, \u201c=Who will go for us?=\u201d Isaiah 6:8. Who will leave home,\nfriends, and loved ones, and go out, not knowing whither they go? They\nwill have to eat native foods that are unclean and unwholesome, and which\nmay cause fevers and various sicknesses. They may have to sleep in old\ndirty native huts, where mosquitos, scorpions, bats, and vermin will\nattack them. Nevertheless God is calling now, as He called in Isaiah\u2019s\nday, \u201cWHO WILL GO FOR US?\u201d Jesus is Coming Soon! The message must go\nforth regardless of the cost.\n\nAs we went aboard the ship, the Lord said to me,\n\n=\u201cCast thy bread upon the waters.\u201d=\n\nMany dear souls were reached by the tracts on the different vessels upon\nwhich we traveled. To God be all the glory! Eternity alone will reveal\nthe number who received the Gospel in this way. Passengers and crews\nalike read the tracts, and called for more. People from all parts of the\nworld have taken the little messengers with them and as they have grasped\nour hands with a hearty \u201cGood-bye, and God bless you in your work,\u201d our\nown souls have been blessed and refreshed, for we have seen the Word of\nGod, that liveth and abideth forever, finding its way into the hearts of\nmen and women.\n\nPeople who were sick and afflicted, traveling in search of health, have\nheard the message of healing through Jesus Christ, and have been healed,\nas we told them of the body of Christ that was broken for us, and that\nby His stripes we were healed. Souls who had sought comfort and rest in\nvarious religions, hearing the story of the cross, and of how Jesus died\nthat we might live, have accepted Him, and gone on their way rejoicing.\n\n=\u201cCast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many\ndays.\u201d= Eccles. 11:1. We know that when we reach the pearly gates of\nHeaven we shall see many who have been redeemed from sin, because they\nread and heard the Bread of the Word, which we cast upon the waters.\n\nWhile we were giving out tracts and Testaments to the people who came\nto sell fruit and birds in one port in Mexico, we met a Mexican who had\nnever heard the Gospel, or seen a Bible or a missionary before. I gave\nhim a tract, in his own language, on the second coming of the Lord. He\nlooked at the tract, then at me, and then said, \u201cWhat is this for?\u201d I\ntold him it was a tract telling of the soon coming of Jesus back to this\nearth again. I could not speak or understand much Spanish. He said, \u201cI\nwill read it, then bring someone to interpret for me, for I want to know\nmore about this.\u201d He went away, and in a few minutes came back with a\nyoung man who could speak English, for his interpreter.\n\nHe asked me where I heard the Lord was soon coming back again. I said I\nhad read it in the Bible, and that God was pouring out the Holy Spirit\nupon the earth in these last days; that thousands were receiving the\nSpirit, and that the Holy Spirit is revealing to the people that Jesus is\ncoming soon.\n\nHe then told us he had been going all over Mexico, Central and South\nAmerica, visiting idols and saints, walking several thousands of miles,\ncarrying heavy loads of gifts to these idols in the attempt to get peace\nof soul, but had not found it. At last, sick and weary, and in despair,\nhe gave up.\n\nHe was wondering if there were a God and had asked that if there were\nHe should make Himself known to him in some way. Then he said he saw a\ngreat, strong man coming up out of the sea, so powerful that he could\nmake every nation of the world bow to him. This man destroyed the Pope\nof Rome and the Catholic Church, built a great church for himself, and\nsought to compel all the world to worship him, but there were many who\nwould not do this, so he made war against them, killing them all, and\nthe earth was covered with blood. The people called on God to stop the\nterrible war and take away this man from the earth. Then Jesus came on a\ngreat white horse with many angels following him, destroyed the wicked\nman, and set up a beautiful kingdom of peace, in which everyone was so\nhappy, and the whole earth became a great beautiful garden.\n\n[Illustration: A Native Village]\n\nThen this Mexican said, \u201cI felt very happy in my heart, and had such\ngreat peace of mind.\u201d He had prayed God to send someone to tell him\nmore of this way. He said he was very astonished to find someone giving\nout tracts on the ship. Always before when he made his trips he saw only\ngambling and dancing, but this time he found people preaching the Gospel.\n\nHe went away happy, to tell his people he had found the Bible and the Way\nof Life. He talked to all the Mexicans on board, telling them how God had\nanswered his prayer.\n\nOne man, who owned a gold mine in Mexico, and had been in the United\nStates and was returning, told us, as we were giving out literature to\nthe people, that we were the first missionaries he ever met coming that\nway. He said he had been in Mexico forty years, had made many trips back\nand forth, but had met no Christians in those parts before. He himself\nknew something of the Gospel, and was glad to have the papers, and told\nus of the great need among the people there.\n\nOh! shall not we who have received this great outpouring of the Spirit,\ncry, as did the holy ones in Isaiah, \u201c_Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of\nhosts!_\u201d till the whole earth be filled with His glory? As I write in\nthe hot state-room of the ship, my soul is full of glory, and my hands\nare being moved over the typewriter by the power of the Spirit, while He\ntells me that Jesus is coming soon, that we must work fast, and open our\nsouls to Himself until we are filled with His power and glory, so that\nthe people with whom we come in contact will know we have been with Him,\nand learned of Him.\n\nA young man came to me and said, \u201cI heard you praying in your state-room\nthis morning. May I come in next time when you have prayer? I want to\nknow about the Gospel.\u201d We had given him a Testament. The next morning\nhe came and knelt with us and prayed to the Lord to save him. He arose,\nwith his face shining with the glory of God, saying, \u201cWon\u2019t you come to\nmy country and tell my people about Jesus? My mother has been making long\ntrips to worship \u2018The Black Christ\u2019 in the great temple on the Honduras\nborder, but she hasn\u2019t found peace. Won\u2019t you come and tell her of this\nwonderful salvation?\u201d We corresponded with him later, sending him tracts\nand papers, and he is going on with the Lord. Won\u2019t you pray that God\nwill raise up someone who will go to them with the Gospel before it is\ntoo late?\n\nAs I have already said, Central and South America are opening their eyes,\nand fast turning from Romanism. They are accepting Spiritualism, New\nThought, Christian Science, and all kinds of false religions, because the\ntrue Gospel is not being preached to them. Shall we not awake, rise up,\ngo forth with the message of the cross, and reach these people before\nthey are destroyed with these awful things?\n\nA man from Honduras, who had been in the States studying New Thought,\nwas returning with several boxes of books to sell to the people. This\ndear young man had never heard the Gospel. He said he found that Rome was\nkeeping the people in ignorance. Having met some New Thought teachers\nin his country, he had been to the States and studied New Thought for a\nyear, and was now returning to teach it to his people, who, he said, were\nanxious to have him do so.\n\nWe gave him a Bible, the first he had ever seen, and he read it every\nday. We talked and prayed with him until he was saved, for the dear old\nWord of God always wins its way into the hearts of men. He threw the New\nThought books overboard and went on his way with tracts, Testaments and\nBibles for his people, rejoicing that he had found the true God. Let\nus pray for this precious soul, that God will greatly use him. He is a\nfinely educated young man, whose influence will tell on his countrymen.\n\nOh! how glad we were we had been led to take that boat, and had had the\nopportunity to give the Bread of Life to that hungry man! God had led us\non that very ship, and certainly we were blessed as we cast the Word of\nGod forth and saw many people running after it. There is a great ministry\non the ships, not only to passengers, but also to the officers and crews.\nThey spend all their time on the water, and do not have any opportunity\nto hear the Gospel, only as it is taken to them.\n\nAnother man, a Jew, was very sick, had been for a long time. He was\ntraveling for his health. As my husband spoke to him about the Lord and\ntold him God could heal him, he said, \u201cWell, I will come right into your\nroom now and have you pray for me. I am suffering so, I can\u2019t live until\nI reach my destination if I do not get relief.\u201d He came in and we prayed\nfor him, and anointed him with oil in the name of the Lord, asking God to\ntouch his body. Instantly he threw up his hands and began to say, \u201cGlory!\nGlory! Glory!\u201d The power fell on him, and he was saved and healed. As he\nleft the boat he took with him some tracts and a Testament, and, best of\nall, the glory of God in his soul.\n\nHe declared he was going to preach the Gospel, and he began right on the\nship. He was so filled with the power and glory of God he could not keep\nfrom telling it. Here was one more poor suffering soul who received the\nBread of Life that was cast upon the waters, and who went on his way\nrejoicing, to tell the glad news to other suffering ones.\n\nLet us not be weary in well doing, but rise up in faith and go forth in\nJesus\u2019 Name, casting our bread upon the waters, for we shall find it\nbringing forth life.\n\nA woman that I spoke to became so interested that she came every day for\ntracts and papers to read. I also gave her some good books on the second\ncoming of the Lord, and on salvation. She, too, was saved, and went away\nwith her suitcase full of the Word of God to give to her people.\n\n \u201cWith this blessed hope before us,\n Let no harp remain unstrung,\n Let the mighty heavenly chorus\n Onward roll from tongue to tongue;\n Christ is coming;\n Come thou blessed Prince of Peace.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nARRIVING IN OUR PORT AT NICARAGUA\n\n\nNearing Nicaragua, in the distance we saw three mountain peaks, and were\ntold that was the Port of Corinto, where we were to land. As the ship\nmoved on, we could see the light-house, its white head towering high in\nthe air pointing out the way we were to go.\n\nThe scenery was beautiful. Cocoanut and palm trees lined the beach. The\nsea was calm and we slowly moved into the harbor, getting a good view of\nthe little city spread out before us. Great peace settled down over our\nsouls, and the Holy Spirit whispered to us that we were in His will. I\nstepped into my stateroom and opened my Bible, and this passage came to\nmy sight:\n\n=\u201cThe Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drouth,\nand make fat thy bones; and thou shalt be like a watered garden and like\na spring of water whose waters fail not.\u201d=\u2014Isa. 58:11.\n\nWe had cabled Brother Schoenich to meet us, but our boat arrived two days\nearlier than scheduled, and on going ashore, we found he was not there.\nWe went to work, speaking some English and a little Spanish, and making\nmany signs and gestures. The next morning Brother Schoenich arrived, and\nworked faithfully, helping to get our things through the customs house.\nAfter seeing that everything was ready for the coretta (oxcart) ride to\nMatagalpa, we took train for Leon.\n\n[Illustration: Picturesque Street Scene of the Port of Corinto, where we\nlanded]\n\n[Illustration: Resting during the heat of the day]\n\nArriving at Leon we went to the home of one of the native Christians. The\nfood was strange and new to us, but it came from a heart of love. The\nnext day was Sunday, and a company of dear ones, who had been baptized\nin the Holy Spirit, met for worship. Brother Schoenich preached to them,\nadmonishing them to stand true. They had no pastor, but were going on\nwith the Lord.\n\nNext morning we went to the market to buy food for our three days\u2019 trip\non mule back. We found some of the saints there. They were reading\ntheir Bibles, and witnessing for Jesus in the midst of the priests and\nthousands of Catholics. They had their walls covered with scripture\nmottoes. When saved, these people make good soldiers for Jesus, enduring\nhardness joyfully. They remember the pit from whence they were digged.\n\nBidding them good-bye, we prepared our lunch, mounted our mules, and rode\nuntil about ten o\u2019clock that night. Stopping at a camp ground for coretta\ntravelers, we lit our candles, ate our meal, strung up our hammocks, and\nlay down to rest amid the lowing of the many oxen. All coffee and freight\nis moved to and from the interior on oxcarts (corettas in Spanish).\n\nThe next morning we made our toilet in and by the large trough where the\nmules and oxen were watered. After eating breakfast under the shed of\nthe native hut, we were off for our day\u2019s travel.\n\nAt noon we stopped again at a little house on the hillside for food\nand water. While waiting for the meal to be prepared we strung up our\nhammocks for a rest. Our bodies were very tired, as we had never ridden\nhorseback before. By this time we felt better down than up. Brother\nSchoenich, being accustomed to these trips, did not tire so easily, so he\ngathered the family together and preached to them. It was the first time\nthey had heard the Gospel.\n\nAbout five o\u2019clock we again mounted our beasts, and traveled until\nmidnight. We passed over some rough country, the many wild parrots\nand birds seemed to be screeching and singing to the dusty, wayworn\ntravelers. Once in a while we got a hot breath from the great volcano in\nthe distance whose smoke we could see billowing up towards the clouds.\n\nAgain we had supper by candle-light, then hung up our swinging beds in\nthe corridor of an adobe house, and rested till the dawn, when we heard\nthe now familiar alarm, the braying of our faithful mules, who seemed to\nwant to be traveling. We arose, dressed, and soon were off.\n\n[Illustration: Where they heard the Gospel for the first time]\n\nAt noon we stopped again for rest and for food. The food they offered was\nso seasoned with flies and worms that we decided to buy a chicken and\ncook it ourselves. We bought a \u201cfryer\u201d but it proved to be an old hen of\nmany years. We were invited by our hostess to come into her kitchen to\nfry our fowl. As we were trying to get the earthen pot fixed on the fire,\nwhich was made in a sort of furnace in the corner, the smoke poured out\ninto the room.\n\nWe noticed some strange sights in that kitchen. In one corner a nice\nfat pig was having his noon-day swim in a trough of slop that had been\narranged for his benefit. Meanwhile a large red rooster lifted up his\nmerry \u201ccock-a-doodle-doo\u201d above the noise of all the rest of the fowls\nand animals that filled the place.\n\nWe managed to get the old hen smoked as well as fried, and as we went out\nto place it on the small table which had been fixed for us, we discovered\nBrother Schoenich had gathered a company together and in his enthusiastic\nway was preaching to them, showing them that worshiping the Virgin Mary\nand the santos, (saints), and learning catechisms, etc., was not the true\nreligion of the Bible. They listened with great interest, asking many\nquestions about the Bible.\n\nAfter our meal we lay down on some boards to rest, and fell asleep, only\nto be awakened by the chattering of many little voices. On investigating\nwe found the children were having school in one room, all reading at the\nsame time, taking turns at the door with a stick to keep the pigs and\nchickens out. We left there and traveled until dark, then stopped for the\nnight. Rising early the next morning we traveled several leagues, and\nthen came in sight of the lovely little city of Matagalpa, nestling at\nthe foot of the mountains. The only evil and unlovely thing, there, was\nman, who has sinned and gone far away from God.\n\nDear Sister Schoenich and some of the native Christians came out to meet\nus, as Isaac came out to meet Rebekah. We alighted, had a drink of water,\nand rested a little before going into town. We certainly were glad to see\nthe entrance-gate to our new home, which was, I think, the largest gate\nI had ever seen. We thought of our entrance through the gate of Heaven,\nafter our long, weary journey through this world of sin and sorrow.\n\nOn dismounting, we were met by some more of our dear brown-faced friends\nwho had gathered to greet the new missionaries. When we saw their faces\nshining with the glory of God, and heard them sing the praises of Jesus\nwe were refreshed in soul and body. After a few hours of rest we were\nable to go into the meeting and help push the battle for our King.\n\nWe will work here with Brother and Sister Schoenich for a while, for they\nhave a large work, and need help. They are much worn in body after almost\neight years on the field, and need a furlough. Pray for us. The fields\nare white unto harvest, and the laborers are few. We want to bring some\nglad trophies home to God.\n\n[Illustration: An Indian Hut Where We Preached the Gospel]\n\n[Illustration: Indian girls grinding corn for tortillas]\n\n\n\n\nOUR STAY IN MATAGALPA\n\n\nOur stay in Matagalpa was a very pleasant and profitable one in many\nways. It was a great pleasure to see the way God worked among the dear\nnatives. They were delighted to come and worship the Lord, and anxious\nto see others of their people brought into the fold. The awful sins and\nidolatry of these people are beyond our power to describe.\n\nWe had been there about four days when Brother and Sister Schoenich were\ncalled to one of their other stations over in the mountains. Perhaps\nyou can imagine us poor little folks there without the language, taking\ncare of the station and carrying on the meetings while they were away.\nRising very early to help them off before the sun was hot, we bade them\ngood-bye, then turned our faces toward Heaven and asked God to help us,\nfor we were there, and must be brave soldiers, not get frightened and run\naway from the battle. The Holy Spirit fell upon us, and the Lord spoke to\nus saying He would be mouth and wisdom unto us.\n\nAs we stepped into the corridor leading from the yard, we met our first\nproblem, which was to speak to one who knew only the Spanish language,\nwith no one to interpret for us. The man from the finca (little farm)\nhad come in to ask for the hammer. He talked and laughed, and we all\ntalked and laughed, and tried to see whether we could get what he wanted.\nWe brought him the horses, the harness, and almost everything in the\nkitchen. At last we took him into the tool room to let him see if what\nhe wanted was there, and he picked up the hammer. Ever after that we\nremembered the Spanish word for hammer. But, oh my! there was a pile\nof things lying all over the corridor to be picked up and put in their\nplaces. However, it was a very effectual way to get the language.\n\nNext the girl in the kitchen must be told what to cook for dinner. Into\nthe kitchen I went, knowing the mountain was before me, and must be\nsurmounted, and I meant, by the help of the Lord, to go over the top.\nPutting out the things for her to cook, I showed her by signs, as much as\npossible, how they were to be fixed. She did pretty well and the meals\nwere good.\n\nBut the worst was to come. The next morning was Sunday, and there were\nthe dear natives gathering into the chapel. What were we to do? Oh, we\nfelt so helpless! Down on our faces we went to ask God to come upon us\nthat day, and fill us with his power and pour out the Spirit on all the\ndear people. We took our Spanish song books, and went in, and played and\nsang the hymns the best we could. We had learned to say, \u201c=Let us pray=,\u201d\nso we knelt down and, we in English, and they in Spanish, poured out our\nsupplications before the Lord, and the power fell. We were there over two\nhours, just worshiping the Lord, and the language was well understood by\nall, for the Holy Spirit did the speaking and worshiping, and we did not\nmake an effort to do anything. Oh, how we did feel the mighty presence of\nthe Holy One that day!\n\n[Illustration: Alma and her music class in Matagalpa]\n\n[Illustration: Washday at the river for native women\n\nTheir only way to clean clothes is to rub them on a flat rock]\n\nThe next day many new things came up. First there was the laundry to send\nout, then the marketing to be done. We all rose early, got our Spanish\ngrammars, and, by the time the woman came for the washing, we were ready\nto speak a few words to her about it. Then we studied what to say at the\nmarket, and my husband came home with some of the things we wanted, and\nsome things we didn\u2019t want, but we were learning the language right along.\n\nI wanted to season something with butter, so called to the cook to hurry\nand bring it to me. I thought she was awfully slow. Hearing a great noise\nbehind me, I turned and saw her leading the horse into the kitchen. I\nhad asked for the horse, instead of the butter, to put into the cooking.\nAfter a hearty laugh from all of us, I went into my room for my Spanish\ngrammar and looked up the word for butter, to be sure I should not make\nthat mistake again.\n\nThings were going pretty well by this time, except for the few mistakes\nwe made occasionally.\n\nThe next thing I called for was a spoon, with which to eat my soup. They\nbrought the broom in, and laid it on the table. I couldn\u2019t very well eat\nsoup with the broom, so sent it back and kept asking for a spoon, until\neither I had the word right, or they guessed what I wanted, I don\u2019t know\nwhich.\n\nWe employed a teacher and every morning for a couple of hours we studied\nthe language. This was a great help. We soon were able to ask for butter\nor spoons with no such mistakes, and before long we could sing and read\nour Bibles quite well, also give our testimonies in Spanish. From day to\nday we could note the progress we made in learning the language.\n\nThen came the day when Brother and Sister Schoenich returned home. They\nwere tired and worn, for they had been working very hard in the meetings\nwhile away, and we wished we could take all the burdens from them,\nand let them rest. But there were many things to attend to. They went\nright to printing the paper, toiling almost day and night, not sparing\nthemselves one moment. These dear souls have come into this dark land of\nsin and idolatry and laid down their lives for the Gospel. Let us hold\nthem up in prayer and by our means. Let every reader of this book breathe\na prayer to God for these dear workers. Their bodies are tired and worn\nand they need a rest very badly. May the Lord of the harvest send forth\nlaborers to this dark land to take their place long enough for them to\nhave a furlough. Many were the precious lessons of faith and love we\nlearned from them for which we praise God.\n\n[Illustration: Where we stopped for the night\n\nNote the glare of the sun on the white sand]\n\n[Illustration: Alma and Carl among the banana trees]\n\nThe days went by. Three months passed. We had no thought of leaving,\nuntil one day while we were out giving tracts to the Indians as they\npassed by, God spoke to me and said, \u201cGo to Leon.\u201d We didn\u2019t see how we\ncould possibly do that, for we had so little of the language, and no\nmoney to go with, and it would take at least seventy-five dollars. But\nas we waited before the Lord, we were sure it was His dear will. Then\nwe asked for the means to be sent for the oxcart to carry our baggage\nover the mountains. The next mail brought a draft for just the amount\nneeded. Brother and Sister Schoenich told us that before Sister Yeagges\u2019\ndeath she had said the Lord showed her we were the missionaries for Leon.\nAt that time we had never met any of the workers, but had been merely\ncorresponding with them.\n\nThen there was the packing of our things in preparation for the trip,\nwhich was a long tiresome one over the mountains and plains under the\ntropical sun. We worked hard, and in one week were off. Brother Schoenich\ntook us down on his mules, which was very kind of him. His heart is in\nthe work in this country, and he has been willing to make every sacrifice\nto get the Gospel to these people.\n\n\n\n\nLEAVING MATAGALPA FOR LEON\n\n\nAfter seeing our trunks and baggage loaded on the oxcart, and started on\nthe way, we set about to prepare a lunch for the trip, as the only food\navailable while traveling through the country is tortillas, (corn cakes),\nand frijoles, (beans), and many times one cannot even get these, for\nthe people are very poor, many of them living on roots and leaves from\ncertain trees.\n\n[Illustration: Leaving Matagalpa]\n\n[Illustration: Leaving in the early morning for a day\u2019s journey]\n\nAfter saying good-bye to Sister Schoenich, and to the native Christians\nwho had gathered to see us off, we mounted our beasts and were soon on\nour way through the little village, waving good-bye to the many friends\nwe had met while there. The road being very good for some distance we had\nseveral races, and we remarked how clean we then were, but how different\nwe would look on reaching our destination. The sun was just sinking\nbehind the western hills and we could see the natives driving in the\nanimals for the night. As we rode on we saw the hills were all on fire,\nfor the custom there is to burn all the shrubbery before planting crops.\nAs we saw the great flames winding their way up the tall trees, and\nflashing into the air, burning up the thorns and briers, and leaving the\nground clean so the seed which was to be planted might grow, there came\nto my mind the thought that even so, the power and fire of God could fall\non that country and burn up all the awful sin and idolatry which was\nbinding those people, so that the Word of God could be sowed and bring\nforth fruit in their lives. And there arose from our hearts, a cry to our\nHeavenly Father to send out His messengers into that needy land to light\nthe fires of the Holy Spirit, till sin should be burned, and the people\nbe freed.\n\n \u201cSend down Thy power, O Lord!\n And let Thy mercy flow,\n Till all the people of this land\n Shall Thy salvation know.\u201d\n\nRiding until about 10 o\u2019clock, passing over some very rough road, we\nreached a little village. Being very tired and hungry, we decided to\nstop here for the night. We hung our swinging beds up in the shed of the\nnative hut, which was used for a saloon, and after eating our scanty meal\nby candle-light, we committed ourselves to the keeping of the One who\nnever slumbers nor sleeps, then lay down to rest amid the talking of many\nother travelers, who were stopping there for the night. Each one carried\nin his belt a big revolver, and a machette (a large knife), which all the\npeople, even the children, carry, and with which they kill one another,\nwhen they become angry. Nevertheless we were conscious of the angels\ncamping around us, and there was no fear in our hearts.\n\nAwakening next morning very early, we arose and brushed off the dust\nwhich covered us from the constant traveling on the road, near which we\nhad been sleeping, for the people travel all through the night, as in\nthe day the sun is very hot. We ate our breakfast again by candle-light,\nand after our morning prayer, we mounted and were off for a day\u2019s trip.\nThough our bodies were very tired we went on singing and praising God for\nthe glorious privilege of carrying the Gospel message to that dark land.\n\nWe rode until about noon, when we came to a stream of water which looked\nvery refreshing to us. The poor animals were so glad to see that water\nthat when they got in it they drank, and drank, and drank. We spread our\nlunch on the sand, and washed ourselves and drank heartily, for that was\nthe first water we had seen for two days except the little the natives\nhad given us to drink. Then came one who told us that just upstream all\nthe dead animals of the neighborhood were thrown in. But we claimed\nthe promise, that \u201c=If ye drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt\nyou=.\u201d\u2014Mark 16:18.\n\nAfter a rest for ourselves and beasts, we were again on our way. The sun\nbeing very hot by this time we prayed that the Lord would send a cloud\nover it, which He did. Praise His Holy Name! \u201cThe sun shall not smite you\nby day.\u201d We went on, passing over great rocks and boulders. The mules had\nto climb up and over them until at times it was impossible for new and\ninexperienced riders as we were, to stay in the saddles. However, some of\nus missed our saddles only a few times and took a tumble.\n\n[Illustration: Alma and Carl feeding the pet deer]\n\n[Illustration: On our way through the mountains]\n\nSister Finney, putting her confidence in a broken part on the back of her\nsaddle, fell off as she was going up a steep place, and after standing\non her head for an instant, rolled down the bank, the mule stepping on\nher chest. Rising, she praised the Lord that He had sent His angel and\ndelivered her. She mounted, and we were off again, after finding she was\nnot hurt. Evidently I did not have so much faith in the matter of falling\noff mules, and rolling round amid the rocks, for while passing through\na very deep cut, with high banks on either side, the mule which I was\nriding pushed against the bank, and having a bad saddle, I lost my hold\nand fell under the animal\u2019s feet. She was kind enough not to step on the\npoor missionary who was such an inexperienced rider, but who had been\ncalled to learn, and she very carefully stepped over me. I was picked\nup, and, after a little prayer-meeting there in the dust, I was able\nto remount and ride on to our destination, thirty-five miles away. God\nwonderfully blessed me and the Holy Spirit came upon me, and I sang and\npraised the Lord in tongues\u2014with interpretation. All the way I felt the\nstrong arm of Jesus upholding me. On arriving my foot was found to be\nbadly broken and crushed, and so swollen that I could hardly remove my\nshoe.\n\nPraise the Lord! He came down and blessed my soul, and touched my body!\nHow His love did burn in my heart! As the devil seemed to be angry I felt\nthat I was surely called to preach the Gospel in that place. The power\nwent through my poor, crushed and swollen foot until it was entirely\nstraightened, for it had been so twisted that my toes were behind, and\nmy heel was in front. I could feel the bones set and straightened as the\nmighty power surged through like bolts of electricity. I did not stop\npreaching although for a time I was unable to put my foot to the floor,\nbut the people came to me, sitting there in the house, to ask about the\nGospel.\n\nOne night I felt the healing touch so strong that I knew I could walk,\nso, arising next morning, I attempted to put on my shoe, but it would not\neven go over my toes. Nevertheless, I praised God, laced the shoe on the\nother foot, ready to walk, and then kept pulling at the other shoe until\nit went on. Soon it was laced up and I was ready to walk. I went into the\nmeetings, and have been going ever since, and that foot is as good as it\never was. How we do praise Jesus that we can suffer for His name\u2019s sake.\nNo warrior returns from battle without wounds, or marks of hardships\nendured, and one national hero declared he was sorry that he had but one\nlife to give for his country. Much more should we endure and give, who\nare fighting for our Heavenly country under the leadership of our great\nCaptain, King Jesus.\n\n[Illustration: Carl with his faithful pony]\n\n[Illustration: Bringing coffee down from the mountain plantations]\n\nWe have heard the Macedonian call, \u201c=Come Over and Help Us=,\u201d and the\nlove of God constrains us, so \u201conward we must go, regardless of the foe.\u201d\nTruly these dear people are calling for us to come and give them the\nGospel. Shall we fail and allow them to perish without the knowledge of\nthe love of Him, who so freely died to save them?\n\nLate one afternoon we arrived at a small village, and being tired from\nthe hard day\u2019s travel we decided to stay for the night, but when we\nstopped, ready to dismount, we were told that\n\n=Robbers=\n\nhad swept down from the mountains on the towns and villages of that\ndistrict, had robbed the people, and driven off their stock. The soldiers\nhad been sent out, and already one battle had been fought, and more\ntrouble was brewing, so it was very dangerous for us to be traveling.\nWe looked to the Lord for guidance, and felt that we must lose no time,\nbut taking the Blood for our protection, should move on. Arising at two\no\u2019clock the next morning we went over the road on which the robbers were\nsupposed to be, through a dense forest, but saw nor heard nothing except\nthe many parrots and birds, screeching and singing.\n\nWe made seventeen leagues that day, crossing mountains and plains,\nstopping at noon at a little hut by the roadside for food for the beasts\nand rest for ourselves. We were received with much hospitality by these\npeople, with their bamboo covered house, its walls composed of a few\nsticks stuck up at intervals. The entire inside had on its dress of\nmourning from the smoke from the family cook-stove, which was a pile\nof rocks in one corner. While the woman was making us a fresco of gourd\nseed, (a favorite drink they make there), grinding the seeds on the\ntortilla stone, the old mother pig and her babies were having a real\njubilee under the rickety table. In that country hogs seem to be the\nfamily pets, for in every house there are many of them. The beds were\nmerely a few sticks covered with a rawhide. Other sticks surmounted by a\nrough board served for a table, and a black smutty pile of rocks was the\nstove. These articles completed the home furnishings. The host was poor,\nbut oh, how he and his family listened to the Gospel story! This is the\npicture of thousands of homes in that country. The people are exceedingly\npoor, but hungry for the Bread of Life. How we enjoyed preaching the\nGospel to them! Although there were numerous hardships to endure, it was\nsweet to be in God\u2019s will, and to tell these dear ones of His great love\nfor, and His desire to save them.\n\nReaching our next stopping place late in the evening we camped for the\nnight. After we women were in our hammocks, and the men had seen the\nanimals put away for the night, they went for a swim in a nearby stream.\nWhen their swim was finished, they found the stream was the home of some\nlarge\n\n=Alligators=\n\nbut, praise God! He is the same as when He stopped the lions\u2019 mouths for\nDaniel. Certainly He does care for His little children.\n\n[Illustration: The only Jesus they know]\n\n[Illustration: One of the first to accept the Gospel]\n\n The God of Daniel was great and strong\n Stopping the lions\u2019 mouths, and filling his heart with song.\n\nRising before daybreak we sent up a thanks-giving to our Heavenly Father\nfor His safe-keeping through the night, and asked Him to protect us that\nday. Then we loaded our beds and other belongings upon the mules and went\non our way.\n\nThat day\u2019s journey brought us over a part of the country which was\ncovered with great rocks and boulders thrown from Nicaragua\u2019s largest\nvolcano, El Momotombo. In the distance we could see the volcano belching\nforth smoke, and the heat was intense. About one hundred years ago this\nvolcano completely destroyed the city of Leon, leaving a great lake\nfilled with water, which is there today.\n\nThe dust was very deep in the roads, because of the extensive traveling.\nIt rolled up about us in a great cloud. Many times we could not see each\nother a few feet away. We resembled a miniature whirlwind coming down\nthe road, and surely we were a whirlwind coming against the devil. The\nenemy would fain stir up a storm to strangle God\u2019s people and prevent\nthem from invading the territory he has so long held, but we would not be\nintimidated. Souls were at stake. They were being held in prison, behind\nbars of iron, but their cries had reached Heaven and God had sent some\nof His messengers with the glad news of freedom. The message must be\ndelivered, regardless of the cost, so over mountain and plain we went,\ncovered with dust, faint from much traveling through long, hot days, but\non to the people with the message that Jesus died to set them free.\n\n \u201cWill we ever think of trials, will we ever think of pain,\n Or the crosses we\u2019ve endured for Jesus\u2019 sake,\n On that Hallelujah morning as we gather round the throne,\n And with Jesus of the marriage feast partake?\n\n Let us hasten with the message which He said was meant for all.\n To the black, the white, the yellow, and the brown;\n Of one blood He made all nations, we must win them all for Him.\n Precious jewels to adorn the Savior\u2019s crown.\u201d\n\nToward dusk we came in sight of a little adobe house, and were told that\nwe might stop there for the night. How nice it was to see a place where\nwe could rest our tired bodies, wash ourselves and comb our hair. For\nthree days we had been unable to comb our hair or wash ourselves for\nwater was too scarce. How wonderful it will be when we earth-travelers\npass on our way to that City which hath foundations, whose builder and\nmaker is God, where we shall see dear Jesus and hear Him say, \u201c=Come, My\nchildren, into the mansions I have prepared for you=.\u201d The residents of\nthat city \u201cshall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall\nthe sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst\nof the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains\nof waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.\u201d\u2014Rev.\n7:16,17. How blessed to know Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us!\nHow the very thought thrills my soul, and causes me to want to work to\nhelp bring others into those mansions!\n\n[Illustration: Carl and his father, as they distributed tracts to the\nIndians by the roadside.]\n\nWhile talking with the natives, they told us that\n\n=A Large Tiger=\n\nhad come down from the mountains and, after killing two cows and injuring\nseveral more, had escaped. They were greatly frightened, as the animal\nwas still in the neighborhood, but we lay down under the shed, and went\nto sleep, awakening just when the sun was coming up through the trees.\nWe hustled and dressed, and after ordering some hot milk from the people\nthere, we mounted for another day\u2019s journey. We went down the road in\nthe direction which the tiger had taken. The natives warned us that we\nwere likely to meet the ferocious animal in the forest not far away, but\nwe went on, singing the sweet songs of Zion, and trusting ourselves to\nHis keeping, who said, \u201cI will give you power over all the power of the\nenemy.\u201d A tiger was a very small thing compared to the awful monster of\nsin which had ravaged the whole country. We realized that the King\u2019s\nbusiness demanded haste, so we passed on, and rode over the dusty road\nunmolested. The blessed Holy Spirit filled our hearts with joy at the\nthought of soon reaching the place where we should have meetings with the\ndear faithful little band of Christians who were awaiting.\n\n\n\n\nOUR ARRIVAL IN LEON\n\n\nOur arrival in the city aroused much curiosity among the people. As we\npassed through the streets they came out of their houses and followed\nus to see where we were going. When we came in sight of the house where\nlived a Christian woman, who had suffered much at the hands of her\npeople, she came out to meet us. The power fell on her, and she danced\nfor joy, and we wept and shouted. A crowd soon gathered to see what had\noccurred, and we had a meeting right there, telling them of the Savior\u2019s\nlove and His willingness to save them from all sin, and to present them\nfaultless before His Father. These people had persecuted this dear sister\nfor ten years after she was saved. They would come and whip her, throw\nher goods into the street, and tell her they would kill her if she did\nnot turn back into the Roman church, but she stood true, and now had the\nBaptism of the Spirit, and in her house we had our meetings.\n\nWe slept on cow hides for beds, with a straw mat under us. We ate our\nfood out of gourds for two weeks until our things came and we could get a\nhouse. It was sweet to be in the Master\u2019s dear service.\n\n[Illustration: Street Scene in Leon]\n\nThe city of Leon is anti-American because it is the headquarters of the\nLiberal party, which is trying to overthrow the rule of the church of\nRome. The United States appointed a president twelve years ago, thus\nstopping the revolution then in progress. As the president is a church\nman the Liberal party hasn\u2019t much love for an American.\n\nThis was a difficulty which we had before us. Not only were missionaries\nhated, but we were American missionaries, which was far worse. We looked\nto the Father for a house in which we might live, and preach the Gospel\nto these dear people. A man came to us and said we could have a house,\nso we moved in the following day. It was a poor thing to call a house,\nbeing dirty, and infested with scorpions, lizards, and a species of ant\nwhich builds a big mud house and eats not only one\u2019s clothes but also the\nfurniture.\n\nWe were situated between two saloons and houses of ill-fame, right in\nthe slum district. People danced, drank and caroused all night in these\nplaces. It was a pretty good place in which to open fire on the enemy,\nbeing right in the midst of his works. When an army advances to fight the\nenemy it goes to the strongest point.\n\nOn one side of our house, which was built of thin lumber, there were\ncracks in the wall, and we could look through the cracks into the saloon.\nWe remembered the scripture which says we are not to light a candle and\nput it under a bushel, but on a candle stick, so all can see; so we would\nget out our little organ and sing and play, then kneel and pray, and the\npeople would peep through at us. We were told they might throw rocks\nat us, and burn down the house, and might even kill us, but we were not\nthere to draw back, so we opened fire with the heavy artillery of God\u2019s\npower in the Holy Ghost.\n\nWe had not had, as yet, any public meetings, but had been waiting on the\nLord for guidance. One morning there appeared a woman in our doorway,\ncrying out\n\n=\u201cWill You Come and Pray for My Baby? It Is Dying!\u201d=\n\nWe went with her to her home, which was a few doors away. There on the\nbed lay a little child, seemingly just passing away. A crowd had gathered\nabout the door. When I saw the baby and that crowd there arose a cry to\nGod from the depths of my soul to heal the child, thereby proving His\npower to the people. The child seemed to pass away, but we called on God\nto heal it for His glory. The little thing rose up, climbed off the bed,\nand began playing on the floor.\n\nThe mother shouted and gave herself to the Lord then and there. The\ndoctors had given the child medicine to make it die easy, for it had been\nsick a long time. The mother brought the baby to our house, and sang,\nand praised the God of Heaven until the people from far and near came to\nsee the child. She afterwards took the child and went all over the city\nfrom house to house telling how God had healed it and saved her. Then the\npeople began to come to be prayed for. Often they would come and stay far\ninto the night.\n\n[Illustration: Mother with child that was raised up from death]\n\nWe were having such a blessed time that we forgot about living in the\nslums, and about the saloons on either side of us, although at first\nwe could not sleep for the noise from them. Soon we discovered they\nhad moved the saloon which was so close to our bedroom. When I saw the\nproprietor come into the meetings, with others who came for prayer, I\nasked him if he had moved. He answered he had, as he did not feel good\nto have a bar so close to where we prayed so much. Besides, he said, he\nhad no customers left, as they all came to hear us. Hallelujah! Jesus did\nmove in a mighty way.\n\nOn the other side was the biggest house of ill-fame in the city. Men and\nwomen gathered there by dozens, some of them perfectly nude, dancing and\ndrinking at all hours of the night. It was so awful we felt that hell had\nbeen uncapped in that place. But here came the \u201cmadame\u201d to us, asking\nfor prayer, saying she was sick, and she knew she was living a bad life.\nAfter her came many others. We prayed with each one and gave them each a\nBible, until there were some mighty changes wrought in that section of\nthe city.\n\n=One Dark Night=\n\nwhen the rain was falling in torrents, we were sitting around our feeble\ncandle-light, reading our Bibles. We heard a knock on the door. It was\nlate, and we had been warned by both missionaries and the Christian\nnatives, to be very careful to whom we opened our doors after night, as\nthere were people who would as soon kill us as they would an animal, so\nwe did not open the door immediately. The knocking continued, and we\nheard a man\u2019s voice asking us in Spanish to let him in. My husband partly\nopened the door, and in the small opening we saw a tall, dark native. He\npushed into the room, looking very much frightened. When we asked what he\nwanted, he asked if we were the missionaries. We told him that we were,\nand he told us that five years before he had found a Bible, and began\nreading it. He had become convinced of the truth of the Gospel and wished\nto talk with us. We talked and prayed with him, then asked him to come\nto the meetings. He said his mother was very angry because he did not go\nto the church any more, and he was afraid that if he were to come to our\nmeetings the people would kill him. That was why he had come on such a\ndark, wet night to have a talk with the missionaries. We were reminded of\nthe ruler in Israel who interviewed Jesus in the night.\n\n[Illustration: Waiting for the Gospel]\n\nHe came to the house every night for two weeks. When we opened our class\nin English he attended. We always had a lesson from the Bible, and the\nscholars had to learn scripture verses. One day this man came out boldly\nand said, \u201cI am coming to the meetings.\u201d By this time we had several of\nthe leading citizens of the city attending our meetings. This young man\nhas since been called to preach the Gospel to his people. Pray for him.\nThe following is a copy of a note he wrote us when we left Leon.\n\n \u201cI am returning your book. I thank you so much for it. It has\n been a great blessing to me. Please pray for me, as I feel a\n call to preach the Gospel. Send me Bibles and tracts from your\n land for my people.\u201d\n\nOthers came to the class, being anxious to learn English. The judge of\nthe city, doctors, lawyers, and many others heard the Gospel preached. To\none young man who came to the class we gave a Bible in English, and one\nday he came to ask us some questions. The priests had told the natives\nwe were nice people but were teaching error, for we taught people to\nread the Bible and the Bible was a very bad book, and they must not read\nit. But this precious boy was convicted of sin, and was seeking God. We\nasked him to pray the Lord to forgive his sins, and then to believe that\nGod did it. He asked for a prayer-book, so he could pray. We told him\nwe never used prayer-books; we simply asked God to forgive us and save\nus from our sins. He was sweetly saved and went away to bring a cousin\nto the meetings. This cousin was also saved. These two were among our\nbrightest pupils. They could read and speak English quite well in a few\nmonths.\n\nOne morning, very early, before we were up, there came a knock on our\ndoor and a little brown-faced Indian girl appeared. She was about\nthirteen years old, and very pretty. She asked us to take her as a\nservant. She had nowhere to go, and had been sleeping in the market. As\nI looked at that dear little brown face and heard her story I looked\nup to my Heavenly Father and breathed a prayer that He would remember\nthe thousands who, like her, had no home and were perishing. We told\nher we would take her, and I wish my readers might have seen that dear\nlittle face light up with joy because she would have a home with the\nmissionaries. She was a very bright girl, and very quick to learn. Soon\nshe could play the organ and sing the Gospel hymns. How she did love to\ngo to the meetings and to read her Bible!\n\n=Carl\u2019s Ball and Bat=\n\nCarl had a ball and a bat which had been brought from the homeland, and\nin the daytime he would go out into the small park near the house, gather\nall the boys from the streets, and play ball with them. They had never\nseen a ball or a bat before, and it was all very wonderful to them.\nCarl\u2019s face would become very red from the heat, and the children thought\nit queer to see a red-faced boy with such white hair, and such peculiar\nthings as the ball and bat. He would play with them until lunch-time,\nthen they would come home with him, and he would get his Bible, read from\nit, and tell them of Jesus, and numbers of them were brought to God in\nthis way.\n\n[Illustration: Carl, with his boys]\n\nMany boys and girls came to us asking for a school and a home, but I\nam sorry to say that we could not possibly take them in, our house and\nmeans would not permit. But we are asking God to stir up the people in\nthe homeland to give till there shall be a home and school opened in this\ndark city of Leon where these precious jewels may be gathered in and\ntaught the Bible, and the way to God.\n\nWe were having precious meetings, and one day a man came saying he had\nwalked a long distance to find the missionaries, to get them to come to\nhis home and teach the Gospel. Husband and I went with him, going as far\nas possible on the little railroad, then walking the rest of the way.\nWhen we arrived we felt as if every drop of our blood were boiling, we\nwere so hot, walking so far under the tropical sun. We found the family\ngathered to hear the Word of God, and thought of Peter going to the house\nof Cornelius.\n\n \u201cOh, the love that drew salvation\u2019s plan!\n Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!\n Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span!\n At Calvary.\u201d\n\nThe Lord touched these dear hearts with His love in a mighty way. They\nwept, and cried to Him to save them. Even the little children were hungry\nto seek the Lord. Far away from all Christians, in a dark land, filled\nwith idols, where the powers of darkness fill the very air, were those\nprecious souls, just waiting for someone to come and tell them of a\nSavior\u2019s love. There are many thousands just like them. Dear reader, what\nwill you do to get the gospel to them? Ask the Lord to show you what He\nwould have you do.\n\nI shall never forget the scene when we started to leave these people.\nThey clung to us, begging us not to leave them. But there were our own\ndear children at Leon, in a foreign land, far away from all loved ones,\nand with no one to protect them, and the shadows of night were beginning\nto fall. We had to pull ourselves away from those pleading, soul-hungry\npeople, and say good-bye. We promised to come back when we could, telling\nthem we must go back to our little ones, and the work in Leon. The father\nand mother had seven bright-faced boys, and asked us if we would take\nthem into our school, and we told them we would if we could but we were\nnot able for lack of means.\n\nReturning it seemed as if the slow train would never get to Leon. We\nwere tired, and our feet were blistered from the long walk in the\nterrible heat. But as we looked to the Lord to refresh our bodies and\nheal our sore feet, the Holy Spirit came sweeping through our beings, so\nrefreshing us that we hardly knew we had gone through such an ordeal.\n\nIn a few days there came a call to another home far away in the\nmountains, where the people were begging that the Gospel be brought to\nthem. I took a native woman with me and we traveled on the train as far\nas we could go. We purposed going to the home of some native Christians\nwho lived in that town, and who had been in the meetings at Leon, where\nwe thought to rest until the sun went down, as the other trip had taught\nme not to walk far under the hot sun. As we passed down the street I\nheard the people calling out in Spanish, \u201cHay una Evangelista!\u201d (There\nis a missionary!) But I thought nothing of it, knowing they were not\naccustomed to seeing foreigners walking through their streets.\n\nArriving at the house of the Christians I was told the people would not\nallow missionaries to come to that town. Some months before, one of their\nyoung men had been converted. When he came back and told it, men, women,\nand children, with the priests as leaders, gathered, and cut him to\npieces in the street near the house where we then were.\n\nThe dear native Christians were looking for the people to come at any\nmoment and kill them. They declared that we all would be killed that day.\nI began praying to find out if I had missed the Lord\u2019s will by coming\nthere, but the Lord spoke to my heart, saying all would be well and not\nto fear what the people might do. So we gathered inside and prayed to God\nfor protection, and to convict the people of their awful crimes. When we\narose from prayer a large crowd was gathered outside, watching us. The\nhouse was made of small poles stuck in the ground, with large cracks all\naround, so we could easily see and be seen.\n\nWe planned to leave the house at sunset, to walk out to the farm where we\nwere going to preach the Gospel. I told the dear ones not to fear, but to\ntrust God. However, they were greatly frightened and said the mob would\ncertainly kill me when I went out. But I knew I had been sent there by\nthe Lord, and all would be well.\n\nI went out and spoke to the crowd, and then started down the street,\nleading to the country. When I looked around only my woman was with me.\nShe told me the others had gone another way, hoping to miss the crowd,\nwhich I saw was following us. I saw some women give a boy a machette, and\ntell him to cut me with it. He came running toward me, talking in Spanish\nas fast as he could, and swearing at me. I went right ahead. He kept at\nmy side, swearing. The mob followed us. We walked on until we came to\nwhere the road left the town, and turned into the country. I felt the\npower of God coming upon me in a way I had never felt before.\n\nThe veins of my neck swelled, and my body began to shake. Then I turned\ntoward the mob and began speaking to them in tongues. They turned and\nran, until not one was to be seen. A little disappointed feeling came\ninto my heart. I said, \u201cJesus, I wanted to die a martyr for you here in\nthis dark land, but now the mob is gone.\u201d The power still filled my\nbeing, until I could do nothing but worship God. The native Christians\ncame up. They said they had seen the people run, and heard them exclaim\nthat fire fell from Heaven and burned them, until they could endure it no\nlonger, and they had to run. I did not see the fire, but felt it burning\nin my soul in a mighty way.\n\n=At The Farm=\n\nI preached and sang until midnight, and still the people begged me to\ntell them more \u201cgood news\u201d as they called it. Truly it was good news of\ngreat joy to those poor people who had so long been under the heavy yoke\nof the enemy. There was a family of fifteen, also several hired men,\nbesides about twelve travelers who had stopped for the night. They had\nonly one room. When I told them I could not preach any more that night,\nbut must have some rest for my body, and a place where I could lie down,\nthey all went into the room\u2014family, travelers, hired men, some thirty\npeople in all. They took two young calves and three small deer with them,\nalso several hens with their little chicks.\n\nI decided not to sleep with all those people and animals in that room,\nwith no ventilation\u2014as the adobe houses are built without any windows. I\ntold them to fix me a cot outside in the corridor. They said wild animals\ncame at night, and I must not sleep outside. But I decided I would almost\nprefer being eaten by wild animals to being smothered. As I insisted,\nthey put a cot for me outside, and I did not awaken to see whether any\nwild animals came. If any came, they did not molest me.\n\nArising next morning I ate my breakfast off of banana leaves, then\ngathered the family for prayer. How the power of God did fall and fill\nevery hungry heart! After prayer I told them I must leave them, and\nreturn home. We gathered our blankets together, and climbed into the ox\ncart which had been brought to carry us to the railroad station. I was\ntoo tall for the cowhide covering, which was intended to protect us from\nthe sun, so I sat in the back and let my feet hang down over the end, and\nso rode to town. We sang and talked all the way, about the love of Jesus.\nSeveral times we stopped at houses by the roadside and preached to the\npeople, giving them tracts and Bibles.\n\nA large crowd was at the station waiting for the train. I went to the\nplatform and spoke to the crowd. They asked me to give them Bibles and\ntracts. Some of them were members of the mob which the night before had\nbeen ready to kill us for coming into their town to preach the Gospel.\n\nWe arrived at Leon very tired and needing rest. But there were so many to\nbe ministered unto and the needs were so great that I went right into the\nmeetings, where God blessed my soul and rested my body.\n\n[Illustration: Where I preached until midnight, and the entire family was\nbrought to the Lord.]\n\n=The Lord Rolled the Sea Away=\n\nOne day a young man who had been in the United States, came to see us.\nHe spoke English well, also had been in different churches and had some\nknowledge of the Gospel. He came many times to read and pray with us. One\nday he asked if we would not go to the beach for a day\u2019s outing. We felt\nwe could not spare the time, and it would be too much of a luxury for us.\nBut as he insisted on bringing his machine and taking us, we consented to\ngo and prepared a little lunch. Before going we asked if we might preach\nto the people on the road. He consented, so we went for the day, taking\nBibles and tracts with us. Many were the precious souls to whom we spoke\nabout the Lord Jesus, giving them the little printed messengers. Our\nhearts were moved with compassion as we saw the extreme poverty of the\npoor people out in the country, with no one to love or help them. The\nroads were almost impassable and the heat was intense, but at last we saw\nthe white-caps dashing up against the shore, and felt the cool breeze\nfrom the ocean. We stopped some distance from the water and walked down\nto the beach. Many Indians were there. Some could not speak Spanish, but\nhad a sign language. We spoke to all who could understand us, and they\ntold the rest about the Gospel, for although they spoke Spanish, they\nalso understood the sign language.\n\nThere was a dressing place for bathers and a stand where refreshments\nwere sold by the Indians, who could not speak Spanish. I sat down in the\nshade while the rest went bathing in the surf. Suddenly I was startled\nby the screams of my daughter, Alma. She and the young man were quite a\ndistance out in the breakers. They were drowning, and calling for help.\nI saw them go under. My husband was trying to reach them, but the strong\nundercurrent took him down also. I prayed and called on God to save them.\n\nRunning to the Indians, I tried to tell them to run with a rope and save\nthem. I could not make them understand, but suddenly began talking in\ntongues, with signs, which I afterwards learned was their language. They\ntold the young man that I had implored them to help save my daughter,\nhusband and himself. They ran to help Alma and the young man, but they\ncould not be seen. I started in that direction calling on the Lord to\nsave them. The sea rolled up in a great heap, and there they were on the\nsand. How it all happened I cannot tell. But I know the Lord rolled the\nsea away, and they were saved. They were filled with water and Alma was\nsick. But the Lord soon delivered her. The young man knew the Lord had\nsaved them from death. He was an expert swimmer, but could not swim in\nthat strong undercurrent, which had drawn them so far out before they\nrealized the danger.\n\n[Illustration: Where the entire family was brought to Jesus, and the\nmother\u2019s hand was healed of blood poisoning. Note the hand wrapped in a\nlarge piece of cloth.]\n\nHow we did praise God for His wonderful deliverance! It was a mighty\nmiracle, which convinced the Indians that God had delivered, for they\nsaw the waters rolled up in a heap. It made them believe. The news of\nthe wonderful miracle God had performed for the missionaries soon spread\nabout the city. It was published in the papers, and many who had not come\nbefore, came to see us and were convinced of the Gospel. Many people came\nfrom all parts of the Republic to hear the Gospel, and to ask for Bibles.\n\nThe dear saints in the homeland sent us Bibles, Testaments and tracts,\nand the Word of God went forth. We cannot tell how many precious souls\nwere reached by the bread cast on the waters, but we shall know when we\nreach the beautiful land beyond, and see their dear faces shining with\nheavenly glory. We are told to sow beside all waters, and are promised\nthat \u201c=he that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall\ndoubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him=.\u201d\nPsalm 126:6.\n\nMany were the nights and times we went forth weeping over the sheep that\nwere out of the fold, lost among the idols, vice and sin of every kind.\nIt was almost more than we could bear when so many of the people came to\nus, and we were unable to take them all in and help them. We could only\nweep and cry to the Lord to help us to reach them, and to stir up the\nsaints at home to give all they possibly could to aid in helping them.\nFor this purpose we are sending forth this book, that funds may be raised\nto send Bibles and tracts to these people.\n\nIt was at this time, when many were pressing upon us for help and our\nmeans were so limited that God told us to return to the homeland and\ntell the church of the great need of sending more Bibles, tracts and\nmissionaries to these destitute fields. As we looked to the Lord and told\nHim we did not have the money to get back home, He spoke and told us we\nwere to pack up and go to the port, and He would send the money for us\nthere for our fare. So we began making ready.\n\nAnother missionary and his wife came by, going home on furlough. They\nwere going via Guatemala, believing they could save quite a sum of money\nby going that way. But the Lord had told us to go via Panama. We packed\nour trunks and made ready. But oh, how we did hate to tell our dear\npeople we were leaving them, for we loved them so, and they loved and\nclung to us. We knew they would feel so badly to have us leave them.\n\n[Illustration: Where Carl attended native school to study Spanish.\nNeither the teacher or any of the pupils could speak a word of English,\nso he very soon acquired the Spanish.]\n\nWhen we went to the meeting that night we told them the Lord had led us\nto return to our homeland, to put the great needs of their country before\nthe people. They cried, both men and women, and pressed upon us until we\nthought we could never get ready to start. I had to put our suit-cases in\na room and lock the doors so I could finish packing, for the house was\nfull of precious souls begging to hear more of the Gospel, and telling us\nhow much they loved us, and what a great blessing we had been to them.\nOur hearts were breaking over the people, for they were as sheep without\na shepherd. May God bless and keep them true to Him.\n\nWe were packed and ready to go to the train when there came a big\nprocession of people marching into the house. Some of them we had not\nmet before, and some we had seen on the streets and in the markets, when\nwe were preaching and giving out tracts. Many of them had come to our\nmeetings, had heard and accepted the Gospel, and had been filled with\nthe blessed Holy Spirit. They brought many presents, among them a nice\nleather bill-book for my husband, a manicuring set for Alma, pretty fans\nfor me, and boxes of candy for Carl. Many useful presents they brought,\nsome of which had cost much money, for everything is much more expensive\nthere than in our country. Even rich people had come and brought presents\nto show their appreciation of our missionary work among them.\n\nWhen the train pulled in, and we were about to go on board, several\ndoctors and lawyers and the judge of the city came, saying they were\ngoing to the port with us to stay until our ship sailed, and there was\nthe crowd standing outside waving their hands and saying, \u201cGood-bye,\ndon\u2019t forget to pray for us, and send us Bibles.\u201d Oh that scene! We\nshall never forget it. As the train started the people hung on to the\nside, waving their hands, and calling \u201cGood-bye, our good missionaries;\nwe love you so much.\u201d\n\nWe had many opportunities to witness for Jesus and to give out literature\non the way to the port. The people were so hungry they would run and beg\nfor more tracts.\n\nWhen we arrived at the port station we were taken to a hotel by one of\nthe men who had gone with us, and there a fine dinner was given us in a\nspecial dining room, and we had a nice time.\n\nWe found we must appear before the American consul twice a day for\nseveral days before sailing, as we had come from a yellow fever infected\nregion. We began to go that morning, for the ship bound for Panama would\ncome in seven days.\n\nWe made ready to leave on that boat, but there was no money for the\nfare. As I prayed in my room one morning the Lord said, \u201cGo and ask for\nyour mail.\u201d I thought, \u201cI don\u2019t believe the mail is opened here, but on\narriving in the port is immediately sent to the different parts of the\ncountry.\u201d But as I prayed again the Lord spoke once more, \u201cGo and ask for\nyour mail.\u201d I knew it was the voice of the Lord, for He had wonderfully\nspoken to us and led us all the way, so I went. On asking for the mail I\nwas told that no mail was coming for two weeks, and when it did come it\nwould not be opened there but would be sent out to the different parts of\nthe republic.\n\n[Illustration: Women coming from the market place]\n\nI returned to my room, wondering. I believed the Lord had sent me for\nour mail, but why had the postal officials said it could not be obtained\nthere? Besides, there was no mail boat coming until after the other boat\nhad sailed. But as I prayed I heard the voice of the Lord telling me to\ngo again and ask for my mail. I waited until the next morning, then went\nagain. Once more the postmaster told me the same thing, that it would be\nimpossible for me to get my mail there when it did come. I must admit\nthat I felt at a loss to know what to do, or what it all meant. But I\ncouldn\u2019t doubt the voice of the Lord. I waited another day, and prayed\nuntil I was sure the Lord was speaking to me. Though I couldn\u2019t see how\nit all could work out, yet I knew that He knew, and had spoken.\n\nI went again to the postmaster and explained to him that we were sailing\non the ship which was then in the harbor, and which was to leave in three\ndays, but again he told me the same thing; there would be no mail boat\nin for two weeks, and it would be impossible to receive my mail before\nthat time. I returned to my room and, falling upon my face, I cried to\nthe Lord for help, for this seemed more than I could bear, for the enemy\nwas taunting me, saying that the Lord was not speaking to me, that we had\nbeen deceived, that the Lord had not even told us to come to the port,\nand that our fare would certainly not be provided. Nevertheless, the\nvoice of the Lord came again to me, saying, \u201cAsk for your mail tomorrow\nmorning.\u201d\n\nWhen we arose the next morning we saw another ship at anchor in the\nport. It had come in during the night. My husband strolled down to the\ndock, and was informed that this was the mail boat from Panama, also\nthat our ship was not to sail until the following day, because the cargo\nwas not yet unloaded. When he returned with the welcome news I began to\npray again about the mail, feeling certain there was something for us on\nthat ship. Then I went again to see the postmaster, this time taking a\nTestament to give him. This seemed the wrong thing to do, for he was a\nfanatical church man, and the Gospel was not allowed to be preached in\nthat port. But we had gone unmolested all over the place, distributing\ntracts, and preaching to the people, and the dear natives had begged for\nBibles and the little papers (tracts).\n\n[Illustration: Alma with her music class in Leon]\n\nWalking up to the office window, I told the man the Lord had spoken to\nme, telling me there was mail there for me, which had come in on that\nship. He came to the window, began talking about the Lord, and asked me\nhow I knew the Lord had said there was mail there for us. I answered\nthat we had come to port in order to sail on the ship then in harbor,\nthat we did not have our fare, but the Lord had told us the fare would\nbe provided after we reached the port. I was sure there was mail for us\nthere, and would he please give it to me? Handing him the Testament, I\ntold him to read it, and learn about the wonderful Savior who could come\ninto our hearts and talk to us, and lead us in such straight paths. He\nbegan to weep, and told me he had never before seen a Bible, had hated\nand persecuted the missionaries, had hated me when I came inquiring for\nmail, and had not even believed in God before; but my coming so many\ntimes, saying the Lord had told me there was mail coming for me, in spite\nof my knowing that the mail ship was not due for two weeks, then the\narrival of the mail ship before time, and the postponed sailing of the\nother vessel upon which I said we were to sail, had convinced him that\nGod was actually speaking to me, and he promised to try to get our mail.\nHowever, there were thousands of letters, and he was rather doubtful if\nhe could find our mail in the midst of so much other, but promised that\nif I would return in the afternoon he would do his best for me. In the\nafternoon, I returned for the mail, which I was sure would be there. The\nman came hurrying to me, and handed me two registered letters, saying\nthey were on the top of the pile of mail in the first bag he opened.\nSurely God had spoken to me, he said, and he knew now there was a God,\nand he was going to serve Him, so as to have Him speak to him, too. And\nvery earnestly he promised to read the Testament, also he asked for a\nBible for his wife, and tracts for his friends.\n\nWhen I opened the two letters there, lacking twenty-five dollars, was\nthe amount for our fare. We sailed the following morning. Later I went\ninto my stateroom to find out the exact amount of money we had, to make\nsure how much was lacking for the entire trip to the homeland. Sure\nenough, there was exactly twenty-five dollars lacking. Again I looked to\nthe dear Lord for help to believe for the needed amount, and again He\nspoke, telling me to open my Bible. I did so, and my eyes fell upon this\nscripture:\n\n=\u201cAnd the Lord, He it is that doth go before thee; He will be with\nthee; He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee; fear not, neither be\ndismayed.\u201d=\u2014Deut. 31:8\n\nLooking at the little scripture calendar hanging on the wall I saw in the\nspace for the day on which we would land in Panama the identical verse\nI had just read. Strengthened and encouraged by this, I felt that Jesus\nwould make it all right, and that we were simply to trust and obey.\n\nUpon arriving in Panama we were taken to the American Bible House, where\nwe were treated with the greatest kindness. Dear Mr. Duffey and his wife\ngave us much valuable information about the whole of Central America, as\nthey were in touch with every mission station, and had themselves been\nmissionaries there for many years.\n\nWe had to wait three days for the ship to New Orleans, and we sweetly\nrested in the Lord and trusted Him to supply that twenty-five dollars.\n\nOne day we met a young Mexican on the street, whom we had known in\nNicaragua. He was a traveling salesman from St. Louis, Mo. We had given\nhim a Bible and talked to him about giving his heart to the Lord, and he\nhad been very much interested in our work in Nicaragua. We invited him\nto visit us at the Bible House, and in the evening he came. We read the\nWord of God and had prayer, and he told us of his having persecuted the\nmissionaries in Mexico. He had never seen a Bible before he met us, but\nin the United States he had learned that missionaries did a good work\namong the people, so he no longer hated them. He said he was glad to have\nmet us and heard us preach the Gospel. \u201cIn return for this Bible which\nyou have given me,\u201d he said, \u201cand the way in which you have talked to\nme, I feel I should do something for you, and the Lord,\u201d and he passed\ntwenty-five dollars across the table to me. Praise the Lord! there was\nthe rest of our fare home. Surely God does temper the wind to the shorn\nlamb, and take care of His little ones, leading them in and out where\nthey can find pasture.\n\nWe sailed the next day. Many were the precious souls reached by us with\nthe Gospel while we were in Panama; also on land and on sea after we left\nthere. Shall we not praise God forever for all His goodness to us, and\nfor the privilege of being called to preach to the nations of the earth?\n\n Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest truly is ripe;\n Put ye in the sickle, and reap with all your might;\n Put ye in the sickle, for the Lord calleth thee;\n Put ye in the sickle, and to Him, ever faithful be;\n\n Put ye in the sickle, ye worker of the living God;\n Put ye in the sickle, in every land ye tread;\n Put ye in the sickle, for the day is surely nigh;\n Put ye in the sickle, for Jesus cometh from on high.\n\n \u2014Given in tongues, with interpretation.\n\n[Illustration: Alma with her English class of native girls]\n\n\n\n\nLEAVING NICARAGUA FOR PANAMA\n\n\nWe sailed on the Steamship San Juan. After placing our things in the\nstateroom we went on deck and sat down. A little South American woman\ncame over to me and asked, \u201cAre you a missionary?\u201d I told her I was.\n\u201cWell,\u201d she said, \u201cI thought you must be a missionary, for no one else\nwould be away down here so far away from their homeland.\u201d\n\nShe had been in the States studying to be a nurse, and had been saved\nthrough a Salvation Army meeting on the street. She took my arm and said,\n\u201cCome right over here. There is a poor blind man from Salvador, and he\nbadly needs help.\u201d\n\nWe thanked God, for here was another chance to cast our bread upon the\nwaters, another hungry soul reaching out for the truth.\n\nWe took some tracts and Testaments and went over to the man. He said he\nhad heard a traveling missionary preach the Gospel several years ago in\nhis own country, and had longed to know more about it; now here we were\nto tell him. So he praised the Lord, and we wept and told him Jesus loves\nus so much that He never fails to answer the prayer of an honest soul.\n\nWe gave him a Testament and some tracts on Salvation and Divine Healing\nand the dear little woman read them to him. Day after day he asked for\nmore to be read to him. The woman asked if we could not give her some to\ntake home to Ecuador to her people.\n\nThere was only one man on the ship who did not take tracts and read them\nand ask for more. This man said he had not read the Bible since he was a\nchild. Now he was too old. As we looked at him and saw the hardness in\nhis face, a great pity came into our hearts, and we asked the Lord to\nhave mercy on him and save him.\n\nWe arrived in one port in Costa Rica on September 15th, Spain\u2019s\nIndependence Day. The whole country was celebrating. Our ship would have\nto wait here several days, perhaps a week, the captain said, because all\nthe people got drunk on that day, and it would take several days for them\nto sober up. We arrived at six in the morning. The noise from the cannon\nand other things was terrible. We knew about how much time we had to make\nconnections in Panama, and that we could not stay in this port over one\nday without missing connections. So we prayed that God would make these\npeople unload the ship that day so that we might go on.\n\nAt twelve, when we were having lunch, our ship was moving out to sea.\nThe men had come with their lighters and unloaded several tons of the\ncargo, and we were on our way. The dear old man who would not read the\ntract, ate at our table. He said he had lived there and in Panama for\nfifty years, and that was the first time he ever knew them to do such a\nthing. He knew it was because we prayed. So God was good not to leave him\nwithout a witness.\n\nA man and his wife were going to South America. They took tracts and\nTestaments along which we gave them, and said they were glad to have the\nlight on the Second Coming of the Lord, and on Divine Healing.\n\nThere were people on board who were going to Japan, China, India, England\nand the United States. All took with them the Word of God which we had\ncast upon the waters. Two young men on their way to school in New York,\ntook along Testaments to read. They said they no longer believed in the\nChurch of Rome, and wanted to read the Bible.\n\nAnother boy on his way to South America came to talk with us about\nthe Bible. He said he wanted to read the Bible but had never had the\nopportunity. So he sat on deck and read it. How he did rejoice to know\nthe truth! He told us how he had gone to the different temples of the\nidols and saints seeking peace, but had come away from them all without\nreceiving any help. But now he knew the truth, and wanted to carry the\ngood news to his people who were still in the darkness. He said, \u201cWhy\ndon\u2019t more missionaries come and tell us the truth? Won\u2019t you go back to\nyour homeland and tell them of our needs and the darkness we are in?\u201d\n\nStewardesses, waitresses, captains and officers all heard the story of\nthe Gospel, through the bread we cast upon the waters. One officer said\nhe was glad that someone thought of the men at sea. They were always\ngoing and had no time to attend church and hear the Gospel. He had had\nChristian parents, but they were dead. His heart was touched and with\ntears running down his cheeks he said, \u201cMay God bless you for giving me\nthis Testament. I shall read it, and pray every day, as I want to meet my\ndear mother in Heaven.\u201d He had been at sea twelve years, and that was the\nfirst time anyone had said a word to him about salvation.\n\nThe doctor on the ship was so interested he would leave his office for\nhours and come and talk with us. He had been on that line many years and\nhe had been shocked to see the condition in the Latin-American countries,\nand the church at home seemed to be doing nothing. He took tracts and\npapers and talked with us about prophecy. He said he knew the Lord was\ncoming soon. We invited him to meetings with us at Colon. He came to the\nBible House and to the meetings and said he was going to a Pentecostal\nmeeting when he returned to the States.\n\nWhile in Panama we visited the Sea Wall M. E. Church, where there is a\nwork among the natives. But all who come to the school have to pay. That\nleaves the poor population wholly untouched by the Gospel. We looked over\nthe field and found it a great white harvest field, where laborers are\nbadly needed. In all these parts the people are hungry for the Gospel.\n\n[Illustration: Alma reading a Bible story to her girls]\n\nThere is a little union church in Colon in which a few people are praying\nfor a revival. It is a wonderful opportunity for a band of workers to go\nand hold evangelistic meetings. There are many English-speaking people\nin these parts, but Pentecost has not been preached. We believe God will\nraise up workers and send them to this place. Besides the people who live\nhere, there are hundreds of ships coming and going to all parts of the\nworld. Many souls could be reached.\n\n As I stood on the beach one day,\n And saw the breakers roll in from the way,\n The great waters piled up high\u2014\n I cried, \u201cO, God! open the flood gates of mercy\n Send rivers of Thy Spirit, don\u2019t pass this people by.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nSAILING FROM PANAMA\n\n\nFinding a ship that was to sail for New Orleans we went aboard and set\nforth, carrying with us many more tracts and Testaments so that we might\ncast bread upon the waters among other people.\n\nSoon after leaving the port I noticed a man on board whom we had met\nin another place. He was a gambler, who traveled and gambled on ships\nall the time. We had spoken to him of the Bible and about the Lord, but\nhe had said he did not think anyone ought to talk about the Bible and\nreligion, as such talk would make people lose their minds. We were only\ngetting people stirred up, and that wasn\u2019t good. I heard him tell the\ncaptain we were missionaries, and that wherever we went we talked about\nGod and the Bible, but he hoped we would not be allowed to do so on this\ntrip.\n\n[Illustration: An Indian woman who came to the meeting and was saved.]\n\nSome of the people looked so very aristocratic that the enemy said to me,\n\u201cYou had better not give out tracts and Testaments on this boat, as the\npeople will not listen, for they will think you are a fanatic.\u201d But I\nfelt I must let my light shine here as well as in other places. So I went\nto my stateroom to pray. I opened my Bible to read and saw in it a little\ntract, containing these words:\n\n=\u201cHave you overcome the worldly opinions of the sect which is everywhere\nspoken against by taking your stand with it? What would Jesus have you\ndo? Have you done that? If the world has nothing to say against you,\nJesus will have nothing to say for you. His grace is sufficient. Ask\nHim.\u201d=\n\nThat was a message to my heart. I said, \u201cLord, I will go through this\nship and give out tracts to everyone. Now, Lord, you bless every dear\nheart, and open to them the Gospel.\u201d\n\nAs I passed around the deck giving out tracts, a man and his wife asked\nwhat church I belonged to. I told them I belonged to\n\n=\u201cThe Church of the First Born.\u201d=\n\nThen I told them about the Pentecostal people, and how we had received\nthe Baptism of the Holy Spirit, as the people did on the day of\nPentecost, and told them that God was pouring out His Spirit on the\nearth, and that Jesus was coming again soon. They were Seventh-Day\nAdventist missionaries from Colombia, South America, coming home on\nfurlough. They had been on the field four years, but had only been\nselling their literature. Nobody had been saved, but they thought that\nwhen, they went back again they would be able to do something, as the\npeople would have an understanding of their religion and the keeping of\nthe Sabbath Day. We could see their lives were empty, and that they knew\nnothing about worshiping God in Spirit and in truth.\n\nWe had many talks together about the law of Moses and the ten\ncommandments. We showed them we are dead to the law through the body of\nChrist, and that we should serve in newness of Spirit and not in the\noldness of the letter. Oh, how these dear hearts did respond to the\nWord of God! They had been reading the many different books of their\ndenomination, but did not have a Bible. We asked them to read the Word of\nGod that would bring Spirit and Life into their lives and we gave them a\nnice Bible. As we separated in New Orleans, they took my hand and said,\n\u201cThank God for sending you on this ship. We felt empty and dry, and now\nwe know what is the trouble. We shall read and pray until we are filled\nwith the blessed Holy Spirit, and when we return to our mission-field we\ncan preach the Gospel to the people.\u201d\n\nA family coming from South America took tracts and Testaments and called\nfor more. They said they were Lutherans, had been raised in that church,\nfelt a lack in their lives, and wanted to have the power and glory of God\nin their souls. They believed that Jesus was coming soon.\n\nEvery time we went into the parlor and sat down we had a congregation,\nfor the poor people were so hungry they would come and ask us to tell\nthem more about this wonderful way.\n\nA great hurricane was sweeping the Gulf. A wireless message had been\nreceived that the storm was terrible, and warning us to prepare for it\nbefore leaving the port. The blackness was awful on the waters as we went\nout. As we moved slowly out of the inner harbor, some battleships were\nhaving target practice at sea. Two submarines partly submerged, were\nslowly moving along to keep ships from coming too close to where the\nsailors were shooting.\n\nThe Lord said to me, \u201cJust as those submarines are placed here to protect\nthe ships from the shooting, so I will place My angels around this ship\nand the storm shall not molest you.\u201d\n\n=\u201cOnly believe and rest in Me.\u201d=\n\nThe passengers were frightened, and the captain gave orders to have the\nstorm doors and windows put in, and the ship made ready to meet the\nterrible hurricane. But on we sailed, and the storm moved on in front of\nus, all the way to New Orleans. Only once did we get into it a little for\na few minutes. The rain came down in floods, the wind blew with great\nforce, thick darkness settled down over the ship, and we were tossed\nby the great waves that arose. Many became sea-sick and ran to their\nstaterooms for life-preservers. The captain gave orders to have the life\nboats in readiness.\n\nAs we passed into our staterooms, not to get the little cork-and-canvas\nlife preservers that were lying there, but to get in touch with the One\nGreat Life-Preserver, who said He would give His angels charge over us,\nthere came into our hearts a sweet rest and peace. After prayer we\narose and went on deck. As I passed through the door I met the captain,\nwho said, \u201cI have been looking for you and your husband, that you might\npray for our ship to be saved, as there is no other hope.\u201d He himself\nlifted up his hand and asked God to drive back the storm. Just then the\nblackness swept off the decks, the ship straightened up, and the sun\nsmiled down upon us. Surely God giveth His angels charge over us, that we\nshould not dash our feet against a stone.\n\n \u201cHiding in Thee, hiding in Thee,\n Thou blest Rock of Ages, I\u2019m hiding in Thee.\u201d\n\nFrom that time on we were sailing just behind the big black hurricane. A\nship that had been following us was caught in the storm, and for three\ndays and nights they were lost and had no hope of being saved. A young\nman from this ship rode on the train with us from New Orleans to St.\nLouis. He told us of the terrible things they suffered. How they all had\nlife-preservers on many times, and were ready to get into the life-boats,\nas they thought the ship would go down.\n\nOn our ship every passenger, officer and member of the crew took tracts\nand Testaments and read them. The captain told us he was glad to have\nsomeone on the ship who knew how to pray. On the previous trip he brought\nsome women from Colon who were dope fiends. The whole boat was in a\nterrible uproar all the way, and he feared God would let them all go\ndown for such wickedness. He himself knew something of the power of God.\nHe took a Bible and tracts and asked for some of our books for the ship\u2019s\nlibrary. Shall we not give these men some good books to read at sea?\n\nThe gambler, whom I heard say we were always talking about the Lord, came\nto me and said, \u201cI want to get some papers and a Bible. I have always\nbeen a wicked man, but since I have been on this boat I have made up\nmy mind to give my heart to God and live different.\u201d He said he had a\nChristian mother who taught him to kneel at her knee and say his evening\nprayer, and he wanted to meet her in Heaven, for he knew she was there.\n\nOne of the professors from the Northwestern University was on board. He\nhad been traveling through all the Latin-American countries, gathering\ninformation for the new history he was writing. He came to talk with us,\nsaying he was interested in mission work. We gave him all the information\nwe could about the different parts of the country we had visited. He\nsaid, \u201cI know you people have something I haven\u2019t. What is it?\u201d He was a\nmember of the Presbyterian church, and had been since he was a very young\nchild. His father was a minister, so he had always been brought up in the\nchurch.\n\nAs we read the Bible to him and prayed with him, telling him of the great\noutpouring of the Spirit of God in these last days, and the soon coming\nof Jesus, he wept like a child, and said he was ready for all God had for\nhim. When he returned to Chicago he would go to a Pentecostal mission, as\nhe knew this was the truth of God. He was a very sweet spirited man, open\nto the Spirit of the Lord. He took with him many tracts on the Baptism of\nthe Spirit and the Second Coming of Jesus.\n\nA young man, on his way to school in the States, asked for a Bible,\nsaying he had never seen one, but had a great desire to read one. Since\nhearing us talk so much about it, he thought it must be a wonderful Book.\nHe took a Bible to school with him, also tracts and papers. He was a\nnative of Costa Rica.\n\nAs we were leaving the ship at New Orleans people came for more\nTestaments and tracts to carry away with them. One brother and sister,\nvery wealthy people, traveling for pleasure, took many of the little\nmessengers, the sister saying that when she reached her home in Oklahoma\nshe was going to prepare herself for missionary work. She was tired of\nthe life she had been living, and having seen the awful need of the\nCentral American people, she could never be happy again until she went to\nhelp them.\n\nIn New Orleans we gave out hundreds of tracts and found many hungry\nsouls. I visited some of the missions there, in search of Pentecostal\npeople, but they told us there were none there. Such a needy city! May\nthe God of Heaven stir our hearts until we are awakened and go forth\ninto every city of the Union with this message of the hour, and the\npeople are reached and the Holy Spirit is poured out upon the earth.\n\nOn board the train for St. Louis, we found many hungry hearts ready for\nthe truth, having never heard it before. In the Union Station, St. Louis,\nwe found others who were hungry. They took the tracts and went away\npleased to have them. Even in our own city we found people who were eager\nto hear the Word of God. Many were the precious souls reached by the\nBread upon the waters, which we freely cast forth.\n\nWe traveled from Granite City, Illinois, to Los Angeles, California,\ngiving out tracts and Testaments. From Los Angeles we sailed to Central\nAmerica and gave out the Word in every port we came to in Mexico, Central\nAmerica and Panama. From Panama to New Orleans and Granite City we\ndistributed the Word to thousands. We look back over our journey and see\na long white line of Bread that was cast upon the waters, reaching our\nhome in Granite City, where also God is working.\n\n \u201cOn the resurrection morning, when we rise to meet our Lord,\n When His glory and His victory we shall share,\n With un-numbered blood-washed millions we\u2019ll go shouting\n through the skies,\n And His bride ascends to meet Him in the air.\n\n \u201cWhen the roll is called up yonder,\n We\u2019ll be filled with joy and wonder,\n When we see the blood-washed number;\n Some from every tribe and nation will be there.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE NEEDS OF CENTRAL AMERICA\n\n\nThere is a land not far away. It lies on our own continent. It is a land\nof tropical beauty, where cocoanut palms wave their tall green branches\nin the breeze, and where flowers bloom the year around. The banana,\npineapple, orange, and many other tropical trees and plants yield their\nfruit in rich abundance. The chatter of innumerable parrots and the sweet\nsongs of many birds are heard from the great tall trees of the forests.\nScantily-clad brown-faced boys and girls run about. Seeing it, one is\nmade to say, \u201cWhat a beautiful country!\u201d\n\nBut, ah! As one advances inland, leaving the pretty harbor of Corinto, on\nthe Pacific coast, the signs of the enemy\u2019s work are on man and beast.\n\nThere is desolation everywhere. The poor people are too weak to withstand\nthe strong rival with whom they have had to battle so long. Homes are\nbroken up. Mothers with their little children are crying for help. Their\ncries are heard on every side. Powers of darkness sweep over the whole\ncountry.\n\nThe poor are driven like animals to the plantations to work for a few\ncents a day, not enough to sustain life. They are paid in advance for the\nseason\u2019s work. The wage is so small the family soon spend it all. Then\nthey are arrested and made to work for what they have already received.\nEven mothers are put into the coffee and banana fields to work in the\nhot sun. On the poor tired women go with their babies strapped to their\nbacks all day long, with nothing to eat but a tortilla (a corn cake baked\nwithout seasoning of any kind).\n\nIn the evening the poor tired people make their way to their little huts,\nwhich are made of a few sticks driven into the ground and covered with\nstraw or palm leaves. There they grind corn for tortillas, the children\ncarrying water in little buckets made of gourds that grow on trees, or in\na jar made of clay. Their homes are as dirty as pig-pens, for the animals\nlive in the house with the family.\n\nAs you travel through the country you find the very poor, who live in\nthe mountains, far away from the cities, often whole families, without\nclothes. If they wear anything at all, it will be a piece of cloth woven\nfrom grass pinned around their bodies with a thorn, for they never saw\na pin or button. Many boys and girls fourteen or fifteen years old have\nnever worn clothes.\n\nBoth in the cities and in the country women are beasts of burden, for\nthe women or the donkeys furnish the transportation, the men do not work\nmuch. The women work in the markets and little stores, and carry great\nloads of sugar, fruit, water, etc., on their heads in the hot sun. The\nstreets are full of children that never were in school. They grow up to\nbe lazy, fight with each other, and steal. When you have one around who\nis not saved you have to keep everything under lock and key.\n\nMore than two-thirds of the population are of illegitimate birth. Men and\nwomen live together and raise families, yet are never married. One of the\ndifficult things the missionary has to do is see that they marry and live\nclean lives.\n\nThe priests charge so much money to perform the ceremony that the poor\ncannot pay it, so they live on year after year in this way; but they have\nto pay so much to the priests every year to get them to forgive their\nsin of adultery, in that way the Church of Rome gets more from them than\nthey would to marry them. The priests prey upon the superstitions of the\npeople to extract money from them at all points. The natives\u2019 religion is\na mere form of outward exercises.\n\nFor over 400 years the whole of Mexico, Central and South America, as\nwell as the West Indies, have been under the heavy yoke of Romanism. The\nSpaniards came into the country and, driving the natives at the point\nof the sword, baptized them into the Roman Church, and took away their\nlanguage and liberty. They compelled them to carry timber and stone from\ninland and build temples for the Roman Church.\n\n[Illustration: I am just a brown-faced Indian girl, but I want to learn\nto read God\u2019s Word. Will you send missionaries to teach us? There are\nthousands just as I am.]\n\nIn Leon, which is the largest city of the Republic of Nicaragua, and\nwhere we have our work, there are between seventy and eighty thousand\npeople and forty-two temples. And when one sees those old temples almost\nready to tumble down, and covered with moss and grass centuries old,\none feels that Rome is certainly coming to the end of herself in these\ncountries. The people are rising up now and calling for schools, and for\nfreedom of the press, and are crying, \u201cAway with the Church! It has never\ndone anything for us.\u201d Many thousands are becoming free-thinkers.\n\nNicaragua is the only Republic of Central America that has Church and\nState united. A great fight is now on for their separation. There are\nover one million people in this Republic alone without the Gospel. Let\nus pray God to speed the day when these reforms shall be wrought and the\nGospel be given the people.\n\nNicaragua saw her first missionary sixteen years ago. It has been the\nlast of the Republics to receive the Gospel. The persecutions were so\nsevere that the missionaries had to leave in a few weeks. But, thank God!\nsome of the people accepted the glad news and have stood true through\nflood and flame. But there are very few missionaries there as yet, and\nthousands are without the knowledge of a Savior who died for them.\n\nAll these countries are being flooded with New Thought, Russellism,\nChristian Science, Theosophy, and Spiritualism. Many are coming into\nthese things now, for the people are fast turning from Romanism. They\nare like little hungry birds with wide-open mouths ready to accept any\npoisonous thing presented. Are we, the true followers of Jesus Christ,\ngoing to sleep on and fail to wake up to this great opportunity? Let us\ngo forth with the old-time Gospel of Pentecostal power, that will drive\nthe enemy from the land, and give these dear people the truth.\n\nAt one place where we were having meetings the people asked us why\nmissionaries had not come to them before. They said, \u201cWe saw the first\none sixteen years ago, but he was so persecuted he had to leave us in a\nfew weeks, and only a few heard the Gospel, and we have been in darkness\nfor so long. Oh, if some one had only told us before the way of life!\u201d\n\nMany children were brought to us to be placed in school, so that they\nmight learn to read and write, and study the Bible. But as yet we have\nbeen unable to open a school. My heart has been torn as I have seen\nthe little children growing up in such ignorance, and especially the\nyoung girls. This country, like all other countries without the Gospel,\nregards the women and girls as no more than animals, and they are the\nprey to every horrible crime that anyone wishes to inflict upon them.\nThe little girls are often sold into lives of shame by their parents for\na few dollars. We knew one mother who sold her four young daughters.\nOne of them found that she was to be sold so she ran away and hid in\nthe mountains, but they hunted until they found her, then they bound\nher and carried her away, dripping with blood where she had been beaten\nwith clubs and stoned with stones. The man that took her was, I am sorry\nto say, an American. \u201cIt is only the precious Blood of Jesus that\ncan change the human heart, that is deceitful above all things, and\ndesperately wicked.\u201d Jer. 17:9.\n\nMany foreigners have come here for money, and do not care much how they\nget it. Some have gold mines, others have plantations, many of them are\nAmericans. They are making every sacrifice for the gold that perisheth.\nShall not we, then, who have the treasure of Heaven, break the Bread of\nLife to these dear hungry souls ere they perish?\n\nThere came to us early one morning a bright-faced Indian girl about\nthirteen years old. Her parents were dead, her sisters were living lives\nof shame and they had driven the poor little one out from them. She had\nbeen sleeping in the markets and parks and was crying in the street. Some\none told her to come to us for we were missionaries and we would help\nher. She said she would be our servant and do anything, that she might\nhave a place where she could be sheltered from the wicked men. She is\nonly one of the many thousands that are here in this dark land crying for\nsome one to help them. Unless we take them in they will be destroyed by\nsin. Many are found dead, having been killed to hide the crime of some\nwicked person. It is in behalf of these suffering ones that this little\nmessage is sent on its way in the Name of Jesus.\n\nWe are having blessed meetings. Many are coming out to hear the good\nnews. Some have already received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. A native\nbrother that has been saved has gone out to another place to preach, and\nthe power of God is falling. Several have received the Holy Spirit, and\nothers have been blessed in soul and healed in body.\n\nSoon after coming into the country God gave me a vision of the blessed\nLatter Rain falling all over Central America. So I ask you, dear child\nof the Lord, to pray that the people in the homeland will be stirred up\nto come up to the help of the Lord against the mighty. Many missionaries\nhave gone to China, India, Africa, and the Islands of the Sea, but few\nhave come to this country. Let us awake and pray that the Lord will send\nforth laborers, and that the means will be provided for their support,\nand that this very needy land shall hear the blessed Gospel story. There\nare a few faithful soldiers of the cross laboring here, but the battle is\nhard and long.\n\nSome have fallen, and their comrades have laid them away on the green\nhillside to await their reward at the coming of the One who said: \u201cHe\nthat reapeth receiveth wages, and gathered fruit unto life eternal.\u201d\u2014John\n4:36.\n\nBut there is a great door open, and the enemy is flooding in with all\nsorts of implements of war. There is urgent need of more soldiers and\nsupplies. Just as Uncle Sam was able to send men and means for the great\nconflict in Europe, and so defeat the enemy, so our Captain, who never\nlost a battle, is able to send His soldiers, to defeat the enemy and\ndrive him from the ranks and to send great showers of blessing upon the\ndry and thirsty land.\n\n[Illustration: One Indian who found Jesus and loves his Bible]\n\nJust as some returned from the European battle-front to call for help\nfrom their countrymen, so we send out the cry to our brothers and sisters\nin Christ to let them know the great needs here, that they may join in a\npetition to the Throne of Grace for help.\n\n The fight is on, the battle sound is ringing out,\n The cry to arms is heard afar and near,\n The Lord of hosts is marching on to victory,\n The triumph of the right will soon appear.\n\n The fight is on O, Christian soldier,\n And face to face in stern array,\n With armor gleaming and colors streaming,\n The right and wrong engage today.\n\n\n\n\nTHE INDIANS OF NICARAGUA\n\n(Extract from Article by Brother Schoenich)\n\n\nFrom the time that Gil Gonzaloz de Avile reached the peaceful shores of\nthe Chontales\u2014Nicaragua\u2014penetrating to the borders of the great lakes,\nthe Indian has been made to suffer from the hands of the so-called\nenlightened races. When the above gentleman set his feet on Nicaraguan\nsoil, the land contained some 3,000,000 peaceful and industrious Indians.\nIn less than ten years 2,500,000 of them had perished in battle, were\nworked to death in the mines, or had starved in the mountain fastnesses.\n\nIn 1529 the Indians revolted, and after six terrible battles, the\nSpaniards succeeded in defeating them; the Indian chiefs were thrown to\nbloodhounds, who tore them to pieces. The masses were subjected to heavy\ntributes and severe tasks, and were driven like cattle by their cruel\nconquerors. Whoever resisted was ruthlessly tortured, towns that rebelled\nwere destroyed and the people put to the sword. The Indians were reduced\nto the most abject slavery, their property was taken, and they were\nbranded like cattle with hot irons. This cruel practice prevailed for\nyears, and the miserable remnant of Indians who were still permitted to\nlive, moistened their native soil with their bloody sweat, or dragged out\na painful existence in the mines or gold placers. Coffee, rubber, sugar\nand cocoa were not then sought as today.\n\nIn 1810, when the first movement toward freedom began to be realized,\nan impartial observer unhesitatingly estimated the entire aboriginal\npopulation of the country at about 90,000 souls. The real Indian is fast\ngoing out of existence. The Ladinos, a class of mixed Spanish and Indian,\nsoon may be all that is left of the Indian.\n\nA fear of the white man has been planted in the Indian by these things.\nThis makes it hard for the missionary. When one visits their villages,\nthe children and women run and hide, and sometimes the men too. Only\nwhen one is well acquainted will they show friendliness. To reach them,\na missionary must live among them, show them love and kindness and prove\nby word and deed that they are their friends, and desire to bring them to\nthe true light of our Savior Jesus Christ.\n\nThese poor Indians are much oppressed. A planter will make a contract\nwith a man for himself and oftentimes his woman or wife (they are seldom\nmarried) and all his children, to pick coffee, etc., giving him money\non the contract for his living. When the planter is ready this man and\nhis family must appear and work, gathering the crop, receiving twelve to\ntwenty cents per day. If he does not appear, soldiers are sent after him,\nand he is brought at the point of the bayonet with his hands tied behind\nhim and made to work until his debt is paid. The contract may be made\nas far as twelve months ahead, and likely the man has used up all that\nhis contract calls for. He then seeks work elsewhere, or even contracts\nhimself to another planter.\n\nI know a man who has been trying for four or five years to get free from\nhis \u201cpatron,\u201d as the planter is called. Because he is a good worker the\nplanter will not release him unless he pays four or five times more than\nhe owes. The man is interested in the Gospel. We are praying God to\nliberate him and make him a true servant for our Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nMay God help the Church of Christ to awake to see the awful condition of\nthese people, who are also compelled to pay their church dues by law and\nby force. I know a woman who was back in her church dues. They took all\nthat she had, which was a few chickens.\n\nFriend, will you not take these dear people on your heart in prayer and\nintercession? God can and does save poor Indians. We have seen His work\nin the lives of some. Brother, Sister, awake! Our Lord is at hand, and\nwhat is done must be done quickly. \u201cWhatsoever He saith unto you, do it.\u201d\n\nThere is also a remnant of Indians in remote parts of the Republic known\nas the Suma and Mosquito tribes. These Indians have not come under the\ninfluence of the Church of Rome. They do not speak the Spanish language.\nThere is more English than Spanish spoken among them. For more than half\na century the Moravian missionaries have worked among them. They have\nseveral missions and churches scattered along the Atlantic coast, and up\nsome of the large rivers. The Moravian Mission has translated the New\nTestament into the Mosquito language.\n\n\n\n\n\u201cWHERE IS THE WHITE MAN\u2019S BOOK OF HEAVEN?\u201d\n\n\nIn 1831, four Indian chiefs from Idaho made their way over the Rockies\nand were found on the streets of St. Louis, asking, \u201cWhere is the white\nman\u2019s Book of Heaven?\u201d\n\nGeneral Clark befriended them, took them around the city, where they\nwere shown everything of interest, and they were treated with the utmost\nkindness. Finally two of the chiefs fell ill and died, and when the\nremaining Indians were preparing to return to their own tribes, the\ngeneral gave a feast for them. At the banquet, in a farewell address to\nGeneral Clark and friends, one of the two Indians poured forth his burden\nof sorrow in words of pathetic eloquence, as follows:\n\n\u201cI came to you over the trail of many moons from the setting sun. I came\nwith an eye partly open for my people, who sit in great darkness, but\nI go back with both eyes closed. How can I go back blind to my blind\npeople? I made my way to you with strong arms, through many enemies,\nand through strange lands, that I might carry back to my people much\nknowledge, for my people sent me to get the white man\u2019s Book of Heaven.\n\n[Illustration: An Indian woman whose attention was attracted and picture\ntaken without her knowledge. Indians are very superstitious and are\nafraid to have their pictures taken.]\n\n\u201cYou took me to see many strange things, and to places where you allow\nyour women to dance, as we do not ours, but the Book was not there, and\nnow we are going back the long trail to our people in the dark land.\nYou make my feet heavy with many gifts, and my moccasins will grow old\ncarrying them, but the Book is not among them. What shall I do? Shall my\npeople die in darkness? When I go to them, without the white man\u2019s Book\nof Heaven, and tell them I could not get it, they will rise up, one by\none, and go out, to return no more, for it is for that Book that they\nhave been awaiting my return. How can I return to my people without the\nBook?\u201d\n\nIt is said that the city was searched for a Bible in this man\u2019s language,\nbut there was none to be found, and the Indians went their way. This\nincident was told in a Methodist Episcopal conference, and an appeal was\nmade for some to carry the Gospel to the Indians. Two young men just\nstarting in the ministry were present, and they arose and said they would\ngo. They married two lovely young women, and loaded an ox-wagon with\ntheir belongings and with Bibles translated into the language of the\nIndians to whom they were going. Many weeks of strenuous travel passed\nbefore they reached their destination with the white man\u2019s Book of Heaven.\n\nThe first two white women to cross the Rockies were these two young\nbrides, with their husbands. They spent their lives preaching the Gospel\nto the Indians, hundreds of whom were brought to Jesus through this\nfaithful ministry.\n\nShall we not learn a great lesson from this story? Shall we not, with all\nour modern conveniences and greater opportunities, rise up and get the\nmessage to the great masses of humanity before Jesus comes?\n\nOne time, while preaching to a large crowd of natives in Central America,\nI told them of the great love of God, and how He had saved us, and put\nHis great love in our hearts which was why we were there to preach to\nthem and tell them of that love. When I finished, an old man arose. He\nsaid he was eighty-four years old, and this was the first time he had\nheard the Gospel. Then he asked, \u201cHow long have you people of the United\nStates known of this wonderful love of God?\u201d I answered that we had\nalways known of Jesus, that thousands knew of Him, and were serving Him,\nand that I had been saved about fifteen years. The old man then asked\nwhy, if we had known of this great Savior so long, we had not come sooner\nto tell his people about Him, for all his relatives had died, and had\nnever heard the Gospel. He continued, \u201cIf I had known this Gospel and the\nwonderful love and power of God to save us from all sin, and if you had\nknown nothing of it, I would have come to you.\u201d\n\nWhen I began to make preparations to leave their village they held on to\nmy dress and to my arms, begging me not to leave them, with no one to\nteach them about the Bible, and they would not let me go. Finally I had\nto pull myself from them and go for my train. As far down the track as I\ncould see, those dear ones were waving and calling me to return to them.\nEven now I can see those beckoning hands and hear those voices calling,\nalthough I am now far away in my homeland.\n\nWhat? Shall they perish without knowing of God\u2019s great love and of His\npower and willingness to bless them and lift them up from the awful\ndarkness of sin and idolatry which they are in? I wish my readers might\nget a peep into the land where the true God is unknown, and where there\nare no Bibles to guide the people into the right path, I am sure they\nwould give, and so help others, who have been called, to go.\n\n\nDo You Know What I Would Do?\n\n If you had been born in a distant land,\n Far over the deep wide sea;\n If you had been born on a foreign strand,\n And I, in America free?\n If you were I, and I were you,\n Do you know what I would do?\n\n If you had been born with a swarthy skin,\n And people looked on you with scorn:\n While I know nothing is black but sin,\n And the soul may be white as the lily at morn;\n If I had a chance to uplift you,\n Do you know what I would do?\n\n If you were an orphan, and homeless too,\n And never had heard of the Lord;\n While I had been taught from earliest days\n To love and obey His Word;\n If you were poor, and ignorant too,\n Do you know what I would do?\n\n I would save my pennies and nickels and dimes,\n And send them over the sea;\n That you might be fed and clothed and taught,\n To worship the God who is dear to me;\n If you were I, and I were you,\n That is just what I would do.\n\n I would tell all the boys and girls around\n Just what I was working for, too;\n And I\u2019d never give up till I got them to help\n To send you the Gospel true;\n If you were I, and I were you,\n That is just what I would do.","title":"On Mule Back Thru Central America with the Gospel","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":33097}