{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_7038/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_7038","id":"gutenberg_7038","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7038","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Evangelists -- Biography"],"text":"PERSONAL EXPERIENCES\n\nof\n\nS. O. SUSAG\n\nBy S. O. SUSAG\n\nMinneapolis, Minnesota [Illustration: (S. O. Susag, his wife and children,\ntaken about 1898)]\n\n\n\nFOREWORD\n\nThis book of a few of my experiences is written to show how the pioneer\nministers worked, and how the Lord worked with them through his Holy\nSpirit. One outstanding fact in those days, when even though their training\nwas limited, was their burning passion for souls shown in labors, fasting\nand prayer, and a heaven-born conviction and zeal for the truth. The Holy\nSpirit had revealed to them an unshaken faith in the Word of God; a faith\nthat would not waver in the most trying and, to man, surprisingly\nunreasonable cases. My prayers are that this book will bring faith and\nencouragement to many a soul who is seeking God for help when all other\nhelp has failed.\n\nI should not have waited so long before doing this writing, for because of\nthat waiting the incidents are not written in the order which they should\nhave been, and so many have been forgotten. Since many have indicated an\ninterest in my experiences, may this book as it goes forth in Jesus' name\nbring honor and glory to God.\n\n--The Author Year 1948\n\n\n\nPUBLISHER'S PREFACE\n\nEver since this book was first published for the author, S. O. Susag, by\nthe Standard Printing Company, Guthrie, Oklahoma, in the year of 1948, it\nhas been in steady demand. These many testimonies of outstanding answers to\nprayer have been an inspiration of faith to many people, and they will\ncontinue to be an encouragement to every earnest and honest seeker for an\nincrease of faith in God's precious promises. \"Jesus Christ the same\nyesterday, and to day, and for ever.\" Hebrews 13:8.\n\nIn contemplation of printing this fourth edition, the undersigned publisher\ncontacted S. O. Susag's daughter, Mrs. Art Rustand (Goldie Susag), and\nrequested further information about her late father. In February, 1976, she\nrelayed the following notes of interest to the reader:\n\n\"My father was born in Steinkjer, Norway, on March 28, 1862. He came from\nNorway to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was in the store business for a\nwhile. In 1892, they moved to Paynesville, Minnesota, where they engaged in\nfarming. After they moved to the farm he was converted, and in the year of\n1895 he received his call from God to the ministry of the Word. He traveled\nas a missionary to the Scandinavian countries for many years. He also\nserved as pastor in Grand Forks, N. D., and as an evangelist for years. In\nfact, at the time of his death, which was in Culbertson, Montana, when he\nwas 90 years of age, he was traveling around holding services. His death\nwas attributed to his age. He was up and around until three days prior to\nhis passing. At the time of his death he made his home with his second wife\nin Medicine Lake, Montana. He died on July 8, 1952, and was buried beside\nhis first wife (my mother) at the Church of God Cemetery near Wendell,\nMinnesota.\"\n\n--Lawrence D. Pruitt Guthrie, Oklahoma, March 8, 1976\n\n\"And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them\nin paths that they have not known; I will make darkness light before them,\nand crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them and not\nforsake them.\" (Isa. 42:16). This Scripture seems to fit into my life's\nexperiences.\n\nI was born in Norway. My parents were Lutherans. When I was two years of\nage an incident occurred which I have never forgotten. It was this: My\nGrandmother on my mother's side--a very godly woman--used to visit us at\nleast once a month.\n\nOn the occasion to which I refer, as she was about to leave us, Grandmother\nsaid to my mother, \"Ellen, I would like to speak to you 'under four eyes'\n(that is to say, privately). Does the child understand anything that is\nsaid?\" Her reply was, \"No, he doesn't understand.\" Then Grandmother\nproceeded to say, \"I have been wondering what would be the best way to pass\nout of this world without being a trouble to anyone, and the Lord has shown\nme that someday I shall lie down as usual to go to sleep and wake up in\nglory and this may be the last time that I shall see you; so now, my\ndaughter, I feel constrained to urge you to seek the Lord.\" Again she said,\n\"I am sure the Lord has shown me that I shall go that way.\" Four years\nlater she went to glory just that way.\n\nMy parents had not given their hearts to God, yet they taught us to live\nright. The only religious services we ever attended were those held once a\nmonth in a country chapel. Other Sundays we would sing together in our home\nand father would read a sermon to us out of a book.\n\nWe would then repeat the Lord's prayer and sing another song.\n\nOne afternoon, when I was two and a half years old, a number of we children\nwere invited to a neighbor's for lunch and play. As we passed the pantry\nwindow on our way in, we saw a number of dishes filled with nice red\nberries. One youngster suggested that we help ourselves to the berries, and\nthis we did. After a few mouthfuls I began to scream and ran home. Mother,\nhearing my screams, rushed out to meet me and, picking me up in her arms,\nasked me where I was hurt. I couldn't tell her but kept screaming. Finally\nmother began to chide and shaking me, said, \"Tell me where you are hurt.\"\nStill I could not speak, then mother fell upon her knees and cried, \"Lord,\nmy child is dying in my arms and I cannot find what is the matter with\nhim.\" I was then able to speak and tell her the cause of my trouble.\nPutting my hand over my heart I said that I was having pain there and not\nin my stomach. Mother questioned me as to whether the lady had given us the\nberries, and I told her, \"No,\" that we had helped ourselves to them. She\nsaid, \"I will tell you how to get rid of your pain: Go and tell the lady\nwhat you have done and giving her your hand ask her to forgive you, and I\nam sure the pain will leave you.\" Mother went with me and when I confessed\nto the lady she took me up in her arms and wept with me. After confessing\nthe pain all disappeared.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhen I was about eleven years of age it seemed that a voice was continually\nspeaking to me and saying, \"You ought to be a better boy; I want you for a\npreacher.\" I did not understand at the time that it was the Holy Ghost\nspeaking to me. Mother often wept over me and said, \"Child, O child, what\nshall I do with you! You make me more trouble than all the other eight\nchildren put together.\"\n\nAt the age of fifteen I was confirmed and at the following preaching\nservice I was supposed to participate in taking the Lord's supper (as was\nthe custom of the church). Before that service I went out into the woods to\npray. I asked the Lord to forgive me for partaking of the Lord's supper,\nfor to refrain from taking it would bring disgrace upon my family.\n\nFrom that time on, the Lord continued to talk to me, saying, \"You ought to\nbe a better young man.\" It seemed as though I could not be better at home\nin Norway so I determined to sail for America.\n\nI had been in America about a year and a half when I met a distant relative\nwho was thought to be lost in this country, because his family had not\nheard from him for two or three years. He invited me to go into a saloon\nwith him and have a glass of beer. We went in, and also played several\ngames of pool.\n\nIn the meantime I took off my coat and hung it on the back of a chair. In\nthe inside pocket of my coat I had my billfold containing about one hundred\ndollars, all the money I had, and also my valuable papers. When I went to\nreach for my money my billfold was gone. The saloon keeper seemed to know\nwhat had taken place and handed me five dollars. I had no work as there was\nnone to be found. It was the custom in those days for the saloons to give a\nfree lunch with a glass of beer. I went at noon every day and bought a\nglass of beer so I could have the free lunch that went with it. I lived\nthat way for about two months.\n\nDuring the late winter I got a job at night work, which consisted of\npushing loads of stone in a wheelbarrow for the building of the Stone Arch\nBridge over the St. Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River for the Great\nNorthern Railway Company. The planks upon which we had to walk became very\nslippery and on one trip the man ahead of me slipped back in the wheel of\nmy wheelbarrow upon which I had a large stone. The force of his fall threw\nboth stone and wheelbarrow into the river. The man behind me, seeing what\nwas happening, flung himself face down over his wheelbarrow, and in the\ndark, grabbed me as I was going over the plank into the river. He caught me\nby one of my arms and held me until help came and I was pulled out. I was\nhanging from his hands about fifty to seventy-five feet above the river.\n\nAfter that experience I could not make myself walk those planks anymore, so\nI was again out of work and so terribly discouraged. A few nights later I\nwalked onto the Tenth Avenue bridge intending to jump off into the river to\nend it all. As I took hold of the railing someone from behind me called out\nand said, \"When you jump, your troubles will begin.\" I looked, to see the\nman who had spoken but there was no one on the bridge. The way he spoke had\nsent a chill through me. It was after eleven o'clock at night and I seemed\nto realize that it was the Lord who had spoken to me.\n\nAfter sometime in America I found that I was still the the same young man\nas before in Norway. It seemed that I was unable to do better. Thinking to\nimprove matters, I decided to go to school and study for the ministry.\nAfter two semesters in the college certain things happened which turned me\ninto an infidel. I quit school, went into business and got married. Soon\nafter I contracted tuberculosis of the lungs, and the doctor said there was\nno help for me, as both my lungs were like soup. During the depression of\n1892 I lost all I had. In my sinful condition I called on God and He healed\nme.\n\nWe then moved to the farm and one afternoon a young man came to our home\nand asked me to attend a service with him that evening. In answer to my\nquery as to what kind of service it was to be, he informed me that two\nwomen evangelists were conducting the meeting. I replied that I was not in\nfavor of women preachers but I would go with him as I was not afraid the\nwomen would hurt me. As a matter of fact, it was through these women that I\nwas partly awakened spiritually, but did not yet give up my infidelity.\n\nOne evening I was very tired and sleepy and went to bed at precisely nine\no'clock. I went to sleep at once and had a dream. I dreamed that I had\nbecome a minister of the gospel and that I was traveling all over the\nUnited States and Canada, as well as in a number of European countries.\nHundreds of souls were turning to the Lord in the meetings and many\nhealings and miracles were performed. It would take a long life to\naccomplish all that I saw done in my dream. I awakened and felt so\nrefreshed and rested, that I thought it was morning and put on the light\nbut found I had been in bed JUST TEN MINUTES! I did not sleep anymore that\nnight but spent the time in meditating on my dream which convinced me that\nthere must be within the human body a positive something that would\ncontinue to live forever and my infidelity vanished.\n\nA few months later (March 12, 1895), the Lord spoke peace to my wife and me\nat the same time in our own home, and called us into the ministry. He\nbrought us out of darkness through three visions and showed us the evil of\nall sectarian division. All this was giving us light on the beautiful\nChurch of God without our having heard any preaching on the subject, nor\ndid we know anyone who believed as we did.\n\nWe commenced preaching at once and our first convert was a lady who was\nsaved in our home. (Sister Hendricks, now Myhre, who is a minister). Our\nfirst case of healing was when the Lord healed me of blood poisoning in my\nleft arm, caused from the scratch of a rusty nail. I caught cold in it and\nit swelled so fast that when I got into the house I could not get my\nclothes off and they had to be cut off with scissors. My wife and a young\nbrother prayed for me, but I did not get immediate relief. My entire arm\nturned blue and yellow and soon my sides began to turn the same way. I had\nread in the Bible that the sick were to be anointed with oil. The young\nbrother anointed me accordingly, and the swelling began to go down\nimmediately, insomuch that the next morning there was no symptom of any\nthing wrong whatever.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe next experience of healing was of the restoring of my hearing to my\nright ear. My wife had gone to services and I stayed home to take care of\nthe children. I had laid down beside them to get them to sleep and had\ndropped off to sleep myself, and dreamed that I saw Jesus standing beside\nthe bed. He said to me, \"Do you know John Pederson?\" \"Yes,\" I replied, \"he\nis my neighbor.\" And Jesus said, \"Isn't he a blacksmith and does he not\nmake sleighs? And,\" he continued, \"if he were to make one for you and you\nwere to break it, wouldn't he fix it for you?\" \"Why, certainly,\" I replied.\n\"Well,\" Jesus continued, \"I made your ear in the first place and don't you\nthink I can fix it?\" \"Yes,\" I said. Then He stepped up to me and touched my\near with two fingers and I jumped out of bed and MY HEARING WAS PERFECT! I\nshouted glory to God.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe youngest of our twin boys, who was nearly five years of age, was taken\nwith double pneumonia and suddenly passed away. My mother-in-law prepared\nhim for burial. As I was preparing to drive to town to get a permit from\nthe doctor to bury the little one, the Lord said to me as I was on my way\nto the barn to get the team, \"Why do you not go back and pray again?\" I\nimmediately turned around and went to the little corpse and laying my hands\non him prayed and wept, and after a little while he came to life. He was\nnot only alive, but also perfectly well. When I knelt down to pray my\nfamily did not dare to speak to me; they thought I had lost my mind.\n\nAbout three years later our baby daughter, some ten months old, was sick\nand I was planning to leave home on Friday expecting to be gone over\nSunday. The little one grew steadily worse and at eleven o'clock on Sunday\nnight she passed away. There was great consternation in the family. The\noldest boy fainted when his grandmother laid her out. After everything had\nquieted down and all had retired, except my wife who remained up, she went\nto the little body, held it in her arms as she knelt beside the bed until\nshe was tired, then, laying the baby on the bed and laying her hands on it,\nprayed until life came back into it. When I returned Monday the child was\nas well as ever. In both cases grandmother prepared them for burial.\n\nA little while after this experience the twins were out in the barn feeding\nthe horses. Somehow in their actions one boy accidently stuck the tine of\nthe pitchfork right into the eyeball of the other boy. Wife hearing their\nscreams, ran out and brought them into the house. She washed the blood from\nthe injured eye and laid the boy on the bed; then she and the twin brother\nlaid their hands on him and prayed the prayer of faith. He went to sleep\nand slept untill morning, and all that remained on the eyeball was a small\nwhite spot in the center which disappeared after a day or two, and his\nsight was not in the least impaired.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA similar case happened at Bruce, South Dakota, while I was pastor at\nBrookings and White. The little three year old daughter of Brother and\nSister Hi Tellinghuisen was playing in the yard with an old rusty sewing\nmachine oil can. She fell on it, the spout striking right into the center\nof one eyeball. She was taken at once to a physician who ordered her to be\ntaken without delay to a specialist to have the eyeball removed. The\nparents then called me over the telephone to come at once. When I arrived\nand saw the eye, it looked to me like a dried up prune stone. I anointed\nthe child, but could find no words to utter in prayer. I could only groan,\nbut the Lord witnessed to the healing. (I think this took place on Saturday\nat 11 o'clock a.m. and the next day, Sunday, she was brought to the\nservices perfectly well.) (At this writing she is teaching school).\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOn March the 20th, 1904, wife was taken with quick consumption. Her fever\nwas so high that she was delirious. As long as I remained beside her\npraying, she would be rational but as soon as I ceased praying her mind\nwould wander. Over a week later, on Saturday, Brothers O. T. Ring and Carl\nForsberg came to visit us. We then had agreement in prayer for the healing\nof my wife, and from that time on her mind was clear, yet she continued to\ngo down. A number prayed for her but she grew weaker and weaker, until in\nthe month of August. When the neighbors would come in to visit her, they\nwould say to me on leaving, outside of the house, \"We are sorry to say it,\nbut we do not expect to see your wife alive again.\"\n\nOne day she said to me, \"We have done everything we know to do except to\nsend to Brother E. E. Byrum for an anointed handkerchief.\" I asked, \"Do you\nwant me to send for one?\" to which she assented, and I sent for one. We\nreceived it by mail August the 23rd at 1 o'clock. I placed the handkerchief\nupon her and kneeling beside her laid my hands on her and prayed. She was\nso weak that it seemd as if she would pass away before I could remove my\nhands, so I soon said \"Amen.\" She remarked, \"This does not look very\nencouraging, does it?\" I answered, \"No, it does not.\" Then she drew one of\nher hands from under the covers and said, \"Do you believe that any flesh is\never coming to these hands?\" \"Dear,\" I answered, \"I do not know.\" Then she\nsaid, \"I believe that it will happen.\" I asked, \"Why do you believe it?\"\nShe told me that a scripture had come to her while I was praying. She said\nthat it was the one about Naaman: \"His flesh came again like the flesh of a\nlittle child and he was clean.\" 2 Kings 5:14.\n\nTwo hours later she was perfectly well, but weak, of course.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOn one occasion I received an urgent call to come to Norway Lake to pray\nfor Mrs. John Evenson who was ill with tuberculosis. While on my way there\nI battled with devils, it seemed as though my buggy was full of devils,\nwhispering to me and saying, \"You are going to be arrested and put in\njail.\" However, after driving sixteen miles, the Lord assured me that He\nwas going to raise Sister Everson up, even if she were dead when I got\nthere.\n\nAs I drove into the driveway I saw a number of men by the barn. It was the\nConstable and others. Jumping out of the buggy, I proceeded to unhook my\nteam when Mr. Everson appeared, and said, \"The hired man will take the\nteam; come along with me.\" We went into the house and into the room where\nthe sick woman was. Mr. Everson sat down in a chair beside the bed, taking\nhis watch out, he then took his wife's hand in his to count the pulse. She\nwas unconscious. I spoke to her two or three times but she did not hear me.\nI knelt down and asked the Lord to restore her to consciousness. Then I\narose and spoke to her again. After a bit she opened her eyes and I said,\n\"Brother Susag is here. What do you want him to do for you?\" She replied,\n\"I want you to anoint me and pray for me.\" I immediately proceeded to do as\nshe requested, following which she sat up in bed and asked for something to\neat.\n\nThe constable, with others, was waiting outside the house to arrest me if\nthe woman had died. Mr. Everson went out to them and they asked him how\nthings were going. He told them that before I prayed for her, her pulse was\n124, and when I took my hands off, her pulse was 82--which is normal!\n\nThirteen years later she was taken sick again. Mr. Everson, not being\nsaved, called for the doctor they had previously employed. The doctor\nrefused to come, saying that Mrs. Everson \"had lived for thirteen years on\nsomething more than human. I can do nothing for her. If she has faith, she\ncan live another thirteen years.\" Then they telephoned me. I drove two\nmiles in my automobile and was taken seriously ill and had to return home\nand go to bed. I was very sick for two days. Mrs. Everson died in the\nmeantime, and I was well.\n\nOn one occasion Brother C.H. Tubbs and myself held a meeting at Bowbells,\nN. Dakota and a number of people were saved. We were to have a baptismal\nservice. It was the month of February and we would have to go three miles\nto the nearest lake in which to baptize the candidates. There was no place\nthere for the changing of clothes and it was slow traveling as we rode in a\nlumber wagon. Sister Stolsy, who wanted to be baptized, had been in poor\nhealth for five years and had a baby five weeks old. The Constable, on\nhearing of it, came to us and said, \"If you put that woman through that\nhole in the ice, I'll be there with a warrant for your arrest.\" So Bro.\nTubbs said, \"We better go see Sister Stolsy,\" which we did. He said,\n\"Sister, it does not look reasonable for you in your condition to be\nbaptized.\" She wept and said, \"I have wanted to be baptized for some time\nand now that I have the opportunity I am denied the privilege.\" Then I said\nto her, \"Sister Stolsy, save your tears for something else. I will baptize\nyou if I have to spend the remainder of my life behind the bars,\" and she\nwas baptized. The constable witnessed the baptizing and saw that when she\ncame out of the water she looked the very picture of health. Three days\nlater the constable and his wife were baptized in the self-same place.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nI have baptized hundreds of people from Canada to San Antonio, Texas; from\nthe Atlantic coast to the Pacific, in every month of the year, in the lakes\nof Norway, Sweden and Denmark as well as in the North Sea, in all kinds of\nweather--once in the Red River at Grand Forks, N. Dakota, in a snow storm\nin zero weather, and I have never yet heard of one person having taken cold\nfrom being baptized, but on the other hand, MANY HAVE BEEN HEALED!\n\nIt pays to obey the commandments of the Lord. While I was pastor in Grand\nForks, N. D., from December, 1919 to November, 1925, I baptized over two\nhundred persons.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOnce in company with Thomas Nelson, C.H. Tubbs and my wife, we held a tent\nmeeting in the country northwest of Colfax, Wisconsin. Several people were\nsaved and some were healed. This stirred up great opposition so that on a\ncouple of nights an angry mob was on the spot throwing stones, sticks and\nlumber and bottles on the tent, demanding that we come out and they would\ncut me to pieces. One night a minister of that community was in the tent,\nand as he saw the stones come rolling through the tent, he became badly\nfrightened and said to me, \"This is worse than in a heathen land.\" \"Yes,\" I\nreplied, \"but are they not your people?\" He said, \"Yes,\" and then getting\ndown on his hands and knees crawled out the back way from under the tent\nand escaped to the woods.\n\nThe reason for this unseemly tumult was because I had preached that baptism\nwas by immersion and other truths. The situation was that two grown young\npeople, the son and daughter of a minister in the community, were among\nthose who were to be baptized. But the fact that there was no water nearby\nin which they could be immersed seemed to give the opposing element great\nsatisfaction. However, we continued to advertise that there would be\nbaptismal services on the coming Saturday afternoon. Friday night it rained\nheavily and near the tent there was a low place covered with green grass\nwhere the water settled and the water was deep enough in which to baptize\nthe new converts.\n\nThis goes to prove that the Lord's resources are limitless. The next Sunday\nnight, being the last night of the meeting, after all had left the tent\nexcept Bro. Tubbs and myself, and as I was not making any move towards\nleaving the tent Brother Tubbs asked me whether I was not going home. I\nanswered, \"No, those people who threatened to cut me to pieces are coming\nback to pull the tent down and I want to be here when they come, but you go\non home; I want to be here alone.\" But he said, \"No, I will not leave you.\"\n\nIt was about a hundred rods or more to the house where we were staying and\nthere was no other house near by. We put out the lights and sat waiting. A\nnumber of times Bro. Tubbs urged that we go home, declaring that no one\nwould come, but at almost midnight a plank was thrown on the tent and out\nran Brother Tubbs for home; and then just as I was coming out of the tent a\nbig plank was thrown on me, striking my right shoulder and also hit my\nhead. It might have been quite serious but that I was wearing a stiff derby\nhat at the time. As it was, I was almost knocked out.\n\nI said to them--there were between fifty and seventy of them, \"Just a\nminute men, I am alone here; please do not destroy the tent; it has no\nfeelings. Take me and cut me in pieces as you said you wanted to do. If I\nhave done anything wrong I am willing to suffer for it.\" This I said as I\nwalked slowly toward them, \"But if it is because I have preached the Word\nof God to you folks and you do not receive it, you will meet it at the\njudgment bar of God,\" and I continued to walk toward them. They said, \"Do\nnot come so near.\" \"Are you afraid of me?\" I asked as I continued preaching\nto them. Then they commenced backing up. Finally, it seemed I had no more\nto say. One man said, \"Give us more of that.\" At this point Brother Tubbs\nappeared with eight of the brethren, whereupon the crowd turned and ran for\ntheir rigs and vanished into the darkness.\n\nAbout eighteen months later I held another meeting in this same community\nand the attendance was very good. A number of the same people who had\nclaimed that they wanted to cut me to pieces were also there. Eight souls\nhad gotten saved and the attendance was increasing. All of a sudden, as I\nwas closing the service, the Spirit of the Lord said to me, \"This is your\nlast service here. You will leave in the morning on the 4 o'clock train for\nGrand Meadows, Minn.\" Saint and sinner alike, said, \"You can't close now;\nlook at the manifest interest and the growing attendance!\" \"But,\" I said,\n\"the Lord tells me to close.\" They insisted that it could not be that they\nall were wrong and I the only one that was right. So I consented to stay,\nbut had I but left on that morning train I would have escaped the terrible\nstorm that swept over that part of the country. As it was, I could neither\nget away nor continue the meeting. On the farm where I was staying they had\nto have a rope extended between the house and the barn for two days in\norder to find the way from one building to the other.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nI had held a number of revivals for Brother Millar of Racine, Wisconsin.\nOne time, in this connection, I had a dream that I saw a pasture with green\ngrass and beautiful sparkling water running through it and as nice a flock\nof sheep as I ever saw were feeding in it. But in this beautiful pasture\nthat should have been utilized for good pasture. I felt impressed to tell\nBro. Millar of my experience so wrote him of what I had seen in my dream.\nIn his prompt reply he said, \"You had better come with your 'stump-pulling\nmachine' and pull them out.\"\n\nSome time later, on a very hot Sunday at noon I arrived in Racine, all\ntired and worked out. I asked Bro. Millar whether there was to be an\nafternoon service. I understood him to say, \"No, there would not be.\" I\nsaid to him, \"I want no lunch so please take me to my room.\" And this he\ndid. I undressed immediately and was soon fast asleep, but before long I\nfelt my bed being shaken and heard someone speaking to me but it seemed I\njust could not wake up. The shaking increased and I heard a voice saying,\n\"Brother Susag, Brother Susag.\" I looked up and there was Brother Millar!\nHe said, \"Why, Brother Susag, have you undressed? The chapel is full of\npeople who are waiting for you to come and preach.\" I told him I had\nunderstood him to say that there would be no afternoon service, that he\nshould go back and that I would follow as quickly as possible.\n\nI had no message. I opened my Bible and from Genesis to Revelation the\nScriptures did not seem to mean anything to me. I prayed and still no\nmessage. Then coming down stairs I met Sister Anna Hanson who was just\nstarting for the service. I said to her, \"Please give me a text to preach\non.\" She said, \"O you will have a text.\" I told her I was in earnest, that\nI could not think of a single text in the whole Bible that meant anything\nto me, that I was too worn out to think. Sister Hanson then said, \"I have\noften wished I might hear you preach on the first text I ever heard you\npreach on and that was in Chicago. The text was, 'The Lord weigheth the\nspirits.'\" Then the Lord opened my understanding and I had a text. At the\nclose of the service Sister Hanson walked ahead of me to the parsonage and\ninto the kitchen where Sister Millar was. She asked, \"How was the service?\"\nSister Hanson answered, \"The right message for the right people at the\nright time.\" Sister Millar said, \"Well, praise the Lord!\" and when Bro.\nMillar came in he said, \"Praise the Lord,\" and jumped and shouted and said\nthat every stump had been pulled--twenty-two of them!\n\nWhile this meeting was in progress Brother Tiffany Flint from Milwaukee\ncame down and asked me to come and hold a two weeks' meeting for him, but I\nhad no open dates. In those days I was, at times, booked ahead as many as\nforty-two meetings, so I had to refuse him. But he urged, \"Won't you come\njust a few days?\" So I promised to go for three nights. When I arrived he\nsaid, \"I have something to tell you: I have three persons here needing\nspiritual help.\" I replied, \"Tell me nothing, on the train the Lord gave me\nthree texts, one for each night, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, which I\nam going to preach on.\" It happened that each text fitted each one of the\nthree mentioned persons and each one came to service on the very night his\nparticular text was preached on, and received his special benefit.\n\nI am relating all these incidents because I have always believed in the\nleadership of the Holy Spirit; and now, after these fifty years of work in\nthe ministry I am more firmly grounded in that belief than ever.\n\nSome time later I held another meeting for Brother Millar. One afternoon,\nas I sat studying, the Lord said to me, \"Here is your text; you go down to\nstreet so and so, such and such a number and preach at 2:30 this\nafternoon.\" After lunch I said to Brother Millar, \"Let us take a walk.\" On\ncoming out I said, \"Is there a street in the city of such a name,\" stating\nthe name the Lord had given me? He said, \"I think so; what of it?\" I told\nhim that the Lord had given me a text to go down there and preach at 2:30.\nBro. Millar then said, \"We will take a street car and go down there and\nsee, but I will tell you that if there is a chapel at that number you will\nnot get an opporunity to preach there.\" We boarded the street car and the\nmotor-man directed us to the street, and as we approached the given number\nwe found a chapel and a meeting in progress. We went in and sat in the back\nseat. The singing had just stopped and the evangelist took his Bible and\nwent to the pulpit. Bro. Millar smiled and hung his head, looking at me out\nof the corner of his eye, as much as to say, \"I thought so.\" But I was\npretty sober. I took my watch out of my pocket and held it in my hand and\nafter the evangelist had given out his text and had spoken just seven\nminutes, he closed his Bible and said, \"This is queer; I cannot speak this\nafternoon,\" and turning to the pastor, asked him whether he had the\nmessage. The pastor replied, \"Why no, I haven't even my Bible with me.\"\nThen, looking over the audience, the evangelist said, \"There must be\nsomeone here who has the message.\" Pointing to me, he said, \"Haven't you\ngot the message?\" I answered, \"Yes.\" \"Then come on up here,\" he rejoined,\n\"and take the pulpit.\"\n\nOn taking the pulpit I promptly explained just how it was we happened to be\nthere at that particular time and proceeded to preach the sermon the Lord\nhad given me to preach. I announced our services and everybody seemed to be\nwell pleased with the sermon. I was not acquainted with any person in the\naudience, nor did any one know me as far as I knew. A little later a number\nof them attended our services and eight of them were saved and took their\nstand for the truth.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAt one time I received a series of letters from a leader in a certain\nChurch of God congregation in which the writer earnestly pleaded that I\ncome and hold a meeting for him.\n\nHe said that the Lord had revealed to him that I could be a great blessing\nto him and his congregation. I had never been to the place nor did I know\nanyone in the congregation that I was aware of. After giving the matter due\nconsideration I felt that I should go, and wrote the pastor to that effect.\nOn the day I was planning to leave I received a letter from the brother,\nupon the reading of which I began to tremble like a leaf--something I had\nnever experienced before. I was standing on the floor reading the letter.\nWife ran up to me and asked me if I was sick or whether there was anything\nwrong. She took the letter and read it, and said, \"There is nothing wrong\nwith that letter.\" \"No,\" I said, \"but I have a feeling that if I go I will\nmeet something I have never met before.\" Wife answered, \"Don't let the\ndevil scare you now; you go, and I will pray for you.\"\n\nOn arriving in the city, as I stepped off the train, a man came up to me\nand said, \"Are you Brother Susag? I am Brother X--; I have come to meet\nyou. We certainly are glad that you have come, but I am sorry to have to\ntell you that our group is split into two congregations.\" I quickly reached\nto take my suitcase out of his hand, and said to him, \"I'm going right back\nhome; I'm too small a man to attempt to tackle anything like that.\" But he\nsaid, \"No, you cannot go, for we have been praying for you to come and the\nLord has shown us that you are the man to help us out.\" \"All right,\" I\nsaid, \"on one condition I'll stay. Take me to a hotel, and you inform both\nparties that I will only stay on condition that all meet together in one\nchapel and that no one tell me anything about the trouble, for if the Word\nof God will not make you one, I surely cannot do so.\" \"But,\" said he, \"you\nsurely need to know something about how matters stand.\" \"No,\" I replied,\n\"the Lord knows it all and He also knows what messages to give me from time\nto time.\" \"Very well,\" he said, \"I'll take you out in the country three\nmiles to an old couple who knows nothing of the trouble.\"\n\nThree days later at three o'clock in the afternoon, the brother came to see\nme and informed me that my proposition had been accepted; the group had\nagreed to the conditions. I preached for eleven days and let them do their\nown altar work and the eleventh night there was but one congregation and\nall was peace and harmony. For the first eleven days of the meeting there\nwas not one outsider in any of the services but on the very next night the\nchapel was filled, and there were seven ministers of the city present in\nthe audience.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAn Assembly meeting was being planned, soon to be held in Chicago, at the\n74th Street Church of God and the brethren in charge wrote to the ministers\nof the Scandinavian Publishing work in St. Paul Park, Minnesota, requesting\nthem to provide an evangelist who should preach in the Scandinavian\nlanguages--either Thomas Nelson, Emil Krutz or S. O. Susag. Brother Krutz\nand I were holding a meeting at Hereford, Minn. at the time. We received a\nletter from St. Paul Park asking us to pray to find out which one of the\nthree of us was to go. Then Brother Krutz said to me, \"I know you know who\nis to go; tell me who it is.\" But I answered him, that he should go find\nout from the same source from which I had found out. He left me and after\ntwo hours returned and said, \"It was a little hard for me to find out\nbecause I wanted to go so badly myself, but the Lord showed me that you\nwere the one to go.\"\n\nOn my way I stopped at St. Paul Park and met Brother D. O. Teasley from New\nYork. He said to me, \"So you are on your way to the Assembly in Chicago.\" I\nsaid, \"Yes, if Brother Nelson is not going.\" \"Why,\" he said, \"he is not\ngoing. When I stopped in Chicago the congregation was praying the Lord to\nsend you.\" God works at both ends.\n\nWe held the Scandinavian services at the Assembly up stairs in the\nMissionary Home. After five days' meeting, quite a few were saved, while\ndown in the English services in the chapel where there were thirty-three\nministers, none were being saved. Brother Reardon, hearing of our good\nservices, asked me whether I preached in English, \"Yes,\" I replied, \"in my\nbroken way.\" \"Why, then,\" he said, \"do you not ask the Lord for a message\nto preach down in the chapel?\" I answered, telling him the Lord had already\ngiven me three messages but someone else gets to the pulpit before me.\n(This was the time for the free-for-all in the pulpit). Brother Reardon\nsaid, \"Come with me,\" and he took me upstairs into a room where a group of\nthe leading ministers were assembled and said to them, \"Here is the man who\nis holding up the success of the meeting.\" I said, \"How is that possible\nwhen I cannot even get into the pulpit? Somebody rushes in ahead of me, and\none who did so was not saved.\" To this they said, \"We have already attended\nto that person,\" and told me that I had better get another message from the\nLord, but I said, \"No.\" Then they said, \"Will you preach it if the Lord\ngives you another message?\" I said, \"I will, if I can get into the pulpit\nand you will pray for me.\"\n\nThe second day following, the Lord gave me another message. My text was the\nlast clause of the second verse of Proverbs 16: \"... the Lord weigheth the\nspirits.\" After I had spoken a few minutes Brother Cole spoke up and said,\n\"Please stop a minute, Bro. Susag, do not talk so fast; we do not\nunderstand a word you say.\" I said, \"Please pray for me.\" Then again,\nrealizing I was going quite fast, I stopped, when Sister Cole said, \"Do not\nstop now, go ahead, Bro. Susag, we can understand you well enough.\" I\nseemed to be full of the Holy Ghost which seemed to be pressing me on. When\nI said, \"Amen\" there were forty-two at the altar crying for mercy.\n\nListen folks, this was not because of my good preaching, for they could not\nunderstand me, but they understood when the Holy Ghost spoke. When I went\nto the altar to pray with the seekers a man came running on his hands and\nfeet, barking like a dog. He was taken out to another room to be prayed\nfor. He was helped, and the devils were cast out.\n\nAfter the altar service was over I asked Brothers Reardon and Ebel to go\nwith me to the basement. As soon as we got there I fell on my face to the\nfloor weeping, and saying to the brothers, \"I need help, I am in serious\ntrouble. It seems as though devils were tearing my very body to pieces.\"\nThank God for good brothers who are able to help a person in time of need.\nBrother Reardon said to me, \"Get up quick, Bro. Susag, don't lie there and\ncry for the devil.\" But I said, \"You don't know what trouble I am in.\" But\nthey said to me, \"There is nothing the matter with you. Get up and rebuke\nthe devil, get up and sit on that chair and we will talk to you.\" Then Bro.\nReardon said, \"The Lord used you to break the spell in the meeting and\nthere were seven possessed with devils at the altar. The devil became\nenraged at you and was determined to ruin you.\" Then I resisted the devil\nand was free.\n\nWe will soon find out when we let the Holy Ghost have His way with us there\nare seemingly two equally great powers in the world. But thank God, we also\nfind that He is the Omnipotent Ruler over all things.\n\nBrother Tubbs and I once held a meeting at Portland, North Dakota. The wife\nof the man with whom we stayed professed to be saved and one of the saints.\nHer husband, as far as I knew, made no profession but was a very fine man\nand one of the leading business men of the town.\n\nOne day, as we were looking through the bookcase, we found a lot of fine\nlooking books of Russellite teaching. We asked the sister who had bought\nthem. She told us that she had bought them--\"had bought over a hundred\ndollars' worth of those good books.\" We informed her that they were\nunsound, that they taught erroneous doctrine and should not be read nor\nhanded to anyone.\n\nOur taking this stand made things look as though we would be without a\nplace to stay. But that evening the Lord changed the situation. The\ntwo-year-old child of this couple was suddenly taken violently ill. The\nmother asked us to pray for the boy. Bro. Tubbs plainly told her that the\nLord would not heal her boy as long as she had those books in the house.\nWhen we were just starting to go to the service that evening, the father,\nwho was holding the child in a blanket in his arms, said to us, \"Will you\nguarantee healing to my child if I place it in your hands? Otherwise I\nshall have to get a doctor before it is too late.\" Bro. Tubbs answered, \"We\ncan guarantee nothing,\" and we started for the service.\n\nBro. Tubbs was already outside the door of the house when the mother of the\nchild said pleadingly, \"Won't you pray?\" The Holy Ghost came upon me and I\nsaid, \"Yes, on one condition, if you will promise to take all those books\nover to the meeting place tomorrow and burn them up before the eyes of the\naudience, I'll pray and guarantee healing for your child.\" She said, \"I\nwon't do that; they are good books and cost $100.\" \"All right,\" I said, and\nstepped out of the door. The father said, \"Just a minute,\" and then to his\nwife he said, \"Isn't the life of our child worth more than one hundred\ndollars?\" She said, \"But they are good books.\" He replied, \"The ministers\nsay they are no good. I know nothing about them, whether they are good or\nnot, but I do know one thing that my child's life is worth more than one\nhundred dollars.\" \"All right, then, I'll do it,\" she said.\n\nI stepped back in the room, threw my hat on the floor, went over and laid\nmy hands on the child and prayed the prayer of faith and the Lord healed\nthe child instantly, and the books went up in smoke the next day.\n\nI have seen bookcases and book shelves in many homes that need just such a\npurge in order that the glory of God may dwell in the home, and sometimes\neven in the churches.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn the years 1915-16 I spent almost thirteen months in Denmark helping the\nfew faithful workers there to raise up eight congregations and many books\nwere burned during the time.\n\nOne old mother in Israel, when she heard of the books being burned, said,\n\"I've got only one book and it's a good one.\" She brought it to me and\nsaid, \"If you say this is not good, my salvation goes too.\" I asked her if\nI might mark with a pencil in her book and she said I could. After reading\nit a while I laid it aside having marked it here and there. She asked me\nwhat I thought of her book. Not to discourage her, I said, \"There are some\ngood things in that book.\" She took it and began to find the places which I\nhad marked, finally closed the book and said, \"This book is no good; the\nBible says thus and so and the book speaks to the contrary.\" Then she said,\n\"Why have I been blessed many times when reading this book?\" I answered,\n\"Because you were honest and did not know any better.\"\n\nWe pioneer ministers had many things to meet. On getting home one time, I\nfound that a runaway team had pulled our windmill down so that we had to\nhave a new one. The well was 204 feet and was hard to pump. After we got\nthe new one, a neighbor came over and said to my son, Oswald, \"See, your\nfather has been out preaching and so you are able to have a new windmill.\"\nYes, he had been gone seven weeks and he was eleven cents short on his\nexpenses. The following year I was gone nine months and five days and I\nfared real well--I had $76.76 above my expenses that time.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSometimes I got to thinking about little Charlie Brown, who I believe was\nabout eleven years old at the time. When his father asked him if he got\ntired, he said, \"Yes, I get tired of this walking preaching.\" So they went\ninto a grove and prayed and his father said to him, \"We will go to the next\ntown and you preach on some street corner and if no one gets saved, we will\nquit and if some get saved we will keep on. What do you think of that?\"\nYoung Charlie agreed to that and a number of souls did get saved. Now\n\"young Charlie\" is Editor in Chief of the Gospel Trumpet.\n\nThen it was empty pocketbooks, empty stomachs and sore feet, but that did\nnot stop the preaching. Yes, in those days it was souls we were after, and\nnot money and honor.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nI did not have a new suit for sixteen years; wife had only one new dress in\neighteen years. Although we lived on a farm we could not eat butter. We had\nto sell that in order to be able to buy more necessary things.\n\nOne year wife and the children were raising twenty-two hogs while I was out\npreaching in the gospel field, and we had a payment of $500 to make on our\nhome, or move. When I arrived home in the fall wife met me with tears in\nher eyes as she told me that the hogs were all ready for the market when\nthe price dropped from $6.00 per hundred weight to $2.75. \"And,\" she\ncontinued, \"the only reason I can find for it is that we have not given\nenough.\" \"But,\" I replied, \"I feel that we have given enough: Our gross\nincome has been a little over $500.00.\" She then brought two pencils and\ntwo pieces of paper and said to me, \"Come on.\" We knelt down and asked the\nLord to bring to our minds what we had given, and in our check-up we found\nwe had given $252.50. Then, almost scaring me, my wife, with tears\nstreaming down her face, lifted her hand toward heaven, and said, \"Lord, we\nhave done our duty and you will have to pay our bills.\"\n\nTwo days later the cattle buyer came back and said that if he could get our\nhogs he would have enough for two railroad carloads. I told him he could\nnot have them at that price. He said, \"They are the nicest looking hogs I\never saw and if I can get them to mix in with the others I may get top\nprice for all.\" \"And,\" he added, \"I will give you the old price: Six\ndollars ($6.00) per hundred weight.\" To which I replied, \"They are yours.\"\n\nOne of our neighbors had twenty-two hogs born the same week as ours. The\nday they were brought into town people said, \"Susag's hogs are the nicest,\nbut P----'s hogs will weigh 1,000 pounds more than his.\" They weighed them\nand found that our hogs weighed almost eleven hundred pounds more than\nP----'s. They took them off the scales twice to examine the scales to see\nwhether they were correct, but the hogs held their weight, almost eleven\nhundred pounds more than the neighbor's hogs. So once more, the Lord\nhonored his faithful, humble people. There was enough money for the $500\npayment and some to spare.\n\nTwo years later we had another $500 payment to meet, and when we started to\nseed in the spring, I said to the twins, \"Let us kneel down right here in\nthe field and ask God to give us a large enough crop to pay the notes which\nwill be due in the fall.\" That year crops, generally, were very poor,\naverage wheat being from 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 bushels to the acre (of screenings,\nor Number Four, as it is called). But the Lord gave us eighteen bushels to\nthe acre on one piece and on the other, twenty-two bushels to the acre of\nNumber One wheat. One old lady said, \"I can't understand such a thing--only\na fence between.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOne time I had a dream of a scene taking place in the chapel at St. Paul\nPark, Minn. Brother Nelson, who had just finished his sermon, was standing\nby the pulpit with his left elbow on the pulpit and his hand on his chin,\nlooking at the audience. Then I saw a woman, about two-thirds down the\naisle, get up and shake her fist toward Bro. Nelson. The Lord said to me,\n\"Do you see that woman?\" I answered, \"Yes.\" \"You see she is not right with\nme in shaking her fist at my servant?\" \"Yes,\" I said, \"I can see that.\"\nThen the scene changed in my dream. I was sitting on a chair right between\nthe dining room and the front room at the Workers' Home of the Scandinavian\nPublishing Company, and there was a minister sitting behind me leaning his\nhands on the back of my chair. This minister I had met once before, and the\nLord said to me, \"You had better look out for that man; he is not right\nwith me. He will get you into trouble.\"\n\nSome days later I received a telephone message to come to St. Paul Park,\nMinn. at once. I went accordingly. On my arrival I found services were\ngoing on in the Workers' Home and very soon I was sitting exactly as I saw\nmyself sitting in my dream. All of a sudden I saw the woman I had seen in\nmy dream coming in from the kitchen. I had never seen her before, nor had I\never heard of her, but recognized her from the dream. Then I almost got\nscared. What if that preacher was sitting behind me resting his hands on\nthe back of my chair, I thought. What's up, anyhow? I did not dare to look\nback to see!\n\nThe brethren asked me to preach, and when I got up and faced the audience,\nsure enough, there sat the very minister I had seen in my dream! I spoke on\nthe twenty-third Psalm. I'm generally long winded in the pulpit but this\ntime I cut it short. When I closed, Bro. Nelson said, \"Is that all you are\ngoing to give us?\" And I said, \"Yes.\"\n\n\"Old men shall have dreams and young men shall see visions.\"\n\nWhen the service was over, Brother O. T. Ring came to me and said, \"Please\ncome into our room; we want to see you a little.\" On going into the room I\nfound that the ministry were there, along with this minister and woman,\nalso some of the leading workers. Brother Nelson said, \"We are having a\nlittle difficulty and we felt that we should call for you. You have had a\nlot of experience and we thought that possibly you could be a help to us.\"\nThen I got up and asked whether I might tell my dream. After I had told it\nI said, \"If this fits, then you let me out.\" \"Yes, it fits,\" he said.\n\nA number of years later Brother J. S. Lane was to be the evangelist at the\nSouth Dakota State Camp Meeting. We met and introduced ourselves. Brother\nLane said,\n\n\"Brother Susag, I stopped at Clinton, Iowa, and a sister said to me, are\nyou going up to South Dakota and Minnesota? Then you'll meet a minister\nthat I am afraid of. His name is Susag; the Lord speaks to him whether he\nis asleep or awake, but I have forgotten her name.\" I said, her name is so\nand so. \"Yes,\" he said. That was about twenty years after the dream.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt was a wonderful experience the Lord gave me after the baptism of Sister\nSwenvorg and the wonderful healing of her eyes, and also the wonderful\nglory the Lord sent upon her with the persecution that came with it. That\nevening in the service the Lord blessed me so much I had to put both hands\nover my heart and had to ask the Lord to stop, as my human body could not\nstand any more pressure. This happened in Lukken, Denmark.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nI once went to hold a meeting in Bro. William Gustafson's grove three miles\nnorth of Belgrade, Minnesota. The brother met me at the station and said he\nhad quite a lot of business to do in town so I could stay at that station\nuntil he got through and then he would come and get me. But as quite a long\ntime passed and he did not come I walked over to a store and asked them if\nthey knew Mr. Gustafson and they said they did. Then I asked if they knew\nwhether he was still in town. To which they replied that he had gone home\nquite a while ago. So I had to take my grips and walk out to his place, as\nthe meeting was set and I was to stay in his home. I held the meeting and\nsome souls were saved, but I never said a word to Mr. Gustafson about his\nleaving me in town. I thought that the good Lord could speak to him better\nthan I could. The Lord gave me grace to treat him as nicely as though\nnothing had happened. When the meeting ended I had to walk back to town\nagain.\n\nAt the next year's state camp meeting he came to me and said, \"Can we go\nover into the timber?\" Of course I said, \"Yes.\" On our way over he told me\nthat a would-be preacher had talked to him about me, accusing me of many\nthings but that he had found out that they were not true. Then he asked me\nto forgive him and he also asked the Lord to forgive him, as he had lied to\nme.\n\nIt is too bad that such things happen, as a finer brother than Brother\nGustafson there never was.\n\nThen Brother Gustafson told me that the Lord spoke to him telling him he\nshould have given ten dollars to me for that meeting, but now the Lord\ntells him it is to be fifty, and he wrote me out a check for that amount.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA WONDERFUL INCIDENT\n\nFather Brewster, as he was commonly called, of Hereford, Minnesota, was\ntaken sick and was sick for some time. If I am correctly informed, he was\n89 years of age. For a number of days it was thought that he was dead but\nthe doctor said that he was still living, but he might go almost any time,\nand the family sent for me to come and conduct the funeral services. He had\nbeen in a coma for eight days. On arriving I found that the doctors had not\nyet pronounced him dead. I went into the bedroom where he lay and stood\nlooking at him for a few minutes, meditating on the many good times we had\nhad together in the Lord. Finally I fell on my knees and began to pray.\nSuddenly he called out in a loud voice, \"Praise the Lord, Brother Susag.\"\nHe never moved a hand or a finger, all that he moved was his lips and the\nnext day he passed away. He had not spoken a word for eight days.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOne year when I was the evangelist at the S. Dakota State camp meeting, I\nmentioned one day in my sermon that I was very busy and had received enough\ncalls since I had come to the camp meeting to keep me going for two years.\nAfter the service Brother Geselbeck, the elder of the church, came to me\nand said, \"Let us go down to the car,\" which we did. He began by saying,\n\"I've always had confidence in you, Brother Susag, but today in something\nyou said, I thought you went too far, so I decided to speak to you at once\nas I did not want to lose my confidence in you.\" I said, \"Thank you, that's\nfine, brother; what was it I said?\" \"You said that you had received enough\ncalls since you had been at the meeting to keep you going for two years,\nand this is only the third day!\" \"Did I say that?\" I asked. \"Maybe I said\ntoo much, but we will see I have the letters here in my pocket and they are\naddressed to Arlington, Route 1, South Dakota.\" So we took the letters and\nread them and found that if I were to hold meetings at each place as long\nas they stated in the letters it would have taken me twenty-six months.\nBro. Geselbeck then said, \"I knew you were a busy man, but I never knew you\nwere that busy, and I am glad that I spoke to you!\" Yes, if we would all do\nthat way when something is in question it would avoid a whole lot of\nmisunderstanding.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nI once had a cancer on my upper lip and one day I met Dr. Sandven on the\nstreet of my home town. He stopped and said to me, \"You had better come\nover to the hospital and we will burn that thing out or else you will have\nsomething.\" I replied, \"I've got something already.\" \"Yes,\" he said, \"but\nwe may be able to burn it out yet.\" \"Well,\" I said, \"I believe I will wait\non my own Doctor a little while yet.\" \"All right,\" he said, \"if you don't\nget rid of it, come over and we will try to help you.\"\n\nA few days after this I went to Erie, North Dakota to hold a tent meeting\nfor Sister Bertha Gaulke who was the pastor of the church there. We had\nprayer often, but for two nights the pain was so intense it seemed as\nthough the roots of the cancer were going into my nose and up into my left\neye. The third night I was weeping and praying and finally I went to sleep,\nand in my sleep the Lord said to me, \"Wake up and take hold of the cancer;\nI have heard your prayers and it will come out.\" I woke up and did as the\nLord directed, and out it came, roots and all!\n\nI have had (and still do have) many dreams. The Bible says, that \"... old\nmen shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.\" (Joel 2:28).\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nDuring the time I was pastor in Grand Forks I needed a fountain pen.\nSisters Hulda and Louise Werstlein gave me five dollars to get a pen, to be\nmy Christmas present. I sent to my son, who was agent for such things, and\nhe got me a $7.50 Waterman pen for the five dollars. After the Minnesota\nState camp meeting, Sister Moon of Canbee, Minnesota asked me to take her\nand her two children home. On reaching Montevideo I met Brother Thomas\nNelson who said he would like to have a long talk with me. I told him that\nhe could take Sister Moon and the children and myself and we could talk\nthen as we went back and forth, which we did, but when I arrived home my\npen was gone!\n\nI wrote to the pastor at Montevideo asking him to look in Brother Nelson's\ncar and around in the grass where the car had stood, thinking the pen might\nhave fallen out of his car when I took my coat out of his car and put in in\nmine. About a week later I got a card saying there was no pen to be found\nanywhere.\n\nA few nights later I had a dream. I saw my pen. It was standing up against\na small willow in a bunch of grass in the road ditch; it was very dusty.\n\nSome days after this, as I was on my way to town going north, I passed the\nroad going west which I had been on when I lost my pen. The Lord said, \"Why\ndon't you go and get your pen?\" I laughed to myself, but kept on driving\nand again the Lord said, \"Why don't you get your pen; why don't you get\nyour pen?\" Finally I had to turn back, and as I did so I said to myself,\n\"This is a trip that I'll never tell anyone about, starting out for 136\nmiles to look for a pen in a road ditch!\"\n\nAfter going a mile and three quarters I saw to my left a little willow\nsticking up just like the one I saw in my dream. I stopped the car and went\nto look, and there stood my pen just as it was in my dream.\n\nWe might ask how it got there. The only answer I can give is that I must\nhave had my coat over the front seat of the car and the coat must have\nfallen down, and when I reached for it while the car was going the pen must\nhave fallen out of my coat pocket in the dark.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA WONDERFUL INCIDENT\n\nI had arrived home on Saturday, and Sunday I went to the service. The\npastor said, \"Now I know why I haven't a message today,\" and turning to me\nhe said, \"You speak for me.\" But I said, \"No, I did not bring my Bible\nalong.\" \"Well,\" someone said, \"we can let you have a Bible.\" I said,\n\"Soneone else must have the message.\" There were two other ministers there,\nbut neither had a message. Finally wife said, \"Husband, I get a number of\nletters and here's one that reads like this, 'Dear Sister Susag: You should\nhave been in our service last night. We had a wonderful message and a\nwonderful service. Several were saved, and do you know who preached for us?\nYour husband preached for us.'\" Then she said, \"Why don't you give us a\nmessage like that at home?\" And they all said, \"That's right.\"\n\nThen I got a text. I looked at my watch and it was eleven o'clock. I knew\nthe pastor had to be home at 12:30, but I forgot all about it, and not a\nperson moved, not even the little children, while I preached. When I quit I\nthought it would be around 12:10 or 12:15, but on looking at my watch it\nwas 3:15 in the afternoon. I had preached for four hours and fifteen\nminutes and the pastor and audience declared there must be something wrong\nwith our watches! It seemed as if we must have been pretty close to the\nthird heaven!\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOn one occasion while I was in Europe I visited at my wife's request, a\ncousin of hers who had been ill and confined to her bed for twenty-one\nyears. She had become bedfast when she was nineteen. When I first visited\nher, as she did not understand anything about divine healing, she got quite\npeeved at the instructions I gave her. However her father, my wife's uncle,\ngot gloriously saved. Two weeks later I got a letter from the woman asking\nme to come again and I went. Then she repented and turned to the Lord. I\nprayed for her and the Lord raised her up.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOnce in a city called Stavanger, Norway, I was asked to come and pray for a\nsister who was in the last stages of tuberculosis of the lungs. As some of\nthe people over there teach that it is witchcraft to heal by the word of\nGod and prayer, a mob had gathered to stone me, and the folks called me and\nasked me not to anoint and pray for fear the people might do me bodily\nharm. I told them that I was not any better than the apostles or any other\nof God's ministers, and if that was to be my lot I would be willing to die\nfor the gospel's sake.\n\nI anointed and prayed for the woman and the Lord raised her up to the great\nastonishment of the people and no bodily harm came to me.\n\nI met her twin sister several years later who said she had been well ever\nsince, healthy and strong.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn 1916 while in Denmark I contracted tuberculosis of the throat and head.\nI got so weak that while holding a meeting in company with Brother Carl\nForsberg out from Pandrup, Denmark, one evening before the service started\nI was suffering so intensely that I went out into the cow barn, sat down on\na milk stool coughing and spitting, praying and weeping until I was so weak\nthat I was unable to get up when I tried to do so. Time for meeting came,\nand the folks did not know what had become of me, so a Brother Madson, a\nbig strong man, went out to look for me. When he found me he picked me up\nand carried me in, laid me on the lounge and the saints prayed for me, and\nI got strength to get up and preach. We closed the services that evening.\nBrother Forsberg returned to Sweden and I to my headquarters at Hjoring. I\nwent to a specialist and asked him to write me a permit so that I could\nreturn to America. After he had examined me he said that he could not give\nme the permit as I would not be permitted to go aboard ship in the\ncondition I was in. He said, \"You would not live until you got there if you\ndid start.\" I told him that I would like to be with my folks when I leave\nthis world. He replied, \"I don't blame you but it can't be done.\"\n\nThen I got a letter from Brother and Sister Johnson of Jotta, Sweden,\nsaying that \"Brother Forsberg had come home saying that it looked as though\nthe Lord was through with Brother Susag, he was no near gone. Wife and I\nagreed in prayer and the Lord says He is going to heal you and that you are\ngoing to preach to us here many times.\"\n\nThe following Sunday we had services in Hjoring at eleven o'clock, although\nI did not seem to be able to stand up, but I thought I might just as well\ngo to heaven from the pulpit as to go from the bed, if I was going to die\nanyway. After I had been speaking about fifteen minutes I quit, as the pain\ngot so intense in my throat I could hardly speak above a whisper, and the\naudience could not hear me. I went up stairs in the chapel where I had my\nroom, and I lay down on the bed suffering intensely.\n\nOutside my door was a tree and a little bird hopped onto a branch and began\nto sing. (I do not know the name of the bird, but the species was like the\nbirds that used to come to our grove at home in Minnesota and sing. But I\nhad never before heard one in my travels in Europe). I turned to the bird\nand said, \"Did my heavenly Father send you from Minnesota to Denmark to\nsing for me when I was so troubled?\" And the more I would speak to him the\nmore he would flap his wings and sing and sing until I could forget my pain\nand had to laugh aloud. It was nearly four o'clock and that was the time\nfor the next service. I got up and got ready for the service, and when I\ncame into the pulpil to preach, to my surprise, I was perfectly healed and\ncould speak as loud as ever without pain.\n\nThe next morning I went to the specialist and asked him to examine me again\nto see if I could go home if I wanted to. After examining me he said, \"Man,\nO man, what have you done? There is not a T. B. germ about you--you can go\nor stay as you please.\" I told him I had done nothing, but that the people\nof God had been praying for me, the results of which was a great surprise\nto the doctor. This is the way the Lord deals with his unworthy, humble\nchildren that trust and obey Him.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nI have generally observed a rule of not eating my evening meal until after\nthe evening service. One evening in Sweden I ate a little fish out of a can\nthat had been standing open for some time. After eating a little of the\nfish I remembered that the can had been standing open and did not eat any\nmore. About a half an hour after I had retired and gone to sleep, I woke up\nfeeling deathly sick with ptomaine poisoning. It seemed as if I was to be\ntaken out of this world. All through the night Brother Forsberg, Sister\nBettie Miller and others kept praying for me and the next day my life\nseemed to hang on a thread, but at five o'clock that evening we got the\nvictory and I was perfectly healed, and able to speak in the service that\nnight.\n\nSome years afterwards while at Camp meeting at Anderson, Ind. I was\npoisoned in about the same manner. A number of brethren prayed for me\nwithout my getting any relief. Finally, Brother George Green, now pastor at\nHanford, California, a true yoke-fellow of mine who loved me dearly, broke\ndown and wept and had compassion on me and prayed a short prayer of faith\nand rebuked the devil and the sickness, and I was healed instantly. The\nBible says of Jesus, \"He had compassion on the people and healed all that\ncame unto him.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOn one ocassion in 1933 I was not feeling very well. I was on my way to\nCalifornia and stopped in Minneapolis where my three boys live. When they\nsaw that I was not well, they were determined to take me to a doctor and\nhave me examined. He ordered me to a hospital where five doctors took six\nx-rays. After taking the x-rays, the doctors asked me, \"What do you think\nyou have?\" I said, \"The same as you think.\" They said, \"What do we think?\"\n\"Cancer!\" I said. \"No,\" they said. I said, \"Why do you lie, you said it was\ncancer and a bad one.\" They said, \"Do you understand Latin?\" I said, \"I\nunderstand that much.\" In the evening the doctor called my son Clarence and\nsaid to him, \"Shall I tell your dad what the matter is with him, or will\nyou?\" He answered, \"It doesn't matter who tells him, as he is ready to live\nor to die; we want to know the worst.\" The doctor said, \"It is the worst.\nBring him to my office tomorrow at three o'clock.\" I heard the five doctors\ntalking the case over between themselves, stating the position of the\ncancer.\n\nOn coming to the office the next day the doctor said, \"I have good news for\nyou, Reverend, you have no cancer.\" I asked him, \"When did you lie to me,\nyesterday or today?\" He said, \"Neither, the picture clearly shows cancer.\nThey forgot to take your food test so you had to go back to the hospital to\nhave it taken and in the food test there was no cancer.\" The doctor asked,\n\"What did you do, once a cancer but none now?\" I said, \"I did like a little\nstory we ministers have about a little boy and his sister. They were out\nplaying, and at eleven o'clock Mary was hungry and went in to ask mother\nfor a slice of bread, but mother said, it is soon time for lunch, go out\nand play now, until lunch is ready. Then Freddy went in and asked for bread\nand he came out with a slice of bread with butter on it. Then Mary said,\n'What did you do to get it?' 'I cried for it,' answered Freddy,\" so did I.\n\nThe Lord made them forget to take the food test at first in order to verify\nthe miracle.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOne day I was plowing, since I had asked the boys to let me plow for the\nexercise it gave me. It was about ten o'clock in the morning and I had\nstopped and gotten off the gang plow to let the horses rest and stood\nlooking south in the field when I saw six or eight feet before me dear\nBrother A. G. Ahrendt standing and smiling at me, just as real as if he\nwere there in the flesh. \"Brother Ahrendt is leaving Grand Forks by my\norders,\" the Lord said to me. \"If by your orders he is leaving there,\namen,\" I replied. I then turned to get on the plow when on the other side\nof the plow there stood a lady minister and the Lord said, \"Some are\ncontemplating getting her as the pastor and that will be the ruination of\nthe work in Grand Forks.\" (Not because there was anything wrong with her as\na minister but because she would not fit in the place). The vision\ndisappeared and I went to plowing.\n\nTwo or three days later I became so burdened about Grand Forks that I was\nalmost sick, so I wrote to Brother Ahrendt and asked if anything was wrong\nor anyone sick, for I was so burdened. I expected an answer right away, but\ndidn't get it, so wrote again and still no answer. The next week I wrote\nfor the third time telling them that I was going through Grand Forks on my\nway to Raab for a meeting, and would be in Grand Forks and they could\narrange a meeting for me over Friday night, Saturday and Sunday if he\nwanted me. Then a letter came from Sister Ahrendt saying her husband was\naway and that they were leaving Grand Forks.\n\nSunday afternoon, when in Grand Forks, I went by invitation to Brother Lars\nOlson's home and there met the four leaders of the congregation: August\nShave, Bertha Gaulke, Lars Olson and Sister Johnstone. They told me that\nthey had been talking of sending for me; Bro. Shave had proposed sending me\nthe money for carfare, but Bro. Olson said, \"No, we won't do that; we will\nask the Lord to send him here and we will pay his expenses when he comes.\"\nThese prayers going up from the dear ones in Grand Forks was what made the\nLord burden my heart before I went there.\n\nThey then begged me to be their pastor, and I finally consented to come and\nstay with them for a month or three months or until they could get a\npastor. I stayed with them for almost five years.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhile holding a meeting in company with Brother Renbeck in a school house\nout in the country between Kelly and Manville, N. Dakota and staying in the\nhome of Bro. and Sister Holman, one afternoon as I was praying the Lord\ngave me a message on the judgments of God, and what would happen, even in\nthis world, if people reject the Word of God. The Lord said to me, \"They\nwill close the school house.\" Then I asked Brother Holman if we should\nclose the services tonight, where shall we go if we continue them? He said,\n\"We surely are not going to close the services tonight; we will continue at\nthe school house.\" I said, \"The school house will be closed to us tonight.\"\nTo which he answered, \"Who said so?\" I told him that the Lord had told me.\nBrother Holman then said, \"You are a good Brother, but this time you are\nmistaken, for they would not dare close the school house because three of\nthe saints' families are the biggest taxpayers in the district.\"\n\nAt the beginning of the service that evening, Brother Renbeck got up and\ncommenced to preach on the subject, \"The Church as a House.\" After speaking\nfor about ten minutes, he sat down and said, \"This is not the message for\ntonight.\" We knelt down and prayed asking the Lord to give a message, and\nthe Lord said, \"I have given you a message.\" I said, \"Lord, that is too\nstrong,\" but the Lord answered, \"It is the message for this people.\"\n\nThe school house was large and it was filled. It was said that there were\ntwo or three congressmen in the crowd. I got up and spoke for an hour and\nfifteen minutes on the message the Lord had given me and when I was through\nI said, \"Shall we close the services now, or has anyone a place to offer so\nwe can continue the meeting, as I understand that the school house is\nclosed against us?\" The clerk of the school board (who with his family were\nprofessors of religion) went over to Bro. Holman and asked him who had told\nSusag that the school house was to be closed. The Board had only met just\nbefore meeting and decided to close. Brother Holman replied that Brother\nSusag told him that afternoon that the Lord had told him that they were\ngoing to close. The man went back to his seat. Then I said, \"Is it true or\nnot that the school house is to be closed?\" Brother Holman answered, \"It is\ntrue.\"\n\nOne man in the audience sat on the front edge of the bench so deeply\ninterested in the service that his mouth would be wide open, and after the\nmeeting was over he stuck a five dollar bill in my hand and said that the\nmeeting had been worth that to him.\n\nA man in the audience, who was an infidel, said, \"I own a store building in\nMechinoch, a few miles away, that these two preachers may have as long as\nthey please, if some one can furnish a stove and wood to warm up the\nbuilding.\" The stove and wood were promptly furnished, and we went there\naccordingly, and continued our services.\n\nI am sorry to say that many who heard the Word of God preached in that\nschool house rejected it and became real outlaws. The family of the school\nboard clerk lost their salvation and two of their sons, who had previously\nprofessed salvation, became bootleggers.\n\nAt the store building a number of people got saved. One man sat in the back\nseat every evening and left as soon as the preaching was over. I saw that\nhe was under conviction and one evening I got to him before he had left,\nand I asked him if he did not want to get saved and he told me, \"Yes.\"\nWhile praying with him I felt a hand on my shoulder and a man said to me,\n\"Brother Susag, Brother Susag, never mind this man; there are thirty-three\nat the altar and this man has not been sober in fourteen years.\" I said,\n\"If he has not been sober for fourteen years he surely needs salvation and\nI will stay with him until he gets saved.\" And I did; and as far as I know\nhe remained a true Christian and lived the life.\n\nThe first revival meeting we ever had in our neighborhood was held in our\nown house. The house 16 x 24, two rooms down stairs and one room upstairs.\nAs many as thirty-eight slept in the house; the women and children slept\nupstairs and the men downstairs. There was one bed in which the children\nslept and the women slept on the floor as did the men downstairs. People\nwere saved, sanctified and healed. It was salvation the people wanted in\nthose days.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOur first camp meeting was held in a tent a mile and three-quarters from\nour home. Warning was sent around the neighborhood for the people to lock\ntheir chicken coops as the camp meeting was being financed only by two poor\nmen, who were giving free meals to all who came.\n\nWe had a wonderful meeting; many souls were saved and sanctified and devils\nwere cast out, some were healed. We had some very straight preaching as we\nhad some very fiery ministers who preached; such as, Brother and Sister C.\nM. Tubbs and the Brothers Enos and Elihu Key, Brother Thomas Nelson and\nBrother Tilgut.\n\nThe country around was stirred and people tried everything in their power\nto hinder the meeting. Some business men of our own home town (Paynesville)\nhired a team and borrowed a three or four-seated platform buggy from the\nimplement Company and placed a small cannon on it, drove to within a few\nrods of the gospel tent and fired the cannon. The chairman of the town\nBoard came to me and wanted me to have them arrested. But I said, \"No, let\nthem go.\"\n\nThe Lord \"fined\" them for us: As they were shooting off the cannon the\nhorses took fright and ran away into the timber, smashing up the new buggy\nand tearing the harness to pieces. That saved us the court proceedings.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe second camp meeting I was in, among the saints, was at Grand Forks, N.\nDakota. I was called there especially to preach in the Scandinavian\nlanguage as well as to help in the English preaching. When the first\nevening service was over every one who had no place to sleep was to stand\noutside the tabernacle near the big oak tree. One by one they got their\nplace to sleep. Finally I was left standing all alone in the dark. No one\noffered me a place so I walked around among the trees. The camp meeting was\nheld in the timber along the banks of the Red River. While I was looking\nfor a place to lie down and rest, a man came running toward me and said,\n\"Don't you have a place to sleep?\" I said, \"No.\" He said, \"You go to that\ncovered wagon over there and you'll find a place.\" As I approached the\nwagon I saw six feet sticking out of the wagon, almost to the knees, so\nthere was no room for me.\n\nI went back to the tent and shoved three or four planks together. These\nplanks had been used for seats. I put my suit case down for a pillow and\nthere I slept that night and during the rest of the meeting. When I would\nget a little cold in the night I would get up and walk around a bit. A few\ndays later Oluf Erickson from Belgrade, Minnesota, who had gotten saved in\none of our meetings at home, asked me where I was sleeping. I said, \"I have\na good place; another brother and I have a very fine tent with a bed in\nit.\" \"Oh yes,\" he said, \"I know where you sleep; you sleep in the\nminister's tent.\" \"Yes,\" I said, \"it's a minister's tent all right.\" But he\ndidn't give up until he found out the truth. He then said, \"My, my, had no\none offered you a place to stay, and you are one of the evangelists?\" I\nsaid, \"Yes.\" Then he said, \"Well then, I'll come and sleep with you.\"\n\nIn those days it was: \"All for Jesus and souls\" and not for personal\ncomfort. We had a wonderful time together in the Lord. We also had a\nwonderful camp meeting in seeing scores of souls saved and many miracles\ndone by the power of God.\n\nSister Renbeck, who had been bed fast for a long time, was carried in on a\ncot and the prayer of faith was offered. Brother E. E. Byrum took her by\nthe hand and commanded her to arise in the name of Jesus. She arose and\nwent running around the tent lifting her hands and praising God. I heard\nthree men talking about it afterwards saying, \"I wonder if that is real!\nShe surely looked poorly and puny, but you can't tell.\" Another man said,\n\"I wish my wife had been here; if it had been her we would have known it\nwas real.\" (She had been sick for a long while.)\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhile my first meeting in Grand Forks was in progress, Brother Renbeck came\nto me with the request that I would pray over a matter he had on his mind,\nand that was that after the meeting was over he and I might go together to\nhold a meeting at Whitten, Minnesota. I promised to pray over the matter\nand that at the close of the meeting we would talk it over together. And,\naccordingly, at the end of the meeting I prayed earnestly to get the mind\nof the Lord as to where He wanted me to go.\n\nWhen Brother Renbeck asked me what I had gotten from the Lord in regard to\nthe matter I replied by asking whether there were places in North Dakota by\nnames of Kelly, Grafton and St. Thomas, \"Yes,\" he said, \"there are; what of\nit?\" I replied that the Lord told me I was going to those places. He told\nme that just before the meeting here, he had come from those very places\nand there would be no use in going. I told him I was going to follow the\nleading of the Lord and go, that he could stay here until I came back when\nwe would go to Whitten. But he declared if I was going he would go, too.\n\nThat trip proved to be the beginning of a wonderful work of God. Many\npeople were saved and many healings and miracles were wrought by the Spirit\nof the Lord. In our visiting, the first house we entered at eleven a.m. an\nelderly sister, ninety years of age, was sanctified and her husband,\nninety-three years old, was saved before twelve o'clock that day. This\nshows that Brother Renbeck had laid a good foundation in these places,\npreparing the way for the wonderful evangelistic trips that followed.\nNeither of us ever went to Whitten.\n\nWhile at Grafton, N. Dakota, Brother Renbeck and I had the experience of\nholding a number of meetings in private homes. Interest increased and so\ndid our problems.\n\nOne day we wanted to telephone to Brother C. H. Tubbs at Grand Forks. We\nwent to a telephone office and were told that the cost of a message would\nbe twenty-five cents. We counted up our change and between us found that we\nhad only twenty-four cents, and so we had to leave the office disappointed.\nOut on the side walk we stood facing each other, one of us said, \"Wasn't it\ntoo bad that we didn't have another penny?\" I was standing with my back to\nthe street when I heard the Lord say to me, \"Turn around, a penny is lying\nright behind you.\" I turned around and there it was. I picked it up and we\nsent the message, but Brother Tubbs was not at home.\n\nThere was an old retired Methodist minister attending our meetings right\nalong, declaring that divine healing died away with the departure of the\nApostles. The next Sunday seven women were saved, one of whom was a young\nlady which had a stiff arm and crooked to such an extent that she could\nneither dress nor undress herself without assistance. She was prayed for\nand I asked her if she believed that the Lord would straighten out her arm\nand she replied, \"Yes,\" but did not move it. I happened to be looking at\nthe old minister and it seemed to be written all over his face: \"Just as I\nexpected.\" At the beginning of the evening service we gave opportunity for\ntestimony and this young lady was all on fire to testify. She said, \"I love\nJesus and Jesus loves me, and He makes my arm well;\" and then she raised\nher arm and waved it in all directions. The old minister bowed his head to\nhis knees.\n\nThe next day we were called to the home of a young lady who was suffering\nfrom inflamatory rheumatism. Her entire body was stiff; her legs were\ncrossed below her knees and her arms were crossed over her breast and were\nimmovable, except that she could move her hands slightly and also her head\na little. The doctor was coming twice every day to give her a morphine\ninjection to ease the pain or she would make a disturbance by screaming at\nthe top of her voice.\n\nWhen we first visited her, Brother Renbeck began immediately to talk to her\nabout salvation, for he thought that she must be saved before she could be\nhealed. However, we did not seem able to get any spiritual help to her at\nall. So the next day before going to see her I asked Brother Renbeck\nwhether people have to be saved before they can be healed. He said that he\ndid not know. I then mentioned the fact of the ten lepers being healed and\nthat only one returned to give glory to God; and, moreover, that I believe\nif we would pray for her the Lord would heal her and that God would get\nglory out of it some way. \"All right,\" he said, \"you talk to her today.\"\n\nWe went in to her room and I said to her \"Martha, do you believe that God\nwill heal you if we pray for you?\" \"Yes, the Lord healed Miss B. all\nright.\" I then said, \"Are you willing to throw out all your medicine\nbottles and never go back to them again, even if the pain should return?\"\nShe called her father in and asked him to take the medicine bottles and\nsmash them up. He went out and brought in a bushel basket and gathering\nthem up, took them out and smashed them into pieces. Then we anointed her\nand prayed and while we were still praying she stretched out her hands and\nher feet. When we removed our hands she wrapped the sheet around her,\njumped out of bed and ran around the house.\n\nAbout six or eight months later while I was holding a meeting in Grand\nForks, one evening a young lady of about nineteen years of age came into\nthe service carrying her younger sister, nine years of age, who could not\nwalk. I went right to them and asked where they were from and why they had\ncome. The young lady told me they were from Grafton. She said, \"I have not\nbeen well for a year, and about two years ago my sister, with some other\nchildren, was playing on the roof of an old shed and she either jumped or\nfell down, her heel struck a stone and her limb became withered. We have\nbeen to many specialists and none of them could help her. We heard that the\ntwo healers that healed Martha Gaulbright were here and we have come to be\nhealed.\" I told her those men were no healers; that it was the Lord who\nhealed Martha. \"Well,\" she said, \"the ministers, then.\" I asked her if Miss\nGaulbright was still well? She answered, \"She has never been sick since.\"\n\nI told the young lady that only one of the ministers was here. The next day\nBrother Emil Krutz came and we prayed for a large number of the sick, (39\nin all), however, before we got through praying the two girls were gone. On\ninquiring whether anyone knew where they had gone, I was told they had\neither gone to the Hotel or to the Great Northern Railway station. I rushed\nto the station two blocks away as I was anxious to find out whether they\nhad been healed, but I knew neither their names nor their address. When I\ngot to the station I inquired about the train to Grafton to find the train\nwas just pulling out.\n\nThe next summer on coming to the North Dakota State Camp meeting at Grand\nForks, I was two days late having come from the South Dakota camp meeting,\na little girl came running toward me as I was coming on the grounds,\nsaying, \"Praise the Lord, Brother Susag.\" I said, \"Amen, who are you?\" She\nsaid, \"Don't you know me?\" I said, \"No, I see so many little girls and they\nall look alike to me.\" She said, \"I'm the little girl who came to Grand\nForks last winter and could not walk.\" I set my grip down and wept for joy,\nand said, \"Please tell me, sister, when you commenced to walk.\" She\nreplied, \"My sister carried me to the train in Grand Forks; when we got to\nGrafton my short, dried up leg was just as long and as natural as the other\none, so I walked home. Now mother is here at the meeting to get saved.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAt one of the camp meetings at St. Paul Park as I was coming back from the\nbaptismal service that we had in the river, I saw a young lady across the\nstreet walking with crutches, one limb seemingly, just hanging helpless. I\nfelt sorry for her and went across the street and spoke to her. I asked her\nif she had been hurt or had had an accident.\n\nShe did not answer me at all. I said, \"Do not be afraid of me. I am a\nminister; I am sorry for you and am anxious to know what your trouble is.\"\nThen she said, \"I have tuberculosis of the leg, there are seven holes in\nit. I am just out of the Sanitarium at Saint Paul. They tell me that they\ncan do nothing for me.\" I said, \"Too bad, I am sorry for you.\" Then I asked\nher if she were a Christian; she broke down and wept. \"Indeed, too bad,\" I\nsaid, \"A young lady in that condition and yet not a Christian.\" Then I\nsaid, looking toward the camp grounds, \"Do you see that tent over there? We\nare holding services in it and if you will come to the service tonight and\nget saved, God will heal you.\" She then left me and I went over to the\ntent.\n\nShe came to the service that night and when the altar call was given she\nwent forward to seek salvation. When the altar service was over she was\nstill there on her knees. Brother C. H. Tubbs had been instructing her and\nhe said to her, \"You can go and sit down now.\" But she pointed at me and\nsaid, \"That man said that if I got saved that I could get healed too.\"\nBrother Tubbs said \"alright\" and went over to her with his oil vial and let\na drop fall on her forehead. She dropped her crutches and ran down the\naisles before we could pray, but the strength of her limb did not seem to\nhold out. So she came back to the altar and prayer was offered, but she was\nunable to use her limb.\n\nHer mother was there. They lived in St. Paul and as it was some little\ndistance to the station and the time was drawing near for the departure of\nthe train, the mother said to her, \"Take your crutches and let us go.\" But\nshe answered, \"Mother, I'll never touch those crutches anymore.\" \"But if\nyou can not walk, what are you going to do?\"\n\nTwo young ladies helped her to the station and her mother carried the\ncrutches. Two months after the camp meeting I went to Saint Paul Park and I\nmet this same young lady, Sister Davis, as she came walking along as spry\nas any young lady. I said to her, \"When did you get your healing and start\nwalking?\" She answered, \"When we got to Saint Paul I got up and walked home\nand was well!\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nBrother Emil Krutz and I were called to pray for Grandma Dahl who was ill\nwith double pneumonia. There were eight saints in the room and I heard one\nask another, \"How old is Grandma?\" The reply was, \"Seventy-seven years\nold,\" to which someone answered, \"If I were that old I would not care to\nget well.\"\n\nWe anointed and prayed for the sick woman but she showed no signs of life\nor of getting any help. Brother Krutz looked at me and said, \"The Lord\nheard prayer.\" We went into another room and closed the door, Brother Krutz\nsaid to me, \"You go in there and send the folks out.\" We went back into the\nroom and asked visitors to kindly step out of the room; then locking the\ndoor we again offered prayer. When we took our hands off this time the\nsister sat up in bed and said, \"Call my daughter, Mrs. Umden, and tell her\nto bring me something to eat, I am so hungry.\" She was perfectly well and\nlived several years longer.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nFor a year or more I was having pain in my liver. I was prayed for a number\nof times but did not even get relief and my body kept swelling up until I\ncould hardly wear my clothes. The Ministry advised me to go to a specialist\nand find out what the trouble was and said then if I were healed God would\nget more glory out of it, so I went to the specialist.\n\nThe doctor said that it was not cancer, but worse still, it was enlargement\nof the spleen. He then said, \"Dear man, there is no remedy for your\ntrouble; I can only make a harness that you can wear suspended from your\nshoulders to help support your stomach, which will be some relief.\"\n\nWhen I got home I told wife what the doctor had said and that I had made my\nlast trip in the ministry. She looked at me and said, \"No, you are not\ngoing to die.\" \"Well,\" I replied, \"I have been in this world fifty-six\nyears and that is a long time, so if the Lord sees fit to take me I will be\nsatisfied.\" She went out of the room and when she returned I saw she was\ncrying and lifting her right hand' she said, \"You are not going to die.\"\n\"How do you know,\" I asked? \"The saints will not give you up,\" she\nanswered.\n\nA short while after this I was thinking that I would like to go to\nArlington, South Dakota, now called Badger, before I died. I had raised up\nthat congregation and they were very kind and dear to me. So I dropped\nBrother Gesselbeck a card asking him to meet me at Estaline on a certain\ndate. Estaline was thirteen miles from Brother Gesselbeck's home. I arrived\nat Estaline about 6 a.m., but there was no Brother Gesselbeck there! I\nwalked to a restaurant across the street and asked if any one knew Brother\nGesselbeck. Yes, they knew him and why was I inquiring? I then told them my\nplight, that I was expecting him to be there to meet me. \"Well,\" the man\nsaid, \"Mr. Gesselbeck is an honest man and if he had gotten your card he\nwould have been here, but yesterday was Washington's birthday, a holiday,\nand he will not get your card until after five o'clock this evening!\"\n\nWell, here I was in a bad predicament--no money to go back home, no\ntelephone out there and so ill that I could not walk over a block or two at\none time. I was wearing my heavy winter clothes beside a heavy dog-skin fur\ncoat. I left my grip at the restaurant and, walking across the street,\nfound a long pole and started out on a thirteen mile hike. I would walk a\nlittle and then sit down, and even lie down a while and rest in the snow,\nand wept and prayed.\n\nIt was about five-thirty in the afternoon when I reached Brother\nGeselbeck's pasture. It had taken me over eleven hour to walk the thirteen\nmiles. I was praying and weeping when I saw Brother Geselbeck coming from\nhis mail box with my card. He looked up and saw me, then lifting his hand\nwith the card in it, shook his head as if to say, \"Poor Brother Susag!\" In\norder to prove to him that I was not dead yet, I threw away my pole and\njumped as high as I could and when I came down I was perfectly healed and\nthe swelling was all gone! I had thought that this would be my last trip to\nBrother Geselbeck's, but I have made many since then.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOnce I was holding a meeting in North Dakota about ten miles in the country\nnorth of Denbeg. The morning after the meeting closed, I woke up and lay\nawake a while, then fell asleep again and I had a dream. I dreamed that I\nsaw Brother and Sister Gaulke driving on the highway south of Grand Forks.\nSuddenly I saw the car go up in the air amidst a cloud of dust. Some folks\ncame and took Sister Gaulke out of the wreck and laid her on a blanket,\nthen a big black blanket came up between me and Brother Gaulke and the\nwreck. When I awakened it was just fifteen minutes past seven. It made such\na vivid impression on me that I said to the family with whom I was staying,\n\"I will not leave here until the mail carrier comes; I expect a telegram.\"\nI then told them my dream. They went with me to the mail box a mile from\nthe farm, and when the mail carrier came, he had brought me a message from\nMrs. Johnston telling what had happened at exactly the hour I was having my\ndream, and asking me to come at once, so instead of going to my next\nappointment I went at once to Grand Forks. On my arrival at the hospital\nwhen Sister Gaulke saw me, she said, \"Of all the angels in heaven, how did\nyou get here?\" Sister Gaulke recovered but her husband lingered a few days\nand then went home to glory.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nI had a dream one time while I was in Europe about my second son who was\nworking in a store in Superior, Wisconsin. I saw him go to a music store\nand buy a special instrument. I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep\nagain, so got up and wrote to him, telling him that it was all right that\nhe bought the instrument, for I knew he was interested in music, but I\nasked him to please not join an ungodly band as it might lead him into\ntemptation and into bad things which would \"bring down his daddy's gray\nhairs with sorrow to the grave.\"\n\nHe wrote back and thanked me for my letter but never mentioned a word about\nthe instrument. A few days later I came home from Europe and he had\nresigned his position and gotten another one. His grips and trunk were\nbrought to the house. The family were anxious to see what he had in them\nfor he had been gone several years, so when they finally got to the big\ntrunk he lifted his hand and looking at his mother and the rest, said\nhesitatingly, \"I don't know, now....\" His mother said, \"Clarence, have you\ngot something in your trunk you do not want us to see?\" He answered, \"Daddy\nknows.\" I said to him, \"It is all right, Clarence; I am sure you obeyed my\nadmonition.\" He opened the trunk and there was a new violin! Then he told\nus that when he was buying the violin he had intended to join an orchestra,\nbut when he got home from the store with his violin there was daddy's\nletter. This fulfilled the Scripture that \"Before they call I will answer\nand while they are yet speaking I will hear.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAnother time before I went to Europe there was a little difference or\nmisunderstanding between two ministers, and some other ministers were\ncalled on to help get the misunderstanding out of the way, which we did,\nand everything was fine. They were good ministers and I loved them dearly.\nThey had both been a blessing to me. A year later I dreamed that the\nbrother mostly to blame got up early one morning and traveled three hundred\nmiles by train to see the other brother, and on seeing him treated him very\nunmercifully. I dreamed this at two o'clock in the morning and could not\nsleep any more, so got up and wrote this brother a kind letter telling him\nof my dream and that the Lord had shown me that he was now greatly to\nblame. I advised him that if the dream did not fit to destroy the letter\nand to resist the enemy, and also that I was praying for him. On coming\nback to America I learned that the dream did fit exactly as to the time,\nboth date and hour, in which his unmerciful action took place.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhile at the Anderson Camp Meeting one year, I dreamed that I saw the\nministers of the Church of God within a large enclosure, walls four square,\nhigh and very beautiful. I was standing just inside the door, and on the\noutside of the door stood one of the leading ministers among us. He had\ngotten into some false doctrine, and he and his wife had built a little\nshanty just outside the walls near the entrance, where they had twelve to\ntwenty ministers with them. The room was so small that they all had to\nstand up.\n\nThe brother was talking to me trying his best to get me to join his group\nand accept his doctrine. Then as I looked up the street, to my left as it\nwere, I saw a troop of cavalrymen mounted on white horses and dressed in\nwhite uniforms, coming toward me. The troop was so long it seemed almost as\nthough there was no end to it. An officer, who was riding on the side, said\nto me, \"You stay in there with the rest of them and you will be protected.\"\nThen they went to the shanty, a little hut made of unpainted lumber, and\nsmashed it up, scattering all the men inside. Then the clock struck two.\n\nAt the minister's meeting in the morning I asked if I might tell my dream\nand, consent being granted, I told my dream. After I had told it, Bro. E.\nE. Byrum got up and said, \"I can interpret the brother's dream: We were\ndealing with this brother and sister until two o'clock this morning, and we\nfound it to be an ungodly spirit and doctrine. I warn everyone to stay away\nfrom it.\" The couple left us and never came back again.\n\nBrother George W. Green and I once came from Pit, a little town in northern\nMinnesota. On our way to Grand Forks we stopped at a town by the name of\nSteiner, the home of the Koglin family. Quite a number of people were in\nthe house when we arrived. Grandma had had several strokes and the family\nhad been looking for my address, as they were expecting she would die and\nwanted me to come and conduct her funeral services. We asked if we might\nsee her and they told us we could. We went into the bedroom and prayed for\nher and the Lord healed her. If I remember correctly, she lived for over\nten years longer.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAt one time I was holding a meeting in a school house near Warren,\nMinnesota. I was staying with a family named Keutzer, three miles from the\nschool house. In the afternoon previous to the evening service I was\npraying, and wrestling with the devil. I asked the brother to start at\nleast an hour ahead of time to go to the meeting or else give me a lantern\nand I would walk over. He asked me why, and I told him that the devil was\nmad at me and will not let me ride--that when I get in the car, it will\nstop.\n\nThe brother laughed at me and said, \"I have a new Oldsmobile car,\" and they\nwould not let me have a lantern, but when they were ready to go I got the\nlantern and told them to go on and tell the folks that I would be coming as\nfast as I could. But the brother said, \"Get in the car.\" I didn't want to,\nbut he took hold of me and almost forced me into the car. I got in and it\nran for a rod or two and then stopped. I jumped out of the car, took the\nlantern and ran. After a while they caught up with me and stopped for me to\nget in, saying that if I didn't, they would not go. This happened several\ntimes. I would get in the car, it would run a rod or two and stop. Finally\nI ran away from them and walked all the way to the school house and they\narrived after I got there. We were so late the people were just getting\nready to leave, as it was nearly nine o'clock.\n\nWe all went into the school house and went on with the service. We found\nafterwards why the devil opposed me and did not want me there. There was a\nbootlegger in the audience, who, when hearing me relate the experience, got\nto thinking about it, became convicted and got saved. When we were leaving\nto go home, Brother Keutzer asked me how I was going to get home; was I\ngoing to walk? \"No,\" I said, \"I am going to ride and we will have no\ntrouble with the car.\" The devil had lost his hold on that bootlegger and\nwe had no further trouble with the car.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe first time I was called to the Koglin home to hold services was in\nwinter and very cold. The address given me was Thief River Falls, but did\nnot state the number of the rural route, so there was no way for me to get\nto their place that evening, and I had only enough money to take me to\nSteiner, which was my destination. I asked at the depot whether I could\nstay there, but they said \"No,\" because they closed up over night. So I\nleft my grips there and went out to see what I could find, for there was no\none in the city that I knew. I saw a light in a chapel and went in,\nthinking I might get an opportunity to testify, and that someone might\ninvite me home with them. I got a chance to testify all right, but no one\ninvited me to go home with them. I walked around the city and went into a\nrestaurant, sat down and got warmed up. But soon they closed.\n\nI kept walking the streets to keep warm, and after a while a man caught up\nwith me and said, \"Well, some one else is out walking in this cold weather,\ntwenty below.\" I agreed that it was surely cold. He asked me whether I\nlived there, and I told him that my home was in Paynesville,\n\nMinnesota. Then he said, \"What is your name?\" I told him, \"S. O. Susag,\"\nand he then replied, \"I used to know a man by that name who was in the\ngrocery business on Franklin and Minnehaha in Minneapolis.\" He turned to me\nin the darkness and said, \"I am Erickson of the firm of Rudda and Erickson\nthat used to be on Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis.\"\n\nIt turned out that he was a good friend of years ago, so he soon found out\nwhy I was there. He asked me whether I had a hotel room yet. I told him,\nno, that I was just looking around. Nevertheless, he offered me money to\npay for a room at the hotel. I refused it, but he insisted, saying, \"If our\nspare room was empty I would have taken you to my home, but we have friends\nfrom North Dakota visiting us today, but you come to our home for breakfast\nin the morning before you take the train.\" He never knew what a blessing he\nwas to me in the hour of my great need.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSPEAKING IN TONGUES\n\nAt the State Camp meeting at Wilmar, Minnesota, I was asked to preach in\nScandinavian as there were some sixty elderly Scandivanian people who did\nnot understand the English language. I agreed to do so. As soon as I had\nbegun to preach the whole camp came in to listen. When the service was over\npeople asked why Brother Susag did not preach in Scandinavian in the\nafternoon. Brother Ring told them that he had done so. However, they\ninsisted that I had spoken in English, since the whole camp, they said, had\ncome in and heard me preach in English. The fact is: I had spoken in\nScandinavian and the Lord interpreted it to them in English.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTHE FUR COAT\n\nAt one time I was in great need of a fur coat, for the winters are very\ncold in the northern states and Canada. So I set my heart on having a\nfur-lined coat listed in the Sears Roebuck catalogue for $57.25. I asked\nthe Lord if I could have it and He answered, \"Yes.\"\n\nShortly after this matter had been decided, a brother came to me and said,\n\"You need a fur coat and here are ten dollars to start toward it.\" Others\nwrote sending money specifying that it was for a fur coat until I had\n$36.50. Then a whole year passed and nothing came. The following November I\nwent to Rice Lake, Wisconsin to hold a meeting for Bro. E. G. Ahrendt. It\nwas very cold and there was lots of snow. On my arrival Brother Ahrendt\nsaid to me, \"Haven't you got a fur coat, Brother Susag?\" I answered, \"Yes.\"\nHe said, \"Why don't you wear it this cold weather?\" I answered, \"I have it\nby faith--have had it for a year and a half and have $36.50 laid by for it\nthat was given me towards buying a coat, but the price is $57.25.\" Then\nBro. Ahrendt went upstairs and was gone for a long time. When he came down\nagain, he said, \"Brother Susag, before you leave here you are going to have\na fur coat.\" I said, \"Is that faith or presumption?\" To which he replied,\n\"If it isn't faith, I have never had faith.\" I said, \"Praise the Lord; good\nfor you and good for me.\"\n\nWhen the meeting was over Brother Ahrendt said, \"Did you get the fur coat?\"\nI told him, \"No.\" He then asked me where I was going tomorrow night from\nhere, and I told him that I was going ten miles out in the country to a\nlittle meeting house for a service. He said, \"I'll go with you.\"\n\nAfter the service that night Brother Ahrendt again asked, \"Did you get your\nfur coat?\" I said, \"No.\" Upon, which he inquired where I was going that\nevening. I told him that a family had invited me to their home and had\noffered to take me to another railroad over which I would be able to reach\nhome sooner. Brother Ahrendt declared that he was going with me until he\nsaw my last foot safe in the train, \"and,\" he said, \"if you haven't got the\nfur coat by then I'll not know what to think of myself or my faith.\" (By\nway of explanation would say here, that the offerings I received went for\nmy general expenses; the money for my fur coat was to come from other\nsources. The Lord had promised me the fur coat.)\n\nThat night I had a dream. I woke up about three o'clock in the morning, and\nas I stirred a little, Brother Ahrendt whispered, \"Are you awake?\" I told\nhim I was. \"Did you have a dream?\" he asked. I answered, \"Yes, a woman came\nto me and gave me four bills!\" \"The fur coat! the fur coat!\" he excitedly\nsaid. We got so happy that we couldn't sleep any more and we shouted,\n\"Glory to God!\" We made so much noise that we disturbed the folks down\nstairs, and when we went down they said, \"What is the matter with you\nbrethren making so much noise?\" We told them we were so happy that we could\nnot help ourselves.\n\nAfter a while the sister asked me to come out into the kitchen. She gave me\na chair and I sat down. She at once began to unburden her mind and said,\n\"Did you understand when I spoke to you at the campmeeting at St. Paul Park\nthree or four years ago that I was intending to give you some money for\nyour trip to Europe?\" I answered, \"Yes, I thought so.\" \"But\" she said, \"you\nsaid you had the fare.\" \"Yes,\" I answered, \"I had it by faith.\" Then in\nsurprise, she asked, \"But didn't you have the money in your possession?\nWeren't you then already on your way to Europe?\"\n\n\"I was on my way to Europe,\" I answered, \"but did not have all my\nfare--only by faith.\"\n\nShe then told me that she had been sick for about two years. She said, \"I\nhave been prayed for often, and have received some help, yet I gradually\ngot worse. Finally,\" she said, \"I got desperate about it and said to the\nLord, 'What's the matter with me anyway; I cannot get well and I cannot\ndie?' Then the Lord said, 'Do you know the Brother you intended to give\nsome money before he went to Europe?' I said, 'Yes, in a way, but he's back\nnow.' The Lord said, 'That does not make any difference; how much was it?'\n'Fifteen dollars,' was my answer. 'That's right,' the Lord said, 'but there\nis ten dollars interest on that now.' 'I'll give it to him the first time I\nsee him,' I said. Then I was prayed for and healed at once.\" Having said\nthis, she handed me the money, \"Here it is,\" and it was four bills! I took\nit and commenced to shout the glory of God. In came Bro. Ahrendt and I held\nup the four bills for him to see. He shouted, \"The fur coat, the fur coat!\"\nThen I related my experience to her of my praying for a fur coat and said\nto her, \"If you had given me the money when I came back from Europe I would\nnot have had to suffer cold for about a winter and a half.\" The sister was\nhealed and blessed, and I was kept warm for many a day inside that fur\ncoat.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA number of years ago I was called to go to Wales, North Dakota, to hold a\nmeeting at Brother Paul Garber's home, which was a Great Northern box car.\nThe weather was very cold, the temperature being twenty degrees below zero.\nAfter the first evening service a woman came to me and said, \"I am the\nsheriff's wife and I want you to come home with me. I cannot allow you to\nstay here.\" I went with her and the next day we got the Methodist church in\nwhich to hold our services.\n\nMore than half the people who attended the services were Catholics. On the\nlast evening as I was going out of the church, the butcher of the town\nshook hands with me, putting three silver dollars in my hand and said, \"You\ncome back soon.\"\n\nI surely had a fine stay with the sheriff and his wife, and the day I was\nleaving the sheriff was at the depot with a delegation representing the\nbusiness men of the town saying to me, \"We wish you would come back soon.\"\nI said to them, \"What's your reason for wanting me to come back soon, since\nthe butcher was the only business man of the city who came out to my\nmeeting?\" \"When you come back,\" they said, \"we will all come to your\nservices, because many people have come and paid up their old bills and\nmade good their outlawed notes since you have been here.\" I am sorry that I\nnever had the opportunity of going back there again.\n\nA number of the saints at Wales moved to Grand Forks, N. Dakota, and were a\ngreat blessing and an asset to that congregation. Later on, sixty-three\nadults and children moved to Benton Harbor, Michigan, and I understand that\nan English and a German congregation was started at that place through\ntheir efforts.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOne time Brother Renbeck and I went to Bro. Bahr's to pray for Willie, a\nson of theirs, who had the scarlet fever, and after we had prayed I felt\nthat I should stay a little longer. I lay down on the lounge and fell\nasleep. All of a sudden Sister Bahr called and said, \"I believe Willie is\ndying,\" and when I laid my hands on him he was so hot that the heat seemed\nto go right through my whole body. I kept on rebuking the sickness and the\ndevil, but it didn't seem to help any.\n\nI prayed, \"Lord, heal this boy to Thy glory. If no other way, I am willing\nto take this sickness upon myself, just so you get the glory of healing the\nboy.\" In a few minutes he was sound asleep, perfectly healed! But I felt as\nthough I was sore all over my body. When I went out into the cold winter\nweather the cold would smart what seemed to be sores on my face, and when I\ngot to the chapel to preach I felt ashamed to get up before the audience\nbecause I thought the folks would see the sores on my face, although I knew\nit was an imposition of the devil. When I got into the pulpit I told the\npeople how I felt, and asked them to pray, and immediately the feeling left\nme. I learned the lesson not to be willing to take a devil's sickness in\norder to get people healed.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn 1942 as I was coming from the West coast to Wolf Point, Montana, I took\nthe bus thirty-eight miles from there where another road turns off to go to\nmy son's place, a mile and a half off the highway. It had snowed quite a\nbit and was somewhat stormy, but I thought I could make it. However, I had\nnot walked far until I had to throw my grips into the ditch and tried to go\non, but the snow was so deep I could not make it walking. My only way was\nto lie down in the road and roll. I kept that up quite a while, and when I\ngot tired I would just lie and rest. After I had gotten a quarter of a mile\nI was so worn out that it seemed as though there was no hope for me. I\nrolled over to a fence post and stood up and tied myself to it, thinking\nthat if I did freeze to death folks would be able to find my body. After I\nhad been standing quite a while praying, I felt as though I was getting my\nstrength again, so I loosened myself from the fence post and started to\nroll again and then tried to walk on my knees, but that would not do. The\nsnow was too loose--I went down. Toward evening I had reached the highest\nspot from which I could be seen from my son's house. He was coming from the\nbarn and happened to see me, and then quickly came to meet me and very soon\nled me safely to his home. So the Lord had mercy on me once more.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOne time I received a telegram from Brother Fortner of Brookings, S. Dakota\nasking me to come at once. I arrived there late in the evening and found\nthat their son, Clarence, was seriously ill at the hospital in Huron,\neighty-three miles from Brookings. The folks thought we had better wait\nuntil the following morning to go. Brother and Sister Fortner, another son,\nand the pastor all went with me in my car.\n\nClarence had been saved but had gotten away from the Lord. On our trip from\nBrookings, on the highway we drove eighty miles an hour and the pastor\nsaid, \"Brother Susag, you do not need to go so fast.\" I thought that I\nwould slacken down but the car was still going eighty miles; the pastor\ncalled again, \"Brother Susag, you need not go so fast.\" I said nothing but\nfelt rather sad that I was hurting the pastor's feelings, but still I was\ngoing eighty. Finally the pastor spoke sternly, \"Brother Susag, you don't\nneed to go that fast.\" I felt sad, but said nothing, yet in spite of myself\nand the pastor, I was still going eighty miles an hour.\n\nOn arriving at the hospital the young man said, \"I have gotten back to the\nLord and this morning at three o'clock He said to me that at nine o'clock\nBrother Susag would be here to take you home.\" He had the clock standing on\nthe chair and it was just nine o'clock when we arrived! The pastor walked\nout. (This occurred before the laws governing speed went into effect, but\nlaw or no law, the Lord wanted me there at nine o'clock.)\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nGETTING IN TROUBLE FOR OBEYING THE WORD OF GOD\n\nA brother minister got the idea in his mind that wife and I were covetous,\nbut we did not at the time realize to what extent it had affected him.\nPrevious to his leaving the state he brought the matter before the body of\nministers so as to have them deal with us. The ministers told him that they\nhad not seen any indication of coveteousness in Brother and Sister Susag,\nand then asked him what proof he had for thinking so. He answered, \"They do\nnot give enough.\" (Our custom was never to tell anyone what we gave,\nbecause the Bible says, \"Let not your left hand know what your right hand\ndoeth.\")\n\nWe were called before the Ministerial Assembly and the matter was taken up.\nThe brethren said that they had not seen any indication of coveteousness in\nus and all the brother had against us was that we hadn't been giving\nenough, and, said they, \"After thinking it over, neither did we know what\nyou were giving.\" To which I replied, \"If I'm coveteous, I'm the one that\nought to know it, so won't you brethren, please help me out?\" This is what\nthey suggested: \"You tell us how much you give and then we can compare.\" I\nanswered, \"If I tell you how much I give, won't it be fair for you folks to\ntell how much you give?\" Whereupon the chairman replied, \"Yes, that will be\nfair; I know you cannot give as much as me since my income is larger; but\nyou and Bro. A---- should give about the same amount.\" So they all told\nwhat they had given for the year. I then added the amounts and found the\ntotal, and getting my grip, took out of it receipts for what wife and I had\ngiven and asked the brethren to add them up. Then I requested them to add\nup what the seven ministers had given and, to the great surprise of all of\nus, they found that wife and I had given $22.50 more than all seven\nministers together. This was one of the \"all things\" in my life.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhen I was the evangelist at a certain State Camp meeting, a lady, who had\nonly been to our services that morning, got saved at that Sunday morning\nservice, and having to leave the meeting right away, wanted to be baptized\nbefore going. Three sisters came to me in protest, and said, \"You are not\ngoing to baptize that woman with all those rings on, are you?\" I answered,\n\"Please leave that sister and her rings alone.\" To which they replied, \"If\nyou baptize that woman with all those rings, we will never have confidence\nin you again.\" I answered, \"I'm very sorry, but let's pray about it; you go\nover in the timber in that direction and I will go over in this direction\nin the timber and pray and prepare for the baptizing.\"\n\nAs the woman, who was to be baptized, stepped into the water, she\nexclaimed, \"Oh!\" as if something was hurting her, then stripping the rings\noff her fingers she threw them into the sand, never more to put them back\non her fingers.\n\nIn response to an urgent call to come to St. Paul Park I forthwith prepared\nto go, although not knowing the reason I was summoned. When ready to start,\nat the request of my wife, I consented to take along a rag carpet which she\nhad made for the Old People's Home out there. I put the carpet into a sack\nand checked it to St. Paul, rechecking it from there to St. Paul Park. The\nbaggage man asked me whether I had a trunk or a grip. I informed him I had\na sack. In answer to his inquiry as to what was in it, I told him,\n\"Clothing.\" While riding on the next train the devil said to me, \"You're a\npretty nice preacher; you lied to the baggage man; instead of telling him\nclothing was in the sack you should have said it was cloth or rag carpet.\"\n\"Well,\" I said, \"I can make that right on my return trip.\" On my arrival at\nthe Park I found that Brother Krutz had lost his mind. When I met him he\ndid not know me. I went to praying and tried to talk to him and after a\nwhile he knew me. He said, \"Brother Susag, Brother Susag, you are pure\ngold, pure gold.\" Then looking at me intently, pointing his finger at my\nheart, he said, \"What do I see, a tiny spot?\" No--doubt the enemy wanted to\nhinder me in praying for him. The incident bothered me a little bit, so I\nwent out into the woods and the Lord showed me that it was just an\nimposition of the devil to bother me. Brother Krutz was prayed for and the\nLord healed him and the next Sunday he preached.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nPRAYING FOR EGGS AND KEROSENE\n\nBrother Ahrendt and I were holding some meetings in the locality between\nBertha and Hewitt, Minnesota. We were staying in a log house--just the two\nof us. We ran out of kerosene, and were also out of money. Brother A----\ntook the can and started to walk to Hewitt--a distance of six or seven\nmiles--in the snow, hoping to meet some brethren who would ask him why he\nwas carrying that can--but he met no one. He went to the post office, got\nthe mail and concluded that he would have to go back without the kerosene;\nhowever, on opening one of the letters a dime dropped out. He immediately\nwent to the store, bought the kerosene and returned home.\n\nOne evening Brother Ahrendt said to me, \"Brother Susag, I'm hungry for some\neggs; let's pray the Lord to send us some eggs.\" I replied, \"How can we\nexpect to get eggs out here? I haven't seen any chickens around here, nor\nin the bush where I have been.\" \"Well,\" he said, \"the Lord can bring them\nfrom somewhere.\" That evening on our returning from service we found\nsomething setting on the table covered with a newspaper. Brother Ahrendt\nlifted the paper and found a tiny basket with five eggs in it! I said, \"You\nget three of them; you prayed and had faith while I only said, amen.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTHE READING ON THE SIGN POST CHANGED(?)\n\nOne day Bro. Ahrendt was out advertising the meeting. His last call was at\na schoolhouse, and from there he wanted to go to Bertha intending to take a\nshort cut through the brush to the highway. On coming to the highway, he\nsaw a signpost pointing in the direction he was going, which read, \"One\nmile to Hewitt.\" \"Well,\" he thought, \"what won't boys do changing the road\nsigns?\" He walked on a few steps and saw a little town not far away, then\nhe realized that he had been going north while he thought he was going\nsouth. The boys had not done any harm. He was mistaken in his sense of\ndirection.\n\nOne year Brother H. A. Sherwood was the evangelist at the Minnesota State\nCamp meeting which was held at Saint Cloud. A large, roomy church building\nwas used for the services. The heat was record-breaking that year, and on\none of the hottest afternoons when Brother Sherwood was expecting to preach\nas usual, the heat was so intense that he was physically unequal to the\noccasion, and so it came about that at Brother Sherwood's urgent request,\nBrother Allison F. Barnard (who, with Mrs. Barnard, was attending the\nmeeting) consented to preach in his stead that afternoon.\n\nAs Bro. Barnard came into the pulpit the Holy Spirit came upon him and upon\nthe whole congregation in such a way and in such measure as I had never\nseen in any service. The heat in the chapel moderated at once, but outside\nit was as hot as ever. It was as though the dear man was \"out of the body\"\nand there was no trouble at the altar of prayer for seeking souls to\nreceive their heart's desire. They prayed through! So, again, the Scripture\nwas fulfilled, \"Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the\nLord of hosts.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSpeaking of Brother Sherwood, I loved that big little man in the Lord. On\none occasion he was the campmeeting evangelist at Morden, Manitoba, Canada.\nThe Lord used him mightily and when the meeting was over it was arranged\nthat wife and I should take him with us in our car to Grand Forks, North\nDakota. It started to rain and did really pour down. The first forty-five\nmiles the roads were nothing but black gumbo, and we used eight gallons of\ngas driving that forty-five miles.\n\nBrother Sherwood sat in the back seat, praying all the time that we would\nnot get stuck in the mud nor slide down into the ditch, and when we reached\nthe gravel road in North Dakota he said, \"Brother Susag, will you stop\nawhile so we can have a thanksgiving meeting right here, that the Lord has\nheard prayer and protected our lives!\" And that is what we did. Brother\nSherwood then said, \"Bro. Susag, will you accept an admonition from a\nyounger man than yourself?\" I answered, \"Any time, Brother.\" And he said,\n\"This is the second worst automobile ride I ever had in all my life. Will\nyou promise me never again to start out driving when the road is as bad as\nthis?\" My reply was: \"Hello! Hello! Hello! Who is this? Brother Sherwood?\nWhat do you want? Your wife sick? What, dying? Yes, I'm starting out right\naway; I'm coming as fast as I can.\" Whereupon Brother Sherwood reached out\nhis hand and said, \"Brother Susag, forgive me; how quick a man can be to\nask a promise of a man without thinking!\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOnce I was called to attend a meeting north of St. Cloud, Minnesota. There\nwere about thirteen ministers there. It was among a people who were called,\n\"The Free.\" Some three of their leading brethren had heard the Truth, and\nthey were the ones who had sent for me to come. The ministers and the\nmajority of the people were opposed to our teachings. When the offering was\ndivided among the ministry, those three brethren, who were on the board,\ngave me $38.00.\n\nBut after I had taken the money I could not keep it on my person. I tried\nmy best, but even when in my overcoat pocket the money burned me, so I gave\nit back to the brethren. A brother was going to drive me to the nearest\nrailroad station, and when I had taken my seat in the buggy ready to go to\ntown, these three brethren came and gave me fifteen dollars, saying, \"We\nhave given much more in the offering than that,\" and they felt that the\nfifteen dollars would not burn me. So I took the money and thanked them for\nit and we went on our way to town. As I put the money in my pocket it still\nburned me. I had to take it out again and lay it on the bottom of the\nbuggy. I told the driver to take it back and return it to the brethren. He\nsaid, \"They will not know what to do with it now that the meeting is\nended.\" I told him of a young minister who was sick and in need--to take\nthe money to him. I was needing the money badly, even the $38.00, as I was\nwithout money to pay my way home.\n\nAs we crossed the railway track coming into the town near the depot, I\nasked the man to let me off. As I was walking up to the station a man, whom\nI did not know, came along beside me and pressed a five dollar bill into my\nhand, and that was enough to take me home! A number of people took their\nstand for the truth in that meeting.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTHE LORD STILL HEARS PRAYER\n\nAt a Ministers' Meeting at Tulare, California, in 1945, while the noon\nlunch was being served, I was sitting in the chapel with my head bowed on\nthe chair in front of me, praying for a certain amount of money, not\nexpecting any money at that meeting. Soon I felt the confidence that the\nLord had heard prayer and dismissed the matter from my mind. A few minutes\nlater a man came and sat down beside me and said, \"Say, how do you get your\nexpenses; do you get a salary for traveling around this way?\" I answered,\n\"No, I have no salary; I pay my expenses as the Lord puts it into the\nhearts of the brethren to give to me.\" \"Well,\" he said, \"the Lord told me\nto come over and give you this.\"\n\nAnd he handed me the very amount I had been asking the Lord for!\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nBrother Renbeck and I were holding a meeting out near Kellys, North Dakota.\nAfter the service one afternoon I saw Brother Renbeck sitting in a corner\nof the room weeping. I went over to him and asked him what was the trouble.\nHe said, \"I am weeping because there were not more sinners in the meeting\nto get saved, for if there had been more there, more would have been\nsaved.\" To which I replied, \"Keep on weeping.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMY FIRST EXPERIENCE IN DEALING WITH DEVIL POSSESSION\n\nAnother time we were holding meetings near and in Fosston, Minnesota. It\nwas said of us that \"those preachers are of the devil.\" One evening a man\ncame to the meeting who had blood poisoning in one of his knees. In getting\nto the meeting he used a long pole to help support himself. He wanted to\nsee those preachers who were \"of the devil.\" When he arrived the room was\nfull and there being no chair for him to sit on, I gave him mine. When we\nknelt down to pray I laid my hands on his knee and asked the Lord to heal\nhim and he was healed instantly.\n\nA few nights later a man came to the service who was possessed with devils.\nHe was frothing at the mouth and acting like a madman. As I took hold of\nhim and laid my hands on him we almost wrestled. I commanded the devils to\ncome out of him, and I told the Lord I would never let Him go until He\ndelivered the man, and he was finally delivered by the Spirit of the Lord.\nAlthough it was winter time I was as wet as though I had been dipped in the\nriver. While the struggle was going on all the people ran out of the room.\nBut the man was fully delivered and then he was saved.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn another of our meetings a sister got saved and received light on\nbaptism. She had a little baby girl and her husband wanted to have the\nchild sprinkled, as that was his faith. The mother was to carry the baby\nforward to receive this rite, but she objected and said, \"No, I cannot do\nthat; but if you care to, you may do so, for she is as much yours as she is\nmine.\" But the husband would not consent to do that. Well, she didn't know\nwhat to do and went to Brother and Sister Anton Nelson for advice. Brother\nNelson said, \"Let us ask the Lord about it.\" After they had prayed about\nit, Brother Nelson said to the sister, \"You go and carry the baby and we\nwill come along and pray for you and it will all come out all right.\"\n\nAt the Sunday service that the baby was to receive this rite, there were\nseven children in all being subjected to this ceremony. The minister came\nto this sister and said, \"What is the name of the child?\" The sister\nanswered, \"Anna Marie.\" Then the minister said, \"Anna Marie, do you forsake\nthe devil and all his works? Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and\nwill you upon this faith be baptized?\" (The mother was supposed to answer,\n\"Yes.\") The sister answered nothing. So he read his ritual once more and\nagain no response. So after asking the question the third time, he said,\n\"Anna Marie, don't you answer?\" At this, the father of the child called out\nfrom the audience, and stamping his feet, said, \"Come on, wife, that's\nenough!\"\n\nYou will remember reading at the beginning of this book I told of how my\nmother, when I was a child, used to say to me, \"Child, O child! You are\nmore trouble to me than all the other eight children put together!\" And\nyet, after I had been away in America for twenty-four years, when I went\nback home, the very first day my mother had me sit facing her not more than\nabout four feet away and I listened to her telling me stories about the\nmost wonderful boy I had ever heard of. After about two hours of this\npleasant entertainment I smiled and said to her, \"I have recollections of a\nmother who used to weep over this same boy and say, 'O child, what shall I\ndo with you, you are more trouble to me than all the other eight children\ntogether.'\" \"O Ja,\" she said, \"but you were the best boy anyhow.\" I am\nfairly good in arithmetic, but that is a problem I have not solved yet.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nPREACHING ON WORLDLINESS\n\nWhile conducting a revival meeting at Grand Forks, North Dakota, I preached\none afternoon on the subject of worldliness. An attorney and his wife from\nLangdon, North Dakota were staying in the city to attend the meeting. After\nhearing this sermon the wife would not attend the services any more. At the\nclose of the Sunday afternoon service, two days later, the attorney came to\nme and said, \"The Holy Spirit was in the meeting this afternoon, wasn't\nHe?\" I replied that He was, and he continued, \"Every sinner present was\nsaved and something happened to me that I never remember having experienced\nbefore. I cried like a child!\"\n\nI asked him why his wife had quit coming to the meeting. In reply he asked,\n\"Has Sister Hansen told you anything about us and our home?\" I said, \"Yes,\nyou once gave a minister twenty-two-hundred pieces of money, they were all\npennies. You did a good thing. This is all Sister Hansen ever told me about\nyou folks. I have heard nothing whatever about you.\"\n\nHe referred to the sermon on worldliness and said, \"In your talk, you\npractically, set a price on everything we have in the home, such as\ncurtains, carpets, furniture and the range; and you illustrated it this\nway: 'Supposing a person could buy a suitable range for $42.50 but seeing\nanother, just the same kind only with nickel-plated trimmings, for $82.00\nand he would choose the latter, wouldn't that be called the pride of the\neye?' And that is just the kind of range we have! and my wife could not see\nit that way.\" She thought that Sister Hansen had told me and did not get\nthat out of her mind and was finally lost, the husband said.\n\nI was preaching under the leading of the Holy Spirit and in what I said I\nhad no one in mind in using that illustration, but was simply trying to\nshow that such money could be used to better purpose and that sometimes\nwhen folks yielded to the temptation to take the finer appearing article\nthey might be going beyond their means.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOne Sunday morning when I was pastor in Grand Forks and had just gotten\nthrough preaching a man came rushing up to the pulpit and said in a rough\nvoice, \"Who told you all about me?\" I put out my hand and said, \"My name is\nSusag, what is your name?\" He answered, \"You stood before this audience\nthis morning and told them everything I have ever done!\" I answered, \"Dear\nman, I don't know you, nor have I ever heard of you, what is your name?\" He\nlooked around, then turned and out he ran! I never saw the man again.\n\nSome years ago when in Norway, Morris Johnson and I held a meeting on a\nlarge farm in Roleg in Numedahl. A large crowd was out at the first\nservice. We knelt down to pray and while we were praying I heard a great\ncommotion and when we rose from our knees we found that two thirds of the\npeople were gone. The foreman of the King's highway was in the audience and\nhe had said when he came out there, that those preachers were too fanatical\nand if he had had his gun along and had shot them, he would have done the\nLord a good favor. However, I do not think that in his heart he meant as\nbad as it sounded, for some time later he invited us to his home and\ntreated us with much courtesy and kindness. A number were saved and\nbaptized and quite a nice little congregation was raised up at that place.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhile we were at Sanes, Norway, Brother Morris Johnson was very sick and\none evening when we arrived at our stopping place he rolled onto the bed\nwith his clothes on, exhausted. He had been bleeding from the lungs and was\nso weak that I could hardly get him home. We wept and prayed and finally I\nsaid to him, \"Morris, can't you get out of bed and kneel down with me and\npray?\" \"I might,\" he said, \"but I think the bed is the best place for me.\"\nHowever, he got down and said a few words and then rolled back into bed\nagain. He wasn't able to undress all night and I was afraid to go to sleep\nfor fear that he might leave me most any time during the night.\n\nIn the morning he seemed to be somewhat rested and I said to him, \"Brother\nMorris, we must try and get down to Sister Svenson's and get you some meat\nbroth.\" (Sister S. had a delicatessen store, and Morris hadn't eaten\nanything for a couple of days) but he said, \"I am unable to get down there\nnor can I eat anything.\" \"But,\" I said, \"You've got to get down there even\nif I have to carry you there on my back. You'll have to eat or I will be\nhaving to bury you somewhere among the rocks in Norway.\" He got up and I\nput my arm around him and, as luck would have it the road was down hill. We\nhad to stop and rest several times but we got there and the Lord must have\nimpressed Sister Svenson for she had some broth all ready made, but as she\nwas preparing to serve it the trouble in his lungs began again and he went\nto the wash room. I fell prostrate on the floor crying to God for help for\nhim. Suddenly I realized I had received faith for him and called to him,\n\"Morris, the bleeding stops, now!\" And it did. And from that time on he\nrecovered rapidly. (When I think of that dear brother and the plight he was\nin, it brings tears to my eyes, even now).\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA WONDERFUL MEETING AT STAVANGER\n\nA telephone call came to Sr. Svenson from two ministers at Stavanger\nrequesting the two American evangelists to come to them. We accepted the\ncall and Sr. Svenson's daughter and Bro. Fjield went with us. How the\nministers came to locate us at Sr. Svenson's I never knew, as neither of us\nhad ever been at Stavanger. The names of the two ministers calling us were\nJohnson and Jornsen of the Christian church. We called first at Brother\nJohnson's where we were warmly welcomed. They told us that they had heard\nof us and had been earnestly praying for the Lord to send us to them and\nthat they were glad we were there: \"You are here in answer to prayer,\" they\nsaid, and then opening a door into another room informed us that there was\nour bedroom. They showed the dining room, saying, as they did so, \"Anytime\nthat you are hungry, come here and eat.\" To all this kind welcoming my\nresponse was, \"This really seems to me to be like too much of an open door\nin face of the fact that you do not know us nor do we know you, perhaps we\nhad better go in and have prayer together and some consultation about the\nmatter. After we had had prayer they related the following:\n\n\"We belong to the Christian Church; formerly there were two hundred members\nof us or more, but two years ago a 'Tongues speaker,' an ex-Baptist\nminister, came to this city and as he seemed to be earnest and sincere we\nwere sorry he was not getting a single opportunity to speak, so decided to\ngive him the privilege to speak once in our chapel, and that was once too\noften! At the meeting, I [Bro. Johnson] was sitting on the platform with\nhim, and Brother Jornsen, who weighed two hundred and sixty pounds, was\nstanding in the aisle holding on to the back of a chair on which a man was\nsitting, as the chapel was packed. After the preacher had spoken ten or\nfifteen mintues seven women were lying on the floor in a trance.\n\n\"We took a stand against the spirit that was working and, talk about power!\nThe chapel wall on one side cracked (the evidence of which was still to be\nseen).\" Brother Jornsen said, \"I took a stand against it with all my soul\nbut nevertheless my feet went from under me and I was thrown to the floor\nand my jaws were just jabbering.\" \"This continued eight days and nights\nuntil we finally got the victory over it and the preacher took over two\nhundred of the congregation with him, leaving us but nine persons, we two\nministers make the total number eleven. And if you go with us to the\nservice tonight there will be thirteen of us and we will have services,\nSunday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and\" they added, \"you must preach\nonly until nine o'clock, the services start at eight fifteen. Don't let any\nwomen testify nor any pentecostals!\n\n\"Now,\" I said, \"I will give you our proposition, we will go with you\ntonight and tomorrow you can advertize in the two city daily papers that\ntwo American evangelists are here to hold services every night including\nSaturday and three services on Sunday, all next week until Friday and then\nwe will see how things go.\" \"That will not do,\" they said, \"No one will\ncome out Saturday night nor Monday or Tuesday nights.\" \"Well,\" I said, \"you\ncan let us have the key and if no one comes Brother Johnson and I can go\ninside and have prayer. Upon this condition we can stay, and if not, we\nwill take our grips and go.\"\n\nTo which they replied, \"You can't go, for the Lord has shown us that you\nare to hold a meeting for us.\" The next night there were about two hundred\nin the congregation and some ten minutes before nine o'clock eight persons\nstarted to get ready to leave; I was still speaking, so paused and said,\n\"Just a minute, please: We have just come from Denmark where we preached as\nlong as the Lord would lead, until nine or ten o'clock. Now if you have to\ngo home you are welcome to go, but if it's simply your custom to leave a\nmeeting at a certain time whether or not the service is over, we are going\nto pray the Lord to break up such a custom.\" Six of the persons sat down\nagain and two left. Saturday night the chapel was full and Sunday night\nquite a number were saved. The meeting continued almost four weeks and\nsouls were getting saved right along.\n\nOne day we had a baptizing service between two boat houses in the North sea\nand after I had baptized all the candidates, a fisherman, who owned one of\nthe boat houses, came out and asked me whether I would not baptize him. On\nmy inquiry as to his being saved, he told me this: \"I was saved three years\nago but have never before met folks with whom I believed the Lord was\nworking, but today as I witnessed this service I was convinced that the\nHoly Ghost was with you folks.\" I baptized him and never saw him again.\nAfter that we were not allowed to baptize from the shore but had to take\nthe folks out in a boat and baptize them from a rock in the North sea.\n\nFollowing that incident we were invited to a sea Captain's home, to be\nthere at 9:30, the next morning. The house was the most finely finished\nhouse I had even been in. When we arrived in the morning we found it was\nfull of people of the upper class, the men with their silk hats and the\nwomen equally distinctive in their dress. Some of the company were saved\nand some fifteen more were saved that morning.\n\nThe lady of the house and her six sisters had a brother who was an old sea\ncaptain and was sick. We were told he was an infidel and would have nothing\nto do with preachers, that if any happened to come into his house he\nordered them out. His seven sisters were praying earnestly for him and they\nfelt that we could be a help to him. Their plan was to set a day when they\nwould all go and visit him and if the weather was fine we were to come by\nand they would be on the porch talking to him. We were to pass along on the\nother side of the street and when they saw us they were to call \"Good\nmorning\" and invite us over and introduce us to their brother, he was not\nto know that we were preachers. The plan was successful and after talking\nawhile Captain Parsons invited us into the house.\n\nOn coming into the room we noticed that the walls were hung with pictures\nof ships, thirty-eight steamers. He said he had been seaman on each one of\nthem and captain on several. So he took us for a trip around the world.\n\nFinally he came to the last one, a very large ship, but it looked, like a\nrusty, broken-to-pieces tin can, its masts, smokestacks and bridges had\nevidently been blown or swept off. We were awed by the sight and said,\n\"This looks bad.\" \"Yes,\" he said, \"that was the trying hour of my life, it\nwas in a typhoon off the coast of Sidney, Australia. This is how it looked\nwhen we were towed in.\" Then I looked at my watch and found we had been\ntalking for two hours and feeling that it was time for us to leave I said\nto him, \"We are two ministers and generally when we make a call, before\nleaving we sing, read some Scripture and have prayer. Would you grant us\nthat privilege here?\" He said, \"I see no reason why you should not do so.\"\n\nWe, accordingly, sang, read a Scripture lesson and had prayer, after which\nwe said to our host, \"We have certainly had a pleasant visit and enjoyed\nthe trip around the world with you immensely, and now there is one sailing\ntrip left for you to take. For all these other trips no doubt you made\nsuitable preparation. What about this one; are you ready to meet your Maker\nin peace?\" \"No,\" he said, \"The Lord doesn't have such bad men as me.\" But\nwe told him that was just the kind He came to save. He said, \"Boys, boys,\nyou don't know what bad men seamen are.\" We tried to talk to him, but to no\navail. So we thanked him and said Goodbye. As we left he said, \"Boys, boys,\ncome back soon.\"\n\nThe next day we heard that he was poorly and the Board of Health had\nordered that no one shake hands with him as his case was not yet diagnosed.\nWe continued to visit him, instructing him and praying with him. On one of\nthese occasions on leaving him we both made a good mistake. We broke down\nand wept. Morris speaking to me in English said, \"I love this man's soul\nlike my own father's and wouldn't lay a straw in the way of his getting\nsaved; I would like to shake his hand, but may not.\" \"As far as I am\nconcerned,\" I said, \"I wouldn't be afraid to take his hand in both mine,\nbut for the sake of the public we cannot do it; but he is a man of\nunderstanding, we will go and explain to him and I'm sure it will be all\nright.\" Later, as we were leaving, he said, \"Be sure to come back soon.\"\n\nThe next day I was called out to an Island and Brother Morris went over\nalone to see him. He was up and apparently pretty well and he said to\nMorris, \"Young man, you had better speak English. I understand your English\nbetter than I do your Norwegian.\" Now you can see that the mistake the day\nbefore was a good one. That day he got gloriously saved and the next day he\nwas up and around happy and praising the Lord, at two o'clock in the\nafternoon he lay down to rest and went home to glory. On account of his\nsalvation we were asked to speak to the students at the mission college.\n\nHere at Stavanger a good congregation was raised up and Brother Mortensen\nbecame pastor, he was a tailor by trade and also was the owner of a fine\nclothing store. They got the chapel the revival was held in, in 1911, in\n1922. I went through and they expected me to remain for a three weeks\nmeeting to preach on Church of God doctrine. I was supposed to be there on\nSunday, but did not arrive until Monday. They had advertised for three\nservices for Sunday, and between fifteen hundred and two thousand were\npresent for each service. I was unable to remain for the three weeks\nmeeting as I was traveling through on a special mission for the Missionary\nBoard and the boat left the next morning. Speaking of the truth, this would\nhave been the greatest opportunity that Norway will have for years to come\nand perhaps ever.\n\nBrother Mortensen said, \"O how sad--this all happened because of a crooked\npreacher that Brother Susag had to take back to America.\" Brother Mortensen\nraised up a number of congregations on the West coast, and in 1937 the old\nchapel at Stavanger was razed and a new and larger chapel was erected in\nits place.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMY WIFE HEALED OF CANCER\n\nSome years ago my wife had a sore on her left cheek. Dr. Morgan examined it\nand pronounced it cancer. She was prayed for and the third day after there\nwas no sign of cancer.\n\nA little later a growth started on her right side just above the hip. It\ngrew until it was twenty-two inches long, sixteen inches by the body and\nfourteen inches around at the end of it. It finally developed into cancer.\nShe was prayed for often but seemingly was not helped, the odor from it was\nhorrible. We went to the Anderson Camp meeting. On the day especially set\napart for the healing of the sick, and seats at that particular meeting\nwere so arranged that for each sick person there were three preachers to\npray for him or her. My wife came up and sat down on the chair next to the\none where I was offering prayer, and after prayer had been offered for her,\nI heard one of the ministers say to her, \"Sister Susag, do you believe the\nLord heals you?\" She answered, \"By faith I am healed.\" And the minister\nsaid, \"Yes, by faith, is right.\" From that time the cancer began to fall to\npieces.\n\nOn the way home I asked her what it was that gave her the faith for\nhealing. She said, \"I don't know; when I went onto the platform I wanted\nBrother and Sister Byrutn to pray for me, and could have gotten on their\nchair, but there came a young lady who looked as though she might be in the\nlast stages of tuberculosis, to such an extent was she affected that she\nhad to be supported by a sister, one on each side of her when she attempted\nto walk, and I saw she was in greater need than I was, and, too, she was a\nyoung woman. I was willing for anyone to pray for me, and if I were healed\nor not it would be all right.\" I replied, \"that is where you gained the\nvictory.\"\n\nThis happened in the latter part of June and around the first of October\nthere was nothing left but a red spot about the size of a dollar to show\nwhere the cancer had been. Just before we went to Anderson, a neighbor lady\nwanted to see the cancer and the sight of it made her so sick she was in\nbed for two days. And through it all my wife never once complained.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOn the last evening of a meeting I was holding in Whittier, California, a\nman came to me telling me of a sick lady who wanted me to come and pray for\nher. I consented to do so but told the man I must go quickly as a brother\nwas coming very soon to take me to Los Angeles. On arriving at the bedside\nof the sick woman I asked her what her trouble was. She told me she had a\ncancer on her left breast and side, and that having to lie on the one side\nall the time she became very sick and sore. I prayed the prayer of faith\nfor her and left immediately.\n\nOne year later I received a letter from her. She wrote, \"It is just a year\nago tonight since I sent for you to come and pray for me. As you prayed for\nme it was as though an electric shock went through me and after you left I\nturned over on my left side and went to sleep and slept all night and in\nthe morning when I woke up I was perfectly healed. I have waited a year\nbefore writing, to see whether any symptoms returned, but none ever did.\"\n\nIn one of my meetings while I was pastor at Grand Forks I felt impressed to\nspeak to a young man, Tom Perkins, a World War I veteran. I went down into\nthe audience to speak to him, and told him he ought to seek the Lord that\nnight as something was going to happen. He said, \"Do you think so?\" I said,\n\"No, I don't think so, I know so.\" But he said, \"Not tonight.\" That was\nSunday, and on Wednesday afternoon as I was going down DeMeres Avenue he\ncame out of a clothing store with a friend of his, I said, \"How do you do\"\nto him and passed on in front of him, but as I was passing him the Lord\nsaid to me, \"Go back and speak to Tom.\" I at once turned back to him and\nsaid, \"Tom, listen to me; you ought to seek the Lord. Let us go back in the\nstore and settle it with the Lord.\" But he said, \"No.\" I said, \"It is very\nimportant.\" He said as before, \"Do you think so?\" And again I answered, \"I\ndon't think so, I know so.\" He took it very nicely but refused to make any\nmove toward seeking the Lord. Two days later, the following Friday, he went\nto Minneapolis and on Sunday afternoon he was crushed to death between two\nstreet cars. Would it not be well for people to heed the warnings of God's\nservants and His Spirit?\n\nThe pastor of the Scandinavian Free church at Brookings, South Dakota, one\ntime sent for me to come to pray for a sister who was a member of his\ncongregation and had been sick in bed for some six months. I preached there\nseveral times and then announced that I was going to pray for the sick\nsister at three o'clock the next day, and asked all those who had faith to\nbe present and those who did not have faith to stay away, preachers and\nall. Only one person was there--an elderly Baptist sister from Huron-Sister\nShall. The prayer of faith was offered and Sister Johnson was healed and\nwas present at the service that evening.\n\nOne Sunday morning wife and I with two sisters drove to Westlake for the\nforenoon service which was held in the home of Brother and Sister Hans\nMyhre. After service wife came to me and said that Sister Myhre wanted us\nto stay for lunch. But I said, \"No, we cannot stay for lunch, the Lord\nwants us to go home right away.\" On hearing this, Sister Myhre came to me\nand said, \"You have got to stay for lunch.\" I answered, \"Sister, we can't\nstay for the Lord told me to go home.\" She said, \"And then the sisters will\nnot get anything to eat either. Why do you have to go?\" I said, \"I don't\nknow, only that the Lord says, go home.\" \"Brother Susag, you are stubborn,\"\nthe sister insisted.\n\nWe drove home. Wife went upstairs to change her dress, ready to get lunch.\nI sat on a chair meditating on what had taken place. I said to myself, \"Are\nyou stubborn? Why did you come home?\" Just then the telephone rang. I\nanswered and a voice said, \"Is this Rev. Susag?\" \"Yes,\" I said. \"Hold the\nline, long distance calling you,\" he informed me. After a short pause a\nvoice said, \"This is Anna Anderson of Brookings, S. D. Do you remember\npromising Grandma H., when you were pastor here, that you would officiate\nat her funeral? She died this morning and is to be buried on Tuesday. Can\nyou come?\" I told her I would come. As I turned from the telephone wife\ncame into the room and I said to her, \"Now I know why I had to come home so\nquickly, for if they had not gotten in touch with me now, I couldn't reach\nthere in time for the funeral.\" She said, \"Sometimes you are a little\nqueer, but I have committed you to the Lord and things always come out all\nright.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhen Brother August Christofersen of Norway Lake, Minnesota, was down with\ndouble pneumonia I was sent for to come and pray for him. I went and prayed\nfor him and the Lord raised him up. I stayed for three days, went home and\nin three or four days received a phone call to come back. I asked whether\nhe was sick. They answered, \"No, but he wants to see you.\" I was able to\nget a ride almost to his place, and walked the rest of the way. On nearing\nhis home I turned in to a grove I had to pass and kneeled down to pray for\nthe brother. The Lord said to me, \"You do not need to pray for him now; he\nis home with me.\" On coming toward the house his brother came out to meet\nme, and I said to him, \"So Brother August is home with the Lord!\" He said,\n\"How did you know?\" I said, \"The Lord told me over in the grove.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhile I was in Denmark I was invited to come to a certain town with which I\nwas entirely unacquainted. Finally when I found time to go I went without\nwriting to announce my coming. On arriving in the city I found I had\nforgotten both the name and address of my friends. I walked back and forth\non the depot platform, racking my brain, as it were, to come across the\nneeded address, but I just could not remember it. A man spoke to me and\nsaid, \"You seem to be in deep meditation, or in trouble of some kind.\" I\nsaid, \"I surely am.\" To which he replied, \"Sometimes we get into such a\nfix; do you suppose I could be of any help to you?\" But I answered, \"I\ndon't suppose you can.\" However, I told him my trouble. He laughed and\nsaid, \"Surely you are in bad fix; can't you think of anything?\" \"The only\nthing I can think of,\" I said, \"is that they are the parents of Mrs. Anna\nNelson of Kaas, Denmark.\" \"Well,\" he said, \"you haven't struck it so bad\nafter all--I am her father!\"\n\nWhen I was pastor in Grand Forks we had in the congregation a mother in\nIsrael, a German sister who could not speak English. One Sunday evening the\nLord had blessed in a spiritual way. Mother Calm said to Brother Shave, \"I\ncan preach Bro. Susag's sermon in German now.\" (I had preached in English.)\nBro. Shave said, \"You can't do it.\" But she said, \"I can.\" At that, Brother\nShave raised his voice and said, \"Everybody wait a little while.\" And, sure\nenough, Sister Calm preached my sermon, the Germans said, \"almost to a\nword.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAt the St. Paul Camp meeting one time, Sister Aamot came to me telling me\nshe had lost a five dollar bill, over which she was feeling very badly. Her\nhusband was not saved. She wanted me to pray that the Lord would help her\nfind it. She told me she thought she had lost it on her way coming from the\nOld People's Home to the tabernacle. It had been blowing pretty hard that\nday and she had the bill in her handkerchief.\n\nI went out into the timber to pray, and how the wind did blow! After I had\nbeen earnestly praying that the Lord would help me to find the bill for her\nand was getting up from my knees, on looking down into the leaves, lo,\nthere, between my knees, was the five dollar bill! And the sister had no\ndifficulty in proving that it was her five dollar bill.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhile still in Denmark, one time Brother Morris Johnson and I were holding\na meeting on a farm. As we saw a large, fine looking man coming toward the\nmeeting place, Morris said, \"Let's go behind the barn and pray God Almighty\nto convict and save that man this afternoon.\" And the Lord honored our\nfaith and really saved the man that afternoon.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nI was holding a meeting in Albert Lee, Minnesota and from there was\nintending to go to Greenwood, Wisconsin. I looked at my time-table to find\nout what the railroad fare would be and I figured it to be thirteen\ndollars, so asked the Lord to give me thirteen dollars that evening. At the\nclose of the service someone put some money in my pocket and I began to\nthank the Lord for thirteen dollars. The devil said, \"You haven't got\nthirteen dollars in your pocket,\" but I said I had. He said, \"Just feel in\nyour pocket and you will find there is hardly anything there, or take it\nout and count it and you will see.\" I told him that I would neither feel in\nmy pocket nor count the money for him, and that I had thirteen dollars.\n\nWhen I got to my room I knelt down and thanked the Lord for thirteen\ndollars, and then took the money out of my pocket and counted it and found\nI had $13.05. On buying my ticket the next day it cost $13.05! I had made a\nmistake in my figuring, but the Lord knew the exact fare.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nDuring the meeting at Greenwood I went out inviting folks to the services.\nOne day I came to a farm house where the man of the house was ill in bed\nwith tuberculosis of the spine. I told him that I was a minister and also,\nthat I believed in Divine healing. When he heard this, he said, \"You are\nthe very man the Lord has sent to me that I may be healed.\" I said, \"I do\nnot know about that; however, I will pray for you. I am impressed of the\nLord not to anoint you. I will be back on Friday afternoon, and in the\nmeantime will pray the Lord to show me what to do.\" With this arrangement\nthe sick man was satisfied. It was now dusk, and on reaching my room in the\nhouse where I stayed, I knelt down beside a chair to pray for him. As I did\nso, a cow and three sheep stood right before me. I did this four times, and\nas soon as I would get on my knees here were the cow and three sheep\nbetween me and God, so to speak. So I gave up trying for that time, but the\nnext day at ten o'clock I went in to pray for him again in broad daylight.\nBut as I did so, the cow and the sheep were there before me.\n\nOn the appointed Friday I went to see him again. He inquired at once what\nthe Lord had made known to me about him. I told him the Lord had shown me\nsomething but that I did not understand what it meant. He was anxious to\nhear what it was, and I related the vision I had had. He said, \"I perceive\nthat the Lord has sent you to be a help to me,\" and continuing, went on to\nsay, \"We used to live in Iowa on a good sized farm and we were well-to-do\nfinancially. I was very much interested in spiritual work, even to printing\nand sending out a number of tracts. But it seemed that my poor soul was\nclinging to the worldly thing too much. I was troubled about it, off and\non. However, your vision means that if I only had a cow and three\nsheep--which we have--if my soul is clinging to them I can never enter\nheaven.\" \"Surely,\" he said, \"the Lord has sent you to help me. Please pray\nthat I get right with God; that is the main thing.\" The dear man bitterly\nrepented and became very happy. The third day following this event he went\nhome to glory.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nI had promised that after this meeting I would go to hold a meeting at\nDallas, Wisconsin, but the Lord impressed me to go home. Knowing no reason\nfor going home, I bought my ticket only to a certain station where I would\nhave to change if I went to Dallas, thinking that maybe my feelings would\nchange before I got there. But there was no change in my feelings when we\ngot there, so I bought a ticket to St. Paul and from there got a ticket to\nHawick, Minnesota, which is just three miles from my home.\n\nOn the street in Hawick, I met a young brother who exclaimed when he saw\nme, \"Oh, so you got our postal card?\" I replied, \"I did not get any postal\ncard.\" Then he said, \"But you got the telegram?\" I told him I had not\nreceived any telegram either. \"Well, then,\" said he, \"how did you happen to\ncome home?\" I told him that the Lord wanted me to come home, and then asked\nhim what the trouble was. He told me that my wife was very sick, near to\ndying. Then he very kindly said he would take me out home. On arriving home\nwife said, \"I knew you were coming; I asked the Lord to send you.\" She was\nsuffering from an internal malady from which the nurse had told her she\ncould not recover, and so made up her mind that she was going to die.\n\nRight at this time we received a letter from Brothers Nelson and Niles\nrequesting me to come and hold a tent meeting for them in San Antonio and\nthat I should bring my tent with me to hold the meeting in. Of course, I\nfelt I could not go and wrote them to that effect. Meanwhile, wife had\npersuaded me that she was going to die, and being in poor circumstances, I\nsaid to her, \"You will not hold it against me, if when you die, I sell out\nand take a homestead and so get out of debt, will you?\" And her reply was,\n\"When I am dead you can do what you please.\"\n\nJust about that time we got a letter from the Brothers Nelson and Niles\ntelling us they had been praying and the Lord had showed them that Sister\nSusag was not going to die. On hearing this, wife said, \"The good brethren\ndo not know any better; I am going to die.\" (And I was thinking so, too, as\nshe was getting no help.) More and more I was thinking about the homestead;\nbut wife told me I had better go to Texas. It seemed almost impossible to\nget anyone to come and stay with her and the children, yet she would say,\n\"We will get along some way and you had better go or else souls will be\nlost. If I should pass away before you get back you know where I am going\nand if you keep true to the Lord we will meet in glory.\"\n\nBut I did not feel as though I could go and leave her that way. A couple of\nnights after I had had this conversation with her I had a dream. I saw a\nlittle table standing beside my bed on which was a kerosene lamp. The light\nwas just about to go out. It would light up a little and then go down till\nit looked as though it was just ready to quit burning. I saw Jesus standing\non the other side of the table with a sad look on his face, pointing to the\nlamp and saying, \"Your lamp is about to go out.\" And I awoke from my dream\nand jumped out of bed, ran into the next room and said to my wife, \"On\nTuesday morning, I leave for Texas whether you are living or dying.\" To\nwhich she replied, \"Praise the Lord for your decision.\"\n\nThe Lord miraculously sent a good sister to our home from Washington. She\narrived the morning I was leaving for Texas. When she discovered the\ncircumstances, and that wife was sick, she said, \"Now I know why the Lord\nsent me here, and I'm here to stay until Sister Susag is well.\"\n\nSo I went to San Antonio. This was in the year 1902. At one place where I\nhad to change trains on the way, I took my grip and walked out on the\nplatform toward the train I was to take. There I stood and did not get on\nthe train, and the train pulled out without me. I walked back to the depot,\nand the agent asked me whether I had intended to take that train and why I\ndid not get on it. I simply told him I didn't know why. \"Well,\" he said,\n\"you fool, you will now have to wait four hours and take a slow train.\" (I\nunderstood a little later why I was held back from boarding that train.\nOnly forty-five miles out it became derailed and some forty passengers were\nseriously injured and, if my memory is correct, some were killed.)\n\nWhen the tent meeting was over at San Antonio, Bro. Nelson left with me and\nwe were expecting to stop over in Hamilton and Kingston, Mo. to hold some\nservices. As we came closer to the first place Bro. Nelson said, \"Here the\nsaints are well-to-do people.\" So, I thought, if they are well-to-do we\nwill not need to spend our time asking God for our car fare, for they well\nknow that preachers need car fare. The congregation rented a room for us\nabout a couple of blocks from the depot and we ate our meals in the\ndifferent homes.\n\nAfter the meeting had closed and we had gone to our room at eleven p. m.,\nBrother Nelson asked me whether I had received money for our car fare. I\ntold him I had not; that I thought he had received it all, since he had\nbeen there before. But he hadn't received any. We then decided we had\nbetter see whether we had enough money to take us to the next place.\nBrother Nelson had enough for his fare and eight cents over; I was lacking\ntwo dollars. We were to leave on the four-thirty train in the morning, and\nnow we had to pray the Lord to get us the two dollars!\n\nAs for me, I was not acquainted in the city and did not know where to go to\nraise a penny. We prayed until two o'clock, then I said to Brother Nelson,\n\"We do not need to pray any longer; the Lord says He will attend to it.\" We\nwent to bed for about an hour and a half. We went to the depot and Brother\nNelson bought his ticket, then I ordered mine and put what money I had in\nthe window of the ticket office. While the agent was counting the money, a\nman came running very fast into the waiting room and stuck his left hand\nright in front of my nose through the ticket window and left two dollars\nthere, then turned and went out so fast that I had no chance to thank him.\nBrother Nelson looked at the man, and then asked me whether I knew him, but\nI had never seen him before, nor had Brother Nelson. The lesson I learned\nfrom this incident was that it is better to depend upon the Lord than on\nwell-to-do saints.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOn arriving home I told wife of the incident. She at once asked me whether\nI was sure it was a man who brought the two dollars. I said, \"To me he\nlooked like an angel, and he would have looked so to you if you had been in\na like fix.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nANSWERS TO PRAYER\n\nOnce, when home for two or three days I was suffering pain in the region of\nmy heart. At every beat it would seem to say, \"Kelly, Kelly, Kelly.\" (Kelly\nwas a place in North Dakota, about 260 miles from home. There were a few\nsaints in the community who might be needing help). I was very sick and I\ntold my wife how badly I was feeling. She said, \"Perhaps the Lord wants you\nto go to Kelly.\" The next day the pain was still bothering me, so I sat\ndown and wrote to O. O. Holman and said, \"I am sick; if the pain in my\nheart does not soon stop I will be at your station Sunday at ten o'clock.\"\nThis was in the month of August, the busy season for farmers. The pain did\nnot stop, so I started out. When I had gone about one hundred miles from\nhome the pain left me.\n\nHaving to change trains at Grand Forks and there being no train for Kelly\nuntil the next morning, I decided to go and stay over night with Brother C.\nH. Tubbs. At the parsonage I met Brother Newell, a minister, Brother Shave\nand Brother Niles, deacons of the congregation there, and a sister who was\nvisiting.\n\nThey all exclaimed in surprise at seeing me appear at that time of the year\nand wanted to know the reason for my being there. I really felt sheepish\nabout telling them. Kelly was only fifteen miles from Grand Forks and they\nhad not heard of there being any serious trouble there.\n\nAfter I had told them how I happened to be going to Kelly, Brother Tubbs\nturned to his wife and said, \"Mary, you preach tomorrow; I want to go along\nwith Bro. Susag and see what is going on.\" His wife said, \"Charles, I am\ngoing along, too.\" Then to Bro. Newell he said, \"You take the morning\nservice tomorrow,\" but he also declined as he, too, wanted to go with us.\nAnd Bro. Shave made the same reply; he wanted to go to Kelly. But when Bro.\nNiles was asked to preach at the morning service, he kindly consented to\ntake charge. In the morning I started out for Kelly with three ministers,\none deacon and one sister accompanying me.\n\nI am generally quite talkative, but I did not do much talking those fifteen\nmiles, wondering what the people would think if, when getting there, we\nshould find nothing unusual the matter. When the train stopped at the\nstation I waited for all the folks to get off first. As I looked out of the\nwindow I saw Brother Holman standing on the platform weeping, looking at\nthe people as they got off the train. Then I came. I went to him and asked\nhim why he was weeping. He said, \"We have been praying the Lord to send you\nto us and today I started for the station, confident that I would either\nmeet you in person or that I would get a letter,\" and taking the letter\nfrom his pocket and holding it up, said, \"and here I have both!\" Then he\ntold me that his wife was very ill, possibly dying, and that they had been\npraying the Lord to send me to them.\n\nIt was three miles out to their home in the country and Bro. Holman had\nonly a one-seated buggy, so the two sisters drove and we preachers walked.\n\nThe good Lord heard prayer and healed Sister Holman. Also, an old lady of\nninety years of age was baptized at this time.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOn another occasion I was asked to come to Grand Forks to hold a revival\nmeeting. On my arrival there I found that the pastor was having trouble\nwith his eyes so that he had to stay at home in a dark room. Services\nstarted Friday night and it seemed that the whole congregation had become\ncooled off. This was made clear to me, so I preached three sermons--one on\nFriday night and two on Saturday. But it looked as though the condition\ngrew worse instead of better as a result of my preaching.\n\nSaturday night I had a dream. I dreamed that the Lord had sent me there to\ngather the sheep back that had wandered into a man's field and were\ntramping the grain down. Then I picked up one stone and threw it at them to\ntry to get them back. I picked up another stone, and then threw the third\none. They seemed now to be frightened worse than ever. This discouraged me\nand I said to the Lord, \"What shall I do?\" He said, \"Speak gently to them.\"\n\nThen I went into the field myself and called \"Sheep! Sheep!\" to them, and\nthey began to gather together and it wasn't long before I had a nice bunch\nof sheep up on the highway. I asked the Lord why it was I couldn't get them\ntogether without my going into the field myself, for I preached His word to\nthem. \"Yes,\" He said, \"you preached My Word to them, but it was the way you\npreached it.\" So Sunday I made my confession to the congregation and\nweeping, asked their forgiveness, and every one was brought back to the\nLord, and a few sinners who were in the audience were also saved.\n\nThrough the week of services thirty-eight persons came from different\nstates and Canada for healing--and there were some very serious cases. The\nnight before the day we had set apart for the praying for the sick, I\nprayed from eleven o'clock that night until four o'clock in the morning in\na dark room. When I got up from my knees the Lord stood before me and made\nit clear to me that He was going to heal every one of those who had been\nprayed for.\n\nAfter all were healed and it was time for the services to close, a little\nnine year old girl came and sat on the altar bench. I went to her and said,\n\"What do you want, Sophie?\" In reply she said that she had seen how the\nLord had healed the eyes of Sister Hobert and that now she wanted the Lord\nto heal her and set her eyes straight. (Her eyes were badly crossed).\n\nOn returning to the city some eight months later, I was invited to take\nsupper with Brother and Sister Amondson, Sophie's parents. They had a\nnumber of children who came around me, and I wanted to know where the\nlittle girl was whose eyes were crossed and for whom I prayed several\nmonths before. A little girl spoke up and said, \"Don't you know me? I am\nSophie.\" I then asked her to tell me about her healing.\n\nShe told me that she was prayed for on that Friday night, and the following\nMonday she was starting out to school without her glasses and her mother,\nwho was not saved, seeing her without her glasses, said, \"Sophie, don't\nforget to wear your glasses!\" Sophie answered, \"Mother, I was prayed for at\nthe revival meeting Friday night and I do not need my glasses.\" Her mother\nsaid, \"Nonsense, come and get your glasses.\" But Sophie ran away to school!\n\nThat forenoon the teacher asked Sophie to read, and when she got up she\nsaid, \"Sophie, haven't you your glasses with you?\" (She knew Sophie had not\nbeen able to read without her glasses.) Sophie answered, lifting her hand,\n\"Teacher, I was prayed for at the revival meeting Friday night and I do not\nneed my glasses!\" and her eyes were straight!\n\nA number of years later I met Sophie with her little girl. She was a lovely\nlooking woman and was happily married.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nI was baptizing a number of people in the North Sea, outside of Lokken,\nDenmark, among whom was Sister Swenborg, from Tiste, whose eyes were so\ncrossed that she could not help herself at all without wearing her glasses.\nA big crowd was there, mocking and throwing sand at the saints. I had just\nbaptized Sister Swenborg, and as she was coming out of the sea I heard a\nshout going up from the saints. They told me that as the sister was coming\nout of the water with lifted hands and looking up to heaven praising God, a\nhalo of glory was shining around her head--and her eyes were straightened\nand she was a changed woman from that time. The mob stopped their mocking\non seeing this demonstration.\n\nAfter the service the next Sunday at Tiste, Sister Swenborg made the\nrequest that everybody meet her the next Tuesday afternoon at two-thirty\no'clock at the boat landing as she had something of interest to tell them.\n\nA big crowd gathered on Tuesday afternoon, and the sister climbed up on a\nlarge box holding her glasses in her hand and said to the people, \"You all\nknow me and my parents who live about six miles east of town. Before I was\nbig enough to wear glasses it was necessary either for me to have someone\nlead me or to pull me in a little wagon or sleigh. I was saved recently in\na meeting held by Bro. Morris C. Johnson and last week I went to Lokken and\nwas baptized, and as I came out of the water my eyes were straightened.\nHere are my glasses,\" she said, holding them up and telling what they had\ncost, \"Here they go! I don't need them anymore!\" and into the sea they\nwent. Then, opening her hand bag she took out a needle and said, \"This is\nthe finest needle on the market,\" and took thread and threaded it before\nthe eyes of the astonished crowd.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nFor a number of years I had suffered with appendicitis and during a meeting\nI was holding in company with Bro. Carl Arbeiter at Plum Coolie, Canada, I\nhad a severe attack which lasted two days and two nights. The third night I\nwas so tired and worn out that I went to sleep in spite of the pain. I woke\nup hearing myself say, \"Don't stick that knife into me.\" The appendix was\nswollen to about the size of a small hen's egg, and I felt it was going to\nburst. There was no time to get anyone to come and pray so I laid my own\nhands on my body and said, \"Lord God Almighty, if you do not help me now I\nam gone.\" It burst, making a noise like the shot from a small shotgun. I\nthen turned over to my other side and went to sleep at once and have never\nexperienced any bad effects nor had any attacks since. In relating this\nexperience to three doctors later, two of them laughed and made fun of me,\nbut the third one said, \"Hold on, hold on; this man has never lied to me\nyet.\" He said it could have burst into the intestines, the poison passing\nout the natural way. And if not, the Lord God could take care of him!\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOnce I had a stroke. Half the left side of my body down to my knees was\naffected. I could not sit up, neither could I lie down. I stood on my knees\nbeside the sofa for two weeks. I was prayed for several times but was not\nhealed. And I was to start a revival meeting at Hereford, Minn. the\nThursday of the second week that I was sick.\n\nSister Hedricks came over often and prayed for me. When on the second\nFriday she came and I was no better, she asked me whether I had sent to\nAnderson and to the Scandinavian Publishing Company at St. Paul Park to\nhave them pray for me. On telling her I had not done so and explaining to\nher that I had no faith for my own healing, I said, \"I could pray for your\nhealing if you were sick, but I have no faith for myself, and I have always\npreached that when folks were saved they should have faith to pray for\ntheir own healing, so I do not want to bother the folks to pray for me.\"\n\"Well,\" she said, \"aren't you humble enough to tell them that you have no\nfaith for yourself?\" I answered, \"All right, you pray for me and I will\nthink it over.\" The next day I asked wife to write to these two places, and\nwhen she had written and sealed the two letters I was instantly healed!\nWife sent the letters.\n\nAfter getting healed I decided to go to the revival meeting at Hereford,\nbut there was no train going there until Monday and it was in the month of\nNovember and very cold. And it was at the time when the automobile first\ncame into use. One family in the congregation at Hereford had a Ford\nfurnished with a top and side curtains, another family had a Buick (called\na gentleman's car), and it had no top nor even a windshield on it.\n\nI found out later that the owning of these cars had caused some little\nfriction in the congregation. In fact, some had said that nobody could have\none of those machines and still be a Christian. But they had decided to\nleave the matter until the time Brother Susag should come and he would help\nthem out.\n\nWhen we were leaving my home to drive to town to take the train for there,\nit was really cold. I said to my wife, \"Let's go back in the house and ask\nthe Lord to send a man to meet me at Elbow Lake, with a car having a top on\nit and side curtains\"--for I was still very weak. On arriving at Elbow Lake\nI went to the post office and wrote a card home--I would have had to change\ntrains there if no one had come to meet me--and as I came out of the post\noffice I saw a man across the street--walking in the direction I was going.\nHe looked at me and I looked at him, wondering, then he came running across\nthe street and exclaimed, \"Now I know why I came to town today! I am here\nto drive you to the meeting. I had left my car in town to have a little\nwork done on it, not intending to use it until after the meeting.\"\n\nThen he went on to say, \"We live six miles from town, and this morning as I\nwas working around the barn the Lord said to me, 'You go to town and get\nyour car.' My wife said, 'John, leave that car alone; don't go to town.'\nBut I told her that the Lord said, 'You go and get the car.' And I came as\nfast as I could get here.\"\n\nHe took me to the service. Bro. E. G. Masters was preaching, and when he\nhad finished speaking he asked me to come to the pulpit and tell how the\nLord had healed me and how it was that I managed to get to the service. I\nrelated the whole story, telling how I had prayed for someone to meet me\nwho had a. car having a top to it and side curtains to keep out the cold. I\nthen added that I was so glad the Lord had lots of cars; that as for me, I\nnever expected to have a car of my own for I did not think that I would\never be able to afford anything like that. That settled the car difficulty\nin the congregation--and I was entirely ignorant of the fact of there\nhaving been any trouble! Today I am using my ninth car.\n\nThat meeting was a real success. Brother Masters, for a number of evenings,\nhad offered a brand new eighteen dollar Bible to any preacher, professor,\npresiding elder or bishop that could come into the pulpit and prove that we\nwere not preaching the Bible. He gave them five minutes to come to the\nfront. One family belonging to a certain denomination sent for their bishop\nand he came. After the service was over and the family had taken the bishop\nto their home, they asked him why he did not get up and prove that we were\nnot preaching the truth so as to get the Bible. The good man answered,\n\"After those two men were finished speaking there was nothing to say. They\npreached the Bible.\" Brother Masters spoke on the \"White Horse of Calvary\"\nand used the blackboard to illustrate his meaning.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nBrother Peter Peterson of Hoboken, New Jersey and I held some meetings\ntogether up in a newly settled district of northern Minnesota. Our offering\nfor two weeks services was one round fifty-cent piece.\n\nWhile there we had a call to go to the insane asylum, at Fergus Falls,\nMinnesota to pray for a Brother Weegan who had lost his mind. After\nentering the institution we were locked in the cell with him and on bended\nknees with our hands uplifted toward heaven, we began to pray and all of a\nsudden he was restored to his right mind. We knocked on the door to have\nthe attendant came and let us out. As we were going out of the door Brother\nWeegan pushed his head between us and the attendant and said to the man,\n\"You might just as well let me out, too, for I am as rational as these two\npreachers now, and I will not hurt you any more.\"\n\nThen I asked the attendant whether there was a man in the place by the name\nof John Lukesen of Irving, Minnesota, and he told me there was such a man\nthere. I told him we had ten minutes to spare and asked him whether we\ncould go in and see him without first having to go to the superintendent's\noffice for permission. The man lifted his hands and said, \"You can see\nanyone in this institution since this one man has received help from you.\"\n\nHe then proceeded to give us information about the one we wanted to see. He\nsaid, \"When Mr. Lukesen first came here we had to have him in a padded cell\nand he got so bad that we had to tie him to his cot and now he is like a\nwild cat and nothing but skin and bones; he won't be long for this world.\"\n\nWhen he opened the door to the cell, there I saw my neighbor lying on his\ncot and he surely did look like a wild cat, as the man had said! The\ncompassion of the Lord Jesus came upon me and I lifted my hands toward\nheaven and called aloud to him, \"John Lukesen, the Lord Jesus Christ, whom\nI serve, makes you well!\" And he was well! Shortly after this, he was sent\nhome.\n\nWe planned to go from there to Hereford, Minnesota. At Evansville where we\nhad to change trains, we inquired of the station agent when the train for\nHereford would be leaving. We were informed that there would be no train\nleaving for that place before Thursday at three o'clock. We were told that\nonly two trains a week went from there to Hereford and this was Tuesday--a\nlong time to wait!\n\nBrother Peterson said, \"Let us go out and pray.\" After we had prayed we\nreturned to the depot and asked the agent when the train for Hereford would\nbe leaving. He answered gruffly, \"I told you Thursday afternoon at three\no'clock.\" \"All right,\" said Brother Peterson, \"Let us go out and pray.\"\nAfter praying we went back the second time and asked the agent the same\nquestion; and this time he was really gruff. And he surely informed us that\nthere would be no train leaving before Thursday afternoon at three o'clock.\nAgain, Brother Peterson said, \"All right, let us go out and pray.\"\n\nWe went out once more into the grove to pray and Brother Peterson did the\npraying: \"Lord, the President can get a special pullman train any time he\nwants it and he is only the president of the United States; and here are\nwe, Brother Susag and I, Thy ambassadors. We are not asking Thee for a\npullman car--we will be satisfied with an old caboose--the distance is only\n30 miles; so Lord, won't you please talk to the agent?\" We both said AMEN.\n\nOn returning to the agent for the third time, Brother Peterson said to him,\n\"When will that train be ready for Hereford?\" In a very mild tone he\nreplied, \"I have been thinking about it and I will shove a few box cars and\na caboose together and send you fellows out.\" And we both said, \"Thank you,\nsir.\" And so the Lord answered prayer and sent us home on a special train!\n\nWhen wife and I got saved, my brothers and families and wives quit writing\nto us, and in four years we seldom heard from them. One evening a letter\ncame from my sister-in-law telling us that my brother had lost his reason\nand had been sent to the insane asylum at St. Peter, Minnesota, and asking\nme to come at once. Not having any money on hand to go with, I went to a\nnear neighbor and showed him the letter and asked him if he would loan me\nfifteen dollars so that I could go to Minneapolis and also to St. Peter. He\ntold me that he would do that even if I were not able to pay him back. The\nnext day I went to Minneapolis to my sister-in-law and her five children.\nJerome, the oldest boy, seven years of age, said, \"Uncle, are you going to\nbring Daddy home?\" I said, \"Son, I cannot bring your Daddy home, but Jesus\nChrist whom I serve will bring him home.\"\n\nMy sister-in-law related how it all happened. She went for her pastor and\nmy brother-in-law, a professor in the Lutheran college. When they came\nJerome said to them, \"Won't you pray like Uncle Swen does?\" They had\nevidently talked about our praying even though they did not write to us.\nAfter they had gone his wife had to let my brother out-doors and he ran\nfour blocks without a thread of clothing on--until a policeman captured\nhim.\n\nI went to St. Peter, and Dr. Tumbleson, the president of the institution,\nrefused to let me see my brother. I told him that I must see him; that as a\nminister of the gospel I had a right to go where a doctor could go. But he\nstill refused and called in two other doctors who said to me, \"Your brother\nis not only insane but is seriously ill and we do not expect him to leave\nthis institution alive.\" To which I replied, \"Then so much the more do I\nhave to see him; and if you continue to refuse to let me see him you will\nhave two Susags in this institution, for I will stay until you grant me the\nright to see my brother.\" Finally relenting, they sent for a man to take me\nto see my poor brother.\n\nAs I entered the cell in which he was confined my brother did not know me.\nHe was walking around the room more like an animal than like a man. I knelt\ndown in the middle of the floor and prayed. After a while he came and put\nhis hand on my shoulder and said, \"Swen, how does it come that you are\nhere?\" I said, \"I have come to help you, Mike.\" \"Thank you, I am glad you\nhave come; something got into my head and I lost my mind. How is my\nfamily?\" I told him they were all well and had sent their greetings to him.\nThen the man who had brought me in took hold of me and ordered me out.\n\nBut I was satisfied. This was the 22nd of March and I fasted from one meal\nevery day for seventeen days and some days I would touch neither water nor\nfood telling the Lord I had promised Mike's wife and his children that I\nwas going to bring the husband and daddy home; and, \"Jesus, I will give you\nno rest until you do so.\"\n\nOn the eighth of April during morning worship the Spirit of the Lord\nrevealed to me that the Lord had heard our prayer and that my brother was\nperfectly well! I jumped up from my knees and ran around the house shouting\nthe glory of God. Wife thought, \"Here is another crazy Susag,\" but Brother\nEnos Key, of Red Key, Indiana (who had come to hold a meeting) was with us\nand he said, \"Praise God, Brother Susag has the victory!\" And three days\nlater I received a letter from Doctor Tumbleson giving us the good news\nthat on the eighth day of April the nurse went to take food to my brother\nand found him perfectly well in mind and body. And that he was doing\nbookkeeping for the institution and could come home any time only for the\ncustomary red tape it would take a few days before he could come. In a\nshort time he was home and well.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOn one occasion when I was holding a meeting at the fishing town of\nSookden, Denmark, a great storm arose. As is the custom in fishing towns,\nboats put out to sea at high tide for better fishing conditions; forty-two\nhad gone from here about two o'clock in the night. Toward morning the storm\nbroke and on into the forenoon it became very fierce. Some of the older\npeople were telling of a similar storm they remembered of some forty years\nbefore when thirty-eight boats went out and such a storm blew up. If I\nremember correctly, not one boat returned.\n\nIn those days there were no motor boats. They were all sailboats, generally\nthree men to a boat. This time, however, they had gasoline motors on the\nboats and from twelve o'clock until three o'clock one boat after the other\nreturned, some of them full of water, barely getting to shore. Forturnately\nthe wind was blowing toward the shore or they might not have made a safe\nlanding.\n\nI was staying at the home of Brother Morton Petersen. He and his crew had\nnot returned as yet. It seemed that most of the population of the town was\nstanding on the hills looking for his return. I heard someone say to his\nwife, \"Marie, do you expect Morton to return?\" She answered, \"He has been\nout so many times and has come back, and I expect him back this time.\" He\ngenerally went farther out than any of the fishermen because the farther\nout the fish were supposed to be larger and better.\n\nWe stood out there for two hours or more. About five o'clock someone said,\n\"I see a dark spot out there.\" A little later someone else shouted, \"I see\na spot, too!\" And then we began to see the spot more and more often, and at\nlast they came safely to land--and not a bucket of water in the boat.\n\nOn our way home I asked Brother Petersen how he had gotten along. He said,\n\"When we realized the storm was on hand we packed up our fishing lines and\nI ordered my partner to take care of the motor and I myself took charge of\nthe rudder. My partner was a saved man but we had a boy who was not saved.\nI ordered him to be ready to dip out the water if any got in the boat.\"\n\nI asked him whether they did much talking during that terrible storm and he\nsaid, \"No, I was praying all the time that we might reach land safely,\nbecause the young man with us was not saved and he was the sole support of\nhis widowed mother, his father and one or two brothers having gone down\nsomewhere in the North Sea not so long ago. We were getting along very\nwell--for the Lord helped me steer the boat right--but the worst that we\nhad to meet was just before we landed--there were three sandbars we had to\ncross. If the waves struck us just right we would get over, but if not, we\nwould get stuck in the sandbars, and there would be no help for us. When we\ncame to the first one a big wave carried us safely over the sandbar. I said\n'Thank God, we are over the first one;' and so it was with the other two;\nand each time I said, 'Thank God for taking us over, and too, for not\nletting the water get into our boat.'\"\n\nA week later I embarked on the steamer Olaf Barger, sailing from\nFredriksen, Denmark, to Sweden. As I was going on board the boat the\nCaptain came to me and asked whether I could spare him a few minutes before\nwe landed in Sweden, as he wished to have a talk with me. When we got so\nfar that we could begin to see the rocky coast of Sweden he came to me and\nbegan his narrative. He said, pointing ahead, \"You see that three-mast\nschooner standing upon that rock?\" I said, \"Yes, I see it.\" \"You remember\nthe awful storm we had a week ago today. We were just coming out from\nGottenburg to return to Denmark--an hour's sailing--and the schooner called\nfor help but we were unable to even help ourselves so that we could not\npossibly help them. They were blown upon the rocks, but the people were\nsaved.\" Then he pointed to the left to two big rocks, and continued, \"And\nright there was a small steamer in trouble. They, too, called for help but\nwe could not give it and they went down.\n\n\"We now saw that it would be impossible for us to reach Denmark and were\nfortunate in managing to turn the ship's course back toward Gottenburg. I\ntied myself to the bridge with an inch rope. Down into the waves we went\nand I said to myself, 'We have seen the sun for the last time.' But we came\nup and went down again many, many times. Then I did something I had never\nin all my life done before--I am sixty-five years old--I prayed the Lord to\nsave my ship and all that were sailing with me. Along in the afternoon I\nfound myself calling on God for salvation of my soul, and the Lord did save\nme and finally brought my ship, and those sailing with me, safely into the\nharbor at nine o'clock that evening, it having taken us nine hours to do\none hour's sailing.\n\n\"Knowing that you were a minister of the gospel I wanted to tell you the\nstory that you might perhaps tell it to others.\"\n\nHow longsuffering and merciful is the Son of God toward the children of men\nthat when they repent and turn to Him, HE FORGIVES THEM.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOne time when I arrived home from one of my evangelistic tours I found that\nmy two young sons who were twins, eleven years of age, had been cutting\nhay. It was all raked and rowed up ready for hauling, and they were\nrejoicing that I had come as they were counting on me to help them haul and\nstack the hay. They said, \"Dad, tomorrow you will have to help us.\" I said,\n\"All right, we will have to get up early to get it done as I am leaving the\nfollowing day to start another meeting.\"\n\nThe next morning we started out. We had to drive eighty rods south on the\nroad, then we turned another eighty rods east to the hay meadow. Just as I\nbegan to pitch the hay up in the rack the boys exclaimed, \"Dad, it's\nraining.\" \"Yes,\" I said, and stuck my pitchfork in the ground, threw my hat\nbeside it and said, \"Let's pray.\" I said to the Lord, \"This hay is yours;\nthis farm is yours and I am your servant. This hay must be hauled today as\nI leave tomorrow to minister unto the people, so please, at least keep the\nrain off the hay meadow and off the road where we have to drive. Amen.\"\n\nI went to pitching hay again; it was just pouring down all around us as far\nas we could see across the fence and west of the road. The only spots where\nit did not rain was where we were working and on the road we were driving.\nIt rained all day, and it did not just rain--it poured! We hauled hay all\nday, until a little after six o'clock I slid off the stack in the yard and\nthen the rain just poured down. I said to the boys, \"The Lord surely heard\nprayer.\" They said, \"Yes, He did,\" and we thanked the Lord.\n\nAfter I had left the next day, our neighbor came over and seeing the stack\nasked the boys when they stacked that hay. They told him, \"Yesterday, Daddy\nwas home.\" (There was a distance of about twenty rods between his house and\nours). He said, \"That is impossible. I took a rest all day for the rain\njust poured down and I could not do anything.\" He thought it must have been\nthe day before that we hauled and stacked the hay. But the boys told him\nthat \"Daddy prayed and it did not rain on our hay meadow, nor on the road\nwhere we were driving.\" This man was greatly astonished at hearing this.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOne afternoon, about three o'clock, the renters on our place came running\nin great excitement into wife's room and said, \"Mrs. Susag, a cyclone is\ncoming.\" She went out with them and it was dark. There was a wood pile\nabout three or four rods south of our houses and parts of our neighbors\nbuildings south of us were blowing through our pasture and wood from the\nwood pile began to go up in the air. Wife lifted her hands toward heaven\nfacing the storm and cried, \"Lord God, don't let that storm strike our\ndwelling.\" The cyclone turned right square to the east several rods and\nthen turned square again to the north-east of the buildings. When it got\nbeyond our buildings it turned west and when it got just in line with the\ndirection from which it came, it turned north again, rooting up big trees\nand damaging the neighbor's buildings; but not a thing on our premises was\ndisturbed.\n\nThe spout of the cyclone dug a ditch several feet deep in some places. Once\nmore God's Word was verified: \"Call and I will answer.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nGLUTTONOUS MAN WITH DYSPEPSIA\n\nAt a meeting we were holding, Brother Tubbs, Brother Enos Key and myself\nwas asked to fast and pray for a man weighing from 250 to 260 pounds and\ncalling himself a saint!\n\nWe fasted, accordingly, and went after service Sunday noon to pray for him.\nWe were still fasting, but he sat up to the table and ate a big chicken\ndinner and when he had finished eating he said, \"Now you can pray for me.\"\nBro. Tubbs said, \"No, we are not going to pray for you. We have been\nfasting for you, and still haven't eaten, and you have sat up to the table\nand eaten as much as we three preachers, together, could eat. Goodbye!\" And\nout we went.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nCASTING OUT DEVILS\n\nAt a meeting in Chicago there was a woman possessed with devils, and wanted\nto be delivered. Seven ministers, four men and three sisters, were working\nwith her for over an hour but without apparent success. We tried to lay our\nhands on her but the devils in her would kick our hands away. Big knots\ncame out on her body, on her shoulders and neck the size of a good sized\napple. Then we ministers withdrew for a consultation among ourselves--to\nsee whether the hindering cause in casting these devils out, lay in us,\namong ourselves--to be assured of complete unity and agreement in our\nmidst: And we found that there was perfect unity. That being the case, we\nsaid, \"We must have the victory, the evil spirits must go.\" We went back to\nthe woman and worked, prayed and rebuked the enemy for nearly three hours,\nall to no avail.\n\nThen one brother said, \"There must be someone in the chapel sympathizing\nwith her.\" We began a search looking everywhere to find where the trouble\nwas and behind some folding doors in the prayer room we found a man.\nBrother Knight said to him, \"What are you doing here?\" He said, \"Can't I\nstay here?\" But he was told to leave forthwith and he went. We then locked\nthe doors of the chapel and in a few minutes the woman was delivered.\n\nShe was obliged to go home as her husband went to work at four o'clock in\nthe morning, but he came back the next day and was gloriously saved.\n\nAnother case of demon possession happened in Grand Forks. During a meeting\nwe were holding there, a man came to the service who formerly had taken his\nstand with the church, coming out of a certain denomination, but before\nlong he returned to it again. When he came to the meeting we were holding\nhe was possessed. In one of the services Brother Krutz and I attempted to\nlay hands on him: He was kneeling at the altar with his back to the pulpit\nand he was taken up bodily and thrown upon the rostrum against the wall\nbehind the pulpit. I ran after him and the devil said to me, \"Now, it will\ngo with you as it did with the seven sons of Sceva.\" I rebuked the devil\nand when I got to the man he turned over on his back and slid, head first,\noff the rostrum toward the seats, knocking his head against the seats until\nit seemed as though his skull would surely be broken.\n\nI called for help. Eight brothers came and held him so that he would not\nget hurt. We laid hands on him and commanded the evil spirits to come out\nof him but they did not come. Then I asked them, \"What is your name?\" The\nanswer was, \"Salvation Army devil.\" Then in the name of the Lord Jesus we\ncommanded the Salvation Army devil to come out of him. And when they went\nout it was with such a horrible scream that many women jumped up on their\nseats in fright and the man's shirt was torn and blood was running from his\nmouth and he fell on the floor as though he were dead. We let him lie there\na little while, then, laying our hands on him, prayed and he came to. This\nman repented, made his confession and was saved.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nBro. Drysdale of Grand Forks, who had a stiff knee, was prayed for several\ntimes, but got no help. However, in this meeting his limb became so\nlimbered up that he could run up and down the steps like a young man. He\ngot so happy that he forgot his cane and went home without it. On getting\nhome he discovered he had left his cane behind and ran back to the chapel\nto get it, but when he got hold of his cane, his limb was as bad as ever.\n\nWhen I was in Minneapolis with Brother E. G. Masters, a lady came to us to\nbe prayed for. She was walking with two canes. She was prayed for and the\nLord healed her. And she got around like a young woman. She went home\nforgetting to take her two canes--and they were beautiful canes! She came\nback to get them, but when she got hold of them she was just as crippled as\never, and no praying helped her.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOne time I was asked by the congregation at Rice Lake, Wisconsin, to come\nand hold a meeting for them. And I felt that the Lord wanted me to do so. I\nwrote the pastor there about it four times a year for two years, but he did\nnot want me. However the Lord said, \"You go,\" and I went. On my arrival at\nRice Lake, I found the pastor sick in bed.\n\nI said to him, \"Well, I'm here now; the Lord told me to come.\" He told me\nthe chapel was open and that I should go ahead. I started that meeting with\neight to twelve school children and two women coming to the services,\nkeeping on for two weeks. Many times the devil said to me, \"So you thought\nthe Lord sent you, didn't you? Now you see!\"\n\nThe last Sunday night, to cap the climax, the children came around me and\nsaid, \"Reverend, aren't you going to close the services?\" I asked, \"Do you\nwant them to close?\" They said they did. I asked them the reason and they\nsaid, \"We like your preaching so much better than our pastors, but we go to\nschool and we get so tired from coming every night.\" Then I said to them,\n\"Children, your reason is very good. But what do you think of this\nproposition: that we announce services for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday\nevenings, and if no more come we will close the meeting and you tell your\nfolks about it?\" The children thought it would be fine.\n\nThe next night, Monday, two more women came and they came the next night\ntoo, and one of them (if not both of them) got saved. But what happened the\nnext two evenings is erased from my memory, but Friday evening when I came\nto open the door for the service, there were more people than there was\nroom in the chapel to accommodate them. So they stood around on boxes and\nladders outside the windows. Fifty-two were at the altar for salvation in\nthe last three weeks--I was there five weeks in all. The last Saturday I\nwent to the pastors home and said to him, \"I have come to pray for you. You\nare going to get healed today so you can attend the service tomorrow. But\nyou will have to come early or you will not be able to get into your own\npulpit.\" He broke down and cried and said, \"I haven't a pair of decent\ntrousers to wear to stand before such a big audience.\" I said, \"I have two\npairs, thank God, I will give you one pair.\" I prayed for him and he was\nhealed.\n\nAt a later time Brother Masters and I held another meeting there. One\nevening a couple came in a little late and sat down in the back seat. This\nwas the first time they had attended the service and they got under\nconviction, but they got out before we could get to speak to them. They\ncame the next evening and slipped out again before we could get to them.\nThey did not come any more. We began to inquire around to find out their\nnames and where they lived. Yes, we were informed, he was a real estate\nagent, and they never go to church anywhere. We went to their home and had\na fine visit with them one afternoon for about two hours. They were nice\nfolks. Brother Masters said, \"We have not seen you out to the services any\nmore since the second time you were there.\"\n\n\"Well,\" they said, we are not in the habit of going to any meetings, but we\nenjoyed the beautiful singing so much the first night that we decided we\nwould go again the next evening. We didn't want to be late, so I decided to\nmilk our cow after service. After coming home from the service I took my\nlantern, as we have not any light in the barn and hung it up on a nail on\nthe studding and went to milking. As the milk began to run I heard a noise\nlike a shot and the lantern went out, leaving me in total darkness. When I\nwent to examine what had happened, it appeared that I had been so disturbed\nin my mind over what I heard at the services that I had made a mistake and\nhad hung the milk pail up instead of the lantern, and when the milk\ndropped, it fell on the lantern-globe and broke it.\"\n\n\"Well,\" we said, \"you are coming to the services again?\" But they answered,\n\"We surely are not. If two services can affect us to such an extent as\nnearly cause us to lose our minds we will never go back again. We only go\nto the funeral services of our neighbors.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAt one time when I was in Denmark, I was in dire need of a considerable sum\nof money. I prayed earnestly over the matter and one day as I went to put\nmy hat on my head it seemed to be too small. I took it off and looked on\nthe inside of it to be sure it was mine and in feeling around, on the\ninside of the sweat band I found the very amount of money I needed.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhile still in Denmark, I needed an overcoat. I went to a clothing store\nand picked out one. There were a few alterations to be made and I was to\nget it in two or three days, but I had no money and did not know from where\nany was coming. This was Friday and Sunday evening after service a number\nof saints went passed my door and one sister threw a folded bill on to my\ntable. She said, \"Brother Susag, you need an overcoat. Here is a little to\nhelp on it.\" I thanked her and looked at the bill and found it was a\nhundred crown bill--more than seven crowns over the cost of the overcoat.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOnce when I was in Grand Forks holding a meeting, my oldest son wrote me\nthat a man to whom I owed $27.50 needed $20.00 and that if I could pay the\ntwenty he would give $7.50. Between the forenoon service and that of the\nafternoon, I stayed in the church to pray and just before the next service\nwas to begin a number of people came in and stood beside the stove warming\nthemselves. An elderly woman from South Dakota put out her hand to me and\nsaid, \"Praise the Lord, Brother Susag,\" and putting a crumpled bill into my\nhand, said, \"This is for you.\" I thanked her and went behind the pulpit and\nthanked the Lord for twenty dollars and when I looked at it, it was twenty\ndollars.\n\nThe next day, between morning and afternoon services, I took a walk and on\nmy way I passed a fruit stand. As I looked into the window of it I saw some\ndelicious red apples, and Oh, how I wished I had three of them. I went back\nthree times and looked at them, but I had no money. I went back to the\nchapel and the same old sister that had given me the twenty dollars the day\nbefore, handed me a little paper bag and in it, to my happy surprise, were\nthree of those delicious apples that I had wanted.\n\nOne time when I was in Denmark, I wanted to go from Hjoremg to Lokkum. I\ndid not have the money for my carfare but stood up against a pillar in the\nstation praying the Lord to send it. As it was getting near train time it\nlooked as though it were not coming when suddenly a lady whom I knew--she\nwas not saved--came into the depot and crossed right over to me and handed\nme a five crown bill. This lady had heard me often tell of the Lord hearing\nprayer, but she did not believe that it was all true. I took it hastily,\nran for the ticket window, purchased my ticket and was just in time to\ncatch the train. When I came back, this lady came to the services and when\nI saw her I asked her whether I had thanked her for the bill she had given\nme at the depot. She said, \"No, you didn't have time. When I came in to the\ndepot and saw you standing there, something said to me, 'He's praying for\ncarfare; go, give him five crowns,' and when I gave it to you I saw tears\nin your eyes and when I got home I knelt down and asked the Lord to save me\nand He did.\" Then she said, \"You were praying for carfare, weren't you?\" I\nassured her I surely was. \"God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to\nperform.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAt the first Camp meeting we held, I went to the bank and borrowed ten\ndollars to divide among the ministers, and one day the Lord said to me,\n\"Give Elihu Key five dollars.\"\n\nI couldn't understand so went to wife and told her about it; she said, \"If\nthe Lord told you to give Brother Key five dollars, you had better give it\nto him; he must be needing it badly.\" So the next day I crumpled a five\ndollar bill up and stuck it in his hand. He said, \"Thank you,\" and into the\nbrush he went--and I went after him, crawling on my hands and knees so he\nwould not see me--quite close up to him. He fell on his knees, crying and\nthanking the Lord for the five dollars and for the man who gave it to him\nand asking the Lord to bless him a hundred-fold according to His word. Then\ndown the hill he ran to the Post Office and sent it to his family. This I\nlearned later from his brother. The family was in great need.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOn one occasion a payment of $245.00 had to be made on the contracts on our\nhome--to save the contract from lapsing. I did not have the money. I tried\nevery possible way to borrow it from different banks, and failing that, I\ntried to get it from some of the brethren. The last one I approached surely\ncapped the climax. He assured me that he had the money and could loan it to\nme, but he said that he might just as well throw the money on the manure\npile, for, he said, \"You can never pay for the place anyhow, and the\nquicker you leave it the better.\"\n\nI went home, and after praying for three days the Lord said the name \"Torp\"\nto me. The only one I knew of that name was a banker in Willmer, our county\nseat, whom I had met once--he hardly knew me nor I him. Anyway, I went to\nhim and told him my trouble, to which he responded by saying that he could\nnot loan me any money; that I was out of the district for him to loan on\nchattel mortgages; that I would either have to get it at Paynesville,\nAtwater or New London. I told him that I had already applied at those\nplaces but could not obtain the loan. Then Mr. Torp asked me what security\nI was able to give, to which I replied that the security I had would not be\nworth fifty dollars, but that I had a strong back and two strong arms and a\ngood will and that we would like to stay on the hill a little longer if it\nwere at all possible. He said, \"Such things will go a long way.\" He sat\nthere silent for a minute or two, then he said, \"I'll think the matter over\nand you come back after dinner.\" A lump got into my throat so that I could\nnot even say, \"Thank you.\"\n\nI walked down into the railroad yards, found a place between two box cars\nand prayed for nearly an hour and a half-back and forth I went praying that\nthe Lord would \"speak to the dear man and make his heart tender toward this\npoor man and his family.\" I went back to the bank and the good man met me.\nHe invited me into his office, and when we were seated he said, \"I have\nthought the matter over and I am going to loan you the money; now what\nsecurity have you to offer?\" I said, \"I have a bay colt, a couple of\ncalves, an old wagon I paid seven dollars for, and some other little\ntrinkets.\" \"Well,\" he said, \"the colt as it grows will increase in\nprice--good horses at that time were only worth about fifty dollars--and\nthe calves also will increase in value. How long a time do you want?\" I\ntold him I thought eight months. Then he told me that their charge for such\nloans was 12%, but that he would let me have it for 8%.\n\nThree weeks before the note came due I went to see him. My purpose in going\nwas in regard to the loan. \"Well,\" he said, \"it is not due yet; we have not\nsent you a notice.\" I told him that I was wanting to know whether he would\nextend the time on the note. He asked me whether I had anything at all to\npay on it. I told him I had only $50.00 and the interest. To which he\nreplied, \"That's fine.\" It took me two years instead of eight months to pay\noff the loan; but I was always on hand ahead of time to get the extension.\nWhen I made the last payment he gave me one dollar.\n\nI went to see this banker some years later, and I asked him what it was\nthat had made him so kind to me. Tears came into his eyes, but he did not\nanswer--and my eyes were moist as well. He turned and from a drawer took\nout a small tract in which was an account of his boyhood life and\nexperiences. His father died when he was eleven years old. He took a job as\nship boy on board a ship and went through untold hardships to help support\nhis mother and his six brothers and sisters. When he was about seventeen he\ncame to America and located in Wisconsin.\n\nWhen the Civil War was on a certain rich man came to him with an offer of\nseveral hundred dollars if he would act as substitute for his son in the\narmy--which offer, however, he refused. Some time later he became\nacquainted with a family in which were seven children who were very good to\nhim. One day word came that the father, who was a soldier, was killed in\naction and that the oldest boy was to be taken to fill his father's place.\nWhereupon young Torp stepped up to the boy and said, \"You go home and take\ncare of your mother and the family and I will go in your place--free of\ncharge.\" The Lord was good to him and protected him; very soon he was\npromoted to the rank of an officer--and so the booklet continued, telling\nof his life's experiences.\n\nThese two incidents remind me, by way of contrast, of the story of another\nbanker and of the way he dealt with a poor man who was in debt to him. When\nnot prepared to meet the payments on his note the poor man would ask for an\nextension of time. Finally the banker became impatient and refused to grant\nany further time extension. The poor man begged for mercy--that he would\nallow him more time. \"All right,\" said the banker, \"I have a glass eye; it\nis such a good one that people cannot tell which one it is; if you can tell\nwhich one, I will extend the loan.\" Looking carefully at the eyes the man\nsaid, \"It is the left one.\" \"Yes,\" said the other, \"how could you tell?\"\nThe man said, \"I could tell that eye was more sympathetic than the good\none.\" It is said of Jesus that he \"learned obedience through the things\nthat he suffered\"--and so with us, we learn how to have sympathy according\nto how we suffer.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMy first experience of being healed of cancer of the stomach was while I\nwas in Grand Forks in 1922 after that Doctor Weatherstein had examined me\nand said there was nothing that could be done for me. I was taken to the\nWerstlein's home where I was staying, and Brother Shave, Sister Gaulke and\nSister Johnstone were sent for. They came, and when they saw me as I lay on\nthe lounge, they fell on their knees weeping and calling on God. All at\nonce they arose, and with Sister Werstlein, laid their hands on me and\nrebuked the devil and the cancer, and I was instantly healed!\n\nIn the fall of 1936 I had a number of calls to go to the West Coast, but I\ndid not feel that I could leave unless wife had someone to stay with her.\nHowever, she insisted that I should go, saying she was able to take care of\nherself, but I hesitated about going so far away and applied for a job as\nan automobile adjuster paying $50 a week and commission. I had everything\nsigned up on Friday, and I was to go to work the following Tuesday. On\nSunday the cancer returned again for the third time--the blood running from\nme and I was very sick. Wife said--not in an unkind way--\"Good enough for\nyou.\" I said, \"I know what you are going to say.\" \"Yes,\" she went on, \"but\nI will check up on you. Do you remember what Brother Dorrity said to you\nwhen you were ordained? 'This is not for a day, nor for a week, nor for a\nmonth or a year, but for your lifetime,' and you are not dead yet!\" To\nwhich I replied, suffering and weeping, \"All right, you come and pray for\nme.\" She came and prayed and I was instantly healed. Needless to say, I did\nnot take the job.\n\nThis took place the Sunday before Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving day we were\nto go by invitation to Willmar to dinner and in the evening we were to\nattend service and I was to preach. That was the last automobile trip my\nwife ever took with me.\n\nIn the same year we were living on our little farm. On December the first,\nas I was going to town, wife made out a little list of things she wanted me\nto buy, but in spite of the list I forgot two of the items I was to\nget--and they were never purchased for they were never needed. On Monday\nthe 8th I said to her, \"Perhaps I had better go to town and get those two\narticles,\" but she said, \"Never mind, we will wait until someone else goes\nin.\"\n\nBeing clerk of the district school board and her brother the chairman, when\nhe came over, they talked over some business matters and other affairs that\nevening. The next morning she got up early. I saw a light in her room and I\nasked her whether she was getting up. She said she was; so I thought I had\nbetter go down and stir up the fire. When she came down she said, \"If you\nwant a job you can get breakfast ready.\" I answered, \"Okay, what do you\nwant to eat?\" She said, \"A glass of milk, a slice of toast and a soft\ncooked egg.\" Then she said, \"I suppose you want oatmeal!\" I said, \"Sure.\"\n\nAfter breakfast we had our morning worship and then she went to read and\nwrite. After I had washed the dishes I said, \"I am going to town to get\nthose two articles.\" To which she replied, \"It is up to you. No hurry about\nit.\" I went out to the garage to get the car and found I had a flat tire,\nso I went back into the house and said, \"It is cold out there and there is\na flat tire.\" She said, \"Never mind.\"\n\nAbout eleven o'clock she put her hands up to her ears and said, \"I have\nsuch pain around my ears.\" Then she went over to the sofa and lay down, but\nthe pain grew worse. I went to her and knelt down; we prayed and she was\ninstantly made well.\n\nAt noon I fixed a little lunch, after which I said, \"Now I will go and fix\nthe tire and go to town.\" She laughed and said, \"So now you are going to be\na man again.\"\n\nI jacked up the car but could not turn any of the bolts on the wheel. I\nwalked to the neighbor's and borrowed a coal chisel but still I could not\nmove a bolt even with the hammer and chisel. All at once I heard a rattle\nas though someone was dying. It startled me. I threw down the hammer and\nchisel, and ran for the house like a wild man, jerking open one door after\nanother, and slamming them as I went. When I opened the last one, there I\nsaw wife sitting in the rocker reading, and she laughed. I raised my hands\nand said to her, \"You are not dead yet!\" She answered, \"I should say not! I\nwas wondering what kind of a cowboy had come rattling through the house!\"\n\nThen I told her that I could not get the wheel off. After a few minutes she\nsaid, \"Uncle Carl [her brother] said to me, 'Martha, why don't you take a\nrest? You are always so busy and you don't have to keep going like that,'\nso now I am going up stairs to take a rest. You come with me and carry my\nBible and a few other things.\" So I went with her. After I had tucked her\nin bed I asked her if she was resting comfortably now. She said, \"Yes,\" and\nlooking up at me with a smile, she said, as though she was about to tell me\na secret, \"And now...\"--and she was dead! I raised my hands and said, \"O\nMama, you are not leaving me, are you?\" But there she lay smiling.\n\nI called the doctor and in a few minutes the house was full of people. The\nfirst one to come was Sister Hansen. She said, \"Brother Susag, Sister Susag\nis not dead--she lies there smiling!\" But she was gone. She had been\npraying for about two years that she might go that way, and her prayer was\nanswered. (I got a neighbor young man to come and see what he could do with\nthe car. He had no trouble in turning the bolts and was able to fix it very\neasily.) The feeling I had that I could not leave my wife to go to the West\nCoast to hold meetings proved to have been quite in order.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOn one of my trips I had to change trains at Grand Forks, and having a\nlittle time to spare I walked down a certain street of the city and met\nBrother John Sonden who was standing outside of a doctor's office. He was\nsurprised to see me, but I explained that I was just passing through in\nmaking my train connections. He said he was waiting for his son, Brent, who\nwas up in the office consulting the doctor about his health. He wished so\nmuch that I could talk to the boy. At his request I went and met him as he\nwas coming out of the consulting room.\n\nHe informed me that the doctor had told him he had heart trouble, but as he\ndid not know what kind, he wanted him to go to the hospital for a week when\nhe thought he would be able to locate the ailment. After hearing what he\nhad to say, I said to him, \"I'll tell you what your trouble is and how you\nfeel when you are sitting on the gang plow, plowing: You feel you are going\nto fall off in front of the plow and get killed and that makes you nervous\nand sick.\" He said, \"Yes sir, that is exactly how I feel.\" I then said to\nhim, \"I can tell you the cure for it: Go home, and falling on your knees,\nconfess your sins to God and call on Him. for salvation. I will be agreed\nin prayer and I guarantee you will be well--and now, goodbye, Brent, I must\nrun to catch my train.\"\n\nA year later when driving past his farm with Brother Holman, I saw a man\nout in the field and asked Brother Holman whether that was Brent Sonden. He\nsaid it was, and out of the car I got and ran over to him in the field\nsaying, \"Praise the Lord, Brent--did you follow the advice I gave you a\nyear ago?\" He answered, \"Yes, and I have never had that feeling again since\nthe Lord saved me.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAt one time I went to Hereford, Minnesota to preach for Brother George\nGreen while he went on a trip to Iowa. At the Sunday morning service I\nlearned that Elder Larson had met with an automobile accident the night\nbefore, breaking his left arm in two places and had been taken to the\nhospital at Barrett. His father phoned me that he would call for me and\ntake me with him to the hospital.\n\nOn our arrival there, we found three doctors on the spot ready to amputate\nthe arm--they were to take it off between the shoulder and the elbow. But I\nprotested, saying, \"That arm is not going to be amputated; those bones have\nto be set; for if you take the arm off you can never put it back again.\"\nBut the doctors objected, \"That is all we can do.\" I replied, \"If Doctor\nPhelon of Paynesville had been at home I would have called for him to come\nand he would have fixed those bones in a jiffy.\" They replied, \"We know him\nand he is no better than we are.\"\n\nThey turned to the father and said, \"Are you going to listen to us or to\nthis old foggy preacher?\" \"Well,\" he answered, \"The old minister knows\nsomething too.\" At this, two of the doctors picked up their instruments and\nleft. The one remaining said to me, \"What are you going to do?\" I said, \"I\nam going to Hereford to preach tonight, after which I'll come back and take\nthe young man with me on the train to Minneapolis.\" \"But,\" he said,\n\"gangrene may set in.\" I told him that I would pray God Almighty to keep\nthat away. Then he asked me whether I was going alone with the boy, and I\ntold him I was. He said that I was a brave man, but I answered, \"No, it is\nnot that I am brave, but that young man would give anything to have his two\narms.\" Then the doctor said, \"How would it be if I were to go with you?\" I\ntold him that it would be fine. When we were on the train he asked me where\nI was going to take the young man when we got to Minneapolis. I told him I\nhadn't thought of that, but in a city of 500,000 people there must be a\ndoctor capable of setting bones. If not, I said, \"I'll do it myself.\" \"All\nright,\" replied the doctor, \"We'll take him to the Fairview Hospital; I\nknow a doctor there who is good at setting bones. His name is Seversen.\"\nAnd this we decided to do.\n\nIt was early when we arrived in the city, so we first had breakfast, after\nwhich I was introduced to Dr. Seversen. I said to him, \"So you are the\ndoctor who is going to set the bones in that arm?\" But he said, \"It can't\nbe done; the arm will have to be amputated.\" I said, \"That suggestion has\nbeen made to me before, and that arm is not going to come off.\" While we\nwere talking several other doctors had come in--some thirteen or fourteen\nin all. They said. \"We will show you the Xray pictures\"--hoping to convince\nme that I was wrong. But I answered, \"Xray pictures or no Xray pictures,\nthat arm is not going to be amputated.\" However, they protested and argued\nthat gangrene would set in--if it had not already done so. I said, \"I will\nask God Almighty to not let that happen.\" Then turning to the doctors, I\nsaid, \"Shame on you doctors; if you cannot do it, I can, only I have no\nlicense....\" And to Dr. Seversen I said, \"Will you do it? Tell me quick,\nfor if you will not, I will take him away from here.\" The doctor replied,\n\"I will.\"\n\nI said to Dr. Seversen, \"I would like to go along with you to see whether\nyou know how to do it.\" Eight doctors were also present. While the doctor\nwas drilling a hole in the protruding bone, red blood spurted out of it,\nand I said, \"Praise the Lord!\" One of the doctors standing by said, \"How do\nyou know fhat that looks good?\" I made no reply, but looked at him with a\ngrin.\n\nDuring his stay in the hospital I visited the young man from time to time.\nOne day I asked the doctor how he was getting along with Elder, and he\nanswered, \"Getting along good only the sore doesn't quit running as rapidly\nas I would like to have it.\" Then I ventured, \"Have you looked at his\nback?\" He asked, \"Tuberculosis of the spine?\" I replied, \"You had better\nlook.\"\n\nThe next time I was there he said, \"There is no tuberculosis about him now;\nhe is well, when did he have it?\" Then I told him that five years previous\nto this time, when a lad of fourteen, he was sick and I prayed for him and\nthe Lord healed him. (Dr. Seversen did a good job on that young man's arm\nand the Lord did the finishing.) Mr. Larson has a good strong arm today and\nis employed in a service station in Elbow Lake, Minnesota.\n\nTwo years later I visited Dr. Seversen. When he saw me, he stuck both arms\nup and said, \"Here comes the man with the iron nerve.\" I answered him, \"No,\nhere comes the man with a little good common sense and faith in God\nAlmighty.\" \"Yes,\" he said, \"common sense, but I thought it could not be\ndone, when it was in such a mess and had been broken so long.\" I answered\nhim, \"Yes, but a good arm is better than an iron hook on it.\" He said,\n\"Indeed, but I did not think it could be done.\" (I have nothing against\ndoctors, but the Lord can do what men cannot do.)\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOne time Brother and Sister George Larson's three sons were stricken at the\nsame time with infantile paralysis. Herman was 21 and the twins 18 years. A\nspecialist was called and he brought two doctors with him. He pronounced\nthe cases as very serious, especially Norman who was stricken in the head,\nand they did not think there was any hope for him. They said it would be a\ngood thing if he would die, for if he lived, he would be crazy. They sent\nfor me. Sister Larson was then pastor of a congregation in Hereford, Minn.\nThey had been praying and we prayed again, and the Lord finished the job\nand healed all three. Often people say, \"It was not so serious and may not\nhave been what they said it was,\" but this time the devil got fooled. The\nyoung man had been going to the University of Minnesota where they had been\ntapping some blood from them for medical science purposes to use to heal\nothers stricken in the same manner; so medical science acknowledge they had\nthe real thing.\n\nAt one of the camp meetings at Hereford, Ole Torgesen got very much under\nconviction and went home to repair a thrashing machine engine. It did not\nwant to start and he got angry and swore at it. Starting suddenly, the fly\nwheel struck his left hand and breaking a number of bones. He went to the\ndoctor and had the bones set and the hand taped and the arm strapped to his\nbody. Then he came back to the meeting and wanted to be saved. He repented,\nand the Lord accepted him. While he was still on his knees he looked up and\nsaid, \"I hear you men believe in divine healing, and I want to be prayed\nfor that the Lord will heal my hand.\" So Brother C. H. Tubbs and myself\nprayed the prayer of faith and he began to unloose his arm and take off the\nbandage. While he was doing so, the saints were shouting the praises of\nGod. Others told him not to take the bandage off and got angry as he\ncontinued removing them. Finally he took off the cotton and cleaned off the\niodine and the taping. After doing so, he lifted his arm slowly to move his\nfingers. Finally he put his hand up and moved his fingers freely, and his\nhand was healed to the glory of God. Next day we had baptismal services and\nI asked him if he wanted to be baptized. He said he did, but thought his\nwife would be saved, too, so wished that both could be baptized together. I\nsaid, \"All right.\"\n\nNext day in the morning service she got saved. She was the daughter of a\nlay minister of a certain denomination who did not believe in baptism by\nimmersion. She asked me if they could be baptized right away. I told her\nthat just as soon as the service was over we would go immediately to the\npool. She did not want her parents to know what she was doing, so we kept\nit quiet, but when we started for the pool, the prairie seemed to be alive\nwith people on horse back and in all kinds of rigs, coming from all\ndirections.\n\nThey were blowing horns and making music on circle saws. So when we got to\nthe pool, the banks were covered with people more than in the baptismal\nservice before. While we were singing, I heard the sister say to her\nhusband, \"There they come!\" It was her father and mother. They came over to\nthem and I said, \"Don't say a word to them.\" The preacher went after them\nin a great way. Finally the daughter put her arms around his neck, and\nsaid, \"Daddy, don't go at it this way, please. We are saved now and want to\nobey the commandments of the Lord.\" \"All right,\" he said, \"You are old\nenough to know what you are doing.\" \"But this man...\" running at me and\nshaking his fist in my face, and I thought I surely would get a good\nlicking when I said nothing and did not move. He cooled down, and said,\n\"This is a poor man. We better take up a collection for him,\" and walked\naway. While I was baptizing the two and a Methodist minister's son, stones\nand sticks flew in plenty around me but none hit me.\n\nOne evening three young men cut the rope of the tent and were caught. When\nthey learned they could get seven years in State prison, and we did not\nprosecute them--that ended all the disturbance at that place.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAt one time I was holding a revival meeting at Plum Coulee, Canada. One\nevening there was conviction upon a number of people. I was just going to\nclose my sermon and make the altar call, and the devil said, \"Now you\nswear.\" It shocked me so, I had to stop for a minute and conviction ceased.\nThen I had to start preaching again. The devil once more said, \"Now you\nswear.\" I rebuked him and went ahead and made the altar call, and those\nunder conviction came forward and received help.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMAN FEAR\n\nI was called at one time to Grand Forks to help in a meeting. Coming there,\nI saw two or three large, tall ministers whom I had never seen before. I\nwas scared to preach before them, so when we had prayer that evening, I\nprayed the Lord to deliver me from man fear. The committee asked me to\nspeak that evening and the Lord blessed and gave me victory. Next day one\nof those good ministers came to me and said, \"I want to talk to you. I was\nso blessed before you came, but since you came, I was afraid of you and my\nblessing all left. I wonder if you can help me?\" \"I can,\" I said. \"When I\ncame last night, upon seeing you and Brother H., I got so scared I wished I\nwas not here, so I prayed and it left me and then the devil jumped on you.\"\n\nThis made me think of a Swedish song which says in part:\n\n  \"Menisko frygtens didlige snaror har bringat\n  Mangen en man paafald.\"\n\nWhich means in English:\n\n  \"The fear of man the deadly snares\n  Has brought many a man to fall.\"\n\nIn a case like this it may not mean so much, but in many cases good\nministers have failed to preach the truth because of the fear of man. What\na disaster for themselves and for hundreds of souls!\n\nOne Sunday morning I spoke in a chapel for a brother pastor. When the\nservice was over he came to me and in a very tired tone, he said, \"Did you\nmean me this morning?\" I answered, \"Dear Brother, I surely did not mean\nyou.\" He said, \"Well,\" and walked away still tired. I did not go for lunch\nbut remained in the chapel and wept and prayed that I might not be a trial\nto my dear brethren. I said, \"I will not go into the pulpit again until you\ngive me more wisdom,\" but when the afternoon meeting time came, no one else\nhad a message, and I had to go into the pulpit again. The Lord blessed in a\nwonderful way, and a number of souls got saved. After the service the good\npastor came to me and said, \"Will you forgive me? You did not mean me this\nmorning.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nHOW THE LORD LEADS\n\nOnce on my way to Platte, South Dakota, I got lost. I was driving slowly\ntrying to think of where I had gotten off my route--when suddenly a man in\na field on a tractor waved me to stop. He climbed over the fence, and here\nit was Brother Walter Ratzlaf. He said, \"How come you are here?\" I\nanswered, \"I'm lost.\" \"Turn around,\" he answered, \"and we will drive down\nto the house.\"\n\nGoing to the house, there was a young lady I had known in North Dakota. He\nintroduced her to me as his wife. The last time I had seen them, they were\nin North Dakota. Both of them were now members of the committee for the\nyoung people's convention of North Dakota, which was to convene the\nfollowing Friday, Saturday and Sunday. George W. Green of Bertha, Minnesota\nwas to have been the guest speaker, but they had just gotten a telegram\nfrom him saying that he could not be there. Brother Ratzlaf said, \"The Lord\nmust have sent you here. Could you be our guest speaker?\" I answered, \"Yes,\nif you want me. I am on my way home, and Brother Green was expecting to\nmeet me at my place, and I was planning on taking him from my home on to\nthe convention.\" Again, I could see how the Lord directed many times,\nunbeknowns to me.\n\nA lady brought her sister who was in the last stages of tuberculosis to the\ncamp meeting at Saint Paul Park, Minn. Wife and I prayed for the sick woman\nand she was instantly healed. So they insisted that I go to their place and\nhold them a meeting. I was very busy, so it was sometime before I could go.\nFinally they wrote asking how much I wanted to hold the meeting. I wrote\nthat my carfare round trip was to be $26.50, and I thought I ought to have\nthat much. They answered that they would give me that much, and that much\nmore. I went and started the meeting on Friday evening. The folks I was to\nstay with lived six miles in the country and we secured the Methodist\nChurch in town for the services. We had two services on Saturday, three on\nSunday, two Monday and two Tuesday. Tuesday night they left me in the\nchurch. I had coal enough to keep me warm. As I had no money to go to the\nhotel, the next morning I walked out to their place in the loose snow,\narriving about dinner time. I had dinner and that evening they took me to\nthe meeting and left me again. I have no recollection of how I got away\nfrom there. It seems to me a family in town, who knew some of my relatives,\nkept me for a day or two. My carfare, which I still have coming from them\nas well as the rest, is the only meeting I had held in 52 years on which I\nhad set a price. A brother belonging to another denomination who often\nattended the services and who was an agent for the Furges Kalls Woolen\nMills, Minnesota, whom I met some years later, asked me, \"Did you ever get\nany money from that meeting?\" I replied, \"I have it all coming,\" so he gave\nme five dollars and a pair of seven dollar trousers. That experience was\none of the \"all things.\" This was the only time I ever set any price on my\nministry.\n\nPRAYER CHANGES THINGS\n\nBrother Masters and I were holding meeting in Hereford, Minnesota. Brother\nMasters was doing most of the preaching, and I was exhorting and giving the\ninvitations. One evening after he finished preaching, I dismissed the\nmeeting immediately. As we were going to our room between eleven and\ntwelve, he asked, \"Why did you not give the altar call tonight?\" Then he\nadded, \"You did right, but what was the reason?\" I answered, \"Too much\nMasters.\" He replied, \"The Lord help me!\" and on his knees he went. He\nstayed there until between three and four o'clock in the morning. The next\nnight I did not need to give an altar call, for the people flocked to the\naltar of their own accord.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMY FIRST PREACHING TRIP\n\nI was standing in a wagon driving home from Hawick, Minnesota. The Lord\nspoke to me and said, \"I want you to go to Belgrade next Sunday and\npreach.\" I replied, \"I do not know what to preach.\" The Lord answered, \"You\ngo and open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.\" I argued that I did not\nhave the money to go. He answered, \"I'll tend to that.\"\n\nWhen I arrived home from Hawick, there was a letter from an old brother\nabout 80 years of age living at Norway Lake, Minn. He said, \"The Lord has\nbeen telling me that you ought to go to Belgrade and hold them a meeting,\nand I am sending you the carfare.\" So I went.\n\nAnother time I was holding a meeting north of Belgrade and staying with\nBrother and Sister Andrew Larson. The night before leaving that locality I\ndreamed that when I came to Belgrade, I saw a man go into the depot just\nahead of me, and as he stepped away from the ticket window he said, \"Ha,\nha, ha, I may as well go home then, since there is no train until three\no'clock this afternoon.\"\n\nBrother Larson was to take me to the depot early in the morning, and it was\ncold. When telling them my dream they laughed, and we all laughed. They\nsaid, \"It can't be that bad.\"\n\nIt was about six miles to town and riding in an open buggy, I got cold, and\nwhen we got within about a quarter mile from town, I said, \"You had better\nlet me out here and I will walk and get warmed up.\" So he did. When I\narrived at the depot a man walked in just ahead of me, and when he turned\nfrom the window, he said, \"Ha, ha, ha, I might just as well go home since\nthere will be no trains until three o'clock this afternoon.\"\n\nI walked up to the ticket window and said, \"How come the train is so late?\"\nHe said, \"An old freight train ran off the track and they will have to\nclean up before the passenger train can come through.\" I did not wait, but\nwalked home--a distance of twenty miles.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAt one time I held a meeting in what was known as Clark school house,\nfifteen miles south of Cohasset, Minnesota. After the last Sunday morning\nservice, I said, \"If there is anyone who will take me to Cohasset after\nservice tonight, my heavenly Father will give him a hundred fold in this\nlife, and eternal life in the world to come.\" So going down to the door\nafter service to shake hands with the folks, there stood a nice-looking\nyoung man who had not been out to the services before. He said, \"I'll take\nyou to town tonight.\" I said, \"All right, thank you,\" and out he went.\nAfter a while Brother Goodell, the elder, came and said, \"I'll take you to\ntown.\" I said, \"You are too late. You lost your pay this time.\" He said,\n\"Who is going to take you?\" I answered, \"The young man who stood by the\ndoor when I got there.\" He thought a while, then he said, \"Oh, that was\nHenry Garber; that will never do. He is not saved. He drinks a little,\ndances, plays cards and likely smokes.\" Then he added, \"I'l take you. The\nroad is bad\" (and it surely was). I answered him, \"If he is like that he\nneeds the pay.\" \"Well,\" he said, \"He may not come. Aren't you afraid to go\nwith him?\" \"No,\" I said.\n\nHe came, and it took us quite a while to get there on account of the road.\nWe talked farming, dancing, drinking, love and salvation. Getting to town,\nit was still an hour and a half before the train would arrive. He said,\n\"Wouldn't it be good to have a little lunch now?\" I said, \"That would be\nfine.\" \"Alright,\" he said, \"you order what you want.\" \"Aren't you going to\nhave some?\" I asked; but he said, \"no.\" After lunch he said, \"How about a\nlittle ice cream now.\" \"Fine,\" I said.\n\nThere were quite a number of young folks in the restaurant and while I was\neating he was talking to the young people telling them he had been to two\nservices that day and he added, \"They were two of the best sermons I have\never heard in my life.\" They called out in a chorus, \"Henry, Henry, have\nyou sworn off?\" Then they asked, \"Who preached?\" He answered, \"Reverend\nSusag over here.\"\n\nAfter I got through eating, he introduced me to all those young people.\nThen I said, \"You had better get me to the depot now, and start for home;\nthe road is so bad.\" \"Well,\" he said, \"I will not start back until you are\non the train.\" And so he did; and when he put my grips on the train, he\nsaid, \"Good by,\" and as he shook hands with me he left $3.00 in my hand. As\nhe was leaving me he said,\n\n\"When--\" but he never finished what he started to say. No doubt he meant to\nsay, \"When you pray remember me.\" I did not hear of him, nor see him for\ntwo or three years. Going to Milwaukee one Sunday to hold services for\nBrother Flint, a young man came to me in the chapel and said, \"Praise the\nLord Brother Susag.\" I said, \"Amen.\" I looked at him and he said, \"Do you\nknow me?\" I answered, \"Yes, I have met you somewhere, but I don't remember\nwhere.\" \"Think of Cohasset, Minnesota,\" he answered. I slapped him on the\nshoulder and said, \"Henry, when did you get saved?\" \"Driving home that\nnight,\" he said; \"thinking how you treated me, almost a stranger, you spoke\nto me like a father--with such good understanding of everything and you\ncalled me brother and I got broken up, and going to my room on the farm, I\nknelt by my bed and repented and the Lord saved me. It was so good and the\nLord made me so happy. I went to see my parents who lived six miles out of\nMilwaukee, Wisconsin.\" They all became members of the congregation in\nMilwaukee, and Henry became a much loved and respected member of the\ncongregation in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, and for many years one of the\nleaders and finally went home to his reward.\n\nOne time I was holding a meeting in the neighborhood where a young man\nlived who was one of our first converts, and he attended my services. One\nday he asked me if I would go home with him. I said, \"Yes.\" On the way, he\nstopped me and said, \"Have you got grace enough?\" I answered, \"I think so.\"\nFinally we got near his home, and in a little grove he stopped me again and\nhe repeated, \"Have you got grace enough?\" I answered again, \"I think so,\nbut if you think I need more, let us pray that the Lord will give me all\nthat I need.\" We knelt down in the grove there and prayed. Coming into the\nhouse he introduced me to his mother, a fine looking lady. We sat down and\nhad a friendly chat, and before I knew it, I said, \"Praise the Lord.\"\n\n\"Oh,\" she said, \"You are one of them are you?\" Then she gave me a real\ntongue lashing. This was because several of her sons and daughters had\ngotten saved, and they were very much persecuted because they left their\nchurch. Sometimes when she would find Olaf on his knees praying, she would\ngrab him by the hair and pull him around in the house.\n\nFinally her husband came in, and she introduced me to him.\n\n\"Susag,\" he said, \"are you the husband of that witch over near Paynesville\nor Hawick, that goes singing and fingering on the strings on that box,\ngetting people to weep and taking them away from their parents?\" (Wife\nplayed a harp when she sang.) \"You get out of this house as fast as your\nfeet can carry you.\"\n\nI took my hat and started for the door, and as I came near, he stood there\nwith his hatchet in his hand and said, \"If you come nearer, I will smash\nyour head,\" and lifted the hatchet. I realized the man was so angry he did\nnot know what he was saying, so I went back and sat down. \"Say, Mr.\nErickson,\" I said, \"sit down, and let me tell you how the Lord saved us.\"\n\"Alright,\" he answered. His wife said, \"Get him out, get him out!\" Then he\nanswered, \"Let him speak out of his heart. It is the first time he has ever\nbeen in our house.\" \"No,\" she said, \"Get him out.\" \"No, no, wife, be\nquiet.\" And he sat down and I related how the Lord convicted wife and I.\n(We used to be of the same faith as they were.) When I had told them our\nexperience, he came over and put his hand on my shoulder, and said, \"You\ncan stay with us over night, but don't say anything about your religion.\"\n\nI thanked him and said, \"We have services tonight, and I have to be going.\"\n\nLater on Brother Peter Peterson of Foboken, New Jersey and myself held a\nmeeting in that neighborhood and went and called on Mr. Erickson, and had a\nvery pleasant visit with him. Brother Peterson had been a rough seaman and\nhe told him of his life, and how the Lord had convicted and saved him. That\nseemed to impress him.\n\nYears later Olaf bought the farm and his parents moved to another house.\nOne morning Mr. Erickson did not come in for breakfast, and his wife went\nto his bedroom to see what was the matter. There he was on his knees by the\nbed praying. The first time she had ever seen him doing so in that\nposition. He got up and said, \"yes, I am coming.\" She went back to the\nkitchen, but still he did not come; so she went back to call him. Again he\nwas on his knees by the bed. She said, \"Aren't you coming husband. The\nbreakfast is getting cold.\" He answered again, \"Yes, I'm coming.\" But he\ndid not come yet. She went back the third time, and on his knees he was,\nand this time he was dead. No doubt the man had been calling upon God, and\nthe Bible says, \"Whosoever calleth on the name of the Lord shall be saved.\"\nHundreds of prayers had gone up for those folks. After his death Mrs.\nErickson went to stay with her oldest daughter at Westlake, Minnesota.\nAfter being there for some time she took very sick, and she said to her\ndaughter, \"Will you send for the preacher?\" Yes, she said, \"What is his\naddress?\" (thinking she wanted her own pastor). \"No,\" she said, \"I want\nyour pastor, Brother Susag.\" I went and at the end of three days, she got\ngloriously saved and got well. Later on she took sick again and passed on,\nand because I was in Europe at the time, my wife conducted the funeral\nservice. What looks hopeless with man can be changed by prayer.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAt one time when Olae Christaphersen was selling books in the country\nbetween Grove City and Litchfield, Minnesota, he came to a home where quite\na number were weeping and he asked why they were so sad. The lady of the\nhouse replied, \"Our daughter, a young lady, is in the bedroom dying, and\nhusband has gone to town to get the coffin, as she stinks already.\" (Those\ndays they took the coffin to the homes sometimes). He inquired if he could\nsee her, and she said, yes. After standing looking at her a while, he knelt\nand laid his hands on her and prayed the prayer of faith, and the Lord\nraised her up. Years later he was selling books in N. Dakota. He came to a\nnice farm home and knocking at the door a fine looking lady opened the\ndoor. Surprising him, she said, \"Come in.\" Unused to such courtesy, he\nhesitated a moment, and she said again, \"Come in, I know you. I am the lady\nyou prayed for down by Litchfield, Minnesota, whose father had gone to the\nundertaker to arrange for the funeral. I am married and this is my home.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAt one time a sister-in-law of Olae Christaphersen, Bastine Christaphersen,\nwas in childbirth. The midwife said the child could not be born without\nmedical help. Her husband started for Wilmer to get the doctor. At seven\no'clock she began to get blue and lost consciousness. They sent for Brother\nOlae. When he came, he looked at his sister-in-law and walked out into the\nwoodshed, and there among the split wood he knelt down and prayed. A number\nof times they called for him to come in, but he did not answer. About\ntwelve o'clock he came hurrying in and laid his hands on his sister-in-law\nand said, \"I command in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that this child\nbe born, and that my sister-in-law be made well.\" Immediately the child was\nborn, and all was well. In a few minutes the doctor arrived and he said it\nwas a wonderful miracle.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nHEALED AFTER RUNNING A RUSTY NAIL THROUGH THE FOOT\n\nOne time my wife stepped on a rusty nail, running it through the shoe sole\nand her foot. The next morning Brother Christaphersen came and she asked\nhim to make her a crutch, since I was in Europe at the time. She had to\nwalk with her knee on a chair and he said he would. He went out and in a\nfew minutes he came back and said, \"The Lord does not want me to make you a\ncrutch. Let us pray the Lord to heal you.\" They prayed and she was healed\nat once.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nHEALED OF LOCKJAW\n\nI had my collar bone broken three times; the third time I was in North\nDakota holding meetings. It was during July and very hot, being around 85\nto 90 degrees in the shade. I was staying with Brother and Sister E. Olson\nand lockjaw set in. I took chills until they moved me into the kitchen and\nhad the stove red hot. Even then I could hardly quit chilling. I battled\nwith the devil and the pain for a whole day, and finally got the victory.\nBless His name.\n\nHEALED OF BROKEN LEG\n\nOne time I was plowing and was thrown off the seat onto the plow in such a\nway that my leg caught between the bars and I was thrown with my weight on\nmy leg, breaking it near the ankle and splitting the bone nearly to the\nknee. The end of the broken bone protruded under the skin near the knee.\nThe neighbor hearing my scream, phoned to my home, and the folks came and\ntook me home. We sent for Sister Hendricks, (now Sister Mayhre). She and\nwife prayed for me and as they prayed the bone moved back into its place\nand the next day I was well as ever and able to go about my business.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMAN SAVED AND HEALED\n\nAt one time while I was pastor in Grand Forks, a young man came who had\nbeen on crutches for four years. (He was partially paralyzed, and unable to\nbear his weight on his limbs.) He came at the time of the State camp\nmeeting. He had written to Brother E. E. Byrum to come and pray for him,\nand he was bringing the answer he had gotten from Brother Byrum which said,\n\"I haven't time to come and furthermore it is so far and expenses would be\nso great and since the Dakota State Camp meeting convenes in a few days,\nyou might be able to get someone to take you down there. Brother Susag will\nbe there and he does the same kind of work that I do. He will pray with\nyou, and instruct you how to get saved and healed.\"\n\nHe came and went through the entire camp meeting without receiving the\nfaith he needed to get saved and healed, but he remained another day and I\nhad time to more thoroughly instruct him. He did get saved and was\nperfectly healed.\n\nA DOCTOR'S DAUGHTER HEALED\n\nI was asked at one time to come to a certain city to preach for a certain\ndenomination for a couple of weeks, which I did. On coming I found that I\nwas to stay with a certain doctor who had a daughter five years old. One\nafternoon she was sitting talking with me and I found her almost as smart\nas a high school girl. Toward evening I said to her, \"Honey, you are sick.\"\nShe shrugged her shoulders and said, \"I'll be all right in the morning.\"\nBut she became seriously ill that evening, insomuch that the next day her\nfather sent for another doctor, a nurse and a lady to help. About three\no'clock the third morning the doctor came up into my room and made a\nconfession which he needed not to have made. Then he said, \"I've come to my\nwit's end; I know of no help for the child. But would you please pray for\nher? But pray right away, as she may pass away any time.\" I began to pray\nright away. I put on my clothes and ran down stairs, praying all the while.\nWhen I got down stairs everything was quiet, and when the doctor met me, he\nsaid, \"Less than three minutes after you commenced to pray my daughter went\nto sleep, and I believe when she wakes up she will be well.\" She slept\nuntil four in the afternoon. When she awakened, she said, \"I want to get up\nand dress.\" The doctor said, \"No, honey, you can't do that; you have been\nawful sick. You will have to stay in bed and be quiet until you get\nstronger.\" She said, \"Where is Brother Susag?\" He said, \"Do you want to see\nhim?\" She said, yes, so they called me and I said, \"Praise the Lord,\nhoney.\" She said, \"Can't I dress?\" \"Sure, you can dress,\" I said, and so\nthey dressed her. Then she said, \"Now I want to get up and run.\" Again the\ndoctor said, \"You can't do that.\" She said, \"Brother Susag, can't I run?\" I\nsaid, \"Sure, you can run,\" and out of the bed she went, but she stumbled\nagainst the wall, and the doctor went to catch her. She said, \"Don't touch\nme. If I need help, Brother Susag can help me.\" Then through the house she\nran with the father, mother and nurse after her. I was standing in the\nmiddle of the room praising God. Finally she stopped and faced her father\nand said, \"Can't I run, daddy?\" He said, \"Sure you can, honey.\"\n\nHer father came and put his arms around my neck weeping and said, \"You\nsaved the life of my child.\" I answered, \"No, I didn't.\" He said, \"Who did\nthen?\" I said, \"You made a humble confession and asked one of the Lord's\nservants to pray, and the Lord honored your faith and healed her.\" \"Yes,\"\nhe said, \"but if you hadn't been here she would have been dead now.\"\n\nA humble confession is a sure stepping stone to faith.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nHEALED OF PARALYSIS\n\nNot long ago the Lord said to me. \"You go to such and such a church\ntonight,\" which I did. After service was over, a man who had been paralyzed\nfrom his waist down for a long time, asked me to pray for him. The prayer\nof faith was offered and he was instantly healed. To corroborate the above,\nwill say that later I met a minister of another denomination who knew the\ncase and he said that this man had retained his healing.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nDELIVERED FROM A SINKING SHIP\n\nI wish to rewrite an incident given in Brother E. E. Byrum's book,\n\"Startling Incidents and Experiences in the Christian Life.\" As it was\ngiven to him verbally, and I did not see the manuscript to correct it after\nit was written. But on reading the article in his book, I discovered that\nhe had forgotten some of the facts. I am rewriting it here, praying that it\nmay prove a blessing.\n\nFor the glory of God I desire to relate some incidents connected with my\ntrips to Scandinavia in the years 1904-05. While I was engaged in\nevangelistic work in North Dakota in the fall of 1904, the brethren in New\nYork City wrote me about making them a visit. After praying earnestly for\nthe Lord to make known his will in the matter, I decided to go, and felt\nthat if I went to New York I also ought to make a trip across the Atlantic\nto Norway to see my parents and relatives whom I had not seen for\ntwenty-four years.\n\nIn the latter part of November it was made very clear to me by the Holy\nSpirit that I should go, and about the middle of December I left my home\nfor New York City. On the 24th of December my wife took so seriously ill\nthat she was not expected to live. She had faith that the Lord would raise\nher up, but the children were much distressed, fearing that their mother\nwas going to die, and knowing that their father was on his way to a foreign\nland, not intending to return for several months. They begged to have a\ntelegram sent to me asking me to return. Finally about two o'clock in the\nnight, when she was getting very low, and the children would not be\ncomforted in any other way, she consented to have a telegram sent to the\nmissionary home in New York City. Knowing as she did that it was God's will\nfor me to go to Norway and knowing also that if I returned so soon, I could\nnot go if she should recover, she prayed earnestly that the Lord would\nhinder me from getting the telegram, which he did. God heard her prayer and\nalso healed her. After stopping with the church in New York for sometime, I\nwent to Boston, and thence on the 20th of January, 1905 sailed on the\nSteamship Saxonia of the Cunard line for Liverpool, England. Everything\nwent well--the Atlantic was the smoothest I had ever seen it. I wondered\nhow it could be otherwise, inasmuch as my family and many people of God\nwere sending up earnest prayers for my safe journey. My journey from\nLiverpool to Hull was by railroad, but at the latter place, I embarked on\nthe S. S. Tasso of the Wilson Line bound for Tronheim, Norway. Getting into\nthe North Sea we had a very rough voyage. We were to make our first stop at\nStavanger, but the weather was so stormy as we neared the coast that\nevening that we did not dare to sail in the dark. Consequently we anchored\nout in the North Sea for the night. While the ship tossed up and down and\nback and forth through the night, I dreamed the ship was going on dry land.\nI could hear the screeching as it went on the rocks and chills went down my\nback. Then the scene changed. In my dream I seemed to be on land standing\nlooking at the ship going, and wondering why it did not tip over. I looked\nclose and on the right hand side of the ship was a large stone, almost as\nhigh as the ship, scraping against its side. On the left side was a small\nstone steadying it as it moved along. Finally it moved out into deep water\nand turned to the left, and in a little while we landed at our destination,\nTronheim. In the morning I told my dream at the breakfast table and said,\n\"We may have an accident before we get through.\" The people laughed and\nsaid, \"Do preachers believe in dreams?\" I said, \"Yes, when they come true.\"\nThey thought there was no danger, for the reason the ship was so large.\n\"Well,\" I said, \"it is very stormy weather and the sea is full of rocks\nalong the coast and we do not know what may happen.\" That day we landed\nsafely in Stavanger, and then went to our next stop, Bergen. Leaving there\nwe encountered the roughest sailing I had ever experienced. Four ships\nstarted out at the same time from the dock, and only one was able to anchor\nat the next stop, Aalesund, so we had to anchor out in the ocean. The next\nmorning we were able to land at the dock. Thence we went to Christiansund,\nwhich was our last stop before our final destination. It was a good harbor,\nand were ready to leave there at 8 p.m., but as the storm was still raging\nout in the sea, the captain decided to remain in the harbor until twelve\no'clock. Then we should land at our destination at eight o'clock in the\nmorning. At twelve o'clock we left the harbor. The storm was still raging\nand a heavy snow was falling. At 1:15 a.m. I felt a shock and heard the\nsame screeching noise that I had heard in my dream and knew at once what\nhad happened. Immediately the stewart came running into the stateroom\ncalling, \"Everybody up! take nothing along. We are sinking!\"\n\nQuicker than I can tell you the seven men with me in the stateroom were up\nand dressing, putting on all the clothes they could. Up the stairs they\nwent, throwing away their tobacco and pipes, and leaving behind their\nwhisky bottles, some empty and some partly empty. I got up, dressed, took\nmy Bible and read a little. Then I knelt down and had prayer. The stewart\ncame down and said, \"Aren't you in a hurry? We are sinking!\" I said, \"No,\nhe that believeth shall make no haste.\" He looked at me and went on the\ndeck. The snow storm was whistling wildly through the tackling of the ship,\nand the seamen were working with all their might to lower the life boats.\nOthers were running to and fro. Some women were crying aloud and others\nwere praying while the water was pouring into the sides of the ship. The\npumps were working to their full capacity, throwing out the water. It was\nindeed a sad sight. As a seaman was running by, I asked him to direct me to\nthe pilot. He looked at me and said in a harsh voice, \"What do you want\nwith the pilot?\" and went his way. A little further on I met another\nseaman, and asked him the same question. He said, \"The pilots are both over\nthere with the captain,\" pointing to three men who were standing a short\ndistance away.\n\nI walked over to where they were standing, conversing with one another. I\nsaluted them and said to the captain. \"Could you spare me a minute or two?\"\n\"If it is important, I can,\" he replied. \"I think it is,\" I said. \"Speak on\nthen,\" he said.\n\nI then asked him who the pilot of the boat was, and one pointed to himself\nand another man. Then I said to the head pilot, \"We are off the rock now,\nare we not?\" \"Yes,\" he answered. \"Did you turn to the left when you turned\noff the rock,\" I asked. \"Yes,\" he replied. \"If that is the case we need not\ngo into the life boats,\" I replied, \"as this boat is going to land in\nTronhein, without loss of life.\"\n\nThe captain looked at me and said, \"What do you know about navigation,\nman?\" pointing to the water that was being pumped out of the ship; \"we are\nsinking.\" \"I know nothing about navigation,\" I replied. \"Explain yourself,\"\nhe said. Then I told my dream, and when I had finished speaking, I saw the\ntears running down the weather-beaten cheeks of the pilots. Then the\ncaptain said, \"What kind of a man are you?\" I answered, \"An ordinary\nminister.\" Then the pilot said to the captain, \"We had better listen to\nthis man. He may be more right than we, because as long as this ship can\nhold up, we are safe, but if we go into the boats in this fearful weather\nand dark night, we shall soon be dashed to pieces against the rocks.\"\n\nThen the pilot said to me, \"Our ship sticks 28 feet in the water and the\nrock we struck was only twelve feet under the water, so you see it is a\ngreat miracle that our ship is not in two, and one end on each side of the\nrock. Had that happened, no one would have known what became of us, for we\nare now in 53 fathoms of water.\" Orders were then given not to lower the\nlife boats.\n\nThen I said to the captain, \"Is this the Tasso, that used to sail on Norway\n24 years ago?\" He replied, \"No, that lays on the bottom of the sea six\nmiles from here. What about it?\" I said, \"I embarked on that ship at\nTronheim the 27th day of April on a Sunday afternoon at four o'clock, of\nthe year 1881, with 384 other young people who were sailing for England, on\nour way to America. At nine o'clock we got into an awful snowstorm and just\nlay drifting until one fifteen a.m., exactly the same time of night as we\nstruck the rock this time. We went on the rock and turned over on the side\njust outside of the Agness lighthouse.\" Then the captain said, \"What kind\nof a man are you?\" \"Just an ordinary minister,\" I answered. The captain\nthen told me his father was captain of that ship at that time. (It might be\ninteresting to the reader to know that we lay on our side until almost six\nfifteen in the morning when the ship straightened up as the tide arose.\nThen they cut the anchor chain and we backed up and went our way.) Needless\nto say, that night was one of the greatest prayer meetings ever held.\n\nWhile I was speaking with the Captain, the first mate had come, a fine tall\nEnglishman. \"Will you kindly go with me to the front end of the ship and\nsee if we can see any lights? We are lost. We don't know where we are.\" I\nanswered, \"I know nothing about navigation sir.\" He said, \"Please go with\nme.\" I did, and coming out there, I saw three lights, and he could not see\nany. He said, \"Keep your eyes on them, and I'll run for the captain.\" They\nboth came running and the captain could not see the lights either. Turning\nto me he said, \"You must be mistaken.\" \"No sir,\"\n\nI replied, \"I can see them now.\" He then asked me the color of the lights.\nAfter I had given him a description of them, he saw them himself and\nexplained, \"They are steamers. Where are we? We are lost!\" He called out in\nagony.\n\nWe lay there until six fifteen in the morning. When we turned around to the\nright between the rocks, they knew where to go. The pumps were in full\noperation, but our ship was tipping backward more and more as if it were\ngoing to stand on one end. We landed in Tronheim in the afternoon with our\nhandsatchels and our lives, and as soon as the pumps stopped, the ship\nfilled with water and sank in the harbor.\n\nI saw an account of the wreck in two Norwegian papers after the ship had\nbeen raised and placed on dry dock. The paper stated that the cargo was a\ntotal loss and the ship was about thirty eight thousand dollars. That\nnearly every plate from midship to stern was torn loose, just as I had seen\nin my dream and the paper said they could not understand why the ship had\nnot sunk before, as one plate hole was enough to sink the ship. My wife\nwrote me later and said, \"I know why the ship did not sink. I and many\nothers were praying that God would keep that ship on top of the waves,\nbecause he had one of his little ones on the ship.\" The Lord verified his\npromises by hearing the prayers of his people to protect me and bring me\nsafely to my destination. The blessings of salvation never seemed more real\nto me than at that time, as I was enabled to be calm and quiet through all\nthe perils, having the sweet assurance that the mighty arm of God was\nupholding me and protecting not only me, but those who were traveling with\nme. He hears and answers prayers. Those who trust and believe in him he\noften saves from death and destruction.\n\nHOMEWARD BOUND\n\nMy return trip was just as eventful as my trip to Norway. For some time I\nhad been praying earnestly for the Lord to direct me in getting the right\nship across the ocean, as I was to sail during the stormy season of Spring.\nOn the twentieth of March, 1905, I left the home of my parents in Norway,\nwith the intention of sailing the next morning. I was to sail on an English\nboat bound for Hull, England, in order to reach the fastest boat on the\nCunard Line bound from Liverpool to New York, as I thought that would be\nthe best vessel to take. Soon after leaving my fathers home, I stopped at a\nlittle seaport called Levanger to visit a relative of mine for a few hours,\nexpecting to leave on the evening train, but my relative persuaded me to\nstay and take the early morning train. He said I would have ample time to\nreach my boat in Tronhiem, but when my train entered the station the next\nmorning, the ship upon which I had intended sailing was just leaving the\nharbor.\n\nI did not understand what this meant, but remembered the scripture which\nsaid that \"All things work together for good to those that love the Lord.\"\nHad my plans for reaching the fast steamer from Liverpool to New York\ncarried and had the ship sailed on schedule, I should have been in New York\nin ten days, but now I had to make the best of the situation, so I decided\nto embark on the S. S. United States of the Scandinavian-American Line from\nOslo which was due in New York just one week later than the other ship, and\nif run on schedule generally arrived in New York nine days after leaving\nOslo.\n\nWe sailed from Oslo on time, but after being out at sea for a day, we found\nto our surprise and dissatisfaction of many of the passengers that instead\nof going direct to New York, we had to go to the Azores to pick up some\npassengers from another ship of the same line, as a shaft of that ship had\nbeen broken in a storm on the Atlantic Ocean, and the ship had been towed\nto some Island. This made a very long round-about voyage.\n\nWith the exception of two or three days of storm, the weather was good, but\nthe waves rolled exceedingly high every day. By this we knew that farther\nnorth in the ocean, a terrible storm was raging.\n\nFinally after fifteen days of rough sailing, we found ourselves just\noutside New York in the midst of a heavy fog, such as I had never before\nwitnessed. The whistles of the fog horns of the ships kept blowing and the\nbells ringing as we slowly proceeded in the afternoon, but finally we had\nto anchor, as a pilot from the shore entered our ship and forbade us to go\nany further. He said the sea was full of anchored ships on account of the\nfog, some of which had been there for three days. He said we could not move\nuntil the wind changed and drove the fog away. I felt quite satisfied,\nalthough like many others, I had been very seasick while on the voyage.\nEarly the next morning I went on the deck. There was so much unrest and\ngrumbling among the passengers that it was quite unpleasant for me to stay\non the ship any longer. However, the fog seemed to be thicker than ever. It\nwas so dense a person could hardly see beyond his outstretched arm. I went\nto my room, and there while lying across the bed, prayed earnestly to God\nto take away the fog. Then I went on deck and looked, but the fog seemed to\nbe still worse. I went down and prayed the second time, but found on my\nreturn the fog seemed to be thicker than ever. The third time I went and\nprayed, and while I was praying a voice said to me, \"Change your clothes.\"\nI knew what it meant. The Lord had heard my prayers. I arose and put on my\nbest suit of clothes (for I expected soon to be in New York). Then I went\nto the breakfast table.\n\nThe people were complaining on account of having to remain so long on the\nship. I said, \"Before we have finished breakfast, we shall be on our way\ninto the harbor.\" Some asked who had said so. I said I had been praying to\nGod and He had assured me that such would be the case. Eight men got up and\nlaughed me to scorn, saying, \"ha, ha, ha,\" but while we were eating we\nheard something rattle and someone asked. \"What is that?\" I said, \"I\nsuppose they are raising the anchor.\" A number sprang from, their seats and\nlooked through the portholes and the fog was gone, and we were on our way\nto the port. Then one man arose and said, \"That minister's religion must be\nright.\" After that there was no more laughing and scorning. Thank God, he\nstood by me and showed himself mighty in answering my prayers and in\nlifting the fog to the astonishment of my fellow travelers. Our ship was\nthe first one to pass into port, though some had been waiting there for\nthree days for an opportunity to reach New York.\n\nAfter landing, I learned that the Cunard liner on which I had intended to\nsail from Liverpool, had not yet arrived. It did not arrive until the next\nday. According to reports it had the worst voyage that any ship of that\ncompany had had for forty six years, and a number of passengers were badly\nhurt, being thrown about by the rolling and tossing of the ship. A young\nman who came across the ocean on that ship informed me that a number had to\nbe tied to their beds, and many were injured. After learning these things,\nI perceived that the Lord had answered prayer in a wonderful way. He had\nhindered me from embarking on that ship, and had thus spared me much\nunnecessary suffering.\n\nThanks be to his precious and matchless name. It is safe to put our whole\ntrust in God, because He knows how to protect and shield us from harm and\ndanger. It is my prayer that the relating of this incident of the Lord's\ndealings with me may prove a blessing and inspiration to others, and enable\nthem to put their whole trust in the Lord in time of difficulty and\ndistress. He will surely hear and answer prayer when we call upon Him in a\nsimple childlike manner.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAN ANSWER TO PRAYER\n\nFor the glory of God, I wish to relate two very definite instances of\nanswered prayer.\n\nOne time I was holding services nine miles north of Kerkhoven, Minn. The\nmeetings were very good, but I was under a very severe trial, and it seemed\nvery difficult for me to learn the will of the Lord as to whether at the\nclose of the meeting I should go home or to Grand Forks, North Dakota, Camp\nMeeting. I learned that my fare from Kerkhoven to Grand Forks would be\n$3.32. Then I went out into the grove three times, (I believe it was on\nFriday,) and asked the Lord that on Sunday forenoon at the close of the\nservices He would put it in the mind of somebody to give me exactly $3.32\nif He wanted me to go to Grand Forks. No one but the Lord knew my needs. On\nSunday after the service while I was shaking hands with the people, a\nbrother put some money in my outside coat pocket. When I left the house, I\nwalked to the grove to the same spot where I had prayed and knelt down and\nthanked the Lord for $3.32 in my pocket, and when I had counted the money I\nfound that it was the exact amount for which I had prayed. He had not only\nsupplied my carfare, but had in this way made known His will to me. Before\nI left the next morning, the brethren had given me more, so that I had\nsomething to send to my family.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTHE SECOND INCIDENT\n\nThe second incident I desire to relate, occurred at the time when the Lord\nmade it very clear to me to go to a certain place in South Dakota to hold a\nmeeting in a new place. This also was on Friday and I knew that the Lord\nwas directing me to go on the following Wednesday. I was in need of a suit\nof clothes, as what I had was not fit to wear in public. I was also in need\nof carfare. An elderly sister was staying with us and together with my wife\nwe had prayer and agreed that the Lord would supply these needs before\nWednesday morning. While we were in prayer the Lord made it clear and\ndefinite that He would grant our petition. As we arose from our knees, I\nsaid, \"Thank God, I have the money by faith.\" The elderly sister said,\n\"Well, I suppose you will have to write to some of the well-to-do brethren\nand tell them your need.\" \"No,\" I answered, \"The Lord will tell them. I\nmight make a mistake if I undertake to write to any of them.\" \"You will not\nhave the money then,\" she said. \"Yes, mother,\" I said, \"You will see before\nnext Wednesday morning that I will have all I need.\" She doubted and said\nshe would see.\n\nThe following Sunday we went to Colfax, Minnesota and held a service and\nreceived one dollar, and I said, \"Thank God for one dollar.\" Then on\nMonday, I received a letter from a brother who lived near Sisseton, South\nDakota which contained a check for seven dollars. The check was from a man\nwhom I did not know that I had ever seen, and he did not know my address,\nbut drove fifteen miles with a team and in a lumber wagon to another\nbrother who knew my address. He told him to send it to me immediately, as\nhe was impressed that I was in need. The old mother knew this brother and\nsaid he was well-to-do, and could well afford to send it. I said to her,\n\"Did I not tell you that the Lord knew to whom to speak.\" She was very much\nastonished. I also received another letter in which there was a check from\na brother whom I had not seen for four years. He wrote that while he was\ncoming from Crookston, Minnesota to where he had been working, and was\nnearing Wadena, Minnesota, the Spirit of the Lord told him to hurry to the\nbank before it closed and send Brother Susag five dollars. In his letter he\nsaid he thought I must be in great need and that he hurried and reached the\nbank in time to get the money. He further said, \"May the Lord bless you and\nuse you to His glory.\"\n\nWednesday morning I started for Saint Paul, Minnesota with thirteen dollars\nin my pocket. Arriving there, I was looking for a second hand clothing\nstore. I stood on the street praying for the Lord to direct me and He said,\n\"Samuelson, Samuelson.\" I walked around a few blocks and suddenly I looked\nup over a store and it said, \"Samuelson Second Hand Clothing.\" Going in,\nthe merchant asked if he could help me. I said, \"Have you a Prince Albert\ncoat and vest that will fit me.\" He looked and said, \"Just your fit,\" and\nwalked over to a show case and brought the coat and vest and put it on me.\nIt fit like it was made to order by a tailor. You could not see that it had\neven been on a man before. He said it was an eighty five dollar coat and\nvest, and it surely looked like it. It had silk facing on the lapels. I\ntook off the coat, and put my own back on. I felt that I did not dare ask\nhim the price. He said, \"Aren't you going to take it.\" He took my coat off\nand put the coat back on me. Then I prayed the Lord for courage to ask him\nthe price, so I said \"What's your price?\" He said, \"A dollar and a half.\" I\ncaught my breath and said, \"What did you say?\" He repeated, \"A dollar and a\nhalf.\" I said, \"Have you a pair of new trousers that will fit me?\" I had to\nhave the silk facing taken off, for fear I would be asked to the altar for\ntoo fine a suit.\n\nI not only bought the coat and vest, but one new and one second hand\ntrousers, and all came to $4.50.\n\nGoing to Arlington, I was dressed in the finest suit I had ever had in my\nlife. I overheard two ladies speaking about me. One said, \"You can see that\nman has seen better days by the fine clothes he wears.\" I wore that coat\nand vest for many years, and couldn't wear it out. Finally I got too stout\nand then I gave it away.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAt one time the Missionary Board was writing of the need in the\nScandinavian countries, and wanted me to go immediately, though they were\nunable to finance me. Also the leading brethren of the Scandinavian\nPublishing Company at St. Paul Park almost demanded me to go. I prayed and\nwept, and said to the Lord, \"Haven't you got any one else to go as you know\nI am a poor man, in debt on my home, and would be leaving my family in\nneed, shifting for themselves.\" For three days it got darker and darker for\nme. Finally the third day toward evening I got desperate, and going into my\nbedroom, I prayed earnestly, not knowing where a penny of carfare would\ncome from. As I was praying I said, \"Listen, Lord, you know I am honest and\nearnest. Do not let me be deceived. I'll take one of these Bibles on the\ntable, and close my eyes and throw it up in the air and catch it and the\nscripture my thumb is on when I catch it, I'll accept as an answer from\nyou.\" I did so, and my thumb was on Mark 10:29-30. \"And Jesus answered and\nsaid, Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house or\nbrethren or sisters or fathers or mothers or wife or children or lands, for\nmy sake and the gospels, but he shall receive an hundred fold now in this\ntime, houses and brethren and sisters and mothers and children and lands\nwith persecutions, and in the world to come, eternal life.\" I said, \"Amen.\"\nThen I got a phone message from Saint Paul Park saying, \"We have been\nlooking for you. Why don't you come?\" My answer was, \"I have no money.\"\nThey said they had a check for thirteen dollars for me. I answered, \"I am\ncoming.\"\n\nFrom there I went to Chicago to meet Brother E. E. Byrum who was president\nof the Missionary Board. He took me into a room and said, \"It is almost\ncruel to demand you to go when we have no way to finance you, but the need\nis so urgent, and we know you have faith and the only thing I can do is to\nlay my hands on you and pray for you.\" He did so, praying and weeping, and\nwhen we got through he took out his purse and emptied it into my hand. It\ncontained 94 cents. How I got there, I do not know.\n\nI spent some time in Norway and Sweden visiting the churches holding\nrevival meetings. From there I went on to Denmark where I spent thirteen\nmonths helping the dear faithful workers in raising up eight new\ncongregations, making a total of thirteen. In 1916 the Missionary Board\nsent $25 per month for seven and one half months to wife and the children.\n\nBefore leaving Denmark, I visited all thirteen of the congregations which\nwere there at that time, and preached my farewell sermon. In each place\nthey gave me an offering and a large size envelope, thick and fat and\nwritten on the outside, \"Not to be opened until on the North Sea or the\nAtlantic.\" When I opened them, there were many letters from different\npersons in each congregation expressing their appreciation for the help and\nblessing I had been to them. If I am not mistaken, there were 153 in all,\nand there was sufficient money in those letters to almost pay for my first\ncar, a Ford. The promise previously quoted in Mark 10:29-30 was verily\nfulfilled.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOnce I was in great need of at least one hundred dollars and I had calls\nfor three meetings at the same date. From one of these, I knew I would\nreceive a hundred and twenty five dollars, and another, one hundred, but I\nknew the third could not give more than fifty. For three days I stayed home\nand prayed, and the Lord said I should go to the third, which I did.\n\nOn arriving at the place, I found they were closing a union meeting in one\nof the large churches the following day. They told me that the evangelist\nrequired them to forward him $500 before he would start his meeting, also\n$300 at the close of his meeting and $200 for his singer.\n\nMonday night I began our service in the Church of God. One got saved.\nTuesday night the crowd could not all get in the church. The Presbyterian\nminister of the town was there and he said it was too bad the people could\nnot get in and offered us the Presbyterian Church free of charge. It was\nthe largest church in town. We accepted and announced our meetings to be\nheld there for Wednesday night. The church was packed and overflowing. Many\nwere outside who could not get in. A 32nd degree Mason came to me and said,\n\"Have you ever preached in a Masonic Hall?\" I said I had preached in the\nMasonic Temple in Chicago, so he offered to get the Masonic Hall for me. I\nthanked him and accepted his offer, so the balance of the meeting was held\nthere. It was filled for every service.\n\nWhen the two weeks meeting was over, the church gave me $52.50 and the next\nday I was asked to come to a chain store; the manager said the store always\ngave a present to every evangelist who came to town. Then he said, \"There\nis a present for you. What do you need? My wife says you need a pair of\nshoes, so go over to the counter and pick out a pair. They are fourteen\ndollars a pair.\" Then he said, \"Come and sit down. I want to talk to you.\"\nReaching his hand in his pocket he handed me a five dollar bill and said,\n\"That's from me.\" Then the man who let me use the Masonic Hall came in. He\nsaid to the merchant, \"Are you trying to persuade Mr. Susag to go with you\nto Norway to fish?\" The merchant answered, \"I wish I could.\" \"So do I,\" he\nanswered. Then he continued, \"Mr. M., you know that you and I are about as\nlow down in the mud as we can get, and every evangelist that comes to town\nis digging the hole deeper; but this man has kept on for two weeks doing\nhis best to dig us out.\" The merchant answered, \"That is right.\" Then the\nMason handed me a check for ten dollars, and turning he said, \"When--\" and\nhe walked away with tears in his eyes. Later on I understand he got saved\nand went to glory.\n\nAs I left the station that day for my home, many people came to the station\nto see me off and shook hands with me, leaving money in my hand or slipping\nit into my pockets. After I got on the train, I counted the money and found\nI had $187.00 instead of the fifty I had expected. Again God proved Himself\nto be the God that He says He is and His promises are true.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTRIP TO EUROPE IN 1939\n\nThe Lord made it very clear to me that I should go to Europe again. I\nexpected to stay four years. When it was understood that I was to sail for\nEurope, a number of people in a certain congregation requested me to stop\nover as they wanted to send greetings, so I did, thinking also that they\nmight give me a little offering to help me on the way, but for some reason\nthey failed to do so.\n\nThe war broke out in Europe. I was able only to visit the churches, and\nlate in the fall of the same year I was ordered to leave these countries.\nAfter being home for some time, I met the wife of a minister and she asked,\n\"Where have you been, Bro. Susag? We haven't seen you nor heard of you for\nso long.\" I told her I had been to Europe. \"Why, no,\" she explained, \"you\nwere in such and such a congregation,\" (naming a place where I had stopped\nto receive greetings to carry to Europe). Then she said, \"They said that\nyou had not gotten any further than New York, as you did not have the money\nto go any farther.\" Then I told her, \"The Lord made it very clear to me to\ngo, so I went.\"\n\nAfter leaving this place for New York I was sitting on the train reading my\nBible when a train man came along and said, \"Are you reading the good\nbook?\" After answering yes, he asked if I was a minister. I answered,\n\"yes,\" and he asked where I was going. I told him I was on my way to\nEurope. \"Do you have the finances supplied?\" he asked. I told him I\ntraveled by faith. \"To what church do you belong?\" he asked. I told him,\nthe Church of God. So he explained, \"My pastor is Brother ----; What is\nyour name?\" When I told him, he said, \"Why, I have heard of you.\" As he\nleft he said, \"Pardon me, I will see you again before we come to our\ndivisional point.\" Later on he came and handed me a sum of money, so my\nneeds were nicely cared for.\n\nOn hearing of my experience, the sister exclaimed, \"Why! God's promise, 'My\nGod shall supply all your needs,' was fulfilled at that time.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nARRESTED FOR BEING A GERMAN DOCTOR\n\nIn 1915 I was on the Atlantic ocean on my way to Europe, and the captain\ncame to me a number of times on the voyage, saying, \"I am afraid you are\ngoing to have trouble if an English boat catches us before we get to\nNorway, because you claim to be a Norwegian by birth and a minister. We\nthink you are a German by birth and a doctor. We had one sailing with us\nthe last trip from Saint Paul, Minnesota and he spelled his name 'Susage'\nand was a German and a doctor. You spell your name 'Susag.' He had a goatee\nlike you and looked just like you, and we think you two are brothers. We\nbelieve you are an American citizen, and if you acknowledge that you are a\nGerman and a doctor, we believe we can be a help to you. We will guarantee\nto the English people that we will take care of you and take you back to\nAmerica the next trip.\"\n\nI thanked him and smiled and said, \"But I am still a Norwegian and a\npreacher, and I believe I am going to stand the test.\"\n\nSure enough a number of us were apprehended by an English war ship, and\nthey sailed us into Kirkwall, Scotland and put nine of us (me included)\nunder arrest. The fourth day a high official came from London to examine\nour papers, and I was the first one to march in between two rows of\nsoldiers with bayonets on the guns ready for action. The captain and first\nmate were present to see how I was coming out. Finally a soldier called,\n\"Halt!\" and I assure you, I stopped and smiled at them all. I saluted the\nofficer and handed him my papers After he had examined them thoroughly, he\nsaid to me, \"Where were you born, Reverend?\" I said, \"in Norway.\" \"What\nCity?\" \"Stienkjer,\" I answered. \"Will you tell us that in your own tongue?\"\n\nI did so; then he folded my papers nicely and handed them, back to me,\nsmiled and saluted and said, \"Pass on; you are ok.\" I enjoyed the\nexperience very much.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTHE LORD GETS ME A CLERGY PERMIT ON THE RAILROAD\n\nWhen the Lord saved me, he called me into the ministry. I knew the ministry\nwere securing half fare on railroads, but did not know that they had to be\nordained before they could get it. But I did know that the Lord had\nordained me for the Ministry. So I went to the depot agent in my home town,\nand asked him if he would sign for me so I could have the benefits of\nclergy rates. He had known me for some years, so told me he could if I\nwould swear that I was a preacher. I said, \"No, I can't swear. If you can't\ntake my word for it, I'll go without a permit.\" He said, \"If you can't\nswear, I will sign for you.\" So I sent in my application to the clergy\nbureau, and a few days later I received the permit, but there was a little\nslip with it which said, \"Are you wholly engaged in gospel work, or do you\ndo some secular work?\" I studied and prayed about it and wrote the clergy\nbureau and sent the permit back and said, \"When I travel, I do nothing but\ngospel work, but when I am home, I preach twice on Sunday and once a week,\nand through the week I do whatsoever my hands find to do. I do not want any\nrailroad bill against me in the day of judgment. So if you find upon this\nexplanation that I am worthy of your courtesy, I will be very pleased to\nreceive the permit, and if not, I thank you.\"\n\nA few days later, the permit was returned to me with a letter saying,\n\"Please accept our courtesy. We are not afraid of being imposed upon by a\nman like that.\"\n\nWhen I was ordained, the brethren said, \"Now you can get half fare on the\nrailroads.\" \"Well,\" I said, \"I have had that almost seven years already.\"\nWhen I explained to them they were astonished.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE\n\nI was the evangelist at the South Dakota State Camp Meeting one year. After\nthe meeting was over and I had received my offering from the committee, a\nbrother came to me and wanted to give me $50 extra but I refused to accept\nit. \"Why,\" he said, \"Don't you need it?\" \"Yes,\" I said, \"I need it badly,\nbut I do not feel I can take it.\" \"Well,\" he said, finally after much\npersuasion, \"If you won't take it, I'll put it in the bank. For the Lord\ntold me to give it to you, and I don't want it, and it will be there until\nyou call for it.\"\n\nAbout nine months later, I needed money and wrote him to see if I could\nborrow it until the next camp meeting. He sent it right away and wrote\nsaying, \"Thank God, it is out of my hands, and I'll never take it back\nagain.\" At the next camp meeting, I tried again to pay it back, but I\nfailed, so I went to prayer and asked the Lord what I should do. The Lord\nsaid, \"You give Brother Renbeck fifteen dollars for a new suit, and you\nkeep the rest for your family.\" (In those days one could get a good suit\nfor fifteen dollars).\n\nI looked for Brother Renbeck and finally he came. He had been weeping,\nalthough he still seemed happy. \"Why have you been weeping?\" I asked. \"I\nneed a new suit, and I went out and prayed and the Lord told me I could get\na new fifteen dollar one.\" I reached my hand out and said, \"Here is your\nfifteen dollars.\" He stepped back and said, \"No, no! I couldn't take it\nfrom you. You need it worse than I do.\" I explained to him how it was, and\nhe accepted it and praised the Lord. In those days we didn't know any\ndifferent than to trust the Lord.\n\n     *       *       *       *       *\n\nAN EXPERIENCE WITH TWELVE MINISTERS ON THE TRAIN\n\nAt one time while on the train in North Dakota, I sat down in the company\nof twelve ministers, representing that many denominations. While listening\nto them I decided that this was the time for a little fellow to keep his\nmouth shut. One young minister appeared to be the leader in the discussion\nstanding with his Greek Testament in his hand. Finally he turned to me and\nsaid, \"Are you a minister too?\" I told him I was. \"What denomination do you\nbelong to?\" I told him Church of God. \"Well,\" he said, \"If you belong to\nthe Church of God, you have a horn in our side.\" I had met three of them\nonce and they surely horned me. I said, \"Yes, I've got a horn and I pity\nthe minister that hasn't got one.\" (The horn represents power in\nscripture). \"But,\" I said, \"I use that on only one preacher.\" \"Who is\nthat,\" he said. \"The devil.\" \"Well,\" he said, \"If you have one you have not\nshowed it to us because you have kept still.\" Then turning, he pointed to\neach of the ministers individually asking each one what visible church of\nGod he belonged to, and each answered, naming their own denomination. Then\nhe said, \"I belong to the visible Church of God Congregational.\" I spoke up\nthen and said, \"I belong to the visible Church of God.\" Then he slapped his\nhand on the arm of the seat and said, \"You've got me, Brother.\" Then I\nsaid, \"You see me, don't you?\" \"Yes,\" he said. \"I see you, shake hands.\"\nThen he asked me how far I was going, saying that he would like to have a\ntalk with me.\n\nI told him I was going to Bismark, to which he said, \"It is too bad that I\nchange at the next station.\"\n\nThat ended the conversation. They seemed to have no more to say.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nEXPERIENCE WITH TWELVE OTHER PREACHERS\n\nWhen I was holding a meeting in a certain state, some of the church said\nthere had been a couple of preachers holding services across the street\nfrom the Church of God chapel, and some of the saints had attended their\nmeetings and became confused. They wanted me to preach against it. I said,\n\"I cannot do that. The Word of God says, 'Thou shalt not judge a strange\nservant.' But I will pray the Lord to help me to meet them to get\nacquainted with their teaching.\" I did pray earnestly that I might meet\nthem. Later I came to a town where I had to stay all night. I found twelve\npreachers there who were trying to start a new spiritual mushroom or work,\nand of the twelve preachers, two of them were the association preachers who\nhad been holding the meetings across from our chapel in the town previously\nspoken of. I went to their service that evening and sat and prayed\nearnestly that if God was displeased with this new work they were trying to\nstart, that the minister who was going to speak that night would have the\nhardest time preaching that he ever had in his life.\n\nA minister arose to preach. His preaching was Biblical, but he had a hard\ntime, while the other ministers kept on praying, \"Lord, give the brother\nthe anointing.\" He worked and perspired until all of a sudden he sat down.\nThe ministers huddled together and talked and prayed and finally sent one\nof their number out into the audience to talk with the people. He finally\nwound up at me. He asked me a number of questions, whether I was saved and\nsanctified, and then left. But the ministers seemed to be dissatisfied, and\nsent another minister to me to investigate. At last he said, \"I suppose the\nsermon tonight scared you.\" I said, \"No, that was a good sermon and I have\nbeen preaching that way for over thirty eight years. That is the way the\napostles preached.\"\n\n\"Well,\" he said, \"We didn't know there was anyone preaching like that.\"\nThen I said, \"But he had a hard time.\" \"Yes,\" he answered, \"He said he had\nthe hardest time he had ever had in his life, and he has preached from the\nAtlantic to the Pacific and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and had never\nmet anything like that he said.\" \"Yes, and he was preaching against me.\" He\nreplied, \"Yes, and it was you that made it hard for him.\" Then I said, \"I\nprayed earnestly that the Lord would make it hard for him, if the Lord was\ndissatisfied with his association.\"\n\nThe association must have died because I never heard of it again. It turned\nout that the two ministers at that place were the two which held the\nmeeting previously spoken of.\n\nOnce at the South Dakota State Camp Meeting, on account of the weather, we\nhad the services in the chapel. One day a man came who said he was a\nminister. No one knew him, but he looked like a good man. He asked for the\nprivilege of preaching and it was granted him. After he had been preaching\na while it was evident to all that he was badly confused, so the spiritual\nones commenced to lift their hearts in prayer to God to stop him, which He\ndid, insomuch that he left the platform and went to the stove to spit,\ntrying to clear his throat. However, there was nothing in his throat. He\ntried again to speak, but he could not, so finally went out and left the\ngrounds. We never saw him again.\n\nBrother Thomas Nelson and I held a meeting in Wisconsin and we had the same\nkind of an experience as the one given above. The man in this case was a\nprofessor in college and a real orator, but his religious doctrine was\nunscriptural. Brother Nelson and I had given him the privilege of\npreaching. We gave one another an understanding glance to be agreed in\nprayer asking God to stop him immediately. He lost his voice and could not\ncontinue speaking.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nDISCOURAGEMENT BLINDS A PERSON\n\nAt one time I was holding a meeting at Badger, South Dakota. The meeting\nwas fairly good in a way but I expected results and hoped to see souls\nsaved. I worked and fasted and prayed, but to no avail. It seemed there was\nno conviction upon sinners. When that meeting was over, I decided to quit\nthe ministry, thinking to myself, \"What is the use to go on this way,\nenduring hardships and sufferings and not seeing any souls saved.\" I\nthought I must be a failure, so going home, I went through Minneapolis,\nMinnesota to visit my sister. After the evening meal I thought I would take\na walk. As I strolled up Lake Street, I saw to my left in the middle of the\nblock, a large sign, 'Revival Meetings, Minnesota's Greatest Evangelist.' I\nbecame interested because I had lived in Minnesota many years and had never\nheard his name before, so I decided to attend. By the time he was half\nthrough his sermon, my discouragement had vanished. I thought, \"I'm a\nbetter preacher than that; I can preach the Truth.\" So I went back to\npreaching with fresh courage and determination.\n\nThe next year just before the Minnesota State Camp Meeting at St. Paul\nPark, I came home with another load of discouragement. It seemed to me I\nwas backslidden and that Brother Nelson and Brother Tubbs were going to\ndeal with me at the meeting and tell me so. I told wife to go on to the\nmeeting and I would stay home and rest a few days, as I was tired. She\nobjected and refused to go without me, telling me the saints would be\nasking about me, and if I told them you were home they would be wondering\nwhy and I would have no peace, so that was that. We went and I did not\nattempt to preach neither Saturday, Sunday, nor Monday. I was waiting,\nexpecting the brethren to come and have a talk with me. Finally on Monday\nafternoon Bro. Nelson came and said, \"Let us go out into the timber. I want\nto have a talk with you.\" Then he said, \"Brother Susag, what is the matter\nwith you? You are holding up the meeting. Everyone is expecting you to\npreach and you sit there and say nothing.\" I answered, \"Yes, I know that\nyou know what it is.\" \"Why I don't know anything,\" he said, \"What do you\nmean?\" I said, \"Aren't you and Bro. Tubbs going to deal with me? You know I\nam backslidden.\" \"Since when?\" he asked. I told him I did not know. He then\nsaid, \"We surely do not know anything. It is just an imposition of the\ndevil. Rebuke him and get into the pulpit and preach.\" We had prayer, and\nrebuked the devil and his accusations, and the spell was completely broken.\n\nA year later at the Minnesota State Camp Meeting, Brother Nelson was not\nfeeling well, neither was I. One day, Brother Nelson said to me, \"What do\nyou think is the trouble with us? Maybe we are bad boys.\" I told him, \"No,\nthat is not the reason, however, we do not see many healings and miracles\nnow.\" As we stood there talking, we could not think of anything that had\ntaken place of late.\n\nJust then a sister came up to where we were and said, \"Praise the Lord,\nbrethren.\" We said, \"Amen.\" \"I do not suppose you know me?\" \"Yes, we know\nyou,\" we said, \"But we have forgotten your name.\" \"My name is Rasmussen,\"\nshe said; \"I haven't seen you, Brother Nelson, since you were down and\nprayed for our youngest son who was down with double pneumonia.\" Brother\nNelson said, \"The Lord healed the boy, didn't He?\" \"I should say He did,\"\nshe answered. \"He not only healed him, but changed him from a puny,\ndelicate child to a strong, husky child--the healhiest one we have.\" She\nwent away and we felt we had gotten a reproof, and yet an encouragement,\nfrom the Lord.\n\nThen a brother came along and he said, \"Praise the Lord. Wasn't it\nwonderful how the Lord restored Brother Krutz?\" That was another reproof.\nThen a sister came by and said, \"Have you heard about Sister Johnson?\" We\nasked, which Johnson, and she said, \"Brother Morris Johnson's mother. She\nfell and broke her leg just above the ankle and they took her on the train\nto St. Paul and while waiting in the Union Depot for a train for home,\nsaints came on their way to the camp meeting and seeing her suffering they\nhad compassion on her, and prayed the prayer of faith, and she was\ninstantly healed, insomuch that she went back to the camp meeting.\" After\nshe left, Brother Nelson started one direction for the timber and I the\nother. We felt the Lord had been grieved because of our discouragement and\nhad reproved us in this way.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOn Sunday morning while I was holding a meeting at Rice Lake, I was\npreaching on the Joy of the Lord. After speaking a few minutes, the Lord\nspoke to me and said, \"Your theme today will be trials and\ndiscouragements,\" so I announced to the congregation that the Lord had\nchanged my subject, and in my talk, I related some of the worse trials and\ndiscouragements I had passed through. After I was through speaking, a\nbrother came up to the pulpit and said, \"Shame on you, Brother Susag.\" I\nsaid, \"Say that again.\" He did a little stronger than before, so I said,\n\"Say it again, for 'all good things are three.'\" Then he did say it strong.\nHe said, \"Here you have been standing here telling that preachers get tried\nand tempted and discouraged like that--\" and he turned and went out.\n\nWhen he had gone, a young lady came up and asked me for dinner and said\nthat Brother and Sister ---- were coming to dinner, too. On arriving at\ntheir home, they all sat down to visit. They didn't take off their wraps,\nnor ask me to either. They said to me, \"Do you know why the Lord changed\nyour subject today?\" I told them it must have been for somebody. \"Yes,\"\nthey said, \"It was for the four of us.\" (These four had gotten saved in the\nrevival I had held the year before.) \"We have been tempted and tried so\nmuch,\" they said, \"so we came near giving up.\" Then they'd said to one\nanother, \"Look at Brother Susag. He is happy all the time. He is not tried\nand tempted like we are.\" But when they heard of my experiences, they said,\n\"The shame is on us.\" They were much encouraged and went on in the service\nof God. They finally moved somewhere to the northwest and I am told that\none of the brothers became a minister, and the other three Sunday School\nworkers.\n\nMany people do not realize that ministers pass through much suffering both\nspiritual and physical for the sake of others, but they are glad to do so\nfor Christ's sake and for the sake of others.\n\nWhile pastoring in Grand Forks, North Dakota a lady called on the phone one\nday and asked to speak to The Rev.\n\nSusag. \"I am the one speaking,\" I said. Then she told me she had heard from\nMrs. Werstlein that I would pray for anyone no matter what church they\nbelonged to. I told her I would. Then she said, \"My husband is at the\nCatholic hospital and the doctor just called up and said he is liable to\ndie any minute, and cannot live longer than until three o'clock this\nafternoon. He is an infidel.\" Then she continued, \"Would you kindly go see\nhim and talk to him and then come by the house as I'd like to hear what he\nhad to say and what you think about it.\" I told her I would if I could get\nin to see him. \"Tell them that I sent you,\" she said. At first they refused\nto let me in, but after telling them I was pastor and that his wife had\nsent me they said alright. They said, \"He is near death and almost has one\nfoot in the grave.\"\n\nWhen I went into his room and saw how bad he was, I introduced myself to\nhim and said, \"I'm sorry to find you in such a condition. I have been where\nyou are now. I will not tire you out with much talk, but would you let me\nread you a scripture lesson and pray with you?\" He answered, \"It would be\nout of place to refuse such an offer under such circumstances.\" So I read\nJesus' conversation with Nicodemus (John 3:1). Then I knelt and prayed a\nshort prayer. When I got through, he put his hand out and said, \"Thank you,\nI have got to see you in the morning.\" I asked him what time and he told me\nnine o'clock. Then I bid him good-bye and went to the door. When I reached\nthe door I thought I heard him say something and turned and said, \"Beg your\npardon, did you say something?\"\n\nHe said, \"Can I depend on you?\" I answered, \"Yes, you can depend on me, and\nfurthermore we have service tonight in the church, and I will tell the\nfolks to agree in prayer for you and also to fast and pray tomorrow that\nthe Lord will heal you.\" He thanked me and I left him.\n\nWhen I went to his house, his wife said, \"What do you think about my\nhusband?\" I answered, \"He is pretty low, but I am going back to see him\ntomorrow morning at nine o'clock.\" She said, \"He isn't going to live that\nlong.\" I told her he was not going to die, but going to live, and she said,\n\"Who said so?\" I answered, \"The Lord.\"\n\nNext morning I went back and eight nurses met me and one said, \"What did\nyou do to that man yesterday? He had one foot in the grave and now he is\ngoing to live.\" \"Of course he is going to live,\" I said. Then they said,\n\"But what did you do? We have never seen anything like this.\" \"Well,\" I\nsaid, \"I did what they used to do in olden times.\" \"What was that?\" they\nasked. \"Prayed,\" I said. \"Yes,\" they said, \"that helps.\"\n\nGoing into his room, he was smiling and I began to talk to him about the\nLord. Then he said, \"I do not believe in those old women's fables.\" I said,\n\"I am going to get you to believe in God.\" He replied, \"You can't do it.\" I\nanswered, \"By God's help I can, for where you are, I have been, and where I\nam, you can come. If I can only gain one point with you I can get you to\nbelieve in God.\" (He was a professor at the University of North Dakota). I\nhad to come back in the afternoon at three o'clock and the next morning at\nabout nine. When I came in he said, \"You are too late. The doctor was here\nwith two specialists and I told them I wanted to get up and go home; I am\nwell. They answered me, 'You stay in bed; you are a sick man. There are no\nT B germs about you but we are studying about what kind of medicine to give\nyou.'\" He then asked me how I would have answered them, if I had been here,\nand I said to him, \"I would have said to them, 'The God of Heaven that you\ndon't believe in, heard prayers and smote those germs and made you well.'\"\nHe said, \"If you had told them that, there would have been a panic.\"\n\nThe next morning he got up and went home. I was sent to Europe on a special\nmission the next day by the Missionary Board and the church. After\nreturning in January, one Monday morning I went to the Northern State Bank\non business and on opening the door into the bank, who should I meet, but\nthis professor. My hands went up and I said, \"Glory to God! Here is the man\nthe Lord kept out of the grave last August.\" Up went his hands, and he\nsaid, \"Bless God. God Almighty did something for me.\"\n\nI regret that I have not kept a record through the years. The only record I\nhave is for the first eleven months I was pastor in Brookings and White,\nSouth Dakota. I preached 272 sermons, made 178 pastoral visits, wrote 202\nletters, traveled almost fifteen thousand miles during that time, and in my\nfifty years ministry, have had a stated salary only about six years. In my\nfirst ten to fifteen years, I preached (at intervals) as many as six\nsermons a day, three in Norwegian and three in English. In all I have\npreached something over 17,000 sermons, and have traveled over one million\nmiles. I have crossed the Atlantic Ocean seventeen times one way, and\npreached a good many times on fifteen of those voyages.\n\nReturning to America in the late fall of 1939, many people asked me who I\nthought was to blame for the war. They named a number of the leading rulers\nof the warring nations, and then they added, \"The devil.\" I said, \"None of\nthem are to blame for the war.\" \"Who then?\" they asked. \"Backslidden,\nprofessing Christians,\" I said. Then they asked if I thought America would\nget into it, and I answered, \"Most assuredly.\" However the majority of them\nsaid no, and they also said that our American boys would never leave\nAmerican soil to fight. I told them that our boys would not only go to\nEurope to fight, but to almost all the Islands of the sea. Then they asked\nhow long I thought the war was going to last, and I told them \"1949.\" A\ngoodly number laughed me to scorn. Not long ago, I received a letter from\nmy oldest son who said, \"I have been checking up on you dad and everything\nthat you said would happen, has come true up to the present date.\" The\nactual fighting is over, but thousands of our men are in foreign lands, and\nno peace. If the Lord does not get an opportunity to perform a miracle,\nanother war will start before any real peace.\n\nI have not built any chapels large or small, but I have started about fifty\nor more congregations in this country (America) and in Europe. Also I have\nraised quite a sum of money to build chapels and to help ministers and\nmissionaries in need. I have raised thousands for church and missionary\nwork in general, seventy per cent has come from the brethren of Norwegian\ndescent, fifteen percent from the Danish descent, ten percent from those of\nGerman descent, three percent from the Swedish, and two percent from\nAmericans. The percent here mentioned is for the work in Scandinavian\ncountries only.\n\n     *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhile holding a meeting in Bowbells, North Dakota, after a few days three\nfamilies quit coming and I went out to the farm to see them. When I arrived\nat the first farm, the other two families were there visiting. After\nconversing a while, I asked them why they had not been out to the services\nof late. Finally the man who was the head of the house said, \"We did not\nlike it when you said the preacher could not forgive sins.\" I answered, \"If\nyou have wronged the preacher, and ask him his forgiveness he can forgive\nyou, but there are some sins that even the Lord cannot forgive. For\ninstance, if you owe ten dollars to your neighbor over the hill, and you\nare not willing to pay him, you can keep on praying as long as you live,\nand the Lord could not forgive you if you are not willing to settle with\nhim. Of course, if you didn't know where he was and couldn't find him, the\nLord would forgive you all right.\" The man answered, \"We will come to the\nservices,\" they said, and some of them got saved. Unbeknown to me, he had\nowed his neighbor ten dollars for four years and was unwilling to pay, but\nafter he became willing he got saved and paid his debt.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOne man got saved in a meeting in South Dakota, and the Lord reminded him\nof twelve ears of corn which he had taken from his neighbor's field to feed\nhis own oxen. As he went by on his way to town, he said, \"Yes, I'll attend\nto that tonight.\" So after dark he filled a bushel basket with corn and\ntook it over and emptied it into the man's hog pen, feeling good that he\nhad done his duty. The next morning after worship, the Lord spoke to him\nand said, \"I suppose today you will go over and settle for the twelve ears\nof corn.\" \"Why I took that over last night,\" he protested, \"But you took\nthat over to the hogs, and they were already fed.\" So he went over and\nconfessed to the man. We can see by this that it was not the corn the Lord\nwas so interested in as his humble confession.\n\nGOD WORKS IN VARIOUS WAYS FOR THE PROTECTION AND DELIVERANCE OF HIS\nCHILDREN\n\nA certain brother who was a farmer needed a threshing machine badly, and an\nagent visited him to see if he could make the deal. They were agreed on\nprices and terms, but when they talked over the time of delivery, the agent\nacknowledged he could not get it to him in time for fall threshing, so the\ndeal fell through. Another agent, hearing of it decided he would go and see\nthe farmer. This time the deal went through, with the promise that the\nmachinery would be delivered in time.\n\nThe brother mortgaged his farm and the threshing machine for forty five\nhundred dollars, but when harvest time came it had not come. He wrote the\nmanufacturers, and they said that as soon as they could get it built and\nshipped, they would do so. The farmer became desperate. He took the sales\ncontract to an attorney, but he found a clause in it that prevented him\nfrom doing anything about it. It looked as if he would lose all his\nthreshing income that fall as well as the machine and his farm too. Many\nearnest prayers went up that the Lord would intervene in his behalf.\n\nDuring harvest time that year, he lost hundreds of dollars in not having\nthe machine.\n\nFinally in January, the machine was shipped from the factory. The freight\ntrain that was pulling it got within three miles of the town. It was\npulling up grade slowly, and in turning a sharp curve the whole car which\nwas carrying the threshing machine loosened from the rest of the train, and\ntumbled down a steep embankment, completely demolishing the whole thing.\nThe railroad paid the damages, and the brother was released from all\nresponsibility.\n\nA good many went out to see the wreckage, and none could understand how the\ncar would become disconnected from the train. They did not know our God,\nand the way he answers prayer.\n\n     *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhen I was holding a meeting at Grand Forks, wife wrote me that an epidemic\nof small pox had broken out in the neighborhood, but that it was not\nnecessary for me to come home because, she said, \"I put the children and\nmyself into the 9lst Psalm and we will remain there until the scourge is\nover\" and I thank God, it did not come near our dwelling.\n\n     *       *       *       *       *\n\nNo apology is made for writing this book, recording the incidents and\nexperiences herein found. As Elijah's God is still the God of the universe\nand today He hears the prayers of the humble and delivers them in time of\nneed. The author is acquainted with the persons mentioned herein, and has a\npersonal knowledge of the things related. No doubt some will question the\ntruthfulness of some of the statements made in this volume. But the truth\nmust not be withheld because of a few skeptics and unbelievers. Some\ndoubted the miracles wrought by the apostles. One good minister in\nCalifornia said one time, when introducing me to the ministers at a\nministers' meeting, \"This brother can relate more incidents than anyone I\nhave ever known, and if I did not know Brother Susag, as well as I do, I\nwould have said he lied.\" I answered, \"If I did not know him as well as I\ndo, I would have said he lied, too.\"\n\nBrother C. E. Brown, present editor of the Gospel Trumpet, upon introducing\nme to a number of ministers at the Anderson Camp meeting, also stated that\nI could relate more actual incidents and experiences than anyone he had\never met.\n\nMany ministers and the laity as well, have through the years wanted me to\nwrite a book of my experiences, even ministers of other movements. But I am\nafraid I have waited too long to remember hundreds of incidents that have\ntaken place during my ministry. People say that when I am under the\nanointing of the Holy Ghost when preaching, the incidents flow from my lips\nlike a stream.\n\nMy earnest humble prayer is that these incidents and experiences may prove\na blessing and an inspiration that will quicken the faith of those in need\nwhose help can come only from God.\n\nAs my name is S. O. Susag, I think it is fitting to say as the distress\ncall of a ship is SOS, that I have heard the distress call in my fifty-two\nyears ministry, hundreds of times from the evangelistic field, and\nmissionary fields in other lands, from insane asylums, hospitals, sick\nrooms, and the Lord has heard prayer, and wrought many miracles, almost\nunbelievable. To God belongs all the glory and praise.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOne time I received a distress call from Geo. W. Green and family who were\nliving that time on a farm near Hancock, Minnesota, to come and pray for a\nsick child. They were living six or seven miles out of town, and no one was\nthere to meet me, so I had to get the taxi to take me out. I arrived late\nin the evening. Going into the house, I learned the child was already dead.\nAll the occupants of the house, both up and down stairs, were sick in bed\nwith the flu, thirteen in all. Sister Green was the only one able to get\nout of bed to let me in. I had no way to get back to town, but as we were\ntalking and praying, a doctor happened along and stopped and came in and\nasked Sister Green to make him a strong cup of coffee and sandwich. He\nsaid, \"This is the third night since I was in bed, and I need something to\nstrengthen me.\" He filled out a burial permit for the child so it could be\nburied. And he said, \"You can't stay here tonight.\" I told him I had no way\nto get back to town, so he offered to take me. I went and the next day I\nreturned with the undertaker. The road to the cemetery went through the\ntown, but the leading lady, a social worker (I presume) forbad us taking\nthe body through town. So we had to detour several miles out of our way. An\nepidemic of flu broke out in the town and I am told that this lady was the\nfirst one to die with it. At the Green home the Lord restored the entire\nthirteen to health, and protected me. Throughout the years I have been\nprotected from all manner of contagious diseases where I have been called\nto pray.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nBrother Edward Ahrendt and I were holding a meeting in Grand Forks, North\nDakota. One evening the call was made, and the altar was filled with\nseekers. Brother Ahrendt and I started at opposite ends to pray and\ninstruct. As I knelt, the first one was a woman and I felt as if I had\nknelt by a barrel of devils. I was surprised that she was professing to be\na Christian. Lifting my hand in astonishment, I said, \"Sister G--you are\npossessed with devils.\" After the altar service was over, Brother Ahrendt\nand I laid our hands on her and commanded the devils to come out in the\nname of Jesus, which they did. The next morning we had prayer and testimony\nmeeting and she arose and testified and in a way she excused herself. I\nsaid, \"Sister, be careful or the devils will enter into you again.\"\nEvidently they did, because the other women in the rooming house told me\nthat in the evening when she arrived at her room to go to bed, the devils\nrolled her up like a ball with her heels almost on her shoulders, and her\nsufferings were horrible. They prayed and did everything they could to help\nher get straightened out, but to no avail. They tried to find Bro. Ahrendt\nand I, but we had moved that night to another place. No one seemed to know\nwhere we were. They called up all the saints that had phones, but without\nsuccess. Finally, two of the sisters started out going from house to house\namong the saints that had no phones, and at four o'clock in the morning\nthey reached the house where we were stopping. We went over as quickly as\npossible, and when we went up onto the porch, she straightened out\ninstantly. The devil was going to play possum on us. Brother Ahrendt and I\nhad a consultation, as he had never had any experiences with cases of devil\npossession before. He said, \"Brother Susag, Saturday night when we prayed\nfor her, there was no manifestation showing that she was possessed.\"\n\"Well,\" I said, \"There is no need of them having to be thrown around by the\ndevil when you know they are possessed,\" so I said I would pray and we\nwould see how it would come out, because I knew there was a need of full\nagreement. We phoned Brother Gus Niles and asked if we could come to his\nplace with Mrs. G----. When we got there, we went into a room and locked\nthe doors. Brother Ahrendt prayed in one corner and Brother Niles in\nanother corner. I gave her a chair by the table, and I sat opposite. I\nsaid, \"Sister, I have known you for four years and all that time you have\ndeceived yourself and the saints and the ministry. You have had no\nsalvation all this time. Now tell me what the devil had you do when you\ncame home from meetings.\" She said, \"One time when I came home, I went out\nto the barn to feed milk to the calf, and he wouldn't drink, and I got\nangry and took a small club and struck him. He bawled and broke the rope\nand jumped through the window and ran out into the woods.\" When she was\ntelling this, her hand flew up and she commenced beating the air with it\nand she could not stop. I let her continue beating for a time, then I said,\n\"Lord, stop that arm,\" and it did stop. Then I asked her what the devil got\nher to do other times when she came home. She said, \"Another time when I\ncame home, husband's dog had gotten into the house, and I opened the door\nto get him out, and as he went through the door, I kicked him in anger\nbecause I hated my husband,\" and as she said this, she started kicking the\ntable and then she fell on the floor on her back still kicking the chair\nand the table. Just then Brother Ahrendt came running and said, \"I rebuke\nthe devil in Jesus' name.\" He had become convinced that the devils were\nthere by now.\n\nThen the three of us laid hands on her, commanding the devils to come out\nof her, which they did. Then she got saved and sanctified, and got a sweet\nsettled experience which everyone had confidence in. She later became an\nable Sunday School teacher and worker for the Lord.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA WARNING\n\nThe evening when I said, \"Sister G, you are possessed with devils,\" I\nlooked back in the audience and saw a sister with her mouth open and\nlooking at me with surprise and apparent criticism, as if to say, \"What do\nyou mean by saying such things to Sister G?\" Just then I saw many serpents\ncrawling in her lap and up her breast and in to her mouth. After the\nservice this woman's sister came to me and said, \"Do you know that my\nsister, Mary, is possessed with devils?\" I said, \"Yes,\" and she asked how I\nknew, saying, \"She told me she had just gotten possessed.\" I said, \"I saw\nthem entering.\"\n\nWe took her to a private home and she was delivered by the power of God.\n\n     *       *       *       *       *\n\nThere is always a cause when God does not answer prayer, either in\nindividuals or congregations. I have been speaking of individual cases in\nthis book, where prayer was not answered. Now I will speak of\ncongregational hindrances that I know of personally.\n\nThere is never an effect without a cause that produces the effect. In a\ncertain congregation where I held several successful revivals for several\npastors, there came a time when the work did not prosper as it had in\nprevious years. By chance after twenty years absence, I stopped in there\none prayer meeting night, having business in the town that day. They\nentreated me to come back and speak for them on a certain Sunday, which I\ndid. The Lord gave us two precious services. They took up their regular\nSunday evening offering. After that, they announced that they would take up\nan offering especially for Brother Susag, which they did, and set the\nbasket in a position where I noticed the contents, which was in the\nneighborhood of fifteen dollars or a little more. Next morning when I was\nready to take the train, I was handed four dollars with the remark, \"This\nis our custom.\" No wonder the congregation did not prosper, and still these\ndear people had done their duty, but were unaware of what the hindrance\nwas.\n\nI know of other cases of that same kind, both with other ministers and\nmyself. Once in a camp meeting a young minister was the evangelist, whom\nthe Lord used mightily. One evening they were going to take up the love\noffering for the evangelist. A nice offering came in, not any too large,\nand they gave the evangelist seventy percent.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOnce at the Grand Forks, North Dakota Camp Meeting, Brother P. Pederson of\nHoboken, New Jersey was to preach. He read his text and related some of his\nexperiences and the Holy Ghost began to bring the people to the altar. He\nthen closed his Bible and said, \"A greater preacher than I is now\nspeaking.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nDuring the depression it looked as though we were going to lose the state\ncamp grounds at Grand Forks. At the camp meeting the Board said there is no\nother way than to let it go. I said, \"No.\" \"Well,\" they said, \"Then you\nwill have to raise the money because we cannot.\" I said, \"If you will give\nme a free hand, to go at it when the Lord says to, I will.\" They said O. K.\nOne evening the Lord said, \"Now is the time,\" so I said to Brother Monk,\n\"Let me have a few minutes?\" Within a few minutes we had the amount to the\ncent. Brother Monk said, \"This time the devil was licked and the depression\nalso.\" It pays to pray.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe first Camp Meeting I attended at Grand Forks, I generally got up at 3\nor 4 a.m. and went to the woods to pray. At that time you could hardly find\na place to pray.\n\nThere were two or three members praying behind every tree before I got\nthere.\n\nThe first Camp Meeting I attended in Anderson, I went out early in the\ncemetery and here they were praying every where.\n\nThe pioneer ministers knew how to pray, because they had no sermon outline\nbook to take it from. Their converts knew how, too, for they were taught by\nthe Holy Ghost.\n\n     *       *       *       *       *\n\nOnce Brother Renbeck and I were holding a meeting in Erskine, Minn. It was\n42 degrees below zero every day, and we had to stand the bread by the\nheating stove and a number of times it froze so hard on the table, before\nwe got through with our meal, that we could not eat it. When we went to\nbed, we could see the stars twinkling through the cracks of the roof. We\ntook off our shoes and coats and lay down on the bed, and pulled our fur\ncaps down over our ears and put our fur coats over us. Often through the\nnight we would have to turn over because the side that was down got cold.\nThis may seem ridiculous to some, but God knows it is true.\n\n     *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn 1911 Brother Morris Johnson and I held a meeting on the west coast of\nDenmark. At the place where we stayed and slept, we had to climb up a\nladder through a hole into the room to sleep. The bed was too short for\nBro. Johnson and too narrow for two, and the bed clothes accordingly.\n\nWe could not sleep much after breakfast. We took our traveling blankets and\nwalked out side the town where there were some old grave hills that had\nbeen opened to get out the wealth that was buried. It left a deep hollow\nplace in the ground. There was ice in the bottom. We wrapped our blankets\naround us and lay down so the wind could not blow on us and slept some.\nThat was pioneering in Denmark. In this little town it was really the first\ngreat battle for the truth won in Denmark.\n\nMany have said that much of the pioneer work was lost and did not pay. It\nis true, some was lost, but what would we have had today without it? I pray\nGod to rekindle the pioneer spirit and passion for souls and trust in the\nLord. The opportunities are still here. If I were a young man I would say\nwith the prophet, \u201cHere am I, send me.\u201d","title":"Personal Experiences of S. O. Susag","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":64012}