The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1884, Page 27

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The Lutheran Pioneer. 27

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j baptized. I asked, ‘Is he called Karl?’
Father did not know, but he said: ‘Now,
Peter, is that thy little colored brother?”’

A Living Saviour.

have not had much pain, and when I had, I
said to the Lord, ‘I am a little child, and very:

FROM THE GERMAN OF PASTOR HARMS, weak,’ and then the pain all went away.’’

A child of six years lay upon a sick bed, and
a little friend of the same age stood at his side.
They were talking about their Saviour, each
insisting that his own Saviour was the love-
liest, the strongest, and best Saviour; and to
one who sat by and listened to the talk, it
seemed something Jike a breath from heaven.
The children evidently had a living Saviour,
and each his own Saviour, and it is just here
that many older people are lacking. They
have no living, no own Saviour, their God and
Saviour is to them but as a thought.

As the two boys went on with their talk, the
one said to his sick friend:

‘“‘Listen, Henry, I can easily prove that I
have the best Saviour. He
has given me a little colored
brother in Africa, and_ his
name is Karl! Tather read
it out yesterday from the mis-
sion paper.”

*©O yes! thou dost mean
the little Kaffer boy, who has
been baptized by our mission-
aries in Africa. Father told
me about it, and we wept with
joy because the poor heathen
boy had become a Christian,
and now loves the Lord Jesus,
But, Peter, why dost thou
say that the little boy has
been given to thee for a
brother? Is he not, my
brother, too?”

“No,” Peter said, stopping
to whisper to his friend, ‘‘thou
must not tell anybody, but I
asked the Saviour to give me a little colored
brother in Africa. I asked father once, if there
were any little children in Africa like us, and
he said there were little boys and girls there,
but that they did not know the Saviour, and
that I must pray for them that they might be-
come Christians and be baptized; for the
Saviour loved colored just as much as white
children, and that they would then be our
brothers. And since that I have very often
asked the dear Saviour to give me a little col-
ored brother in Africa, for I thought if there
were one there would soon be others. J*ather
heard me praying about this once when I did
not know he was near me. When I finished,
he smiled pleasantly, and said:

“Now, Peter, what are we to call this little
colored brother in Africa, when thou hast
one?’’

“T thought, I shall certainly have one, be-
cause I have asked the Saviour to give me one;
so I said, ‘He shall be called Karl.”

‘And why Karl?’’ asked father.

“T did not know why myself. And now
think how glad I was when father read from
the mission paper that a little boy had been

“Yes,” I said, ‘‘if he is called Karl.’’ And
so he is, for father read it out yesterday. Dost |
| thou not see now that the Saviour has given
| me this little colored brother?”’

The sick boy lay quite still, as if he were
thinking, and apparently a little troubled.

“Well, Henry, thou may’st now rejoice; the

dear Saviour is coming for thee, and will take

with kindness and love.

almost as good as mine.

a little colored brother in Africa. But just

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MISSIONARY VILLAGE IN AFRICA.

dear Jesus, as thou hast done, to give me also
a little colored brother in Africa.

«But, Henry, thou wilt soon be better, and
then we can play church together, and sing,
and I will pray with thee that thou also may’st
have a little colored brother.

“No, Peter; did I not tell thee I have the
best Saviour of all? And I have, for he is
soon coming to take me to heaven. The pastor
told me so, when he was with me alone, and
prayed with me. And I was so glad. I can-
not tell how glad I was. For just think, I
shall go to heaven, and Jesus will take me in
His arms, and say, ‘Now, dear Henry, thou
art my beloved child. Come play awhile with
angels, and thou shalt sing with them.’ So the
pastor told me, and at first I was afraid, be-
cause I should not know the tune. But the
pastor said I would soon learn it, for the Lord
would teach me; and now I think every day
that the Saviour will come for me very soon.”’

The friend who was sitting with the children,
noticing a change in the boy’s face, took his
hand and asked:

‘Art thou in pain, Henry?”

“No,” he ‘said; ‘“‘in my whole sickness I

thee very soon.’’
| child’s parents.

And he went to call the

The boy’s eyes beamed with heavenly light,

|as he gave a hand to each, bade them greet
|Soon he raised his little white face, beaming} the pastor for him, and he would greet the

dear Saviour for them, and asked them to sing

‘Peter, thou hast really a good Saviour, |a hymn which he especially loved, because the
I felt troubled so,|name of Jesus was so much in it.
because’I have not been a very good boy, and | they sang,

have never even asked the Saviour to give me

And as

“T will kiss my Jesus,
Who takes me in His arms.’’

now he told me to be quiet, and that he had | his head sank back upon the pillow, as he softly
forgiven me; and now I feel quite happy again, | repeated the words.
land if I may live a little longer, I will ask my | him.

The Saviour had taken

I learned all this from a
friend who was present, when
he brought me the greeting
of the dying boy; and I now
tell it for the first time, since
the boy Peter has also gone
to his Saviour. In his life I
could not tell it.

Is it not a precious thing
to have a living Saviour? This
simple child’s prayer is a
noble prayer, since it is the
prayer of one who believes what
he asks.

—_— - <0 -

“Remind Me of the King.”

A chaplain of the Prussian
army once preached a very
earnest sermon on the sin and
folly of yielding to a hasty
temper. The next day a major of the regiment
said to him:

“Well, sir! I think you gave me some very
sharp hits yesterday. But it is of no use. I
can not control my temper when I am pro-
voked.”’

The chaplain told him that this was one of
the vain excuses which men were wont to
make. ‘You know very well,’’ said he, ‘that
were the same provocation to happen in the
presence of your earthly king you would control
yourself. And yet you dare to say that the
continual presence of God, the King of kings
and Lord of Lords, imposes upon you neither
restraint nor fear!””

His friend, the major, looked at him for a
moment and then said: ‘You are right, chap-
lain, you are quite right. Hereafter, when-
ever you see me in danger of failing, remind
me of the King, our God.”’

+ 6 << pe

HE sees thee in thy poverly and wretched-
ness, and knows thou hast nothing to pay;
therefore he freely forgives, and gives thee all.

—Luther.