The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1893, Page 7

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

ean not. The children can not be got together
every day for Bible study alone, and if not
got into week-day schools, the children of
heathen parents can not be got, to any great
extent, to attend Sunday Schools; and even
if they could be got to attend the latter, it is
impossible to do in one day all that might be
done in seven. ‘The measure of success in
this work will depend upon the consecration
of the missionary and the native helpers, and
the ability of each to combine religious truth
with secular knowledge. ‘Then, too, to some
the results are immediately apparent in the
conversion of pupils, while to others the re-
sults are not seen until years later, when some
other missionary or native preacher may reap
a harvest from the soil prepared by an equally
faithful Christian whose gift of service lay only
in school teaching.

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How God Provides.

It was a season of great scarcity on the
hill regions of New Hampshire, when a poor
woman, who lived in a hut by the woods, had
no bread for her family. She was sick, with-
out either friends or money; there was no
helper but God, and she betook herself to
prayer. She prayed long—she prayed in
earnest; for she believed that He who fed
the young ravens would feed her.

On rising from her knees one morning, her
little barefooted girl opened the door to go
out. Something shining on the sill stopped her.
The child stooped down, and behold, a silver
dollar! She ran and took it to her mother.
It.really was a new, round, bright silver dollar.
They looked up and down the road; no one
was to be seen, and neither footsteps nor
wagon wheels were to be heard.

Where did the dollar come from? Did God
send it? Doubtless it was from His hand; but
how did it get there? Did it rain down? No.
Did He throw it from the windows of heaven?
No. Did an angel fetch it? No. God has
ways and means for answering prayer without
always sending special messengers. Our being
taken care of, ever since we were born, comes
from Him alone, only He employs so many
people to do it—fathers, mothers, teachers,
and others, that we are apt to lose sight of
Him and fix our eyes only on them.

But how did the silver dollar get on the
door sill? some of our little readers may ask.
It happened that a pious young blacksmith
was going down to the seashore, in quest of
business. It was several miles before he could
take the stage coach; so, instead of going in
the wagon which carried his chest, he said he
would walk. ‘Come, ride,’’ they said, ‘‘it
will be hot and dusty.’? He kept answering
‘No’? to all his friends. ‘‘I’ll walk and take
a short cut through the pines;’’ and off he
started with a stout walking stick. As he was
jogging on through a piece of woods, he heard
& voice from a little lonely hut by the roadside.
It drew his notice, and he stepped towards it

on tip-toe; then he stopped and listened, and
found it was the voice of prayer, and he
gathered from the prayer that she who offered
it was poor, sick, and friendless.

thought the young man.
go into the hut.
pocket and drew out a dollar—the first silver
dollar he ever had, and a dollar was a big sum
for him to give; for he was not so rich then
as he is now.
poor woman must have it.
silver, and likely to attract notice as soon as
the door was opened, he concluded to lay it
on the sill and go away, but not far; for he
hid behind a large rock near the house, to
watch what became of it.
satisfaction of seeing the little girl come out
and take the dollar, when he went on his way
rejoicing.

hand for this very purpose; for, you see, a
paper dollar might have blown away. And the
young man was led to walk instead of ride—
why, he did not exactly know; but God, who
directed his steps, did know.
and we are the instruments to carry out His
plans.
own business when we are about His, answer-
ing, it may be, the prayers of His people.

‘*Because you are aged and can not live
long, and you don’t know the way to heaven.’’

‘What! Do you know the way to heaven ?’’

‘*T know that Jesus has saved me, and he
will save you.”’

‘*Who is Jesus?’’ asked the old man.

The boy told him the story of God’s love,
and the man’s heart melted as he listened.

‘*Boy,”’ he said, ‘*I am over sixty years of
age, and I never heard such words. Have you
had dinner?”’

‘*No, sir, not yet.’’

‘Come home with me, then, and you shall
tell the old lady the story you have told me.”’

The boy went home with the old man and
told the story of the love of God, while the
aged couple listened with great interest. He
was invited again and again, and stayed in
their house nearly the whole of his holiday ;
and the result was that, through this youthful
servant of Christ, they were both led to the
Saviour before they ever saw or heard of a
missionary.

Four years after, Mr. J. Hudson Taylor,
who recently related this story, accompanied
the youth to the home of this aged couple,
and found them truly devoted Christians, and,
naturally, warmly attached to the lad. Said
the 6ld man,

‘*But for this boy, my wife and I would
have died in darkness.’’

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Hidden and Safe.

“What can I do to help this poor woman?’’
He did not like to
He put his hand into his

But no matter; he felt that the
The dollar being

Soon he had the

The silver dollar came into the young man’s

So God plans,

Oftentimes we seem to be about our

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What a Chinese Boy Did.

A boy was admitted into a missionary school
in China, his mother being dead. He remained
several years, and not only learned the truth,
but received it into his heart. When only four-
teen years of age he went to his friends during
what we call Christmas holidays. One after-
noon he went into a village temple. As he
looked at the idols an old man (sixty-five years
of age) came in with tottering steps, and lay-
ing a few incense sticks before an idol, knelt
down and began to pray. ‘Then he passed to
the next idol, and so on the whole round of
them.

The little boy thought to himself, ‘‘ Here’s
an old man who has not long to live, and he
does not know the way to heaven. But I’m
only a boy. I can’t tell him.’? The young
people in China are taught to treat the aged
with very great respect, and it would have
been very impertinent for the little boy to
attempt to teach the old man.

‘© What is to be done? he has no one to
teach him,’’ thought the boy, as he saw him
pass from idol to idol, and, as he thought, the
tears ran down his cheeks. ‘These tears were
eloquent, as the boy felt forced to go to the
aged man and say—‘*Would you mind a boy
speaking to you? Iam young, you are very
old.””

‘‘What are you crying for?’’ said the old
man. ‘Can I help you?”’

“Sir, I am crying because I am so sorry
for you.””

-**Sorry for me! What about??”

One morning a teacher went, as usual, to
the school-room, and found many vacant seats.
Two little scholars lay at their homes cold in
death, and others were very sick. <A fatal
disease had entered the village, and the few
children present that morning at school gath-
ered around the teacher, and said, ‘‘Oh, what
shall we do? Do you think we will take sick,
and die too?’”

The teacher said: ‘‘Children, you are afraid
of this terrible disease. You mourn for the
death of our dear little friends; and you fear
that you may be taken also. I know of only
one way to escape, and that is to hide.’’

The children were bewildered, and the
teacher went on: ‘‘I will read to you about
this hiding place ;’” and read Ps. 91: ‘*Whoso
dwelleth under the defense of the Most High
shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.’”

All were hushed and composed by the sweet
words of the Psalmist and the morning lessons
went on as usual.

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Love One Another.

A little girl, three or four years old, learned
the Bible text, ‘‘Love one another.”” ‘*‘ What
does ‘love one another’ mean?’’? asked her
next oldest sister, in honest doubt as to the
meaning. ‘*Why, I must love you, and you
must love me; and I’m one and you’re an-
other,” was the answer. Who can give a bet-
ter explanation! |

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