^JJowJ} lAJaâoCed3Jo3)Ite(13illeJ)nôtitute A TRIBUTE TO A GREAT MAN OF GOD
AFRICA 'S EVANGELIZATION (Continued from Page 8) ending hill with their great burdens. Perspiring men, naked save for a loin cloth, chatter their way along, bearing ripe guinea corn from distant farms, or bundles of yellow grass for thatching. Mohammedan and pagan, from town and bush, these are the ones to whom the native evangelist, with consecrated zeal and developed talent, bring the merri’.ge of redemption and hope. O NE must turn to the Acts of the Apostles to find a parallel for the work that is being carried on in present- day Africa. These are first generation Christians, and for them there is no easy berth. Their task calls for the hardiest Christian stamina, and contin ued prayer and fighting to carry on their work. O NE of the students so trained was the son of a witch doctor in Ni geria. When the boy became a Christian, his testimony was so consistent and powerful that his father too soon turned from idols to serve the living and true God. Then what a furor! According to native custom, only one man could per form the tribal juju, and he and his sons have that task in perpetuity. Son must succeed father in regular succes sion for the discharge o f the awful and grisly rites. After these conversions, there was an unprecedented interregnum in their performance. Tribal grey-beards and leaders used every possible device to lure them back to native custom. But the father and son stood strong in the new “ power of the endless life.” Then followed such persecution as only the pagan mind could contrive. Still father and son stood for Christ. All the tribal heads were appealed to for an exercise of their ancient authority in tribal custom but to no avail. In despera tion, the chiefs turned to the govern ment official, pleading for their ancient rites. He turned a deaf ear to this trav esty of freedom and justice, refusing to take any action whatsoever. Thus, de spite all persecution, father and son continued to witness for Christ. Now the son has been trained as a native evan gelist and teacher, has returned to his own people, and is seeing many who once persecuted him, like Paul of old, turn ing to the One whom once they hated. T h r o u g h o u t the five fields of the Sudan Interior Mission: Nigeria, French West Africa, the Anglo-Egyp- tian Sudan, Ethiopia and Aden, there are sixteen Bible Training Schools and (Continued on Page 25) The FREE FUND which enables us to send K in g ’ s B u s in e s s sub scriptions to missionaries without charge is in great need o f replen ishment. If you could read the let ters from missionaries who testify to the great help the magazine is in their work, you would respond gladly.
By O . E. SANDEN Director Sanden's Science Service and Editor of The Correlator. man enter in, he shall be saved.” One night, alone with God, I made my sur render and felt the call to be an evan gelist. Upon announcing my decision to my comrades in the oil camp, they pressed around, took my hand, and said, “ Slim, if you mean that, stick to it, and God bless you.” They left me to go on their midnight spree that Saturday. The next Sunday at the Westminster •Pres byterian Church in Beaumont, Texas, I felt that God had definitely saved me and called me to preach. Returning to De Ridder, Louisiana, by way of the Kansas City Southern R.R., I walked out to my parents’ home, five miles out of town. Just as I came to the gate, the mail man drove up, and handed me a letter from the Bible Institute. I opened it, and read: “Dear Oscar: Some years ago I wrote you that when you became old enough to consider Bible training, I hoped you would attend a Bible ■ School. Checking on my records, I find that you are now eighteen years of age. I trust you have yielded your heart to the Saviour. I f I can in any way assist you to go to a Bible School, I shall be happy. “ R. A. Torrey” There followed a letter from the stu dent secretary, giving the particulars about the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. Shortly thereafter, I sold my horse, sad dle and bridle to my father for $85.00 and boarded the S.P. train for Los An geles. (I still have the spurs.) Upon reaching the Bible Institute, with ten dollars in my pocket, I stopped at the Biola Book Room and purchased a Bible, for which I paid $3.45. As soon as I got to my room, I hung on the wall the pic ture of myself astride the horse I had re luctantly sold. A feeling of regret and homesickness came over me. Opening the newly purchased Bible at random, my eyes fell on the words, “ We shall no longer ride, upon horses” (Hosea 14:3). I said, “ All right, Lord, I’ll stay.” For two years (1920-22, and part o f ’23) I had the marvelous privilege of sitting at the feet of the greatest Bible teacher and man of God I have ever known, Dr. Reuben Archer Torrey. After that God gave me a rich and blessed ministry for Him, but I often wonder what would have happened to me if a great man like Dr. Torrey had felt it too much for him to bother with an insignificant and obscure country boy. Whatever reward I receive from my Lord for service rendered will be shared by him.
(Editor’s note: On Wednesday night, December 10, 1917, at the Prayer Service o f the Church o f the Open Door, Dr. Louis T. Talbot, pastor, no ticed in the audience a visiting minister and author, Evangelist O. E. Sanden. Unexpectedly, Dr. Talbot called upon him to relate the story he had previously told him at a dinner conversa tion. The impromptu remarks follow :) A S a boy, I grew up in the deep South. One day a neighbor passing by the field, where my father and I were at work, tossed a paper over the fence, calling my attention to an article he had marked for my benefit. The paper happened to be a copy of The American Issue, published by the Anti-Saloon League, and the marked article had ref erence to an essay contest sponsored by the W.C.T.U. It announced that a prize of twenty-five dollars in gold would be awarded to any boy or girl in the South, under fifteen years of age, who would write the best essay on the subject, “ Re solved: That the Bible teaches Temper ance for the Individual, State, and Na tion.” At once I asked my father for permission to quit the field and write the article. Perhaps knowing that I “ but cumbered the ground,” he readily granted my request. I went to a little Baptist Church a couple of miles down the road, and rummaged around in some Sunday School Quarterlies and picked out a few helps on the temperance lessons. Forti fied by these “ commentaries,” I set to work to write the essay. In three days it was completed, and then I walked to town five miles away. There were no buses those days—and after much difficulty, I found a sten ographer who consented to type the manuscript for all I had—four dollars. A few weeks later the W.C.T.U. head quarters in Richmond, Va., notified me that I had won the twenty-five dollars, and my picture and article were fea tured in The American Issue. One bit o f fan mail reached me—a letter from the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, signed by Dr. R. A. Torrey. The letter read: “My dear B oy: You have a very special aptitude fo r Bible study. I trust the Lord Jesus Christ posses ses your heart. When you are old enough to consider it, I trust you will give thought to attending some Bible School.” A few more care fully worded statements followed. The letter was signed: “R. A. Tor rey.” That happened in 1917. Three years passed by. I had graduated from the De Ridder, Louisiana High School, and had won a scholarship to Tulane Uni versity. Now I was working in Texas in the oil fields, hoping to make money to carry me through school. It was at this time that I came to surrender my life to Christ. John 10:9 had impressed me deeply. “ I am the door, by me, if any Page Twenty
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