King's Business - 1934-06

219

June, 1934

T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S

was to go to the witch doctor’s house for help. Some one who was passing the scene, came and told Joseph what had happened to his father and where he had gone. Knowing that this witch doctor could do his father no good, Joseph ran to the place and brought the father to the government hospital. The doctor told them he would have to send the man to the Pasteur Institute. Arrangements were quickly made, and Joseph accompanied his father, to take care of him on the two-hundred-fifty-mile train journey. During the sixteen days that the father was in the Pasteur Institute receiving treatment, he heard the gospel many times through the Christian doctor there, and through some of our missionaries who were then in the hills for their sum­ mer vacation. Under these circumstances, and in the changed surroundings, the truth of God made a deep im­ pression on this man’s heart, and he yielded to the Lord Jesus Christ, receiving His wonderful salvation. Like his son, this new believer desired a name in keeping with hi§ new nature, and he was henceforth known as James. One Sunday morning after the father and son had re­ turned from the hills, it was my happy privilege to baptize Joseph. There was great rej oicing among the Christians, who saw, in the father’s salvation, the answer to their prayers. The heathen relatives and neighbors o f James were very cruel to him, and one day nearly beat him to death, because he had become a Christian. They threatened to treat his wife in the same way, if she should permit her husband to come into his own house. Through fear o f further violence, James had to eat his food outside the door like a dog, and sleep wherever he could find shelter. One night during the rainy season, he was drenched to the skin while sleeping on an open veranda, and became very ill. In spite o f all we could do for poor James, he died. But his triumphant home­ going was to the glory o f the One who had called him from darkness to light. A N ew C onception of L ife and D eath ' •\ When James’ wife heard o f her husband’s sickness, she paid little attention until she was told that he was dying, and was urged to come and see him. When a Hindu is about to die, his relatives put him out o f doors, and the near rela­ tives squat around him to see the end. What they see at such times is heart-rending, as these poor souls go out o f this life without God and without hope, screaming and writhing in an attempt to escape from the evil spirits which they seem to see about to pounce upon them. James’ wife had seen this agony many times when her relatives and friends had died, and at her husband’s deathbed, she ex­ pected merely a repetition o f the scene. But what she did see was a peaceful, beautiful going to sleep, as her husband seemed to see the outstretched arms of his Lord and Sav­ iour beckoning him. And what she heard was her husband assuring Joseph that God was going to answer their prayers and save her. This experience was so different from what she had expected, that she was filled with wonder and went away to ponder over the mystery. Several weeks later, in answer to the prayers o f the Christians, she saw for her­ self the cause o f her husband’s happy assurance o f salva­ tion, and she entered into a beautiful Christian experience. This woman is now a radiant soul-winner and is rejoicing in the Lord with her whole family. Besides Joseph, she has two sons and two daughters, all fine Christians. The condition o f this family seemed absolutely hope­ less, as far as their surroundings and inheritance were con­ cerned. But When God is permitted to enter, all is gloriously changed. There are sixty-six millions o f these outcastes, and many, many o f them have never heard the name o f the only One who can save them. Perhaps He is waiting for you to pray, give, and go— in order that they may hear and live.

Absalom, Zachariah, Jehoshaphat, and St. James. The two first named are not tombs, but pillars cut out o f the rocks, and the last named are caverns cut into the rocks. So crowded are the graves in this valley and on the sloping side o f Olivet, that, as the valley has been encroached upon by debris from the city from the west, and gradually crowded eastward, the graves in the lower part are being washed out and their stones are sliding down. The Tyropean Valley, which runs southward through the city, joins the Kidron Valley at the southeast. But the Tyropean Valley is now so nearly filled up that one would scarcely know that it ever existed. Once it was quite a deep valley, over which bridges were built for the crossing from the western hill to the temple area. A t the south end o f the temple area, two arches o f one o f these bridges may be seen. They were discovered by Robinson, and are known by his name. Another arch, still intact, was dis­ covered by Wilson, almost parallel with the north end of the temple area. This arch is exactly under David Street, and the rest o f it is completely built over. Very few people living in Jerusalem known anything about this ancient structure, but by the aid o f a special guide, we were able to descend to it and to inspect it carefully. O ther P laces of I nterest Our walks about the city also led us to the Virgin’s Fountain, called Gihon in the Bible, and the Pool o f Siloam, the place where Gihon flows into the Kidron Valley. They also led us to the well called Job’s Well, the Biblical En- rogel, which is at the junction o f the Valley o f Hinnom and the Valley o f the Kidron or Jehoshaphat. Not far from St. Stephen’s Gate, to the east, and across the Valley o f the Kidron, on the side o f Olivet, is the place enclosed as the Garden o f Gethsemane. This garden is in the possession o f the Catholics. A little farther up the slope is one enclosed by the Russian Church, claimed to be Gethsemane. Whether either one o f these marks the exact spot or not, somewhere on the Mount of. Olives, Christ prayed and was betrayed. Our longer trips from the city took us to Bethany, Beth­ lehem, Hebron, Jericho, the Dead Sea, Jaffa, and Tel Aviv. But space forbids detailing the walks to the places o f the Ascension, the Potter’s Field, the Tombs o f the Kings, the Grotto o f Jeremiah, and others. All o f them have a peculiar fascination for those who are acquainted with their history and have an appreciation for Biblical places and events. FROM THE DARKNESS OF HEATHENISM TO THE RADIANCE OF FAITH [Continued from page 215] Naggappa that there was one thing he could do to secure his parents’ consent, and that was to pray for their salva­ tion. This task he very faithfully and earnestly undertook, accepting Acts 16 :31 as God’s assurance that the members o f his house would be saved. Seeing the boy’s earnestness and hearing his fervent prayers for his father, some o f the other Christians joined Joseph in prayer for him. Whenever they had an oppor­ tunity, they spoke to the father o f his need o f Christ. For two years the man resisted all attempts to win him to the Lord, and it seemed that God had turned a deaf ear. A N ew C reature in C hrist One day God began to work in what seemed a very strange way. The boy’s father was walking along the road, thinking o f nothing in particular, when suddenly a mad dog rushed out from between two houses and seized him by the leg, tearing it very badly. Naturally the man was frightened, and the only expedient which occurred to him

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