King's Business - 1945-05

177

May, 1945

were shown thè wordless book; they rejoiced to hear it tell the true way to heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ Him­ self. Many confessed Him as their Saviour. “We prayed that these children might be truly born again, but did not see them again until the following January. Then in à children’s meeting two boys and a girl testified that they had already trusted the Lord Jesus as their Saviour. They were asked when they had received Him. With surprise they answered, ‘Don’t you remember last summer when you showed us that little book? You told us we could not be good enough our­ selves, but that the blood of the Lord Jesus would wash our sins away.’ Truly the Lord is faithful. We sow the seed, God gives the increase.” . Harvesting Mr. Alan Hamilton, International field director of Child Evangelism, is one of the national directors of Colored Child Evangelism. Here is one of his experi­ ences with negro children: “It was a dusty country road in southern Mississippi on which our car and house trailer came to a sudden stop. My eyes lighted upon four little dark-skinned fishermen casting their lines into a pond. Eyes, that already registered amazement at this home on wheels grew even brighter as a white man left the car and came toward them. No, they had never seen a wordless book, and they were unanimous in their ‘Yassuh!’ that they would like to. The wonderful story of redeeming grace was told to them. The three older ones, who had never been to Sunday School, were eager to trust the Lord Jesus as their Saviour. For the younger boy, who had not seemed tó comprehend the message, the plan of salvation was reviewed. “ ‘Did you know that God had made heaven for you?’ “ ‘No suh.’ “ ’Did you know that Jèsus died to open the way to heaven for you?’ “ ‘No suh.’ “ ‘Aren’t you glad He did?’ Whereupon the oldest one nudged him vigorously and whispered, ‘Say, yassuh.’ “If the message was not made real to the youngest one that day, it is hoped that by now the seed of the Word that was planted has borne fruit. As for the older ones, we could not help noting the eager response to the gospel when someone cared enough to come their way and tell them.” Another of our national directors of Colored Child Evangelism is Mr. Harvey A. Moon, who is also the field representative of Child Evangelism Fellowship. The Lord has used him to win negro children to Christ. He relates: “One day while walking down town in Dallas I no­ ticed three negro boys who from a distance evidenced their notice of my height. I am well over six feet tall, and aS they were passing by me one said,. ‘M-m-m, su­ perman!’ “ I was amused and led to speak to them. I asked if they would like to hear about a man who makes ‘super­ man’ a sissy by way of comparison. They were all in agreement, so from my wordless book I presented Christ to them. “One boy was completely indifferent to the gospel, and another, though satisfied with his own life, promised to think over the matter of salvation. The third boy was truly prepared in heart, and without hesitation accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour. This pre­ cious soul’s acceptance of Christ, and his dauntless stand for the Lord before his unbelieving playmates, thrilled my heart. Such is the power of the gospel! How eager are many of our colored girls and boys to accept Christ who loved them and gave Himself for them!” The negro field is ripe for the harvest. Will you reap in this part of the Lord’s vineyard?

Winning Negro Children [ Continued from Page 163]

This is the essential requirement in winning negro children to Christ. Anything less will not be blessed of God, and utter failure will be the result. How our hearts thrill when we hear of heathen chil­ dren being won to Christ in Africa! Yet as one of Amer­ ica’s great Bible teachers said, “We will spend thou­ sands to send missionaries to Africa, but when God sends the African to us, we will do nothing for him.” The door is open in America for the evangelization of the negro children. What Is Being Dene The International Child Evangelism Fellowship has organized a new branch of its work in the United States, the Colored Child Evangelism Fellowship, which is un­ der the direction of a national committee composed of white and colored members. The national directors are Rev. and Mrs. Erwin R. Wedel, with headquarters in Jackson, Mississippi. The Lord has mightily used them in winning negro children to Christ. The succeeding quoted paragraphs relate a few of their experiences in the states of Mississippi and Alabama: . , “Mrs. Wedel and I were visiting in the home of one of the Good News Club children. We had been talking of the things of the Lord when I noticed that the oldest girl in the family had tears in her eyes. I said, ‘Have you ever accepted Jesus as your Saviour?’ “ ‘Not yet,’ she replied. ‘“ Wouldn’t you like to do it right now?’ I suggested. Then we all knelt and prayed, and best of all, she prayed and asked the Lord to come into her heart. Her mother’s parting words to us were, ‘Oh, I’ll never get through thanking God for your having come here.’ "In another place, just as we had finished a service in a colored school, one of the teachers came forward and said, ‘I must tell you what wonderful effects your Bible services are having on the children. There is a boy here whom the police very often put in jail. Now he is a changed boy. The other day he repeated to a group of men, word for word, the lessons about the lost sheep and the prodigal son which you taught last time. I was amazed!’ “At a similar service in another district I illustrated salvation to the children as ‘the gift of God’ by laying a dime on the table and saying, ‘Anyone who wants this dime may come and get it ’ There was much hesitation and wriggling on the part of those black boys and girls. I compared their attitude to the procrastination of people in accepting Christ. Finally, one of the older girls came forward and took the dime. I drove the point home, showing how easy it is to be saved, but that we must make a definite choice. In response to the invitation, this girl indicated her desire to receive Christ. At the close of the service the teacher of the school said, ‘This is wonderful! I can hardly believe it. God was surely in it. The very girl for whom some of us have been praying for a long time was just the one to pick up that dime, and have her eyes opened as to what she must do to be saved.’ “Yes, every day in scores of instances we say: ‘God surely is in it.’ ” Mrs. Oliver, “Aunt Kate,” Child Evangelism Fellow­ ship director for North Texas, believes that she should give the gospel to the negro children. She relates this interesting true story. “ ‘Can you tell me the way to heaven?’ some colored children were asked one hot July afternoon as they played on the street. “ ‘Be good,’ ‘go to church,’ 'don’t cuss,’ were some of the answers given. "The children were not sure this advice would get them to heaven, but they hoped it would. Then they

Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker