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F " the fireside of this dear young Eld
|B er (Stall iugs)aud heard him tel! of
| v . ! the kindness and attention shown
■H
him by the members of his chinch
B Although a very young man, he is
H '?f .greatly afflicted ;cannot labor at all
Ri for the support of his family, and
being a poor man,he is very depen
k|| - dent. But his brethren, unlike
, are in many places, are pro-
■hiding for him a comfortable iiv
and in turn ho is devotin.?
BBr his whole- time to his three
HF churches, visiting them at
J their homes, and speaking words
W of comfort to the troubled ones,
n - • His soul is in the and God is
rewarding him and bis churches
for their faithfulness. Hehasper
! haps baptized not less than forty
8~., members during the last twelve
Bl - monthsfjnd the prospect for a con-
Bt"''*':* tinned growth is very promising
indeed. On our meeting days a*
I Concord, after we and Elder Stal
■TW : lings had preached, the deacon,!
H
■ (brother Charley Rentz) arose and
■ ga/c his brethren one of the most
effective affectionate appeals
■’ to duty we ever heard fall from a
deacons lios. He had the spirit and
apoke'With such fooling as to bring
| tears to the eyes of all present.
? our next stop at* .China. Grove
I * church was pleasant indeed. Elder
B !•' P. Potter isr pastor. Brother
W. \V. Williams conveyed us and
s • cared for us, and it was our pleas
t ure to spend two nights at his loye-1
| 1V home. ■ He has a fovely family
I —fiye of His? children are members
| ' —humble and devoted. All of
I ’ th&iji seem so possess a musical
I ' talent, and much of their '“time is •
spent singing the sweet songs of
| Zion. From here we went to Tis-
F? ton and preached in the Methodist
BMjfc meeting house to a gn'od '
k Ig congregation, dur stop at-this
W. E. Williams
was very pleasant. At our -meeting
at Pleasant Hill( Houston County)
two young sisters united with the
church and were gladly received.
'■ This church had the faithful ser-
*
vices of our dear young brother
Elder A. Garrett. We were de
i . lighted to find the brethren and
- sisters all so spiritual, At the
home of our dear brother R. H.
F Watson we spent a most delight
ful evening, with his lovely family
* and many dear brethen and sisters
who came in to be with us. We
parted with them all in tears,
feeling that we was leaving
H. -■ behind us some of the precious
K of the earth. We reached the
B hbme ot that dear young soldier
H of the cross, Elder P. G. McDon-
KgL aid about one o’clock at night.
J ’He and bis precious wife accom
■k " panied us to Sharon church, the
of his father, Elder Middle-
K : iy on McDonald, who has faith-
Bk t fully contended for the truth over
IgSk. 50 years. .He ii still preaching
Sr Jesus.
Bn ßut we have not the space'for
BB? for the further sketch of our trip.
We would like to mention many
r things, but close for this tinu.
The curches of the Pulaski, ass>-
ciation are all in peace so far as
we were able to learn, and many
additions are being made to them
in places. Although they, with
k • their ministers, chiefly among them
J is Elder P. G. McDonald, has been
victims of much persecutions
'by disorderly brethren, yet they
|'-..jE- are patiently bearing all things,
and the Lord is with them —S.
If Christians will be engaged in
• prayer to God instead of magnify
f ing the faits of others, they surely
k-nr will feel better, and God would be
more glorified. Self examination
£( is very important, for the Lord’s
people, and when they get so they
. see nothing wrong in themselves,
HOt. ’they are in a condition.
When you oppose a true minister
you are opposing yourself and
I Christ too. —H.
Barwick, Ga., Aug.'W, 1805.
Dear and Read*
ers of the Banner:—l come now
to tell yon Some joyful news epn
berning our yearly meeting at
Pleasant Grove Colquitt Cou.nty
last Friday, Saturday and Sunday
the 2nd in August. Our preachers
were I.P. Porter, A. P. Tucker, W.
W. Williams and the writer, and
we had a very pleasant spiritual
meeting of the. saints. There were
eleven churches’ represented and
peace and love seemed to be the>
prevailing power. On Saturday
one poor trembling man cume for
ward and told of the dealings of
Lord with him and was received.
Ou Saturday night I - tried to
preach - to a brethren and
friends at brother Joel Norman's
and after preaching gave an op
portunity formembers, but no one
came-. After the meeting ' closed
I noticed a poor little woman still
weeping as if her heart was broken,
and I went to her and. told her
that if she wanted to talk to the
church that it was not too late,
but that we would still wait and
hear her. She began talking and
in broken tones and many tears
she told clearly of her sufferings
as a poor lost sinner and of herte
joicings as a redeemed child of
promise. I asked her if she want
ed to be baptized the next day
said yes, if she was only
worthy. I asked her then if
she was willing to let those Chris-'
tians present judge of her case and
she said yes, so she was joyfully
received and baptized with others
next day. There was in the vicini
ty..of the church aii afflicted sis
ter wlio joined and vras baptized
only about five months ago and up
to the .time of going to the church
had been very healthy, but- soon
after that she was taken t down
. rheumatism, and had not left
her bed for many days, and had
not been to .meeting in three
months. On her account we fixed
a meeting at her house on Sunday
irght. I went’ Wfore
found the dear sister very patient
with her sufferings, but was fear
ful that it was all an- evidence
that she did wrong in going to the
church. I tried to comfort her
all I could and when the crowd
had gathered Eld. Tucker went
forward and preached, ably and
when ray time came to speak I
was caught away on the wings cf
His majestic power and was en
abled to see how God was glori
fied in all the sufferings of his
people. I had been rather under
a mistin my feelings all through
the meeting until now. Surely
the Lord was good to me on that
occasion. After preaching I gave
opportunity for members and a
poor sorrowful looking man came
up the steps from out in the yard,
and a weeping woman from the
congregetion in the piazza and
were seated to tell of the wonder
ful works of God with them. We
stoped singing and heard them talk
and gladly received them, and
then finished the song, but no one
else come then.
After the meeting had closed
and many were trying to dry up
their tears, there was a little
thirteen year old girl away back
in the congregation whose weep
ing could not be hushed, for tlra
great deep of her heart had
been broken up, and the fountain
of tears unsealed, and if she could
have been made to hush,the rocks,
would have cried out. A sister
came to me and told me of
her condition a*hd I went to her
and asked her if she wanted to
talk to the church. She said yes,
and I took her by the hand and
icd her back to where I had stood
to speak and she began and told
so clearly and forcibly the work of
God with her, that she was re
ceived without a question. As
soon as this was over Eld. Tucker
came to me and told me that
there was a young man in the
back piaza whose heart was made
t to bleed and we went to see him
and found him .down, by himself
greatly troubled. I asked
; him if lie wanted to talk to the
church and he said yes. I told
j him to come back in the house and
. we placed a .chair by bedside
- t f the invalid mother, soy he was
her son and, "had a few weeks
■ previous, to that joined the Mis
. sionasy Baptist about which she
’ had been greatly troubled, As he
talked so powerfully of the deal
j ings of God with him it seemed
that his poor mother was taken
above all her sufferings stud made
to cry “my Lord, and my God.”
! He was received and after that I
spoke to the congregation and told
- them that if there was any one
else who wished to talk to come on
we would patiebtly wait. About
the time I finished speaking there
came anblher 15 years old girl ahd
after that two more came together
and again still another one, mak
ing eight in all. They all talked
clearly and gave such forcible abd
unmistakable evidences of a
gracious state? in tl‘ w jeloved that
there was-no questions asked, but
all the saints who heard them,
felt that it was good to be there.
I: have never witnessed such a
scone among Primitive Baptists.
I wish I cou d tell it so that you
might all feel it too. I think that
most of the time while this was
going on, there was fully fifty per- 1
sons crying beyond control. They
actually shouted. Some said
“surely the Lord has kept the best
wine for the last,” others said “the
-Lord is in this place and I knew it
not,” others wanted to pull off
their shoes, feeling that we were
on holy ground. It whs a time of
pure Christian rejoicing without
much formalities. I then could
see why ! had been dark through
the meeting and could'see why our
sister hadbeen afflicted. Oh!
Christians all had been
there. We met them on Monday
at 10 a. m. for baptizing, and I
could see Tn that, congregation
assembled on the banka , of Big
Indian Creek,, the same hply fire
that fell on us the precious -nighty
Whoa she opportunity given
for members two more came
ward with the same contiitTon of
heart and joyful news of salvation
and was received, So we baptjzed
10 and two on Sunday made 12
precious souls that the Lord add
ed to that church at that meet
ing. I have been too lenghty all
ready and now must close. Fare
well precious ones and may you
all remain strong in the faith.
R. H. Barwick.
Rochelle, Ga, August 26,
Elder A. V. Simms. My dear
brother ii; Christ: —I feel like I
want to tell you of our three days
meeting at New Bethel. Oh we
o
were made to feel that Jesus
Christ was our great Shepherd,
and that be was feeding his little
lambs.
On Friday Elder P. G. McDon
ald met with us and we had a
good meeting. He with Elder
D. W. Taylor (our pastor) form
ed themselves into a presbytery
at the request of the. church, and
ordained a dear brother to the
office of a deacon who was set
apart to that office by the church
when you were up here. One
dear brother presented himself for
membership and was joyfully re
ceived. At 2 o’clock p. m. Eld
McDonald taken the train for his
appointmentin Savannah. On Sat
urday we met again—had a large
correspondence from sister church
es, and received four more pre
' cious ones—all telling the won
derful work of the Holy Spirit in
’ their souls. On Sunday morning
' at the water, three others came
> up in trembling and asked for iel
-1 lowship with us and were receiv-
I x
1 ed ainil gieat joy All these
—eight in number—were all bap
tized. Two of the above number
were my own brothers in the flesh.
Another was the yoilng lady whom
t you met at brother King’s who
, was down with typhoid fever
when you was with us. Through
. the mercy of the Lord her life was
f spared, and she kept the promise
I she made to you.
j Elder Taylor, under the influence
1 of the spirit of our God, preach
-1 ed as ably as any man I ever
a heard. 'Hi 3 in poor health, bu
a the .him stre igth botl
a uHMMnper and outej man t<
-."perform his duties faith ully ant
3 well. j •
3 Dear brother remem >er us ii
‘ your prayers und come lo see u
again. Your brother,
' 1 J. A. Owens.
t 0 how I hungered to ju t kiss th(
I “marble lips'*. Tn. tears I pleader
’ until with the. promise I would be
1 brave and strong as I Could, th(
> little coffin was brought -ndplacec
! beside my beci. for me to ook upor
■ the little fac§ I loved so Well. Os
’ that scene I cannot tell.l mlyknow
■ that when I Idokedupon the silent
form and noticed the- ha >py smil
ing face, I wanted faith enough to
■ raise my eyes to heaven and say
in spirit and truth “Jhj will, 01
God be Beautifi 1 in life,
but far molje lovely n death.
When I hadWressed and wept over
it a while they . carried it away,
ahd I was left alone vith two
neighbor ladies. They t ere good
and kind, but-it seemed I could
not live, my jgrief was so great.
Part of the Smily gon f to the
grave,- and p|rt with Jay sister,
but God neveCgives us riore than
we can bear. Andi it .was
Hie loving prince that’made me
resigned and willing to leave all to
Hi,m. In Apm I improved"' so
>that I could 4ij up a little at a
time, and I thought would soon
be' well, but alas, I had reach
ed the worst yfitd relapsed and day
after day I grew' worse, and dis
aese after dis^^ Assailed me until
I was a wredk bnysicaHy, and was
ted away twill a nwe form.
Yeti had . attention, and
aSkillful i-lij'sknan who did all
h&ycould for' but it seemed to
•! o avail. lAi®ind weeks passed
aj|.dJ was my
bed suffering growing
each “day. WTIA first of
lar.e4he-fsick
ness I rapidly grew worse than
ever before; , I began to vomitin
byble hic
coughing whicri cbuT^We""heard
yards away. Medical skill nor
nothing that could be done would
relieve me, no nourishments or
medicine could I retain on my
stomach,besides my terrible suffer
ing I was slowly starving to death.
..Each day I grew weaker and my
suffering increased until I had
' suffered this terribly fortwoweeks
that way, when another more dan
gerous disease assailed me. The
tonsils of my throat began to en
large and pain me, the disease
grew worse very fast until I w r as
soon unable to talk distinctly or
swallow; my mouth became ul
cerated until it was almost a
perfect ulcer, my tongue was swol
en almost as large again as it
should be. I still continued to
vopiit and fevers to increase until
I seemed to be burning up with
fever. I had become so weak I
could not raise my head.” I men
tion all this in order to show God’s
power in mv own case. As the days
passed away, I seemed to be pa s
smg away too. My throat and
mouth grew worse; a week had
passed, no change for the better.
' until I knew as well as others my
case was hopeless, and saw it plain
ly written in the countenance of
my kind and faithful physician.
On the 2nd Sunday in June I was
given up to die, I'would faint
when moved, for I was helpless
and speechless. I could not move,
not even the toes on my feet, I
! lived entirely on ice, it was kept
in my mouth all the time as 1
- could not swallow. Sunday night
J near midnight I sank into a stupor;
- had no sign of life except a faint
r fluttering of my heart Just before
sinking into the deathly stupor J
i had a vision. Oh such a sweet and
j blessed feeling. It seemed to me
L . that Jesus appeared in the same
1 corner of the room I saw the
vision when first taken sick.Aguir
a holy calm seemed to stepl ovei
3 me, it seemed like I could >almosl
see Heaven, and O; how I jlongec
3 to enter its shining portals. I was
' so filled with a Heavenly .feehty
r that I wondered* that thdte hrounc
t ; •
it my bed fdid not speak about it
h The room seemed filled with soms
,o holy or divine presence. As the beau
d tiful vision faded away I sank int<
a stupor which lasted an hour oi
n more that I knew nothing at all
[g around me. And when those
around me saw signs of life return
ing, or that I was reviving it, in
deed seemed a wonder. Oh! how
I suffered God alone knows
e I surely suffered the pangs of death
d My heart beat so rapidly until
e ita wild beating could be seen
e some distance from my bed with
d the most terrible pain with every
n breath. The next day Monday,
f I was worse, my eyes I have been
v told were wild and unnatural. My
t tace and fingers were partly pur-
- pie. The Doctor told the family
a there was no chance for me nor
y had not been in several days, to
! keep me quiet was all that could be
, done.Oh! how I longed, yes longed
. for deathl could only utter in brok
r en sentences “I want to go home’
. I want to rest”lcan remember think-
> ing why does Jesus tarry so long?
i Why dont He hasten? lam so tried,
l I had often wondered while well
. if I would fear death when I come
i to face it?and always was fearful I
, would, but now face to face with
i death I felt nor feared no evil, but
j longing—waiting its sermons. That
j night the sister that mother vihi-
> ted when I first got ill, sit by my
> bed and talked to me of death
i And asked me where I desired to
i be burned and.other things con-
• earning I heard the
mourning <pme loved one
without my room
I her understand (for i could not,
- move or speak) that they all ouhgt'
. to rejoice to see the breath leave
my'tortured body.l was suffering so
much; again that lovely vision ap
peared before mo,it seemed I could
see smiling face of Jesus IfeltOlso
bappy, though my agony was more
than I could tell in a life time.
I again sank into a stupor with
r>o signs pf lifo_except the faintiest
heart trembling,it lasted some lon
ger than the night before ere 1 be-
, Gin to revive, and when I revived
j Jungly. Something IhaH
• mot‘felt in weeks, but alas! I could
not eat. Even could I have swal
lowed I could not endure for food
to touch my ulcerated mouth, it
■ was torture to me, as coals of fire,
yet 0! so hungry I could have eat
raw food could I have been able to
swallow it. Neither could I enjoy
the daintiest tood for my ulcerated
mouth end throat, but when the
ulcer broke I could begin to swal
low the thinest of gruel or soup
and the vomitting begin to cease.
“Wonder of wonders.” I slowly be
gin to improve. I who had been
face to face with death. So near
the“ Land of Rest.” Though I was
helpless for weeks, and many days
passed before I could talk. My
skin was sb scorched by fever un
til it peeled from off my body.
When I realized that in truth God
had indeed spared me, given me
back as it were from the grave,my
soul was filed with praise and that
thanksgiving,! felt like I could sing
of His goodness and mercy with
every breath. I could see beauties I
never saw before, could see more
wisdom and power than I had even
felt in the past, ah? the rejoic mg
among my loved ones, and kind
physician and friends, but alas
how soon I forgot God’s goodness
and darkness and doubts obliterate
his holy presence, On one occasion
I remember that my soul seemed
ready to despair with inme 1 was
so bowed in darkness and gloom, I
could not pray nor read my Bible,
it was a sealed book. Day after day
passed and still no joy or peace.
My heart seemed utterly crushed,
suffering such terrible pain and so
dark in spirit. One day while
• shedding tears over mv condition
feeling forsaken, and that I was
no Christian, “A still small voice
i whispered, Let not your heart
i be troubled, ye believe in God be
lieve also in me.” The blessed
■ words of Jesus to his disciples.
In an instant my heart was
. made to rejoice,tears of joy wet my
i pillow. The room seemed filled with
J unusual brightness, I felt that I
I could exclaim asJob of old“I know
that my Redeemer liveth.” On an
e other similar occasion, when wrapt
/ in darkness and despair, tossed up-
A on the tfuel waves of jinbelief,
r , doubts and tears assailed me »n
--1 til I felt I would “faint by the
-way side.” I could scarcely eat or
- sleep. “My eyes seemed to be a
- fountain of tears.” One day while
‘ overwhelmed in darkness I had
• these though ts.lf this sorrow dont
> leave me to day I shall take it as
I an evidence lam no Christian nor
1 9vcr tasted of God’s goodness.
1 Hour after hour passed, but no joy
or relief, but as the sun began to
• sink behind the western hills, and
1 when I least expected it, my soul
was filled with joy. My sorrow
vanished in an instant, the first
words I thought were “In my dis
tress I cried unto the Lord, and he
' heard me,” almost before I knew
what I was saying, I ‘ was saying
aloud. “Bless the Lord 0, my soul,
bless his holy name.” I could sing
of His goodness now. Not a cloud
betweeen Jesus and me. But alas!
I cannot stop long in such a frame
of mind before I am doubting
again, thus it is continually with
me either praising God or bowed
in gloom and despair.
The months passed with their
trials and heartaches and bodily
pain until October, when I again
began to improve and felt to hope
the worst was over, and my trials
were past for a while, but alas!
soon again the news came for dear
mothtr to go, that mv sister whom
called to before, was again very
ill It seemed for a while she could
not recover, but again God spared
her, at first the sad news
reached me of her illness
and perhaps death.lt seemed more
than I could bear, but ere my mo
ther had been gone many hours I •
was made to feel calm and resign
ed, that “tho’ He slay me yet will
I trust in him.” Mother was gone >
a week ere she returned. “I again
thought surely no more sjjch trials
await me.” Though the kindness
of a dear friend ‘an invalid chair
was loaned so J could get about in
the house which was a great comfort ~
To me. I was carried out in it a few
times in the yard. The first time
I felt the sun shine upon my
form, and could look up to the
blue skiea I was filled with joy too
deep for words,the trees seemed to
be bowing in humbleness to God.
Everywhere my eyes could see
there seemed to appear traces of
His power and beauty, while I
wondered why have I been spared
to see this day? I could hear mo
ther’s gentle voice exclaim “thank
God,” I thought if earth is so love
ly what must it be in
Heaven with its streets
of shining gold? O! that men
would praise the Lord for his good
ness, and wonderful works to the
children of men.” Time passed
on with afflictions still for me, un
til the New Year of 1895. I was
so improved, I could leave my bed
for a few moments rest. I
thought soon I can go forth again
and meet m worship with the
ch ildren of God. But God decreed
otherwise. I relapsed with a vio
lent attact of lagrippe. I could
not speak above a whisper, for over
two weeks. All my former disea
ses relapsed. O! how I suffered
God alone knows. I wondered
why I did not die while so near its
portals? All my trials would now
be over, but I must await God’s
time. While so very ill the news
came to me that my sisters baby
near by, for though robbed of one
by death since my long illness.
God had given the bereaved parents ’
a little son, was very sick, it grew
rapidly worse until it too, was
given up to die.
Fannie Shoeman.
(To be continued)
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