John G. Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides, volume 2 (of 3) : $b An autobiography edited by his brotherPaton, John Gibson
Religion
John G. Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides, volume 2 (of 3) : $b An autobiography edited by his brother
Paton, John Gibson
Missionaries -- Vanuatu -- Biography; Paton, John Gibson, 1824-1907
Next morning, I went down again at daybreak and sank a narrow hole in
the centre about two feet deep. The perspiration broke over me with
uncontrollable excitement, and I trembled through every limb, when
the water rushed up and began to fill the hole. Muddy though it was,
I eagerly tasted it, and the little “tinny” dropped from my hand with
sheer joy, and I almost fell upon my knees in that muddy bottom to
praise the Lord. It was water! It was fresh water! It was living water
from Jehovah’s well! True, it was a little brackish, but nothing to
speak of; and no spring in the desert, cooling the parched lips of a
fevered pilgrim, ever appeared more worthy of being called a Well of
God than did that water to me!
The Chiefs had assembled with their men near by They waited on in
eager expectancy. It was a rehearsal, in a small way, of the Israelites
coming round, while Moses struck the rock and called for water.
By-and-bye, when I had praised the Lord, and my excitement was a little
calmed, the mud being also greatly settled, I filled a jug, which I had
taken down empty in the sight of them all, and ascending to the top
called for them to come and see the rain which Jehovah God had given us
through the well. They closed around me in haste, and gazed on it in
superstitious fear. The old Chief shook it to see if it would spill,
and then touched it to see if it felt like water. At last he tasted it,
and rolling it in his mouth with joy for a moment, he swallowed it, and
shouted, “Rain! Rain! Yes, it is Rain! But how did you get it?”
I repeated, “Jehovah my God gave it out of His own Earth in answer to
our labours and prayers. Go and see it springing up for yourselves!”
Now, though every man there could climb the highest tree as swiftly
and as fearlessly as a squirrel or an opossum, not one of them had
courage to walk to the side and gaze down into that well. To them this
was miraculous! But they were not without a resource that met the
emergency. They agreed to take firm hold of each other by the hand, to
place themselves in a long line, the foremost man to lean cautiously
forward, gaze into the well, and then pass to the rear, and so on till
all had seen “Jehovah’s rain” far below. It was somewhat comical, yet
far more pathetic, to stand by and watch their faces, as man after
man peered down into the mystery, and then looked up at me in blank
bewilderment! When all had seen it with their own very eyes, and were
“weak with wonder,” the old Chief exclaimed,—
“Missi, wonderful, wonderful is the work of your Jehovah God! No god of
Aniwa ever helped us in this way. But, Missi,” continued he, after a
pause that looked like silent worship, “will it always rain up through
the earth? or, will it come and go like the rain from the clouds?”
I told them that I believed it would always continue there for our use,
as a good gift from Jehovah.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account