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
“I told them to do so if they could; and in a moment it was turned into
the path, and the boys had it flying before them, some tumbling and
hurting their knees, but up and at it again, and never pausing till it
rolled up at the door of our Storehouse. On returning I found them all
around it, and they said,—
“Missi, have you forgotten what you promised us?”
I said,—“What did I promise you?”
They looked very disappointed and whispered to each other,—“Missi has
forgot!”
“Forgot what?” inquired I.
“Missi,” they answered, “you promised that when the vessel came you
would give each of us a biscuit.”
“Oh,” I replied, “I did not forget; I only wanted to see if you
remembered it!”
They laughed, saying,—“No fear of that, Missi! Will you soon open the
cask? We are dying for biscuits.”
At once I got hammer and tools, knocked off the hoops, took out the
end, and then gave girls and boys a biscuit each. To my surprise, they
all stood round biscuit in hand, but not one beginning to eat.
“What,” I exclaimed, “you are dying for biscuits! Why don’t you eat?
Are you expecting another?”
One of the eldest said,—“We will first thank God for sending us food,
and ask Him to bless it to us all.”
And this was done in their own simple and beautiful childlike way; and
then they _did_ eat, and enjoyed their food as a gift from the Heavenly
Father’s hand. (Is there any child reading this, or hearing it read,
who never thanks God or asks Him to bless daily bread? Then is that
child not a _white_ Heathen?) We ourselves at the Mission House could
very heartily rejoice with the dear Orphans. For some weeks past our
European food had been all exhausted, except a little tea, and the
cocoa-nut had been our chief support. It was beginning to tell against
us. Our souls rose in gratitude to the Lord, who had sent us these
fresh provisions that we might love Him better and serve Him more.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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