Prisons and Prayer; Or, a Labor of LoveWheaton, Elizabeth Ryder
Religion
Prisons and Prayer; Or, a Labor of Love
Wheaton, Elizabeth Ryder
Evangelistic work; Prisons
One night after worship at the home of the warden with whom we were
stopping, Sister Wheaton was singing a hymn, when suddenly the warden
asked, "Sister Wheaton, will you come over into the prison-yard and
finish that hymn?" She replied she would gladly do so if he thought it
would do good. So we hastened to the prison-yard, some little distance
away, and quietly entered the enclosure, and she began singing. Her
clear, strong voice awakened the sleeping prisoners. The incident was
so unusual that some of them (as we were told afterward), negroes
especially, awaking suddenly, thought that the Judgment Day had come,
and tumbling out of bed, fell upon their knees and began praying for
God to have mercy upon them and save their souls; so God evidently
used the song to bring conviction to hearts. After the singing we
returned as quietly as we had come, trusting the results with God.
[Illustration: NEW MEXICO PRISON, SANTA FE, N. M.]
CHAPTER XIII.
Work in Fort Madison, Iowa, and Santa Fe, New Mexico
Soon after starting out in my work, when changing cars in an Iowa town
I saw a crowd of people who were curiously gazing upon three young men
who were handcuffed, and bound together being taken to the state's
prison at Fort Madison. I went up to them, shook hands, and said, "I
am sorry for you. Don't be discouraged. Cheer up. Give God your
hearts. Obey the rules. Do the best you can and God will do the rest."
They seemed cheered and relieved seeing I neither feared nor shunned
them. I inquired their names and told them I would try to see them in
prison, but did not know how soon.
A few weeks later I went to Fort Madison and obtained permission of
the Chaplain, W. C. Gunn, to hold a meeting the following Sunday. This
was my first effort to hold divine service in a prison. Then I
inquired for the three young men I had seen when on their way there,
but could find no record of them. I assured the Chaplain they were
there and observing the prisoners closely I saw one of them at work.
As our eyes met, I saw a look of distress on his face. He recognized
me and was afraid I would tell who he was. He had given a ficticious
name--as had also the others.
But before Sunday came I began to think: "What if I should make a
mistake and could think of nothing to say when I come before all those
hundreds of prisoners?" And then there were the officers in their
suits of blue with brass buttons! It all seemed too much for me, and,
like Jonah, I took ship and ran away.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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