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
brothels, graves of paupers, and doom souls by the multitude, and who
cares? Who votes to put down the saloons? Who tries to save mothers'
girls as well as mothers' boys, husbands and wives? Even the parents
are overtaken by the demon of strong drink and sink into the most
depraved conditions in order to satisfy their craving for alcohol. O,
the awfulness of it all! Sisters, brothers, are you and I clear? Are
we doing our best to stop this horrible traffic in whisky and girls,
for one of these places can scarcely exist without the other. How many
girls and boys are sacrificed yearly to fill the saloonkeepers'
coffers and fill up hell? Think of these things.
WARNED TO LEAVE THE CITY.
Upon entering a town in Mississippi I inquired of a woman if she could
direct me to a hotel, and she told me her sister and her husband kept
one and I would be made comfortable with them.
We went to the hotel and left our luggage and went at once to hold an
open air meeting. The singing attracted a considerable crowd, and at
the close of the service many came to shake hands with me and thank me
for the meeting, among whom were a number of colored people, who
thanked the Lord in their characteristic way and asked me to preach
again which I agreed to do that night.
As we turned our steps toward our hotel, we noticed a colored man
walking a short distance ahead of us who, when we were out of hearing
of the crowd, turned and said to us: "You women don't intend to hold
another meeting on the street to-night?" and I said, "Certainly, I
shall obey God." He said, "You have shaken hands with the colored
people and the white people are angry, and they will mob you. I came
along here for the purpose of warning you. If they saw me talking with
you my life would be in danger." I told him I was not afraid, thanked
him and told him I would do as the Lord led.
On reaching our hotel the landlord asked if I intended to hold another
meeting on the street that night, and I told him I did. He said that
the townspeople had forbidden me to hold another service and that I
would have to leave his hotel at once, because I had shaken hands with
the colored people. We told him we had made the appointment and we
should keep our word. He went to his wife and told her to go and tell
those women to leave the house and take the train, as we had
associated with the colored people and the white people would not
allow us to remain in town. She replied that we had paid our money and
our money was as good as anybody's, and that we were respectable,
honest women and she was going to treat us as such.
When we went down the street we heard a noise as of a mob, and we went
praying the Lord to show us what to do, and He showed us our life was
in danger and to step one side into the colored people's church where
God's presence was revealed in mighty power and souls were convicted
and converted.
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