The American Missionary — Vol. 33, No. 3, March, 1879 — John Shaqi
The American Missionary — Vol. 33, No. 3, March, 1879Various
Religion
The American Missionary — Vol. 33, No. 3, March, 1879
Various
Congregational churches -- Missions -- Periodicals; Home missions -- Periodicals
to furnish our beautiful chapel and two additional recitation rooms,
into which we are almost ready to “_swarm_,” and how we long to see a
neat fence surrounding the lot, isolating and protecting us, situated
as we are on the grand boulevard of the city, I am sure that some good
heart would suggest the means of accomplishing these things. But this
is God’s work, and He will send relief if we can only wait.
We shall graduate a class of six, of whom five are young men. They all
have bright minds and are first-class scholars. It is a real pleasure
to teach them. I hear them every morning in Upham’s Mental Philosophy,
and the most exacting teacher would ask no better recitations than are
uniformly given. The inducements for young men and women to qualify
themselves for teachers of the highest grade are all that could be
desired. It is impossible now to answer the demands for competent
teachers for the colored schools of Louisiana. I have received an
application for a principal of a large parish school, with a salary of
$1,200, and two are now in hand for lady teachers, with salaries of $30
per month, in a town where good board can be obtained for $7 per month.
This demand will constantly increase both in Louisiana and Texas. Two
of our last senior class are teaching in Texas, and receiving $50 per
month.
When I returned to the church, after an absence of more than five
months, the people greeted me with enthusiasm, and said to me, “You
find us a united people. God has kept us together during this sad
summer. We are ready for work. When will the revival begin?” I told
them we should begin special meetings with the “Week of Prayer;” but
the time for earnest labor was already at hand to prepare the people
for the work of grace, which I felt sure God had in store for us. Our
prayer meetings were largely attended, and I could see that the Church
were longing and praying for a glorious revival. What a joyful duty it
is to preach to such a people! The “Week of Prayer” came, and with a
deep feeling of dependence upon God we gathered for our first special
meeting. Night after night the attendance increased. Christians yielded
themselves to the spirit of the meetings; the flame of religious fervor
burned more brightly; and when, in sympathy with the Christian world,
we had considered the topics assigned by the Evangelical Alliance,
we felt ready to enter upon the holy work of winning souls, and of
directing all our thoughts and energies to this object. For four
weeks we gathered every night, with an attendance ranging from 80
to 150, seldom falling below 100. Members of other churches flocked
in; unconverted men and women heard the good news and joined the
waiting throng. The result has been joyful—blessed—glorious. In
some respects I have never witnessed a revival of greater spiritual
power. The work has been quiet as the under-current of a river, but
deep, heart-searching and vital. The number of converts has been less
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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