The Village Sunday School, with brief sketches of three of its scholars — John Shaqi
The Village Sunday School, with brief sketches of three of its scholarsSymons, John C. (John Christian)
Religion
The Village Sunday School, with brief sketches of three of its scholars
Symons, John C. (John Christian)
Sunday schools
"There has been," writes the superintendent, "an extensive revival in
this circuit. On Friday, the Rev. Mr. V---- preached at this place. A
prayer-meeting was held after the sermon, when several began to cry aloud
for mercy--one professed to have obtained pardon. We have held
prayer-meetings nearly every night, and a very gracious influence has
rested upon us. We had, on one occasion, no less than twelve penitents
crying to God for the pardon of their sins, amongst whom are some of the
most thoughtless in the neighborhood. So many of our teachers and
scholars were under conviction, that we did not think it proper to have
school in the morning, but held a prayer-meeting, at which the presence
of God was eminently felt, and several cried aloud. Nearly every female
teacher or scholar, in our Sunday-school, is convinced or converted, and
some of the males also. Glory to God!"
On another occasion he writes,--"Our revival still continues, though we
have not had any crying aloud for mercy lately, but every time we meet in
class we have some new members. The numbers, small and great, who had
begun to meet in class, amounted to nearly one-third of our general
congregation--their ages vary from eight years old to above sixty. Mrs.
R.'s, our sweet singer, was a delightful conversion. She had long been
seeking the Lord sorrowing. One morning she went into a neighbor's house,
to inform them that a young woman had found peace: while in the house she
was herself constrained to cry for mercy. One of the leaders was called
in to pray with her, and, after a severe struggle, she found peace. The
next Sunday I asked her (for she was singing delightfully) whether it was
not sweeter to sing as she did, than before? She laid her hand on her
breast, and with uplifted eyes, said, 'Yes, it is indeed, for I have
often been condemned while singing words in which my heart did not join,
but now I can sing with all my heart.'"
One of the teachers, writing to a friend, says, "You will rejoice to
hear that the work of God is steadily progressing in this part of his
vineyard. Many are found crying, in bitterness of soul, 'What must I
do to be saved;' while others are enabled to adopt the language of
inspiration, and exclaim, 'O Lord, I WILL praise thee; for though thou
wert angry with me, thine auger is turned away, and thou comfortest me.'
You will have heard that many members of Mr. T.'s family have been truly
converted. Sunday-school teaching is now a delightful employment; most of
our children are feeling the power of religion; and many of them, perhaps
one-third, meet in class. Four out of seven, whom I teach, are, I trust,
adopted into the family of God, and two others evince a desire to 'flee
from the wrath to come.' I think I may venture to say there is not a
family in the vicinity of our chapel, but has some one or more praying
persons belonging to it."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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