I arrived at Roseville about twelve days after my brother had prayed for
the little girl and found him already beginning to break out. We learned
that the other minister who had been with him, took the disease about the
same time. For a day or two after my arrival, however, we were not certain
that my brother had the smallpox. As soon as we were convinced of the
nature of the disease, we sent for a physician to come and quarantine us so
that others would be protected, and the battle began.
The doctor called every day, said he had to come to protect the home where
we were staying. He vaccinated quite a number, including me and Sister
Elizabeth Hill, who was helping me care for brother George. Sister Hill
trusted the Lord that the vaccination would not take. Her faith proved
effectual. I thought I had to let the vaccination take, did not resist, and
so had a severe time of it. I was the sickest when my brother needed the
greatest attention--just as the scales were falling off.
The doctor did his best to get a chance to treat my brother. He worked by
strategy and seemed to have some new scheme every day. He shut me out of
the room and tried to force my brother to take medicine when he was too
weak to think. He made my brother promise to use the medicine and then
tried to make me promise that I would see that it was used. I told him I
would do as my brother said. After the doctor's departure, I had a little
talk with George, and he decided to continue trusting the Lord.
From the very beginning he had put his case in God's hands. When the fever
reached its height and the disease was at its climax, God rebuked it, and
soon my brother was on the road to recovery. Inside of an hour the fever
was going down and in twelve hours it was entirely gone. The same evening
the fever was rebuked, the doctor came. My brother said, "Doctor, I am
better." "Yes," he answered, "But not permanently so." "Yes," said my
brother, "permanently, and I know where the healing came from. God sent it,
and I know I shall not get worse." From that time forward his improvement
was rapid.
Soon after that the effects of the disease settled in his eyes, and for a
time it seemed that his sight would be destroyed, but in answer to prayer
his eyes began to recover and were soon all right again. Then the pox
attacked his nose, closing the nostrils so that it seemed almost to kill
him to breathe. It was during one of these times that the doctor was most
determined to push his remedies on him, and he succeeded, too, in a small
measure. The medicine was applied once or twice, but God made it very clear
to me that he had the case in his own hands, and we applied ourselves to
prayer. In less than an hour the obstructions were removed from his nose,
and he breathed like a little child, so easily that we could scarcely hear
his breath across the room.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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