p. 1 | A Providential Call by R. C. PORTER

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 28, 1915

A Providential Call

By R. C. PORTER

JUANA AUGUSTIN related the following incident at a missionary meeting which I attended in Manila:—

I have decided to serve the Lord every day of my life. If I see men or women in the street, I always look at their faces while thinking at the same time how best I can give them the truth. I do the same in the Sabbath school that I attend. Whenever I see a new face in the Sabbath school, I do not let the owner go home without asking his address, as I want to establish every one in the truth that he has heard.

Last Sabbath [Aug. 7, 1915], while I was at the Sabbath school at the Oriental Cinematograph, I found a Catholic woman standing by my side at the beginning of the class. I had noticed that when we stood to sing, she, too, stood up and sang. While Elder Porter was speaking, I was looking at the face of this woman, and I was convinced that that was the first time she had attended our service. Before the sermon was over, there was something in my heart that moved me to speak to the woman. So I decided to talk to her after the meeting. Soon after the service had closed, I approached her and asked who had brought her to the meeting. She said that nobody had brought her there, but that she had been looking for some time for the place of the Adventists’ meeting. I was glad when I heard her say this, and I thought probably the Lord had called the woman. I asked her if she would like me to go to her home and give her a Bible study. She was so glad when she heard that I would be willing to do this.

The same afternoon I visited her, and we studied on the second coming of Christ and also some of the signs of his coming. While we were studying, I saw her face gleaming with joy and thirst for the truth. I went to her the next day and gave her another study. After the study she related to me how the Lord had called her by means of a dream.

One night she dreamed that the Protestants were having a meeting just in front of their house. When she went to hear, she found on her way a number of big hogs. She said to herself, “What are these big hogs?” and she stopped. While she was looking at the hogs, she heard a voice which said, “Leave the hogs alone, and go on.” She walked on, and found a big, deep well at the end of the road. At the well, where a rope was hanging, there was a man who said to her, “If you do not hear the word of God, you will fall into this pit.” And again the voice said, “You must leave your wicked life, stop lying, and return to God.” When she heard the voice, she was afraid, and said to herself, “Did I tell a lie?” After meditating awhile, she found that she herself was a liar. She awoke, and asked the Lord to forgive her all her sins. She then decided to follow the Lord. While she was inquiring for the truth, a Protestant woman who was living with her asked her to go to her church; but she said, “I don’t want to, because I am seeking for the real truth.” And the Lord led her to the place for which she was looking.

She came on Sabbath morning to the hall where Elder Porter was speaking, although she had not known that our meetings were being held there. After the service her face beamed with joy as she related how the Lord had led her to the place of meeting where she heard the message for which her heart was longing. She entreated me to continue the studies with her, and said that she should like to be baptized.

I shall long remember that beaming face, as with intense interest this woman hung upon every word of that service. Her interest was an inspiration to the speaker, and at the close she related to me her experience as here given. R. C. PORTER.