The Moravians and the Pirate by W. A. S.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 2, 1909

The Moravians and the Pirate

By W. A. S.

Prayer a Defense and a Weapon

A PARTY of Moravian missionaries was sailing toward St. Thomas, in the West Indies, by the ship “Britannia.” In those days the southern seas were infested with pirates. One day a pirate ship bore down upon the “Britannia.” Though poorly equipped for defense, all hands were called to prepare to resist. The Moravian missionaries, however, having no thought of bearing arms against an enemy, retired to the cabin and sought God to intervene to spare human life and to enable them to carry the gospel message to a dark and waiting land. The Moravian records show how God did interpose not only to deliver, but to bear such witness to at least one wicked man that it led to reformation of life:— The pirate ship approached till it came within gunshot of the “Britannia,” and then from the cannon ranged along its deck, began to pour out a heavy fire. They also got ready their grappling-irons, evidently intending to come on board to do their work of destruction. The moment the pirates threw their grappling-irons across toward the “Britannia,” their own ship was tossed violently by the waves, and the men who held the ropes were thrown headlong into the sea. Vexed with this disaster, the pirate captain sent others, who shared the same fate. Seeing he could not succeed in this manner, he fired his guns, but, strange to say, the balls missed the “Britannia” and fell harmlessly into the sea. The smoke of the frequent discharges was very dense, and hung about the vessels for some minutes, hiding them from each other’s view. At last a sudden gust of wind cleared it away, and, to the amazement of the pirate captain, the “Britannia” was seen at a distance, with all her sails set, and speeding swiftly away from the attack! The pirates gave up the chase as hopeless, feeling perfectly confounded with their want of success. The missionaries regarded this deliverance as a direct answer to prayer, but the sequel was even more remarkable than the incident itself.

Five years afterward, during which the missionaries had been faithfully preaching the gospel in St. Thomas, they and the other brethren on the island were assembled together to celebrate the anniversary of their escape from the pirates. As they sat together, word was brought that a stranger wished to speak to them, and, at their permission, a tall man entered, with fine, bold features and a pleasant expression of face. He inquired if they were the missionaries who came to the island in the “Britannia” five years before.

“We are,” replied the brother whom he more particularly addressed.

“And you were attacked upon the sea by pirates?” “Exactly; but why are these questions proposed?”

“Because,” answered the stranger, “I am the captain who commanded the pirate ship which attacked you, and the miraculous way in which your vessel escaped was the cause of my own salvation from the power of sin through faith in Christ.”

The stranger then proceeded to relate how, on making inquiry, he was led to the conclusion that it was through the prayers of the missionaries that the “Britannia” escaped, and was consequently induced to attend a place of worship, where he was converted from the error of his ways.

“And thus,” said he, in conclusion, “from a pirate captain I am become a poor sinner, justified by the grace and mercy of Christ, and my hope has been that I might some day be able to find you, and relate to you my miraculous conversion. This joy is granted to me to-day.”

Skeptics are inclined to scoff at such accounts, but those early Moravian missionaries, unemotional and grave, and simple in their lives, which they readily risked without thought of danger or of praise, were not the men to make up stories of missionary adventure.

W. A. S.