SHE wanted to follow her Saviour. She was willing to give up her all, which meant so much to her, that she might not lose Him; but we had no home, no shelter where she might be protected and cared for, so she had to remain in her house.
There followed a period of persecution. Her husband, who had long ago shaken off all responsibility of wife and children, having deserted her for a life of wickedness, on hearing that she wanted to become a Christian, immediately woke up to a sense of proprietorship, and came home to exercise his authority.
She lived in her husband's family out here in India, and the most violent of her persecutors was her mother-in-law, who incited all the members of the family against her. One of the first steps, naturally, was to order me to leave the house and never return. This order was gently but firmly waived, and the next week saw me back again, with fresh weapons of love, gentleness, and sympathy, to wage the battle. Then the husband was urged to remove her to a distant city; and we said a hasty but sorrowful good-by, with earnest promises, on both sides, of continual prayer to Jesus, who knows all.
I continued to visit the home after she left. The family became involved in great trouble, and I was able to render them assistance. The mother-in-law's heart was touched, and she begged me not to leave her. Week by week, the sweet gospel stories were presented to her, dwelling principally on the love and sacrifice of Jesus. Then she wanted something read to her from the Bible. Her nature seemed to soften, and she soon longed for her daughter-in-law to come back; but the husband became obdurate, and would not bring her.
Missionaries in Manila—L. V. Foster and Wife at the Right, W. E. Lanier and Wife at the Left
Then came the news that this dear girl was ill, so ill that life was despaired of. As I sat by the sorrow-stricken mother-in-law, her soul broke out in prayer: “O Jesus, Thou blessed Holy One, Thy birth is of light by the power of God, and we are but frail creatures of dust. In Thee is all power. Thou didst raise the dead, and give sight to the blind, and didst cleanse the leper. Thou who didst give Thy life for us on the cross, hear my prayer, restore my child to health again, bring her back to us in safety, that she may see the pictures of Thee again, and hear Thy holy word.”
Does not Paul's experience come to the mind? “He which persecuted us in times past” now prays.
