THE LEPERS’ FAST-DAY

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jul 31, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 31.

THE LEPERS’ FAST-DAY.

A STRIKING story is given in the Chronicle of the London Society of what some lepers at the Almora Asylum have done in aid of the famine sufferers in Western India. It seems that an English lady had visited these lepers, and was much touched by the sight of their sufferings, and the cheerfulness with which they bore them. The next day she sent to each inmate a small gift of two pice, which would amount to less than one cent each. It occurred to one of the lepers that they might give this to the famine-stricken, but it was finally agreed they ought to accept the gift from the lady, since it was given to them personally; yet they decided they must make a gift of their own to help the starving. So they resolved to give one day’s food. Most of the ninety-six lepers fell into the plan at once, and the others joined later, so that every inmate had a share. They appointed a fast-day on a Tuesday, and met in the chapel, and said that all wanted to join and give the result of a day’s fasting and prayer. “It is no hardship for us, but a joy and a privilege.” On Tuesday morning, instead of a crowd around the store-room to receive their daily allowance, they were all gathered in the chapel, thanking God for His love and His goodness to them, and praying that He would bless the starving orphans and the dying parents in the famine districts. “So we prayed,” writes the missionary, “and God gave us a blessing in praying. Our hearts were very full—full of sympathy, full with the divine presence.”—The Missionary Herald.