A SIERRA LEONE CHIEF, HIS WIFE, AND THREE PRISONERS WITH CHAINS AROUND THEIR NECKS, FASTENED WITH PADLOCKS
His Victory over Tobacco
By Miss V. Sutherland
MISS V. SUTHERLAND
NOT long ago, there came to our Kafir mission school at Maranatha a young man who had been a great smoker. He frequently asked to be excused from the schoolroom, and I soon learned that he went into a little grove near for a smoke. I finally told him I knew why he so often left the schoolroom — that it was for the purpose of smoking. Fixing his piercing eyes on me, he said, "How do you know?"
One day, I asked him to remain after school. I had a good Christian talk with him about the way he was doing. He said tobacco had gained a strong hold upon him, and he wished that he could overcome it. I pointed him to the power that would give him the victory. I told him he would either have to give up tobacco or give up school and leave the mission, and I would give him time to decide which it should be.
After a while, he went to his room, and soon returned with a handmade bag containing about two pounds of tobacco. He was trembling when he gave it to me; and with a deep, troubled sigh, he said: "O teacher, you must please pray for me; for it is so hard for me to give up my tobacco! I have been a smoker since I was a little boy of seven, and I am a perfect slave to this weed." Then we had prayer together, and he poured out his soul to the Lord. "O Lord," he said, "as much as I love this tobacco, help me to hate it!"
He has never touched the filthy weed since, not even after returning to his home. God gave him strength to overcome, and he is enjoying a sweet Christian experience.
