Page 7 - Good News October 2019 paper

OKTOBER 2019 GOEIE NUUS/GOOD NEWS
he following story is a true
account, taken from an old,
Tout-of-print book called pick you up. But when you drunkard, and I've asked God to
"Touching Incidents And Remar-
kable Answers To Prayer" com-
piled by S.B. Shaw and published
in 1894.
We serve a truly faithful God! I
was a surgeon in the United
States Army during the Civil War.
After the Battle of Gettysburg,
there were hundreds of wounded
soldiers in my hospital. Many
were wounded so severely that a
leg or an arm, or sometimes both,
needed to be amputated.
One of these was a boy who had
only been in the service for three
months. Since he was too young
to be a soldier, he had enlisted as
a drummer boy. When my assis-
tants came to give him chloroform
before the amputation, he turned
his head and refused it. When
they told him that it was the
doctor's orders, he said, "Send
the doctor to me.”
I came to his bedside and said,
"Young man, why do you refuse
the chloroform? When I found you
on the battlefield, you were so far
gone that I almost didn't bother to
opened those large blue eyes, it
occurred to me that you had a
mother somewhere who might be
thinking of you at that very
moment. I didn't want you to die
on the field, so I had you brought
here. But you've lost so much
blood that you're just too weak to
live through an operation without
chloroform. You'd better let me
give you some."
He laid his hand on mine, looked
me in the face and said, "Doctor,
one Sunday afternoon, when I
was nine and a half years old, I
gave my heart to Christ. I learned
to trust Him then, and I've been
trusting Him ever since. I know I
can trust Him now. He is my
Strength. He will support me while
you amputate my arm and leg."
I asked him if he would at least let
me give him a little brandy. Again
he looked at me and said, "Doctor,
when I was about five years old,
my mother knelt by my side with
her arms around me and said:
'Charlie, I am praying to Jesus
TEL. (018) 293 1996 BLADSY 7
that you will never take even one offered me chloroform, but I told
drink of alcohol. Your father died a him I didn't want any. Then he
wanted to give me brandy, which I
use you to warn people against didn't want either. So now, if my
the dangers of drinking, and to Saviour calls me, I can go to Him
encourage them to love and serve in my right mind."
the Lord.'
"You might not die, Charlie," said
"I am now 17 years old, and I have the chaplain, "but if the Lord does
never had anything stronger than call you home, is there anything I
tea or coffee. There is a very good can do for you after you're gone?"
chance that I am about to die and
appear in the Presence of my God. "Chaplain, please reach under my
Would you send me there with pillow and take my little Bible. My
brandy on my breath?" I will never mother's address is inside.
forget the look that boy gave me. Please send it to her and write a
At that time I hated Jesus, but I letter for me. Tell her that since I
respected that boy's loyalty to his left home, I have never let a single
Saviour. And when I saw how he day pass - no matter if we were on
loved and trusted Him to the very the march on the battlefield, or in
end, something touched my heart the hospital - without reading a
deeply. I did for that boy what I had portion of God's Word, and daily
never done for any other soldier - I praying that He would bless her."
asked him if he wanted to see his
chaplain. "Is there anything else I can do for
you, my lad?" asked the chaplain.
Chaplain R. knew the boy well
from having seen him frequently "Yes - please write a letter to the
at the tent prayer meetings. Sunday School teacher of the
Taking his hand, he said, "Charlie, Sands Street Church in Brooklyn,
I'm really sorry to see you like New York. Tell him that I've never
this." "Oh, I'm all right, sir," forgotten his encouragement,
Continued on p. 8
Charlie answered. "The doctor Continued on p. 8