Rev. Dr. Paul Jinadu

Standing in the queue

Mr. Howells had written to Mr. Albert Head, who was chairman of the South Africa General Mission, and offered for the mission field. Shortly afterwards, he went on to London for a nine months’ course. On one occasion he only had a few days in which to get £20. There was another student, a Cambridge graduate, who had been saying openly that he had never prayed a prayer that had brought a direct, definite answer. So, Mr. Howells invited him to join in this prayer for £20. He had never heard of praying for money like that and expecting it to come. They were to pray for two hours one afternoon, each in his own room. The young man was exhausted at the end of it. He said the two hours were like two months! Mr. Howells did not pray through in the afternoon, so suggested that they should go back for a further two hours in the evening. “What!” exclaimed his friend, “four months’ hard labour for £20! “However, he agreed to try again. Before the end of this second period of prayer, Mr. Howells went to his room, and said, “You don’t need to pray any more, I am through.” “Have you got the money?” he said. “No, but I have got the faith, and the money will come.” Two days later Mr. Howells received two £10 notes. He went to his friend’s room and held them up for him to see!

About a week before they sailed for the mission field, money for their fares to London still hadn’t come. “We had to walk to the station without the money! We felt sure that it would come on the station platform, but no. The time came for the train to leave. We still had ten shillings, and we must go as far as we could with it. We had to change trains at Llanelly station, about twenty miles from our home, and wait there a couple of hours. So without letting anyone know, we only booked as far as that. There were many people at our home station wishing us all the good things, but what we needed was money to go to London! Many also came as far as LIanelly, singing all the way.

Now the time for the train had come. The Spirit then spoke to me and said, ‘If you had money what would you do?’ ‘Take my place in the queue at the booking office,’ I said. You had better take your place in the queue.’ So there was nothing I could do except obey. There were about a dozen people before me. There they were passing by the booking office one by one. The devil kept on telling me, ‘Now you have only a few people in front of you, and when your turn comes, you will have to walk through. When there were only two before me, a man stepped out of the crowd and said, ‘I’m sorry I can’t wait any longer, but I must open my shop.’ He said good-bye and put thirty shillings in my hand! It was most glorious. After I had the tickets, the people who came with us to the train began to give gifts to us, but the Lord had held them back until we had been tested. We were singing all the way to London!”

On their arrival, Mr. Head asked them to breakfast the next morning. He then told them that he had £50 for them, but he didn’t post it. “Thank God, you didn’t,” said Mr. Howells, adding to himself, “I wouldn’t have been without the test in the queue for anything.”

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