The Apostle of Simple Faith - Samuel Morris

The Angel in Ebony

“The Apostle of Simple Faith.” This was the title later ascribed to Samuel Morris, a young man whose life was filled with the presence of God. His life inspired many people during his day to seek a closer walk with God, and till today continues to be an example of intimate fellowship with God. As he stood up to share the Word of God, many would fall to their knees in repentance, stricken with conviction. This African prince had come to America to learn more about the Holy Spirit, but in the end, this student modeled for America what a Spirit-filled life truly is.

Samuel Morris, or Kaboo, as he was named by his parents, was born in the Ivory Coast in 1872. Tribal wars were commonplace, and Samuel was the oldest son of the local tribe chief, which placed his life in great jeopardy—for a chief’s eldest son would be given to an enemy tribe if they lost a war. Samuel had been handed over several times, delivered to a victorious chief until his father brought the ransom demanded.

When Samuel was fifteen, he was delivered to an infamously savage tribe. His father tried to free his son, but nothing could satisfy this enemy chief. Samuel was tortured daily, often losing consciousness. His captors decided upon his final torture: to bury their victim alive up to his neck and then allow flesh-eating ants to consume his head. Before their plan could be executed, the Lord entered Samuel’s story in dramatic fashion. Suddenly a bright light shone and a Voice commanded Samuel to flee. His body was miraculously strengthened and he ran for his life. This visitation would be the beginning of Samuel’s incredible experiences with his heavenly Father.

The Lord guided him through the jungles and protected him from animals and cannibals until he found a plantation near Monrovia, Liberia. This was a Christian settlement where Samuel would live, work, and attend church. One day he heard the story of Paul’s Damascus road encounter and recognized that same wonderful Light that had appeared to him and set him free. Samuel’s sincere conversations with his heavenly Father, at times throughout the night, blossomed into the prayer life that would later inspire American Christians.

One night he had a beautiful encounter with the Lord. “All at once my room grew bright. At first I thought the sun was rising, but others were sound asleep. The room became brighter, until it was filled with glory. The burden of my heart suddenly disappeared, and I was filled with a sense of inner joy. My body felt as light as a feather. I was filled with a power that made me feel like I could almost fly. I could not contain my joy, but shouted till everyone in the barracks was awakened. I knew then that my Father had saved me for a purpose and that He would work with me.”

“Kaboo” was then buried in waters of baptism and given the name Samuel Morris; he continued working, learning English and studying in Liberia for two more years. His life, now transformed by the Holy Spirit, began to influence others. Another escapee from the Ivory Coast tribes joined them in Liberia and to Samuel’s surprise, he learned that this boy was there when that light had appeared to him, and he also had heard the Voice that commanded Samuel to flee! Samuel excitedly shared God’s love with him, and this boy was saved, baptized, and given the name Henry O’Neil.

One day someone read John 14 to Samuel and the promise of the Holy Spirit captivated his heart. He questioned every missionary he knew about this promise, wanting to learn more, yet found himself still searching. Finally, one missionary said that he learned everything he knew from a man named Stephen Merritt, who lived in New York City. Hearing this, Samuel’s mind was made up: he must travel to New York and learn about the Holy Spirit from Mr. Merritt.

He immediately went to the docks and approached a captain of a ship and said, “My Father in heaven told me you would take me to New York.” The captain dismissed the boy thinking he was crazy but Samuel would not let up his efforts. Finally when some of his crew deserted, the captain decided to take Samuel on as a helping hand and his impact was felt right away. Samuel saw a young man who could not walk because of an injury and prayed for him—he was immediately healed!

The ship was full of ungodly men and one that particularly hated Samuel. One day during a brawl, Samuel interrupted with God’s presence. He began to pray and the Holy Spirit convicted all aboard. Life aboard the ship changed: prayer meetings replaced drunkenness! The man who hated Samuel was healed when Samuel prayed for him. When they arrived in New York, some of the crew wept at Samuel’s departing. They gave him proper clothes; he gave them different lives. Years later the captain of the ship testified of Samuel’s lasting influence on his sailors.

This total stranger in this large city simply asked people on the street for Stephen Merrit: by a miracle he was guided to the man. Merritt was too busy to talk to a young African boy and left him at the mission office while he attended to his duties. Merritt returned to the shock of his life: Samuel had shared the Word of God to the men there and seventeen of them were on their knees crying out to God. Heaven’s radiance shone from his face.

The next day there was a funeral, and Merritt took Samuel along. During the coach ride Merritt was pointing out all the attractions of New York City but Samuel wasn’t interested. Samuel asked Merritt if he ever prayed in the coach and Merritt had to admit that he hadn’t. Immediately they stopped the coach and Samuel began to pray: “Father, I wanted to see Stephen Merritt, so I could talk to him about the Holy Ghost. He shows me the harbor, the churches, the banks and other large buildings, but says nothing to me about this Spirit I want to know more about. Fill him with Thyself, so that he will not think, talk, write or preach about anything else.” During that prayer, Merritt felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in a way that he had never felt before. From that day onwards his life was changed. At the funeral the power of the Holy Spirit moved in such a tremendous way that many knelt at the casket in repentance.

Because of Samuel’s desire to know more about the Lord, Merritt enrolled him in Taylor University in Indiana. Upon arrival at the university, he was asked to choose a room. He replied, “If there is a room nobody else wants, give it to me.” This answer profoundly impacted the president of the university. Samuel’s gentle and humble spirit pervaded the university campus and the presence of God was felt as never before.

On his first Sunday he found a church to attend. Arriving late, he approached the pastor and said that he had a message for the congregation. Because of the glory of heaven on Samuel’s face the pastor could not resist. In response to the message and the divine presence of God, the entire congregation went to their knees and many were weeping and repenting of their sins. There were more meetings like this and newspapers spread the story. People from all over the country came to see this revival and were touched and changed by the presence of God.

During the winter, Samuel fell sick. The Lord showed him that his mission on earth had been accomplished and Samuel accepted this with joy. He went to be with his Father in May, 1893, at the tender age of 20. Yet his impact continued after his death as many took up Samuel’s burden and became missionaries to Africa. Those that had come in contact with Samuel were changed by the presence of God that radiated through him. He came to America to learn about the Holy Spirit and how to bring the gospel back to Africa. Instead, his prayers became the lectures to teach a Spirit-filled life to America, and his life planted on US soil brought a harvest of workers for Africa. ❏

Related Links

1. http://www.taylor.edu/about/morris/

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Kaboo_Morris

The Man Who Made History

John Wesley 1703-1791 

(Prayer Makes History)

On March 9, 1791, when John Wesley was carried to his grave, he left behind him a good library of books, a well-worn clergyman's gown, and a much-abused reputation. But also, an England moved to the very depths and a Church thrilled through and through with an awakened spiritual life. John Wesley was a man who truly possessed both apostolic vision and gifts, but most importantly, he was a man who lived in view of eternity. "Consumed by the thought of the shortness of time, the great work to be done, and the need for haste in doing it, on he marched, preaching, pleading, warning and guiding . . ."

John Wesley was a man mighty in faith and prayer. Time and again, people possessed with devils were brought to him and in answer to prayer, the demons were cast out. Not only were evil spirits cast out, but the sick were healed as well. As Wesley preached, the power of God often came upon his listeners, and hundreds would fall under the power of the Spirit. Then, in answer, to prayer their souls and bodies were healed. A physician became offended at the cries of many who fell under the power of God. He attended Wesley's meeting and a woman he knew fell under the power. "Great drops of sweat ran down her face, and all her bones shook. But when both her soul and body were healed in a moment he acknowledged the finger of God."

On another occasion when Wesley was traveling the preaching circuit, his horse suddenly became lame. With no one near to offer help, he stopped and prayed. "Immediately the horse's lameness was gone."

Wesley was a constant traveler. In his Oxford days, he often walked twenty-five miles a day. He also discovered he could read as he walked for up to ten or twelve miles at a time without discomfort. One year he walked 1050 miles to preach in the churches around Oxford. In all it is estimated he traveled 226,000 miles in his ministry and preached 46,000 times.

Wesley pleaded with men to repent and by faith make peace with God or suffer in an everlasting hell. People who had entertained false hopes of salvation had their masks torn away by his plain preaching. Wesley believed that those who failed to warn the sinner and backslider themselves stood under the judgment of Christ. He was determined to declare the whole counsel of God, offering the love of God in Christ and giving warning of the dreadful consequences of rejecting the gospel. Wesley wrote, "Before I can preach love and grace, I must preach sin, law and judgment."

John Wesley, as well as the other early Methodist preachers, was both a bold advocate and a living example of sanctification. Wesley preached with unceasing zeal that complete holiness was the primary fruit of a vibrant faith in Christ. Counseling another minister, Wesley wrote, “ . . .till you press believers to expect full salvation from sin, you must not look for any revival."

If John Wesley were to make an anonymous visit to the Methodists of today, it is doubtful whether many of its churches would welcome him. They would most likely resent his fervent zeal and enthusiasm. When he was eighty-three he made a note that he was regretful that he could not write more than fifteen hours a day without hurting his eyes. Wesley faithfully preached almost up to the very day he died. Truly, his vigor and zeal in old age were the reward of his faithful stewardship of time. He seemed to consider every thought, word and deed in light of eternity.

"Amid all his arduous labors, his innumerable engagements, his coming and going, Wesley lived a hidden life of intimacy with God. When worn out with overwork he often found new strength in answer to prayer." It was Wesley’s strict habit to daily spend one hour in prayer in the morning, and then another hour in the evening. John Wesley shook the world by his preaching because he first shook heaven and hell with his praying. His preaching had a sense of eternal urgency because he had touched eternity on his knees.

It was March 2, 1791, and John Wesley was 88 years of age. The day before his funeral, his body was laid in City Road Chapel. People insisted that a heavenly smile lingered on his face. Some ten thousand people came to the chapel to see him. His tomb reads, “This great light arose (by the singular providence of God) to enlighten these nations. Reader, if thou art constrained to bless the instrument, give God the glory”.

Related Links

1. http://www.brycchancarey.com/abolition/wesley.htm

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wesley

3. http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/john-wesley-88.php

4. http://www.ccel.org/w/wesley/

5. http://www.tlogical.net/biojwesley.htm

The Daring Young Man of Destiny

Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg, an apostle in India, accomplished great things for God in a short time!

Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg, the great missionary of South India, was born in Saxony in 1682. He studied at the University of Balle, then the center for the Pietistic movement in the Lutheran Church. He responded to an appeal from the King of Denmark for missionaries, and in September 1706, he and Heinrich Plueshau arrived in Tranguebar (anglicized form of Tharangambadi in Tamil language), a very small Danish colony on the east coast, close to Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu, on the southeast coast of India, as the first Protestant missionaries in that country.

Ziegenbalg began his life in Tranquebar first with the help of interpreters and translators. However, he was determined to learn the local language Tamil, and mastered it in such a way that he would be able to use it for the translation of the Bible and to communicate with the natives in their own language. He and Heinrich persevered in their efforts.

They began preaching and baptized their first converts about ten months later. Their work was opposed both by militant Hindus and by the local Danish authorities. In 1707/08, Ziegenbalg spent four months in prison on a charge that by converting the natives, he was encouraging rebellion.

More than the opposition, he had to cope with the climatic conditions in India. Ziegenbalg wrote: “My skin was like a red cloth. The heat here is very great, especially during April, May and June, in which season the wind blows from the inland so strongly that it seems as if the heat comes straight out of the oven”.

Ziegenbalg began to learn write Tamil letters immediately after his arrival. The missionaries invited the local Tamil Pandit (teacher) to come and stay with them and to run his school from their house. Ziegenbalg would sit with the young children in this school on the floor and practice writing the letters in the sand, a very traditional practice that was in vogue even in early 1650s in Tamil Nadu villages.

Following was an account of his hard work to master the Malabar (Tamil) language:

From 7 to 8 a.m, he would repeat the vocabularies and phrases that he had previously learnt and written down. From 8 a.m. to 12 noon, he would read only Malabar language books which he had not previously read. He did this in the presence of an old poet and a writer who immediately wrote down all new words and expressions. The poet had to explain the text and in the case of linguistically complicated poetry, the poet put what had been read into colloquial language. At first, Ziegenbalg had also used the translator, namely, Aleppa, whom he later gave to one of his colleagues. Even while eating, he had someone read to him. From 3 to 5 p.m., he would read some more Tamil books. In the evening from 7 to 8 p.m, someone would read to him from Tamil literature in order to avoid strain on his eyes. He preferred authors whose style he could imitate in his own speaking and writing.

He soon set up a printing press, and published studies of the Tamil language and of Indian religion and culture. His translation of the New Testament into Tamil in 1715, and the church building that he and his associates constructed in 1718, are still in use today. 

He married in 1716, and about that time, a new and friendly governor arrived, and he was able to establish a seminary for the training of native clergy. He died on 23 February 1719 at the age of 37 when he left a Tamil translation of the New Testament and of Genesis through Ruth, many brief writings in Tamil, two church buildings, the seminary, and 250 baptized Christians. Ziegenbalg accomplished great things for God in the prime of his youth and that too, in an alien country, despite the inclement climatic conditions and the hostile attitude of the local people to the preaching of the gospel.

(Courtesy: Friends Focus – Sept.2003)

Related Links 

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartholomäus_Ziegenbalg#External_links

2. http://www.gltc.edu/tercentenary/ziegenbalg.htm

3. http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/107.html