Winnie’s father was dead, and her mother went out as often as she could find work, so Winnie was left alone much of the time. The poor little white-faced girl scarcely ever saw the sun, and never a flower, nor a green field. Her mother had been brought up in the country, and often longed for a breath of the pure air of her native town, but this was not for the time possible, she toiled on early and late to earn bread for herself and her child.
Great and needy as the city is, there are many in it who love the Lord and His great salvation, who seek as much as is in them is, to relieve the poor and the needy, and to bring the “Old, old story of Jesus and His love” to those for whose souls no man cares. It was through the efforts of a band of Christian workers, mostly working men and women, who spread the Gospel in a little hall not far from the widow’s humble home, that Winnie was first sought out and brought under the sound of God’s wondrous message, which has a power in it, all its own, to will the heart and change the life of young and old.
On a dreary Sunday afternoon, when the weary child was sitting near the one window of the attic in which they lived, looking out into the wilderness of smong chimneys, which was their only ouook, she heard down in the alley far below, the sound of singing. There were sounds and cries enough of one kind and another there every day, but this was something new. Pulling up the window, the mother peeped out, and saw a circle of singers right below. They were singing hymns, and at the pleading voice of the child, to whom such a sight was a seven day’s wonder, the weary mother threw her faded shawl round her shoulders, and taking Winnie in her arms, hastened down the rickety stair to the door. The singing continued amid noisome surroundings for ten minutes, then a young man told how they had come out to “sing the song of redeeming love,” and invite all the children to their little hall, where a short service for children was held every Sunday afternoon, and for adults in the evening—mothers and their little ones being specially welcome.
Winnie was too young to go alone, so her mother promised to take her to the evening meeting. it was a great day in the little child’s history, and. one she will never forget while her memory lasts. In that little hall, she first heard the Saviour’s Name, and was taught the wondrous truth, that God loves sinners,
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosver believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16), and that Christ died to save them.
For three full months, Winnie attended that Children’s Meeting.
In the sunny summer they were taken for a day in the country by their kind teachers, and Winnie’s mother was there also. It was the happiest day she had spent, since as a young bride she left her home, but there was something better still to come. Winnie was saved, and confessed the Lord Jesus as her Saviour (Rom. 10:99That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9)). Three weeks later, later weary, burdened mother “came as she was” to the One who says,
“Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:2828Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)), and great peace filled her heart.
There was many a happy, busy day in the attic then, and both worked with new energy, for the love of Jesus made them glad. Winnie and her mother live happily, and follow the Lord, who saved them.
ML 03/22/1942