Here at
Mwanza in the |
On one
such occasion the crowd of believers was too big for a united meeting so my
wife took the women into the building, another missionary going with the young
folk to the shade of our orchard, while I went with the men to pray under the
shade of some great forest trees. After a time of quiet prayer in which one
after another led, the Holy Spirit swept over the meeting like a wind across
a field of wheat, the whole crowd started praying, while I kept a quiet eye
on them to be assured that there was no undue excitement or extravagance. |
I was
struck with the earnestness of a young man, Ziba, whose eyes were closed and
his lips moving rapidly. I tip-toed round to where he sat, and listened. He
must have been quite unaware of my presence. He was a simple village lad and
had certainly never had any opportunity to learn a European language, since
we speak and preach to them entirely in their own tongue. |
To my
surprise he was speaking in tongues and I could understand every word of it.
It was absolutely perfect and in my own language. He was speaking of Christ’s
return to earth to reign, and of the glories of His millennial kingdom. There
was neither unscriptural sentiment nor ungrammatical expression and not a
trace of foreign accent! What moved me deeply was that this miracle was
obviously for my own personal benefit alone. When Ziba resumed worship in his
own language, I moved quietly away, awed, and he does not know to this day
what happened during that worship meeting. |
|
W. F. P.
Burton |
|
From: W.
F. P. Burton, Signs following,
pages 35-36 |