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Keep Sweet! |
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A Memoir by the Late Dr. Roy Sheppard Minerd - Part 5 of 12 |
Last month: More of the orphans at the Northern Home in Philadelphia begin to realize that their unhappiness is due to their own poor attitudes. Their mentor, Roy S. Minerd, spends personal time with some of the more difficult boys, and leads them deeper into the teachings of the Bible. Soon, several of them agree to commit their lives to Christ.
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Simpkins |
Reports for the week's efforts and experiences were given by Gardner, Dawson, Simpkins and Schofield. They were interesting and instructive as well. Temptations had been sore and many, and not all had been conquered, but they were going at it harder than ever. Then we asked for short voluntary prayers, and without hesitancy those four boys opened their hearts in prayers that must have added new zest to the angels' songs.
One interesting report came from Dawson, who works in the Home laundry. During the week he wanted to do something which he knew he should not do. He fought it so hard that unconsciously he said aloud, "I wont! I won't!" and was not aware that he had spoken till someone asked him what he meant.
The boys asked for bibles as soon as we were thru with the talks and they were supplied and [a number of] references given them.
I must not forget a touching incident at the close of our talk. Kichline was very deeply affected and drawing me aside, said "Mr. M., do you ever go past W.--- Street?"
"Sometimes," I replied.
"Well, I wondered if you'd ever see my father there."
"Why?"
"Well, I wanted you to see if you can't get him to take Christ into his life, too."
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Kichline |
His lip quivered, the big tears poured down his cheeks and I confess to the appearance of a lump in my throat as I yielded to an uncontrollable desire and took the chap in my arms for a moment. I told him I would do anything I could, and that I thought the better plan would be for him to write his father and sort of pave the way, and then I would speak to him. We could have seen him but just at that time the children were not permitted to lave the Home on account of the epidemic of infantile paralysis then prevailing. Two weeks later he told me his father was coming up to see him, and was so happy over it that I hadn't the heart to tell him that he couldn't be admitted and Kichline could not see him.
Another incident was reported to me the next week. Several boys were flying kites, one of which caught on the roof of the girls' building. Permission to get it would have been granted by the superintendent had they asked, but they went after it without asking. Three were caught and sent to bed for the rest of the day. Going up some time later to see if they had obeyed, Miss S. the superintendent found five boys in bed, and every one of them reading his bible, which, under the circumstances, added a funny side to the whole affair. She asked how it happened that there were five, and one of the two spoke up, followed by the other, and said, "We were in it, too, but you didn't see us, and we ought to have the same punishment, oughtn't we?" They are on the right scent aren't they? I think that is worth a lot, don't you?
One evening we were sitting outside and Dawson came up with his bible and asked me to read with him from Luke 8. Soon we had a goodly number of interested boys and we read and talked till darkness drove us in.
Schofield wanted to talk to I., one of the runaways [discussed earlier] which he did later in the week with the following result. During the week a plumber working in the Home said to the caretaker "I think 'Jakie' (I's nickname) is the most peculiar fellow. He said to me this morning, 'I'm not going to swear nor lie nor steal any more because it isn't right. I'm going to be good,' and when I asked him what he meant he said, 'Schofield has been telling me about some things, and I'm going to be better'." Mrs. B. didn't know what to make of it till I told her of the Sunday night preceding.
One little fellow is sincere and earnest enough (Would that older people were as earnest!) but didn't quite understand as I saw when we were talking. He was at the infirmary and said to the nurse, "Mr. M. is making Christians of the boys over there! Yep, and I got done last Sunday!"
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Nelson Kent's signature, one of
15 slips |
That Sunday so many more asked about seeing me that it became necessary to limit them to small groups in order to fix more firmly the points I wanted to make. As some of the less seriously disposed boys wanted to be included just out of curiosity and for the sake of saying they had been in the group, I left it to the older more sincere boys to speak to the boys and find out why they wanted an interview and what their attitude was. Then they were given slips to sign, if they were sincere, and return to me with the initials of the personal worker appended.
The slips were returned to me and I made two groups for the following Sunday afternoon, adding one or two others myself. The first group included six and the second seven boys, and the entire afternoon was devoted to them. And Oh what an inspiration and help to one's self are such efforts! If they individual Christian, to the faintest degree, realized the joy and happiness that fills the soul of one who endeavors to tell the story of the Christ to others -- resulting from an honest effort to bring Christ into their lives -- our churches would be more numerous, would have no vacant pews, and our influence as individuals and as churches would be enhanced -- only God Himself can tell how many fold -- and our own lives would be filled with the joy that would be undefeated by any vicissitude or temptation.
[Note: the list of boys who signed a slip of paper asking to talk with the author on Sunday, Sept. 10, 1916 included Nelson Kent, William J. Weir, John Williams, Daniel McKinney, William Bernard, Isaac Birkhead, Albert C. Wenner, Clayton Schofield, Charles Saylor, William DeGuenther, Frank Keichline, William Diem, Joseph Langley, Calvin Adams, Murl Hockenberry.]
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Charles Saylor |
On an earlier page, I mentioned Charley Saylor. His older brother has spent the summer at Ocean City working in a hotel as bell boy. Of course he was not present at our meetings but, in our correspondence, the stand the boys had taken was mentioned and he was urged to take the step his younger brother had taken. In September he returned and, altho I saw him several times, had no chance to talk about it. After Sunday School on the 22nd of October Charley waited for some time for me. He and Dawson were together when I approached and asked them how things were going and if they were advancing. They both assured me that they were still fighting hard and were determined to keep at it, but were having their ups and downs. I referred them to Acts 20: 28-36, and Dawson left.
Charley lingered and finally said: "Won't you talk to Roy for me?"
"Have you said anything to him yourself," I asked.
"Yes, we have talked it over, and he is anxious to see you."
I assured him I'd see him at my earliest opportunity. How many younger brothers would venture to broach such a subject with "big brother" and how many boys would listen to such an advance by "kid brother"? But is it not the bidding of the Christ and the example set for us many times in the Old Book?
| 'These two chaps are motherless, fatherless, sisterless, --- no relatives in the wide world. They are absolutely alone, and their devotion to each other is touching...' |
I cannot forego mentioning here the fact that these two chaps are motherless, fatherless, sisterless,--- no relatives in the wide world. They are absolutely alone, and their devotion to each other is touching by shown in the foregoing incident.
And then, since not a great deal had been said directly to E.P., subsequent to his start several weeks previous, the jealousy in his temperament got the better of him and he decided that I was against him and did not care anything about him or his progress. He supposed when other groups were made up without him that he was being left out, and really made himself very miserable until Dawson, one of our old stand-bys, notice it and asked him the trouble. He had slipped up to the rear of the Chapel and was watching and listening when Dawson, who had gone downstairs, came up behind him and told him to go one up to where we were. Then it was that he exploded to Dawson, and Dawson tried to show him his mistake, and partially succeeded. Not being able to bring him in, however, Dawson slipped up to me and as we were dismissing the group, whispered, "A word with P. quick!"
Go to Part 6: Under the constant, loving but firm guidance of their mentor Roy S. Minerd, the lives of the orphan boys at Philadelphia's Northern Home change at deeper levels, and they begin to form the Personal Workers Band. Rules are written, governing the requirements for Band membership.
Copyright © 2001 Mark A. Miner