a wee motherless bairn

Letter to Jesse Halsey, age 21, in Southampton
[from Mrs. Craven, wife of Rev. Walter Craven]

4 Perry St., Morristown, NJ
Oct. 25, 1903

My Dear Young Friend,
I have never lost interest in you since I saw you a wee motherless bairn trothing in & out the problem of your young sister's heart and life. How wonderfully God has cared for you & brought you to a true manhood.

Your strong desire for the ministry was very precious to me, & since then the inhibitions to your plans have greatly touched me. There is nothing more perplexing than those times in life when we come to a stand still saying "Lord what wilt thou have me to do?" & hear no answer.

That we are guided if we truly desire to be I am sure. But the Guidance is not always along the line of our plans & our desires. If God has called you to the ministry of the Gospel you will be a minister of the Gospel though no man lays hand of ordination on your head.

When we were in Southampton my Husband often longed for an assistant, a young man who could aid him in gleaning tho comes of the field. He used often to say if I could send & c-- But there was no one on whom he could depend for more than occasional work. God loves a tired & tested instrument.

He wants you to know your self as He knows you. A young man came to Mr. C one day to say, "I want to be a minister." Mr. C soon found he wanted the ministry as a Profession & God has little use for such men in the great harvest field of the world. So the question every man should answer is Why do I want to be a minister. My Husband answered that, "Because I want to win souls to X." His Father said "You will make a very good business man & a very poor preacher, here is a good business offer." Mr. C answered "I w'd rather live on $300 a year & preach X, win souls to Him, than gain the greatest fortune earth ever saw."

God gave him every whole souls for his hire. --

Do you want soul? Is the cry of your heart "Souls of men, why will ye scatter like a crowd of frightened sheep? Foolish hearts! Why will ye wander from a love so true & deep?" I never cross in a crowded ferry boat, but these lines come to me followed by a prayer for the multitudes over whom Jesus wept.

Souls are every where. There is great need in your own scattered places. North Sea, was a bit of our Parish we longed to do more for. Ask Lord to give you access to that neighborhood. Hold a prayer meeting there every week, add a S.S. we began with the S.S. Prepare carefully for that meeting. Make it a model meeting. Take some real gospel meat to them not so full or deep a dish that no one else will dare to speak. Take some congenial friend with you who can help with singing. Hold gospel meetings, ask for an out pouring of the Holy Spirit & expect it, & God can give you the first prints of your ministry then & there. The first revival Mr. C ever enjoyed was in meetings held when he was yet a young man in his Mother's house while he taught here in NJ between col. & sem. The fire of that little meeting spread, rooms, hall stairs were full. Later it spread out into the church & finally thru the town. That was between college and Sem. God tested & answered thru too worldly Father's injury. Father C was a X man, but he had great ambitions for his children.

Do not be afraid of God's testing times. See God not only as your loving Heavenly Father, your unerring Guide, but the Great Irresistible God -- Read Job. God's answer to Job. See that He has His place & work for you. Put your self absolutely in the Alter of His unchangeable love, to be Molded into His uses for your life. Do not say my plans have been thwarted because God does not want me in His ministry, rather say I will be His minister what ever comes in what ever way is open to my hand. I will begin to serve to the full of my power in the Gospel here & now. The need is so great for souls that turn for Christ. We knew & loved your dear Mother, & your Bro. Mr. C felt him to be his most helpful young man. So I need not apologize for writing you out of a very full heart of interest in you and in the Gospel.

If you feel like writing I shall be most happy to hear from you. Please give my love to your father & believe me very truly your friend.

Mrs. Walter C