October 18th 1914.
I take advantage of this Sunday to be in peaceful thought with you. My health is excellent; I do not really suffer from anything, thanks be to our God and Father. I must tell you that, if I have painful moments sometimes, I have, on the other hand, others when truly, in the presence of the Lord, I feel happy, encouraged, in perfect peace, rejoicing in the love of God and the inestimable happiness of having Jesus for my all, my Shepherd and my Guide. Yesterday evening, in particular, I was with a comrade, Avigé, a sincere Christian, and with another who is not opposed to Christianity. We were talking in the evening of Jesus, and His love, and we were really strengthened and encouraged, while studying the precious Word of God and singing together such hymns as this, “I rest on Thee, O Jesus my Saviour.” That night, before going to sleep in the arms of our dear Saviour, I was able to thank God, with my comrades, for all His mercies and His ineffable love. We felt, in our trenches, that we were face to face with Jesus, under His gentle eyes, with the heavens for a covering.
And really, if it is the Lord’s will that I should return, I shall never forget the blessed moments spent under the eye of my God and Father, considering the work of His hands, on a moonlight night, when all speaks of wisdom and the power of God the Creator; and that makes us see our littleness, our helplessness, and our wretchedness.
How full my heart is of gratitude to Him who has so loved us; and He has been despised by us, above all by me. We have sinned, we deserve to be hated, but “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” What grace! From the child of wrath that I was, He has made me a child of God! Oh to Him be the glory! You see I am not complaining much; quite the contrary. Do not be anxious, but do as I do put all into the hands of the Lord Jesus, who Himself takes care of us.
I am going to tell you of a deed which will show you what my comrade Avigé is. One morning, after a night attack on a farm, one of our comrades fell, mortally wounded by a bullet, on a road swept by the shots of the Germans: He asked those who passed him for a drink, and nobody dared take him a drop of water. I was fifty meters away from him, asking the Lord for courage to go to him, when I saw a man detach himself from the others, and take a drink to the dying man. He even stayed with him a moment. (Afterward I heard that it was Avigé, and that he had spoken to him about his soul.) I took courage, feeling myself impelled by the Spirit of God. I could not resist it. I implored His mercy, and ran to the poor fellow, who was calling to us, “Good-bye, comrades.” I reached him at the moment he lost consciousness, but God gave him back his senses, and he asked me who I was. His eyes were already glazing, When I had told him my name, he asked me to kiss him, and I took advantage of the opportunity to speak to him of the love of Christ, of our sinful condition, and of the sacrifice which Jesus accomplished for us on the cross. He understood me very well, and by a motion of his head he showed me that he had understood. Then I knelt down, and there, among the bullets, I was enabled to pray aloud for the soul of this poor comrade who was going to meet God.
When I had finished, he asked me to kiss him again, and he yielded his soul to God hi peace, I think, for he had no pain, nor any terror, and his last word was, “Thanks.” God knows all things, and I do not doubt that, in His grace, He blessed my prayer and gathered into His bosom one of His wandering sheep.
You see that Jesus is with me, and that I have nothing to fear. And now, I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, who can still build us up and give us a heritage with all the saints. Greet the whole assembly for me, and let us always bless Him who liveth forever and ever.
A.R., Caporal au 44 d’Infanterie.
We learn that A.R., the writer of this letter, has been kept through a thousand dangers. Once his rifle was broken in two on his back by the bursting of a shell. Before leaving for the Front he showed his indifference to religion by not even troubling to take his Bible with him — his thoughts were different. The profound change which took place in the heart of this young man of twenty-two is the work of Him who stopped Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus.
La Bonne Nouvelle.