ON ONE of his trips Gypsy Hawkins, the evangelist, stopped at Naples, Italy, and while there he spoke to the men at the Sailors’ Rest. There he had the joy of pointing a young English sailor to Christ.
The crew on this sailor boy’s ship were a drinking, gambling, godless crowd and he was nearly as bad as they were. One night he was on watch on deck when he saw immediately above his head a star of unusual brightness. It seemed to him like the very eye of God searching his heart and he was brought under deep conviction of sin. There was no Christian on board in whom he could confide, but when his ship arrived at Naples he went with all speed to the Sailors’ Rest, knowing that there he could get spiritual help for his poor sin-burdened soul. It happened that Gypsy Hawkins was there at the time and it was not hard for the evangelist to point a young fellow in that condition to the Saviour. That night the young sailor found Christ and was brightly saved.
Afterward the Gypsy said to him: “Your case is rather unusual and there must be something to account for it. How about the rest of your family? Are any of them Christians?”
“They are all Christians,” returned the young fellow. “They have been praying for my conversion and speaking to me about Christ for years. I ran away from home to avoid them.”
There on a foreign strand the earnest prayers of years were answered, and the prodigal returned to his home a new creature in Christ Jesus.
“And the son said... Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
“But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
“And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
“For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.”
Luke 15:21-2421And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. 22But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: 23And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: 24For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. (Luke 15:21‑24).
ML-04/22/1973