It was a bright August day and a 1 group of us little children were playing along the seashore. We were on vacation at the time and every day we would go swimming or gathering shells along the sandy beach. However, we were warned not to go out on the rocks as the in-coming tide made them very dangerous.
Besides my brother and sister and myself, there was a dear girl named Anita, who was staying with her parents at a nearby farm, who came along to play with us as she had no brothers or sisters of her own. We spent many happy days together on the shore, and Anita and I were very great friends. She was the first one I ever heard say that she had no fear of death, and when I asked her how it was she told me, “Because Jesus died instead of me and took all the sting away.” I often asked Anita to tell me about these things, for I had never heard about them at home.
One afternoon we were down on the seashore playing, and unknowingly we wandered out on to a rocky point that jutted out into the sea. Before we knew it we were surrounded by the tide. There was no one near to whom we could cry for help, so we had to scramble up on the rocks and wait for someone to rescue us. I was terribly frightened and said to Anita, “What if we are drowned?”
“Then I will be with Jesus in heaven,” she quickly answered.
“Tell me how you are so sure, Anita?” I said, for the thought of being left there to perish was uppermost in my mind.
“Just because I have given myself to Jesus, and He has received me as His own. I came to Him as a sinner, and He says in His word, ‘Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out.’ I had heard of His love and His willingness to save me at one of Mr. Hunt’s gospel meetings, and ever since I came to Him I have had no fear of death, because I know He will take me to be with Him in heaven.” Then Anita prayed, asking God to send someone to rescue us, and to let Charlie and me know how “to come to Jesus and be saved.”
Anita’s prayer was fully answered, for her father and an old fisherman appeared looking for us, and rescued us from being drowned. Soon after, my brother and I were brought to Jesus, to trust Him as our own Saviour. Anita and I were always the best of friends, and we had many happy times together seeking to serve the Lord Jesus, in leading others to Him. Anita is now in heaven with Him she loved, and I live far from the sea. But I am happy, oh so happy in the knowledge of Christ Jesus as my Saviour, with heaven awaiting me, of seeing Him up there, and meeting again dear Anita and many loved ones who have gone to the land where partings are unknown.
My message to all you dear boys and girls who read my story is this: Come to Jesus now, receive Him as your Saviour, then go on following Him and learning of Him in the days of your youth.
Beyond this life of hopes and fears,
Beyond this world of grief and tears,
There is a region fair.
It knows no change and no decay,
No night but one unending day,
Oh say, will you be there?
ML 09/19/1965