"Jim, Jim― oh, Jim! Where have you been? Father and I have been up all night waiting for you.”
Jim, pale and trembling with emotion, had just stepped inside the door of the small home in a suburb of Detroit. It was 5 a.m.
"Mother, I've got to leave home! I got drunk again last night; and I― I― did― something― terrible. If it is found out, it will go hard with me. And, Mother, I've got to leave and not even let you and Father know where I am.”
Mrs. Ackers, the mother, was weeping and in great agitation. When she could control herself, she said, "Why, oh, why, did you ever start in with that terrible drinking? We tried to bring you up right, but, Jim―" and she could say no more for a few moments. "Oh, how I wish you had never started in with that drinking crowd.”
"There, Mother, now don't worry about me; I'm no good anyhow. It's not your fault. But I must go at once.”
"But, Jim, can't you wait till Father gets back? He went down to the police station to inquire if they had seen you or heard about you.”
Jim's face got even paler. "How long has Father been gone?”
"About forty-five minutes, I guess.”
"I'll have to go, at once. Good-bye, Mother dear. Perhaps I'll see you again." And he was off.
"Do leave that drink alone, and start reading―" but Jim was already out of sight, and so she didn't finish the sentence.
Months passed. Not a word came from Jim. Every morning and every evening both mother and father knelt in prayer, pleading earnestly for their Jim. Months grew into years, and still no word from Jim.
"I heard this morning that Sam Hadley, of New York, is to speak at a noon meeting downtown today, Mary; I'd kinda like to hear him," said Jim's father one day to his wife.
"I would too; I've heard so much about him. Let's go.”
Sam Hadley, converted drunkard and mission worker, told what Christ had done for him. And Sam Hadley had a truly wonderful testimony. "You've often heard testimonies of folks telling how they found the Lord. I can't tell anything like that," said Sam. "I never found Him. I was not looking for Him. He just `sought me when I was a stranger, wandering from the fold of God; rescued me from danger, interposed His precious blood.'" Hearts were touched and souls were saved.
After the meeting Mr. and Mrs. Ackers, Jim's parents, walked up to speak with Mr. Hadley.
"May we talk with you for about five minutes?" asked Jim's father.
"Awful sorry, but I'm not well; can we make it later?”
The mother saw a ray of hope, a possibility of interesting someone in her son, and she said, "Yes, we will see you a little later, after you rest." This meeting with Mr. Hadley was then arranged.
When they met, Mr. and Mrs. Ackers told Sam the story of their wayward boy. "God saved you from drink, and He can save our boy. Mr. Hadley, won't you pray for him?" asked Mrs. Ackers.
"Indeed I will," was the emphatic answer.
"You may run across him when you go to the coast; he's out there somewhere. I got a letter from an old friend of mine not long ago, and he told me he was sure he saw Jim in San Francisco. Mother and I have prayed for years for him. Let's be definite, Mr. Hadley, and pray unitedly for him every morning at 9:00 o'clock, Detroit time.”
Mr. Hadley was deeply moved by the love and earnestness of the parents. "Yes, I will, God willing, pray with you every morning at that hour.”
When Mr. Hadley reached the coast, Dr. Wilbur Chapman was holding a great evangelistic meeting in Oakland. One night he saw Sam Hadley sitting in the audience. The idea occurred to Dr. Chapman to hold a midnight meeting that night with Sam Hadley as speaker. The meeting was to be held in one of the largest public buildings in the city, with the hope of reaching with the gospel the class of people who had gone down deep in sin.
When the hour arrived, every seat in the great hall was taken. Dr. Chapman got up to make the announcement. Just then a man came onto the platform from the rear; he stood to one side, behind one of the wings. Evidently he had difficulty hearing, for he tried to make his way up closer to the speaker, without being noticed.
When Mr. Hadley began to speak, Dr. Chapman, now seated, saw the man trying to hear. So he stepped over to him, and asked him to take the seat― the only one vacant in the house― that Sam Hadley, the speaker, had just got up from. The young man sat down.
Sam spoke in the power of the Spirit that night, and the saving grace of God was magnified. When the sermon was over, Dr. Chapman rose to address the crowd for a few minutes. Sam Hadley took the seat left by Dr. Chapman. He edged his chair over to where the young man was, stuck out his hand, "My name is Sam Hadley.”
"I'm Jim Ackers," was the simple response.
"Jim Ackers!" thought Sam to himself. "Why that's the man we've been praying for! And here he is right by me.
"Glad to know you," he said to Jim. He thought it would be better not to tell him of his acquaintance with his parents. "How did you happen to come in the back way?”
"I heard about this service, and just thought I would come to hear how a drunkard could get saved. I came, and couldn't get in. 'Just my luck,' I thought. `When I do want to hear the gospel, I can't.' But I went around the back and got in. And you know the rest." With that introduction it was easy to lead the young man to Christ.
Dr. Chapman was about to pronounce the benediction, when Hadley stepped up and asked permission to say a few words more. Then he told the remarkable story of the redemption of the wayward son. He began with his conversation with the parents in Detroit some time before. The vast crowd was deeply moved. Turning around, Hadley said: "Jim, haven't you got a word for us?”
Hesitantly, the young man came forward to face the interested audience. In a voice at first weak and unsteady, but growing steadily stronger as he proceeded, he told the story of God's mercy to a poor lost sinner. In conclusion he said: "Friends, tonight I'm saved, through the grace of God. For years I've lived a drunkard's miserable existence. I've been a fugitive from the law. My past is dark and sinful. But tonight, through the prayers of Mother and Father, through the prayers of this man, as I have just learned, I have been led in a most unusual way, and I have accepted Christ! My desire now is to live wholly for Him, and to right the wrongs of the past, as far as I can. Will you pray for me?”
Imagine the joy in the Ackers' home that night, when they got Sam Hadley's telegram that Jim was saved!