The next morning the women rose early in order to begin their preparation for church and lunch. They were eating breakfast when Sarah returned home. One glance told them both that their friend was very upset as well as extremely tired. Amanda had never seen the usually calm Sarah so disturbed.
“What’s wrong, Sarah? Is the man that was hurt all right?” Amanda asked.
“Yes, he will be fine, though no thanks to that J.T.!” Sarah took a cup from the shelf but then set it down on the counter so hard that Amanda was afraid it would shatter.
With wide eyes, she looked at Beth before asking, “What did this J.T. do that has you so upset?”
Sarah stomped back and forth across the room before saying hotly. “He just makes me want to scream! I wish you could have seen him. Here is a man in his employ who was in danger of bleeding to death. And that’s not even considering the danger of infection! And this –- this – person tells me to get out, that he doesn’t allow women in his camp! He even went so far as to say if he was going to let a woman in, it wouldn’t be a pretty little thing like me! Can you imagine? A pretty little thing! And here I am almost six feet tall and no one has ever called me pretty!”
“What happened?” Beth wanted to know.
Sarah had a determined look on her face.
“I told him that he would not keep me from saving a life even if he was too stupid to know what was best! And I stood right up to him and looked him in the eye and told him I would have him charged with murder if the man died, and he refused to let me treat him. I told him he would have to stop me because I was doing what I was trained to do!”
Amanda and Beth were speechless. While Amanda could imagine her friend standing up to anyone, she was surprised that this J.T. had made her so angry. Amanda had seen many insult Sarah and try to intimidate her, but she had never seen Sarah back down and she had never seen Sarah get angry about it. Usually Sarah just went ahead and did what she thought was best in her determined way, never paying any attention to the other person.
“Did he let you treat him?”
Sarah snorted. “Yes, finally after Mr. Parker talked with him. I was surprised that his cabin was fairly clean, and he had cleaned the wound and tried to stop the bleeding. It took thirty-five stitches to close it, and I just hope gangrene does not set in. Mr. Parker and I sat with him all night, and we brought him back to Mr. Parker’s house this morning. They have a spare bed, and Mrs. Parker will help care for him.’
“Beth, I will need for you to help some with his care. For all that Cora Parker has a good heart, I am not too sure about her nursing ability. I am glad he is in town. It will be much easier for me to take care of him. And I surely would not want to have to fight that J.T. every time I needed to check on him!”
“What happened with J.T.? Did he thank you for helping the man?”
Sarah laughed a bitter laugh. “Hardly! He just seemed glad to get us out! He was up at the crack of dawn and practically pushed us out the door! I did tell him to send for me if any of the men needed doctoring, but he just snarled at me that he didn’t allow women in his camp. I told him not to think of me as a woman but as a doctor. Then he said, ‘Not much chance of that!’ I don’t know what he meant by that!”
Beth told Sarah to sit down while she fixed her some breakfast. The other two women told Sarah that they were having company for lunch and both urged the older woman to get some rest. Sarah ate her breakfast and agreed to lie down if they would promise to wake her in time for church. She did not want to miss the first service.
After Sarah went into the bedroom, Amanda told Beth, “I have never seen Sarah so angry! That J.T. must really be something!”
“Yes, Riley told us a little about him. He said he never comes into town, and he is a difficult person to work for. You know, Mack said something about him at the dance, but I didn’t imagine he was as bad as this!”
“Let’s get busy with lunch so everything will be ready when we come back from church. Do you think Riley will come this morning?”
“I don’t know, but I hope so. I have been praying for some way to witness to him. He is a good man, but he needs the Lord in his life. I know! Let’s pray right now that he will come and that he will have an open heart to hear the message this morning. We should pray for Mr. Taylor too.”
Both women bowed their heads and prayed for the service that morning and that many would hear the good news of Jesus and take the step of giving their hearts to the Lord. They prayed especially for Riley and Mr. Taylor. Rising from the table, they began preparing the meal.
Later, they woke Sarah as they dressed for the service. A short walk and they were entering the community building. Amanda noticed that, while there were fewer people present than at the party, there was still a large crowd. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor stood at the door, greeting all who entered.
The three made their way to the front and found several seats together. Will and Ben joined them, sitting on the opposite end from Amanda. Amanda glanced around the room for Riley but did not see him anywhere as Mr. Taylor walked to the front of the room.
“I would like to welcome everyone this morning. I know that some of you have been praying for a church here, and my wife and I have been praying for a place such as this to serve God. I feel all of our prayers have been answered. I don’t know everyone’s name yet, but God knows each of you; and I trust that, in time, I will learn all of you. We don’t have a piano, but I think we will be able to sing some of our old favorites. Let’s stand as we sing, Shall We Gather At the River?”
Everyone stood and began singing, and Amanda and her friends sang along. The song had just begun when Amanda felt someone come to stand beside her. Looking up, she saw that Riley was next to her. He did not look very comfortable, but Amanda’s heart was filled with joy to see him at church. She prayed that his heart would be open to the message.
After singing several songs, Mr. Taylor asked everyone to be seated.
“I thought a lot about what I should talk about today. I know that some of you are Christians, but I feel certain that some of you are not. It may even be that some of you have no interest in the Word of God but are here to see some of these lovely young women again. But for whatever reason you are here this morning, I felt that I had to share on this first Sunday the way to become a Christian.’
“There is only one way to become a Christian and that is through Jesus Christ the Son of God. The Bible says in the Gospel of John, in Chapter 14:
‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.’
“Many people think they could never be a Christian because they could never be good enough. That is true, no one can be good enough to win eternal salvation. We can not be saved by works or deeds. That means no matter how much we help others, how much money we give to the church, how much time we spend praying and going to church, we can never be saved by doing good things’
‘No one of us, and I include myself in this, can ever deserve God’s mercy. I am so thankful that my deserving has nothing to do with my salvation. Because I could not earn it. I do not deserve it yet I have it because of God’s wonderful plan of salvation’
“We will talk more each week about the stories of the Bible – how God made the world and all that is in it. How He sent His Son to earth to save us from eternal damnation. But today, my message is a simple one. It is as simple as A – B – C. That’s all you have to know to become a Christian. That stands for three simple little verses from the Bible that tell you how to be saved.’
“The first one is A –
‘All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.’ Romans 3:23
“All people, everyone, have sinned. There is no perfect person in all of time to have lived on this earth, except one, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. All the rest of us have sinned. I know that some have more sin than others. It is so easy to point to others and say, ‘look at him. He has done a lot worse things than I have.’ That may be true, but that person has to stand before God on Judgement Day and account for his sins and you have to stand before Him and account for yours. God will not be asking you about the other man’s sins, only yours. So that is the first thing, you have to admit that you have sin.’
“The second verse is the B –‘
‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. ‘ Acts 17:31
“What does that mean? It simply means that you believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He came to the earth to save YOU from your sins. Believe that He is ABLE to save you.’
“Now for the C – and for some people, this is the hardest part!’
‘That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.’ Romans 10:9
“And the Bible says in Luke:
‘Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God.’ Luke 12:8
“Now what do these two verses mean? They aren’t really so difficult to understand. First, you have to admit that you have sin, that Jesus can save you from that sin, and that Jesus dies on the cross to save YOU, and then was raised from the dead, just as we shall be raised from an earthly death to eternal life. Then you must confess this before men, not just in your heart, although that is the place to start. You must be willing to stand before anyone and proclaim that you are a servant of the Lord’s. I know that I am proud to be able to do so and many of you are also. But some people do not want to claim the Lord publicly. They fear they will be ridiculed and some of their old friends will shun them. That is possible but I can promise you that all you leave behind in your old life will be surpassed a hundred times by all the blessings that the Lord will pour down on you and the others who serve Him.’
“I am not going to have an invitation this morning. I want you to think about all I have said today. Read your Bible and, if you don’t have one, I have some that I will be glad to lend. Pray about this decision. You will make no other decision that is more important than this one. My door is always open for those who have questions or who would like to pray with me. We will be praying that those who need to make a decision will do so. I urge you to come to me or to others that you know are Christians and ask us what the Lord has done for us”
“Let us pray.’
“Lord, we know that You are with us this morning. You are always with us no matter where we are. You have promised never to forsake us. Lord, we pray that those who need to make a decision will do so. Help them to understand that they need You just as we all need You. We know there is no hope without You, that You are the truth and the vine. Lord, we cannot imagine what it must have been like for You to leave the glory of heaven and come down to earth and take one of our weak earthly bodies and to do so as the weakest of us, a newborn baby. You suffered and died an agonizing death on the cross, and it was for each of us present today. It was so that all people would have a chance of salvation. Lord, we just pray that You will speak to each heart and make us all willing to serve You in any way that You need us. Give us the opportunity to share You with others. Lord, we ask your blessing on this little church and congregation. May it grow and serve You for many years. Let us be a witness to this settlement. Lord, we ask that You bless each of us as we travel back to our homes this morning and be with us through the coming week and bring us back safely next week. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, Amen.”
Everyone stood and began to talk with their friends and neighbors. Riley and the other men introduced the women to more of the townspeople, but the group soon left for the women’s home. Ben, Riley, and Hannah joined them.
Upon entering the house, Beth directed the men to bring in one of the benches from the front room, and the women soon had the meal on the table. There was a stew with vegetables and beef, corn bread, and beans followed by a berry pie.
Beth asked Ben to lead in prayer and, after he blessed the food, the group began eating. It was a congenial group and there was much laughter and talking as they enjoyed the simple meal.
“I enjoyed Pastor Taylor’s sermon. I am so happy that we have a church here. His message was simple but to the point. I hope that all present were as moved as I was,” Beth said.
“Yes,” said Sarah. “I had never heard that A –B – C illustration before but it really is that simple, isn’t it?”
Ben and Will shared that they both had been raised in Christian homes and had made the decision to follow Christ as young teenagers. Amanda noticed that Riley looked uncomfortable. She hoped that he was thinking of the sermon, but she changed the subject and started talking about the weather.
Riley left as soon as the meal was over, saying he needed to work on his house. Ben and Will moved the bench back into the sitting room, and the women invited them to visit while they washed the few dishes. Amanda was aware that Beth wanted to talk with Ben about the job, so she asked Will if he would like to look at their garden. Sarah took Hannah into the bedroom to show her the room and ask if she would like to move in with them while Ben and Beth talked in the front room.
Amanda told Will that Beth had plans to have some chickens, and Will was able to tell her what preparations they needed to make. He offered to make a simple coop in exchange for some of the eggs. Amanda told him that she would ask the others about it, but she felt sure they would agree.
Will and Ben left soon, and the four women gathered around the kitchen table once again with a pot of tea.
“I am so glad you asked me to move in with you. The community building is nice, but it is going to be so crowded when the other women come and there is no privacy,” said Hannah.
“I’m not sure how much privacy you will have here sharing the room with the three of us but at least it won’t be as bad as there, I guess. Fifty women in that building would be crowded,” said Sarah. “We share the chores here, though Amanda and Beth do most of them. I hope that I will be too busy with my work to have time to do much housework.”
“I have good news. Ben said he needed some help in the store. With all of these women moving to town, he expects to be even busier. I hope to start a business as a seamtress as well. I will do all I can to help but I will be working on Monday mornings and all day on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. I will be able to buy some of our supplies. Should we make up some sort of division of chores?’
The women agreed and spent some time making out lists and agreeing to assist each other with chores. Amanda and Hannah would take over most of the daily chores. Beth would help on the days she was not working, and all would help with dishes and laundry. Hannah told them that she planned to move in on Tuesday.
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