Rev. E. Anderson
THE BOILING FORD VAN
I shall always be grateful that God permitted me to ‘ travel with the Pilgrim Preachers for nearly five years.
During that period I learned more from those grand fellows can l ever learned elsewhere. They had neither collections nor financial committees, and never on any occasion was an appeal for money heard in the meetings.
They trusted God implicitly and the Lord never failed to honour their faith. They became so accustomed to the daily miracles that many of the incidents which amazed and thrilled my soul seemed commonplace to these faith-living men. Daily, every man told his stories of divine provision; and in each meeting the party enthusiastically returned thanks to God for His delivering grace.
Then the various incidents were almost forgotten, for with every new day came additional testimonies. But I was young, and the events were so wonderful that I could not forget them; and even although many years have passed since I left the party, the memory of those incidents still thrills my soul.
Let me tell you about the boiling Ford van. In modern parlance, the Pilgrim Preachers were financially embarrassed. Their meagre finances had continued to dwindle until nothing was left. The two old cars in which the party travelled had petrol in the tanks, and there was little food for the midday meal; but beyond that the outlook was rather bleak. Prayer had been offered but let it be candidly admitted, some of the younger members hoped a wealthy Christian would come to the rescue. We hoped in vain. God’s rich children seemed to be on holiday!
The local Christians wished us farewell; they hoped we would have a pleasant journey, and that some day we would return. Bless their hearts they were most a sincere, but they forgot to give us the money necessary to a assist our departure. Daniel Kerr, the Pilgrim who always drove the ramshackle Ford van cranked the long-suffering engine; the wheezy chug-chug came from beneath the bonnet and the journey to the next town commenced.
Brother Daniel was a great fellow. Unfortunately he was deaf, and was unable to join fully in the cross-talk of the pilgrims. This. I suppose, accounted for the fact that whenever he had age opportunity, he worked on the car engine. He was for ever taking something out and putting it back again. Indeed, I often said that if he continued to have a few parts left over each time he overhauled the engine, ultimately he would have sufficient odds and ends to build a new car! Daniel’s only response was a good- natured growl. On this particular morning no one joked; all were mindful of the empty larder. Yet there was fuel in the tank, and while there was petrol, there was hope!
Slowly but surely the miles slipped by, and on each hill the fluttering engine coughed its rebellion. Then we saw the steam beginning to squirt and the faithful custodian of the old car sighed and said, “She’s boiling; we’ll need to stop and let her cool down”. Daniel drove to the side of the road, and the boys jumped out to stretch their legs. Brother Dan casually walked along the street, and then paused. and seemed to the thinking. Then he disappeared around the corner, and when he eventually returned, his face was radiant. He said something like this –
“When I looked at these buildings, they seemed familiar, and I felt sure I had stayed in this locality. So I went to look around and at last I found the home and remembered my stay with an old lady. The moment she opened the door she said, ‘I’ve been waiting for you. I knew from the list in the Christian Herald that you would be passing here today, and I’ve been waiting. Come in, Mr. Kerr’. I didn’t like to confess that I had forgotten her; that only a boiling Ford had brought me to a halt in her village. Then she gave me a packet of money and added, ‘I’ve been saving up for weeks so that when you called I would have something to give for God’s work. I knew you would to-day’.
Often I have asked, Why should the water boil just at that part of old England. Probably critics would reply that coincidence arranged it all. My answer is that coincidence surely loved those fellows, for he daily performed miracles on their behalf. He was the unseen member of the party. He was very watchful, very careful, and very reliable.
Barnabas Ministries UK 