15 - Down In Water Street by Samuel Hopkins Hadley

Penned by the Superintendent of the Jerry McAuley Water Street Mission, Down in Water Street is a vivid testimonial of his sixteen-year service at the Mission. Through this engaging narrative, Hadley aims to shed light on the triumphs and trials of their journey, highlighting the invaluable lessons drawn from defeats - often more profound than those from victories.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter fourteen of Down in Water Street by Samuel Hadley.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter fourteen,
John Yeager, the Anarchist. The Mission of the Living Waters,
a sole saving station, is situated at number one hundred
thirty Christie Street and is presided over by mister John Yeager.

(00:22):
The writer was present on July ninth, nineteen o one
at John's twentieth anniversary. It was a great sight. Men
and women of distinction in Christian life and in business
life had picked their way down those crowded streets into
that little mission. The thermometer was over one hundred degrees,
but that made no difference. John sat there on the platform,

(00:43):
very feeble, but still it was their old John, whom
everybody loved, and in whom everybody believed Saint Ann Sinner alike.
He was a great character. He was saved in the
old McAuley Water Street mission July ninth, eighteen eighty one.
In the language of his wife, he was a drunken
bumb John was an anarchist and a thoroughly bad man

(01:07):
all the way around. He was brought to this mission
one night by mister Bradford L. Gilbert. He could not
speak a word of English, but came forward, for the
Holy Spirit has spoken to his guilty soul, and he
knelt down for prayers. Jerry mc cauley went up to
him and said, pray German Man nigstverstety said he a

(01:29):
man that understood German came up to him and said,
it is Jesus. And as that dear name is about
the same in English and German. John caught on to
his meaning and cried, Oh Jesus, save me, save me.
Did Jesus hear that cry? Oh, yes, he heard it,
as he hears every cry, no matter in what language.

(01:50):
And he saved John right there on his knees that instant.
John went home, shouting happily and told his wife that
he had seen Jesus. She told him to shut up
or she would fire him out of the house. She
thought him crazy and would not believe a word he said.
His life showed that he was true. He did not
know a word of English, did not know how to

(02:10):
read or write, but he came to the mission every
night and heard the scripture read here, and the people
testified to the power of God in cleansing them from
every stain, and he longed to know for himself what
the Bible said. He took the book one day and
got down on his knees and said, Dear Jesus, this
is your word, but I can't read it myself. I
don't know how to read. I have to listen to

(02:31):
what others say. But I want to read this for myself,
and I am going to stay until you teach me
to read your blessed book and reader. God did teach
him to read that book. Although he could not read
the names of the streets on the lamp posts, God
taught him to read his blessed book, and he has
read it ever since. This statement can be verified by
John himself and by many others. Yes, it is wonderful, strange,

(02:55):
and so wonderful Jesus so gracious could be. Oh, it
is wonderful, strange, and so wonderful Jesus could save even me.
End of Chapter fourteen.