Around the World in 88 Years -E Book - Arthur Burt

“You’ve got your own wilderness,” He rebuked me, “and youneed to deal with that man who resents you. You smugly dismissedhim by telling him to “pray for them which despitefullyuse you.” (Matt 5:44) You’ve got to win him. If he has becomeyour enemy, your business is to destroy him as your enemy, andthe only way you can do that is by loving him to death.”I went back home knowing I had to face this situation. But beforeI had an opportunity to do anything, this brother had a terribleaccident. He was using welding equipment in a pit beneath a carwhen a spark from the welding torch set fire to some oily rags,and he was trapped under the car in the blazing pit. Even thepeople who dragged him out were badly burned.When I went to visit him in the hospital, I was shocked at thesight of him. The flames had charred all the flesh on his face, hisnose, his ears. His eyes were two holes in a scab of a face.“Oh, Lord,” I prayed. “How can I minister to my brother?” Icould sense his helpless rage. This was a man who, in no wise,accepted or welcomed my visit or anything I tried to do for him.I brought his wife to the hospital and offered to do whatever Icould to help. I knew Brother Brown resented me, but I didn’tunderstand why. Possibly he was jealous of me; perhaps he feltthat he should have been the pastor of the church. I didn’t know.I continued to visit him, week after week, for many months. Hewas in agony, suffering through many operations, as doctorsgrafted skin from his thigh onto his face. When he returned home,he was rehabilitated and set up in a position cobbling shoes. Hishands looked horrible, and when he walked, he almost lookedlike a Frankenstein monster.Seeking to do what I could to help this brother and to win him, Iwould go around collecting shoes among the people in the churchand in the village, saying, “If you have shoes that need repair, I’lltake them to Brother Brown for you.”I wondered what else I could do. Brother Brown had eight childrenand I had nine, so we had that in common. I offered to takehim into the vegetable market, because like me, he was the onewho did the vegetable buying.113