My parents were Mennonites and I was reared in that faith. We removed from Northampton County to Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, where I [202] was baptized and taken into the Mennonite church, in which I remained fourteen years, but without experimental religion. My manner of life all this time was prayerless and careless, as to religion.

      When about thirty-eight years old, I was waked up to a sense of my state, and saw myself a lost sinner in the sight of God, and my heart condemned me; for there was no peace, and I felt and saw myself one of the worst of sinners. My baptism, profession, and being a member of the church, all availed me nothing; but like the jailor of old, I inquired, "What must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:30); and like the prodigal son, I formed a resolution, "I will arise and go to my father" (Luke 15:17).

      And thanks be to God, when I came with purpose of heart, willing to give up all for Christ's sake, confessing and forsaking my sins, and believing and trusting in the Lord Jesus, and surrendering fully to, and receiving Him willingly for my only Saviour, and relying entirely upon the mercy of God, and being willing to become anything or nothing, and to say, "Not my will but Thine be done--Save, Lord, or I perish" [Luke 22:42; Matthew 8:25], I truly experienced, that "the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sin" (Matthew 9:6); and I felt "the love of God shed abroad in my heart" (Romans 5:5). O, what a peace! O, what a joy and comfort to the soul! I could then say of [203] a truth, "I know that I have passed from death unto life; for I love the brethren" (1 John 3:14); and that "old things are passed away and all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

      I was sixty-one years old in 1849; and twenty-four years I have been trying to serve the Lord; and in this time I have met with many trials and difficulties, but through all these the Lord has been my helper. Amidst all this, I have had many "refreshings from the presence of the Lord" [Acts 3:19]. I have labored some in the ministry, and it is my determination as much now as ever, to serve God, and to be a witness for Jesus as long as I live, and to make my way to the kingdom of glory. O, may I never grieve the Holy Spirit; then will He be my guide unto death, and my portion forever.

[THW 202-204]