WITH THE GOSPEL A Thrilling Missionary Story Giving personal experiences on the mission field; of an unshaken confidence in the God who took the family to the field; supported them while there; gave them many precious souls for their hire, and brought them back victorious. SECOND EDITION Copies of this book may be obtained from MATTIE CRAWFORD Missionary and Evangelist 3573 Shurtleff Court, Los Angeles, California Copyright, 1922, by MATTIE CRAWFORD ( Published in the United States of America )

The days of miraculous achievements are not past, as the accounts chronicled in this book will testify. Four people make a missionary trip from Los Angeles, Cal., down the coast of Mexico, preaching in many of her towns while the ship discharges or loads cargo. They arrive in Nicaragua and preach to the natives, seeing numbers of them baptized in the Holy Spirit. Returning to the States by way of the Panama Canal, and New Orleans, they reach St. Louis and Granite City, having been gone less than

It was on this message from the Lord that we went to the mission field by faith, without any earthly board behind us, knowing that what God had promised He would perform. “The time has come when I will send thee forth. Arise! put away all doubt and say to the dark clouds, ‘Depart from before my face!’ and to all fear that may arise to stop you from following in the way that I shall lead thee, ‘Flee ye, far from me, to return no more! for the Lord my God hath spoken, and I shall not be dismayed n

After receiving the wonderful message in tongues, with its interpretation, telling us the time had come for us to make ready to go to the mission field, we began packing our trunks, putting away the things which we would not need during the summer. We had been working in a hard field that winter, the income had been very small, and poor husband had worked as much as possible, to get the children clothes and books for school. But work was scarce and the battle had been long and hard, for we felt

Bidding our loved ones good-bye we left Granite City, Illinois, May 29th, 1919. We took train from St. Louis at 4 P. M., for Stanton, Missouri, where God had definitely led us to go. As the train sped out of the city and over the long stretch of country beyond, I was meditating over the many things that had happened at our farewell. My dear mother had said she did not understand this thing, and my brothers and sisters had spoken against our going out in such a foolish way, without money and with

We passed through Royal Gorge, and over the mountains, reaching the highest point just as the sun was sinking behind the western hills. They call it “The Top of the World.” There is a post office there where tourists mail folders and cards to all parts of the country, describing the beautiful scenery. Here is the Arkansas River, dividing at an elevation of 10,000 feet, running two ways, growing wider and wider as it flows down the mountain beside the railroad. I sat looking out the window at the

Arriving in Salt Lake City at noon the next day, we were told the train we should take for Los Angeles did not carry chair cars, so we would have to wait for a train that left at midnight. We were very tired from our long train ride and went aside in the station to rest. I lay down on a couch in the ladies’ rest room, but just as I had settled down for rest the Lord said to me, “Go and buy your berth on this train, for it will be the last train through.” I did not know what it meant, but I did n

We sailed from Los Angeles, on the S. S. Curacao, January 12th, 1920. After five days we arrived at the port of Matzalan, Mexico. The first sight of the city was the large cathedral on the hill. Our boat came to anchor, and as it was to stay a whole day, we took a launch and went ashore. The city was very beautiful, nestling in the valley, surrounded by mountains and sea. The beach was thronged with bathers. The streets and courts were lined with tropical flowers, palm and cocoanut trees. The su

We reached Manzanilla on January 19th. Pulling ourselves up on the dock out of the little boat that brought us ashore, and walking a short distance, we came to the street on the water front. It was filled with people who had gathered to see the ship come in. With eager faces they watched the unloading of the cargo. We thought if only the many launches and boats that had gone to the ship for passengers and cargo could bring messengers and messages to this hungry people’s souls, what a blessed thi

Here God gave me the interpretation of the vision which I had when I was saved, fifteen years before. From under the altar where I was kneeling I saw a great white cloud boiling out, full of upstretched black hands. We were in Mexican waters and there was some trouble at this port. We expected to stay there about two days. Everyone was cautioned to be careful not to do or say anything that would stir up trouble. As we had been giving out tracts and Bibles at every port as we came down, we though

The people worship many different kinds of idols. Sometimes they walk hundreds of miles to do penance to some stick of wood or piece of stone which has been set up by the priests. We met one young man who told us he had crawled three hundred miles, carrying a golden dish, valued at ten thousand dollars. This idol to which he crawled is in Costa Rica, and is called “ The Virgin of the Angels .” The people have been made to believe that this little image of black stone, three and a half inches hig

Nearing Nicaragua, in the distance we saw three mountain peaks, and were told that was the Port of Corinto, where we were to land. As the ship moved on, we could see the light-house, its white head towering high in the air pointing out the way we were to go. The scenery was beautiful. Cocoanut and palm trees lined the beach. The sea was calm and we slowly moved into the harbor, getting a good view of the little city spread out before us. Great peace settled down over our souls, and the Holy Spir

Our stay in Matagalpa was a very pleasant and profitable one in many ways. It was a great pleasure to see the way God worked among the dear natives. They were delighted to come and worship the Lord, and anxious to see others of their people brought into the fold. The awful sins and idolatry of these people are beyond our power to describe. We had been there about four days when Brother and Sister Schoenich were called to one of their other stations over in the mountains. Perhaps you can imagine

After seeing our trunks and baggage loaded on the oxcart, and started on the way, we set about to prepare a lunch for the trip, as the only food available while traveling through the country is tortillas, (corn cakes), and frijoles, (beans), and many times one cannot even get these, for the people are very poor, many of them living on roots and leaves from certain trees. Leaving Matagalpa Leaving in the early morning for a day’s journey After saying good-bye to Sister Schoenich, and to the nativ

Our arrival in the city aroused much curiosity among the people. As we passed through the streets they came out of their houses and followed us to see where we were going. When we came in sight of the house where lived a Christian woman, who had suffered much at the hands of her people, she came out to meet us. The power fell on her, and she danced for joy, and we wept and shouted. A crowd soon gathered to see what had occurred, and we had a meeting right there, telling them of the Savior’s love

We sailed on the Steamship San Juan. After placing our things in the stateroom we went on deck and sat down. A little South American woman came over to me and asked, “Are you a missionary?” I told her I was. “Well,” she said, “I thought you must be a missionary, for no one else would be away down here so far away from their homeland.” She had been in the States studying to be a nurse, and had been saved through a Salvation Army meeting on the street. She took my arm and said, “Come right over he

Finding a ship that was to sail for New Orleans we went aboard and set forth, carrying with us many more tracts and Testaments so that we might cast bread upon the waters among other people. Soon after leaving the port I noticed a man on board whom we had met in another place. He was a gambler, who traveled and gambled on ships all the time. We had spoken to him of the Bible and about the Lord, but he had said he did not think anyone ought to talk about the Bible and religion, as such talk would

There is a land not far away. It lies on our own continent. It is a land of tropical beauty, where cocoanut palms wave their tall green branches in the breeze, and where flowers bloom the year around. The banana, pineapple, orange, and many other tropical trees and plants yield their fruit in rich abundance. The chatter of innumerable parrots and the sweet songs of many birds are heard from the great tall trees of the forests. Scantily-clad brown-faced boys and girls run about. Seeing it, one is

From the time that Gil Gonzaloz de Avile reached the peaceful shores of the Chontales—Nicaragua—penetrating to the borders of the great lakes, the Indian has been made to suffer from the hands of the so-called enlightened races. When the above gentleman set his feet on Nicaraguan soil, the land contained some 3,000,000 peaceful and industrious Indians. In less than ten years 2,500,000 of them had perished in battle, were worked to death in the mines, or had starved in the mountain fastnesses. In