Chapter VIII
ASKING GREAT THINGS OF GOD.
" Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it."—Psalm Ixxxi. lo.
THE
camp-meeting is a feature of American
Christian life, which transplants to India re-
markably well. Near the summit of the West-
ern Ghauts, eighty miles from Bombay, nestling in the
bosom of the mountains, are the Lanouli woods, an
ideal spot for such a gathering. The situation, amid
the grandest natural scenery, irresistibly recalls the
thought that, " as the mountains are round about Je-
rusalem [Lanouli], so the Lord is round about His
people." The grove of closely planted trees, which
forms a perfect shelter from the noonday sun, is situ-
ated on the breezy hill-side, sufficiently near to the vil-
lage and station of Lanouli to be convenient, yet far
enough away to be secluded ; and forms an equally wel-
come change in the hot season from the moist and ener-
vating heat of Bombay, or the sultry, hot winds of the
Deccan.
92 PANDITA RAMABAI
To organize here a camp-meeting as an annual East-
er gathering, was the inception of an earnest Methodist
preacher, known as " Camp-meeting Osborn " in his own land. This servant of God, Rev. W. B. Osborn,
was located for a time in charge of English work in
Bombay, some fifteen to twenty years ago. Its or-
ganization was an inspiration, and it has formed a
brightly anticipated rallying point for earnest warm-
hearted Christians of many denominations. Rev. W.
B. Osborn returned to America soon after; but the
meeting continued, conducted by various qualified
brethren, none of whom have been more appreciated as
a leader than the present presiding Elder of the Poona
Methodist Church, Rev. Dennis Osborne, akin in name
and spirit, though not otherwise related to its founder. To attend this camp-meeting, whole families migrat-
ed from Poona and Bombay, and in fewer numbers
from other parts of Western India, till the grove was
peopled with fifty to sixty tents. Missionaries and peo-
ple in business or Government employ, pastors, teach-
ers, and Bible-women, Brahmin and Parsee converts to
Christianity, and those of other castes—till it seemed
like a foretaste of the time when all kindreds, and peo-
ples, and tongues, shall join in the glad heavenly chorus
of praise to the Great Redeemer. Many Christian
schools sent contingents of boys and girls old enough to
enjoy and profit by such an occasion; and frequently,
ASKING GREAT THINGS OF GOD 93
not the least blessed and enduring work was done among the young people.
Few who have spent an Easter Sunday with this as-
sembly would be likely to forget it. Awakened at dawn
by the sweet voices of a band of young Christians, sing-
ing Easter hymns and anthems, seven o'clock found an
assembly gathered in the large tent for a short and
bright Sunday-school session in which young and old
joined. At nine a prayer meeting; at ten breakfast,
served with simplicity in another large tent. At eleven
a love feast (including a communion service), when
hearty, bright, and cheering testimonies were given in
English, Marathi, Gujarathi, Hindustani, and occas-
ionally others of India's many tongues; and so on
throughout the day. In the large tent something was
always going on. When^ the English attenders were
resting, the Indian Christians were having a turn in
their own tongues. The large tent was wonderfully
expansive, and after sundown became a roof only; for
no walls would have held the Sunday evening congre-
gation, augmented as it was by large contingents of
hearers from the railway settlement, which forms the
European quarter of the Lanouli village.
The camp-meeting of 1896 was the last. By Easter
of 1897 India was in the grip of the terrible plague and
famine; and it was not felt wise or right to hold it.
Three years have passed, and the hand of God is still
94 PANDITA RAMABAI
heavy in judgment: when it shall be lifted we may
confidently expect that the voice of the assembled multi-
tude will again make the woods of Lanouli vocal with
songs of praise to their risen and reigning Lord.
In 1896 one of the chief speakers was a native evan-
gelist, who was so full of zeal and holy joy that it was
difficult for him to leave off preaching and expounding
long enough to eat ! If he was not in the rostrum ad-
dressing a congregation, he would be surrounded by a
private group of Indian Christians, and either in Eng-
lish or through an interpreter was continually making
known the way to be a joyful Christian to an eager
group of listeners.
Ramabai was present at this camp-meeting, with a
fine group of Christian girls and young women. Sev-
eral with note-book and pencil showed that they under-
stood and appreciated the opportunity here afforded
them. An experience befel Ramabai here, indicating
in a remarkable degree how the Lord was preparing her
for a greater work : this must be told, however, in her
own words. She says:
" This camp-meeting proved to be an occasion of
special joy to me, as I was accompanied by fifteen of
my own girls who were believers in the Lord Jesus, and
had confessed Him before the public as their Saviour.
Amid the troubles and trials that faced me at that
time, I rejoiced much to think that the Lord had given
ASKING GREAT THINGS OF GOD 95
me fifteen immortal souls whom I could call my spirit-
ual children. One day, early in the morning, I went out
to a quiet place in the woods, where I saw the sun rising
in all its glory. Then I thought of the Sun of Right-
eousness, and wished much that my people who were
sitting in darkness should be willing to open their eyes
and hearts and see Him rise in all His heavenly glory.
At that time my heart was full of joy and peace, and I
offered thanks to the Heavenly Father for having given me fifteen children ; and I was by the Spirit led to pray
that the Lord would be so gracious as to square the
number of my spiritual children, increasing the number
to two hundred and twenty-five, before the next camp-
meeting takes place. Every circumstance was against
the very thought. For, in the first place, no more than
sixty or sixty-five girls at the most could be admitted
in my school. Then the number of my school-girls
was but forty-nine, and some of them were to leave dur-
ing the summer holidays. Things were going very
much against my school, and I did not know where to
get even fifty girls for my institution. My mind began
to be doubtful, and I asked the Lord if it were ad-
visable for me to venture to pray such a prayer, and if it
were even possible for me to have so many girls in my
school. I then prayed to God to give me a clear word
about it, and He graciously gave me the following
words : * Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh
96 PANDITA RAMABAI
is there anything too hard for me ? ' * This proved to
be a rebuke to my unbeHeving soul, as well as an as-
surance of the great things which God meant to do for
me. I noted those words in my note-book; put down
the date on which I claimed two hundred and twenty-
five souls from God on the strength of this assurance
and waited for Him to fulfil His promise in His own
good time."
It will thus be seen that Ramabai's spiritual experi-
ence was continually deepening and widening. She
had asked great things of God; and having received
great answers, was hungering and thirsting for more.
Her increase of faith and enjoyment of the Holy Spirit's
leadings, following on a path of obedience, enabled her
to testify from a full cup to others. She longed that
her own people who had professed the name of Christ,
the members of the Indian Christian Churches, should*
be led out into a fuller life of service for their Lord. To a few who were privileged with her confidence, and
especially to one sweet missionary woman ' who had
been used of God in leading her into some of these
deeper experiences, Ramabai poured forth her longings.
This friend expressed her belief that God would have
Ramabai give her school over into the hands of others,
and herself do the work of an evangelist, proclaiming
to Indian Christians all over the land from the fulness
• 'Jer. xxxii. 27. ^ The late Mrs. Jennie Fuller.
ASKING GREAT THINGS OF GOD 97
of her own experience what God was willing to do for
those who would trust Him fully; and pressing upon
them their responsibility in carrying the Gospel to the
millions of heathen all around. This friend seemed to
apprehend that God had some purpose for Ramabai be-
yond the training of the fifty girls at the Sharada Sadan. He had ; but it was not to be in the relinquishment of
her former work, but in its fuller and more complete
development.
Ramabai became quite willing to follow in any path
of service of this kind, if the Lord should lead. She
began to prepare herself for a life of itinerant hardship.
She felt she should relinquish her salary, and trust God
for her own needs. Towards the autumn of that year,
1896, she says, alluding to her camp-meeting experi-
ence:
" Six months passed away from that time, and our
work went on as usual. There was no increase in the
number of my pupils ; on the contrary, the number went
down to forty-one, and those Christian girls whom I
had told in April that God was going to square their
number before the next camp-meeting, were perhaps
beginning to doubt in their mind as to whether I had
not been carried away by my imaginations, and not in-
spired by the Spirit, to have prayed such a prayer whose
fulfilment seemed to be next to impossible. I knew
nothing of the famine in Central India, nor that I could
98 PANDITA RAMABAI
get any girls fom that part of the country. In October
I heard of the terrible famine in the Central Provinces,
and received my call from God to go there and rescue
some of the young widows who were starving to death.
It was not until the last week of December that I had
the courage to obey the call. There were many ob-
stacles. I was doubtful whether I could get any of the
kind of girl-widows whom I could admit into my school.
The next chief difficulty was the want of place to shel-
ter the girls, and of money to maintain them, even if
they were to be had. So I did not venture at first to
step out of Poona ; but my conscience began to trouble me for not having obeyed the call at once, and I was
obliged to leave my comfortable nest and go."
Human reason might well have thought there was
cause for this delay and hesitation on Ramabai's part. Many would have said, " I will go if God sends me the
money." But God's way with Ramabai was to make
the obedience the test of blessing. There had been at
that time some difficulty with regard to the remittances
from America which supported the school, some mis-
carriage of money, delay or decrease in amount, which
had necessitated diminished expenditure ; and when the
Lord thus called Ramabai to go to the Central Prov-
inces and rescue three hundred girls, she tells that she
had but a few rupees in hand. She asked where she
should get the money ; but felt that God would have her
ASKING GREAT THINGS OF GOD 99
go on, and the money would come. God had provided
the money, but He was testing her faith. As soon as
it was known that Ramabai had started in search of widows left destitute by the famine, one of His servants
in Bombay undertook the expense of their transit to
Poona. Another called and left a hundred rupees at
the Sharada Sadan for current expenditure; and from
one source and another money flowed in as needed for
the work to which Ramabai was thus committed.
l.efC.