I am in a cavalry charge.And in that cavalry charge, I at last find myself lying on the battlefield, badly wounded. I thank God for a young trooper of the Canadian Horses. (I owe a great deal to Canada. For that reason I am happy to be here to pay a long-standing debt.) I was lying on the ground when there was a second charge and this charge was by the Canadian Horses, the last Cavalry charge of the British Army...outside of Ales on the 12th of April, 1918. And, as they charged over that bloody field, a horse's hoof struck me in the spine. I must have groaned, and that groan registered in the mind of the young trooper that was in the charge, so much so, that in the providence of God, he came right back to where I lay. After they had cleared the hill and took the guns, he came back, dismounted, and threw me across the horse's back and carried me to the first casualty clearing station. I thank God for that young man, whomever or wherever he is.
I, on that horse's back, entered into an experience that revolutionized my life. I believed that I was dying. I knew that I was being carried to the casualty clearing station, but would I ever see it? And I prayed a prayer frequently prayed by my father, "God, make me as holy as a saved sinner can be." That was it! McCheyne's prayer-"Make me as holy as a saved sinner can be." And listen, friends, God swept into my life! God, the Holy Ghost-I cannot explain it in any other way-swept into my life as I was brought to the station.
Now, listen, I could not speak very much English then. Gaelic was my language. But I know this, that I began to talk about Jesus in Gaelic...in Gaelic...and there wasn't a soul there that could understand me. And I want to say this, that before we left that casualty clearing station, seven Canadians were gloriously saved-seven of them!
.........Duncan Campbell |
