Page 47 - good and useful man 2022 cover page

people had heard the Gospel. In answer to prayer, generous
people had given $100,000 to help spread God’s Good News.

After his return to the United States, Charles continued to
have painful heart attacks for six years. He didn’t sleep well
due to the discomfort. When he did sleep, he was most
comfortable sitting in an armchair.
Each day, he tried to take a short walk around the cottage
where he and Lettie lived. Sometimes, the effort was too much
for him, and he couldn’t keep going. He had to sit down on a
curb, sometimes for an hour, waiting for his energy to return so
he could return home.
One day, a stranger to the area asked a little boy who the
man was that slowly walked along the path. The boy
responded, “Don’t you know him? He’s the smiling man
whose heart doesn’t work well any more. But he still trusts in
God.” In spite of his pain, people always saw Charles with a
shining, happy face.
Charles believed that his years of illness were sent from
God. He called the time his “lessons in God’s school of
quietness.” He filled his time with important work. He wrote
letters to people in Japan and around the world. He prayed for
the Japanese and Korean workers. He prayed over his maps for
countries where God didn’t yet have missionaries. He planned
for a future work in China. Charles made the best use of his
time, even though he couldn’t be in Japan or Korea. God had a
different job for him to do now.
Charles became weaker and more tired. He knew that he
would soon die and God would take him to heaven. Even
though he could talk to Lettie face to face, he liked writing
letters. So on July 16, 1924, he wrote to her to say again how
much he loved her. It was hard to think of saying goodbye and
leaving her on earth. He wrote that when he died he didn’t
want her to spend all her time visiting where he would be

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