A story

Here’s a story about a pastor who was left out of Hollywood’s famous Titanic movie.

It happened on April 15, 1912, when a giant ship called the Titanic sank in the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean, taking 1,517 lives.

The Titanic was the largest and most luxurious man-made ship. Its drowning was one of the greatest disasters of the twentieth century.

But few people know that one of the most amazing stories about the the Titanic, which Hollywood refused to include in its famous film, is the story of a brave pastor named John Harper.

John Harper was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and was a great evangelist of his time who led thousands to Jesus.
At the age of 25, he had already become the pastor of a small church of 30 members, which later grew to 500 in a short time!

In 1912, John was called to preach at the famous Moody’s Church in Chicago. So on April 11 of that year, he and his six-year-old daughter joined the Titanic to sail to America. (His wife had died a few years earlier.)

This unsinkable ship carried big businessmen, famous British families and other important people.

From the beginning of the voyage, John walked around the ship and told the people about Jesus.

On the evening of April 14, when most people were dancing in the ballroom or playing cards, John put his daughter to sleep and began to pray.

At 11:40 p.m., the Titanic collided with an iceberg and the injured ship slowly began to sink. When the passengers understood the whole reality, panic began on the ship.

Hearing the siren, John woke up his daughter, wrapped her in a blanket, and climbed to the top deck of the ship.

Seeing what was happening, he kissed his daughter farewell and handed her over to a crew member who put John’s daughter on the lifeboat number 11.

John realized that he would never see his daughter again, who was about to be orphaned from the age of six.
John gave his life jacket to the passenger standing next to him, and thus gave up the possibility of survival.
He no longer had time to think and quickly began to evangelize the people who were in panic.

Eyewitnesses said that they saw a young man approaching people and asking them, “Is your soul saved?”

At a time when human lives were doomed and the ship’s orchestra was playing “Closer to the Lord” melody, John shone brighter than the night, fulfilling God’s call.

On April 15, 1912, at 2.40 a.m., when the Titanic began to sink, John jumped into the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
At that moment, more than a thousand people swam in the ice-cold water, who could no longer fit in the lifeboats.

Soon John managed to find some object that had fallen from the ship in the water, and grabbing it, the pastor began to swim from one person to another and ask them the same question, “Is your soul saved?”

And when other people were already getting numb from being in cold water, John moved even faster…
In the midst of all this chaos and shouting, he led people to Jesus!

John Harper died having on the lips only one name – Jesus Christ!

A few years after these tragic events, a man named Aguilla Webb gave an interesting testimony at a church service in Hamilton, Canada.

He said: “I am one of the six people who survived that terrible night in the waters of the Atlantic when the Titanic sank and 1,517 people died of the cold water and were swallowed up by the ocean.

As I fought for my life in the water, in the midst of the screams and howls of all these people, a man from afar shouted to me, “Is your soulsaved?” I replied, “No!”

But suddenly the wave covered the man and he sank under the water… But after a while the wave lifted him up again and he cried out to me in a weak voice, “Is your soul saved?” I replied, “No!”

Then he cried out to me, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.”

And again a big wave covered him, he sank under the water and I never saw him again…
There, in the cold waters of the Atlantic, I made peace with God, crying out to Him for mercy! ”

Summing up his testimony, Webb said, “I am Pastor John Harper’s last fruit!”

After reading this testimony, I wondered how much the world today reminds us of the Titanic.

Vanity, worries, preoccupation with insignificant things… But despite the fact that everything seems so beautiful and stable, there is one problem – there is a hole in the hull and sooner or later we will all find ourselves in eternity…

We can have fun or bustle in this life, but we, like John Harper, can fulfill our calling by preaching to Jesus to perishing people.

And once we reach eternity, we can see people coming and telling us, “I began to believe in Jesus because of your testimony!”

From the page: “Бог любить тебя”.