Has the exhibition of unwavering faithfulness and loyal dedication for what you believe to be the right thing to do, only left you with lifelong regrets?
Rev. Josiah Henson's life was like this and excruciatingly more!See how his life became a good story. Yours is no exception.
His story is that of a mixture of sweat & pain, emotion and resolve,forgiveness and God.
Josiah was born to slave parents on June 15, 1789 in Maryland. As a young boy, Josiah had witnessed the unmitigated mutilation of his father at the hands of their slave master. He was separated from his family and subsequently auctioned-off(like a piece of property!), along with his mother. Larnelle Harris takes you on site to one of the final stops on the Underground Railroad, and the home of Josiah Henson in this dvd.
:GET HENSON DVD HERE
A chance attendance of a prayer meeting brought him in contact with the gospel and God. This initiated the beginning of a long and rough road to freedom for Josiah, and the pursuance of his Divine purpose.
However,he thought that by being honest,dedicated and entering into an agreement with his master -Isaac Riley,his freedom would be guaranteed on amicable terms.How wrong he was!
Although his work ethics took a toll on his health, yet his involvement in a scuffle between his master and a rival slave master led to Josiah's suffering a savage ambush leaving him partially crippled. Josiah had been told he'd become a freeman for $350 but he wasn't told that the freedom of his family wasn't part of this fee!
Such treachery led Josiah go hatch a plan to secure the freedom of his family, as a last option,since realizing the plot of his indifferent master was to sell him off again. Hence Josiah and his family absconded on foot to Canada from Alabama via Kentucky.
This brings to mind the plight and flight of Jacob, when he risked everything to escape his father-in-law's treacherous plot to keep him and his young family as an "extension of his possessions"!
There's this moving and heart-rending account of Josiah's escape with his children and wife as fugitives that drew tears on my face. Since they had gone for days without food and were literally spent, Josiah had set out to fetch food and water supplies for the family whilst they hid in the woods. As Josiah came to a river with water,it dawned on him that he wouldn't be able to draw water with his sickly hands. Instead he got the water in his shoes, and this -his children drank happily!
In Canada, they finally settled into a free life. With other adventures that would follow in the following years, Josiah Henson met with great and influential people like President Abraham Lincoln, other abolitionists, and the Queen of England, in London,U.K. Josiah did live a good life, eventually. These personalities helped facilitate Josiah's project of rehabilitation of his fellow Negros that were still making their way out of slavery.
Although he finally learnt to read and write at the age of 42,:Rev. Josiah Henson never allowed his physical deformity and limitations hinder his Divine purpose until he finished his course as a nonagenarian. He even became an author, business man besides his duties as a minister, and an acclaimed "Wanted" underground railroad conductor, etc. There's also an insight into one of the 18th century bestselling writer - Harriet Beecher Stowe- who wrote the famous "Uncle Tom's Cabin.
" Harriet's book was actually based on the life account of Rev.Josiah Henson. The story goes to teach one thing: Though weeping may endure for a night, but Joy always comes in the morning. No matter how long it takes! Uncle Tom smiled at the Last!
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