Rev. A.J. Ogden

Mother and I were very poor when I was in my early teens, living in a little shack back in the woods. We tried to raise a few yard chickens for meat and eggs, and now and then we would sell a fryer for a little cash we so badly needed. At a certain point in time someone or some animal was stealing one chicken at a time from my chicken house at night. I was pretty sure it was a man in our neighborhood who was known for stealing anything that wasn’t nailed down.

After the tragic loss of about five hens, I tried to think up a way to catch him without shooting him. I had shot pretty close to his head several times to scare him, but he continued to come and steal. One night, I caught a glimpse of him running with a hen. My dog, Lady, would always bark when he got near our house.

When Mr. John Doe (not his real name) was approaching the house, Lady, my dog, barked! I got ready and slipped out to hide on the opposite side of the hen house. When I was stationed there he went slipping as quietly as he could into my hen house. I had my gun but would not use it. Just as he reached up on the roost and caught a hen by the feet and was ready to run out the door, I quickly shut the door and latched it. He was locked in and all the chickens, including two roosters, were panicking, flying all over the place, knocking him down on the dirty floor. They made a noise loud enough to wake the dead. Mr. John was spurred by the roosters, scratched by the hens, and was screaming for help.

Neighbors across the field came running and mother came out with her kerosene lamp to pour coal oil on Mr. Doe’s wounds. He was bleeding and his shirt was torn to shreds. Mother was angry with me and the sheriff was talking about putting me in jail when Mr. Doe reported my conduct. He spent days healing and I was sorry. I was not a Christian back then and now Christ has transformed this old sinner into a new creature in Christ. Stealing is wrong, but I was wrong too.