When I first heard about Preacher Jimmy Little in 1984, I was much impressed by all the miracles the man was said to have done. Since he had been dead for sixty-three years at the time, I was amazed at the number of people brought to me who had known Preacher Jimmy. It was an ideal time to hear what that had to say, for youngest of those who actually knew him were well into their seventies.
The first person I talked to was G.T. Little, who once ran a country store north of Marshville; I think G.T.’s father may have been Preacher Jimmy’s cousin.
My colleague who I will call “John” shot the video at Mr. Little’s home. The quotes for this article are taken from a transcript I made of the video, as supplemented by what must have been said. The program was first screened, four years later, in 1988.
“Come in,” GT said with a deep voice and a gentle smile, when he met us at the door. “I’ve been looking forward to seeing you.”
After we all shook hands, G.T. and I talked, while John set up the video gear.
“I want you to tell me everything you know about Jimmy Little,” I said.
“Have we got enough time?” G.T. smiled.
“If not, we’ll ask to come back,” I said. “But just now, I’d like you to tell me how he prayed for rain.”
“I’d like that,” he said. “I was there one time when he did it.”
Then I told G.T. that John would aim the camera over my shoulder, so that when G.T. talked to me he would also be talking to the camera. I would hold the mike, too.
“Are you all ready to start?” John called.
I looked at G.T. “I’m ready,” he said.
“We’re ready,” I said.
“Stand By,” John called, then rolled the camcorder. “We’re rolling.”
I looked at G.T., “Tell us about praying for rain.”
“We had a drought around here” he said, “so bad that all the crops just about dried up. I was eleven years old that year. The grown-ups were worn out praying for rain, so My Daddy sent word to Preacher Jimmy to pray for us.”
“It was maybe two in the afternoon,” G.T. continued, “August, hot as fire, not a cloud in the sky, but we saw dust trailing a buggy as Preacher Jimmy tore down the road. He drove into the church yard at about the same speed, jumped out and turned his buggy seat up.
G.T. paused for a moment, then looked at me, “You know why he did that?”
“I don’t know,” I answered, “maybe to keep it from getting wet?”
He nodded “yes,” with a smile.
“He was a wiry fellow, in a black suit—with a Bible under his arm. He walked in the church, and headed straight to the front. Said ‘I came here to pray,’ took off his coat, laid it on a pew, then he got down on his knees and starting praying out loud.”
“Wasn’t too long before he pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his face, but he didn’t hurry up his praying.” G.T. paused for a moment.
“But in a little bit … Preacher Jimmy jumped up from there … got his handkerchief in one hand and his Bible in the other … and started running towards the front door.”
“He said ‘if you got anything you don’t want to get wet … you better get it in. It’ll … rain … before … night.’”
G.T. chuckled, then continued. “I said to myself, ‘I’ll see if it does.’ That was my little bit of faith…that’s all I had.”
“It must have been about three o’clock before the Preacher drove off,” G.T. continued. “Then about twenty-five of the congregation came over to our house, to wait and see.”
“About four o’clock… it thundered up overhead. We looked up. There was just a … little sign… of a cloud.”
G.T. paused again. “Well, it wasn’t but just a little bit before it thundered again… and it wasn’t but just a few minutes more … before it went to raining.”
‘It didn’t come a storm,” he smiled. “It just rained the prettiest rain you about ever seen fall.”
Later, off camera, he told me that the gentle rain kept up for three days.
In reviewing this footage, I found G.T. to be not only a natural storyteller, but also a careful observer of human behavior, for he pointed out the essential difference between Jimmy Little, and himself, and by extension, the rest of us. Jimmy Little had faith.
The finished film, screened in 1988, shows multiple examples of his faith in action. But it does not show how Jimmy Little came to have such faith. I wish it had.
But considering the footage today, I see Jimmy was eager to get to the church to pray, for he drove fast to get there. He expected to get “yes” for an answer, for he turned the buggy seat up to keep the rain from wetting it.
I see the rain took longer than he expected, for on his knees he learned the rain would not wet his buddy seat, for it would come later, before night.
But how did he build his faith? I think that Preacher Jimmy Little read and pondered Jesus’ words until he believed them in his very soul. Then when he fell on his knees to pray, he stirred up this belief, by thinking about what the Lord had done before — in the midst of his prayer — Jimmy became convinced that the Lord could bring rain, and finally he was convinced that the Lord would bring the rain he asked for.
That’s when Jimmy Little got up and said “It’ll rain before night.” And a few hours later G.T. Little saw this word come to pass.
You can view the entire program, “Tough Knees: The story of Preacher Jimmy Little,” under this title, on the internet.
Leon Smith is a local storyteller and regular contributor to The Anson Record.