 Chapter 11 of Silver Chimes in Syria, Glimpses of Emissionaries Experiences This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Farah Iftikar Silver Chimes in Syria, Glimpses of Emissionaries Experiences by William S. Nelson Interruptions Our life in Syria has been, on the whole, quiet, but it has not been without its shadows. There is no life without its sorrows and unexpected experiences. The comparative isolation of missionary life brings into very close fellowship those who are cut off from the closer relationship to friends in the homeland. One Sunday afternoon, in the fall of 1906, I was standing in the back of our chapel, awaiting the closing exercises of the Sunday school. The telegraph messenger appeared at the door and handed me a telegram, for which I signed without serious thought. When I opened the paper and read the wholly unexpected message, all strength seemed to leave me, and I hastened to a seat lest I fall to the floor. The message told of the sudden death of my brother-in-law, Reverend W. K. Eddie of Sidon, while away from home on at all. We had considered him one of the most vigorous men in the mission, for whom years of active service might be expected, and now, in a moment, he had been called away, leaving his family and his work to others. It took time to realise the situation, but some things had to be done at once. I called my servant and sent him to secure an animal, as I had to start at once for Sidon. Arrangements had to be made for my absence, and the sad news had to be broken to the Tripoli Circle of Friends. By five o'clock I was ready to start, and I shall never forget that night's ride. The first twenty miles were covered in the early evening hours, on horseback over a rough, stony road, while the question kept ringing through my mind, why should this be? About ten o'clock I reached the carriage road, where I could take a more comfortable and speedy conveyance. I walked through the dark night, as I jolted over the road, trying to get a little rest in preparation for the hard day before me. I could not turn my mind from the many problems connected with this sad experience. Who would take up the work thus suddenly dropped? What plan would be made for the family of growing children? The night was dark, but the dawn was approaching. The way seemed dark, but the father's love had brought us to this point, and he would not leave us to walk alone. In the early dawn I reached Beirut and found the missionary friends there, ready to start for Sidon, and so we all went on together, reaching the darkened home about noon. The large assembly hall was filled in the afternoon for the funeral services, and a great crowd of all classes of people marched out to the cemetery, where the mortal remains of our beloved brother and fellow worker were laid away. Those are the precious spots where we do the last service on earth, for those we have loved, but they are doubly precious on the mission field, where the distance from the great body of family, friends and relatives is so deeply felt. But these occasions strengthen the ties that bind us to the hearts and lives of those among whom we live and whom we serve. We had scarcely adjusted ourselves to this sorrow when another of the hard experiences of life came upon us. The season had been one of exceptionally heavy work and continuous strain, which showed in a decided break in health. The doctor said work must be dropped at once and the winter be spent in Egypt if a more serious break were to be avoided. It was not exactly a pleasure excursion on which we started during the Christmas holidays. There was no time to write ahead and make inquiries or arrangements, so we set out to a strange land among strangers in search of health. Finding no place which seemed suitable in lower Egypt, we decided to go up the river to Asiute and wrote a letter to Dr. Alexander, president of the United Presbyterian College at that place. We had no personal acquaintance and no claim upon him, but he was a missionary and that was enough. It was a long ride and Egyptian railroads are nothing if not dusty. Our spirits had not begun to rise yet and we felt rather tired and wholly disreputable in appearance when we left the train at Asiute ready to ask our way to the Greek hotel. But before we had a chance to do anything we saw a bright, cheery face bearing an evident welcome and a hearty voice assuring us that the owner was Dr. Alexander and that he had come to take us in charge. It was the first encouraging incident and lifted a weight from us at once. As we walked along he told us they had held a conference over our case and having decided that we could not be comfortable in the hotel had placed at our disposal a rest room provided in the hospital for members of their own mission or other foreigners who needed rest and medical attention. A more perfect provision for our need could not have been devised. We enjoyed the companionship of the core of foreign nurses sharing their table and home life. We had the constant companionship as well as the professional services of the four medical missionaries. Is it a wonder that I began to gain at once? After nine weeks we returned to our work made over and with a new lease of life a sense of the solidarity of Christian fellowship and a new realisation of the heavenly fathers tender care. Such experiences as that winter at Asiut show how entirely denominational differences are forgotten on the mission field. In social intercourse, in the prayer circle in discussion of mission problems in the church service in the pulpit there was never anything to remind us that we were only Presbyterians while our kind hosts were united Presbyterians. It was a delightful opportunity for the cultivation of fellowship and for the observation of other forms and methods of mission work under conditions very different from ours in Syria. The work in Egypt is relieved from many of the problems so insistent in Turkey. There is no hostile government always suspicious of every move made by a foreigner. There is no such insufficiency in the government as makes the lives of Turkish subjects always insecure and travel dangerous. But on the other hand the climatic conditions in Egypt are far more trying than in Syria as the heat is extremely innovating for most of the year. These climatic conditions undoubtedly account to some extent for the less virile, independent character of the people. But whatever the differences in climate whatever the differences in the character of the people whatever the differences in governmental relations we came back from Egypt more than ever impressed with the fact that the conflict is one the object aimed at is one and the body of workers is one under the direction of our one lord and master. In 1911 there came another break in the routine life of the field but with no such sorrow in it as in the former incidents. The second conference for workers in Muslim lands met in Lucknow in January 1911 and our mission chose me as its delegate to that conference. The journey through the Suez Canal and down the Red Sea and across the Arabian Sea to Bombay was one of the experiences of life that was never to be forgotten. There were enough of us going on the same journey to form a little group of sympathetic companions and we had many an opportunity at table and on deck to talk over the matters connected with our life work. The contrasts in the streets of Bombay are similar to those seen in all the changing Orient but with characteristic differences calculated to catch the eye of one accustomed to the Near East. Nowhere in Turkey do you find such broad, significant paved their affairs as those in Bombay and yet beside the track of the electric trolley you see a crude cart jogging along behind the humpbacked bullock. On the pavements you see elaborately dressed ladies from Europe or from the wealthy Parse families with their Paris gowns and modern hats and almost at the elbows the dark skinned members of the sweet podcast clad in a simple loin cloth. You step out of the finely appointed barbershop in your modern hotel with its polite English speaking attendant to see by the roadside a group of swore the Indians crouching on the ground as one of their number shaves the crowns off their heads. The tourist in Galilee in the spring of the year is impressed by the variety and brilliancy of colour all about him in the wild flowers of the fields. As we walk the streets of Bombay the same impression was made upon us by the brightness and variety in the headrests of the men. If there is any colour known to the dyer's art not found among the turbines of Bombay it is merely because no samples have as yet been sent there. Every shape as well as every shade is found and it would almost seem as if the excessive attention paid to the head covering had exhausted the energy of the people leaving no desire or ability to devise any covering for the rest of the body. A stranger may wonder also at first why everyone seems to have forgotten to wash his face those curious blotches of very coloured clay on the forehead are not accidental nor an indication of carelessness to one's personal appearance. On the contrary they indicate fidelity to religious duty and reveal to the initiated the special temple most recently visited by the devout worshipper. For a transient visitor this variety and intricacy are puzzling but to the initiated everything has its meaning and the varieties of headrests tell the tale of religious affiliation and caste gradation. Comfortable train service carried us quickly to the north giving us glimpses of Delhi the ancient Mughal capital with its reminders of mutiny and agro with its much less architectural gem the Taj Mahal. We reached Agra at the close of the day and after locating ourselves at the hotel set out on foot to have our first glimpse of the Taj by moonlight no matter what one may have read of this wonderful building no matter what pictures or models one may have seen I have yet to meet a person who has not been most deeply impressed by the first vision of the reality. The approach through the dark foliage of the quiet garden gives a chance for the impressive grandeur of the marble structure to fix itself in the visitor's mind. By the time he enters the spacious archway he has begun to appreciate the perfection of the curves the nobility of the dimensions the purity of the white marble and the graceful dignity of the whole combination. The beautifully inlaid black lettering from the Quran follows the curves of the lofty arch overhead adding a sense of sacredness to the entrance and yet when one is inside he almost forgets the impressions received without. In place of stateliness and grandeur we find here a beauty of finish and exactness of detail which surpass all the more massive qualities of the exterior. The central tomb is surrounded by a marble screen carved with a delicacy that makes one forget the marble and think he sees before him the most perfect and delicate lace avail. The pillars and panels of the screen the inner walls of the building as well as the sides of the tomb itself are decorated with the most beautifully inlaid work of vines and wreaths of flowers represented in their natural colours in the most delicate shades of stone. One wonders to find such exquisite work anywhere and the wonder increases when one realises that this is not the product of modern skill and patience but that it has stood here from the days of the mogul empire when we consider that India was a land of barbarians and more than this is to follow for this wonderful mausoleum was erected at a fabulous cost by a mausoleum ruler in memory of his wife. We were not in India merely as sightseers after a night ride on the train we reached Lahore in the early morning and at the station received the hearty welcome of J.C.R. Ewing Dede President of Foreman Christian College Again in northern India we had the loving hand-clasp of a fellow missionary and the cordial welcome to a missionary home. The short visit there could give us a faint impression of what that college is doing for the Punjab and what a position and influence the missionaries have among the people of every class whether Indian or British. Never did I have such a vivid impression of the awful experiences of the mutiny or the wonderful changes routed by British rule in India as when I stood on some of the memorable spots at Kornpur and reviewed the record of treachery and loyalty, cowardice and bravery, cruelty and gallantry which were developed in the awful experiences of the mutiny. Today no matter what may be the restlessness and uncertainty of the situation India is a united country and not a medley of hostile principalities and warring kingdoms. Railroads cover the land in every direction with an efficient service. Perfect carriage roads make the land a paradise for motor cars and bicycles. Military encampments near all the large cities assure security of life and property. Schools and colleges are extending knowledge in every direction. Wealth is taking place of poverty, knowledge of ignorance, light of darkness and religion is coming into its own as a real force in human life and no longer as merely a badge of factional clan. The gathering at Lucknow was notable. Delegates of many nationalities gathered in that hall. Workers in many lands and in widely differing conditions we came together for a common purpose. Members of many Christian denominations were united in the worship of one master. Differences were forgotten in a deeper union. In the regions we owed to earthly sovereigns we met as children of the heavenly king. Whatever may have been the language of our ordinary service here we had but one language that of loving fellowship. We were members of separate bands of commissioners coming together at the feet of our leader to ask for the fuller instructions in the pursuit of his work. The keynote of the Lucknow conference was to win the world by love. The love of Christ incarnate in his messenger. It is one of the most hopeful signs in the advancement of the kingdom that the attractive power of love is more prominent than the overwhelming power of argument. It is a great help to the right placing with emphasis that workers in many lands of many nations of many denominations are drawing nearer together and working more in harmony. I returned from India rejoicing in all I had seen of God's power and blessing in that land but with a deeper conviction that the work in India in China in Africa in Syria is all one work under one master. End of Chapter 11 Interruptions Recording by Farah Iftikar Chapter 12 of Silver Chimes in Syria Glimpses of a Missionaries Experiences This is a Libbathox Recording All Libbathox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit Libbathox.org Silver Chimes in Syria Glimpses of a Missionaries Experiences by William S. Nelson Chapter 12 Our Supporters One of the brightest things in the missionaries happy lot is the beautiful relation existing between those on the field and those whom they represent in the homeland. Many years ago we were calling one evening upon our landlord in Tripoli the eldest son had recently returned from America and in the course of conversation the father asked from what part of the United States we came in order to see whether his son had been in the same vicinity. The son at once replied I know the name of the place but I do not know in what state it is they come from private funds. We could not think at first what he meant but then discovered that he had found a missionary report among some old magazines thrown out from the house. In this he had seen our names in a list of missionaries giving the name of the society by which each one was supported. Seeing private funds opposite our names he thought it must be the name of the town from which we came though as he said he did not know in what state it was located. Our little knowledge is truly a dangerous thing. The relation indicated by those words which has subsisted for 25 years in the country. When I was a senior in the seminary and had already made my application to the foreign board I received a letter from Mr George D. Dayton of Minnesota. He was the son of an elder in my father's old church in Geneva only a few years older than I but already a prosperous businessman whose generosity in the Lord's work was becoming well known. It urged upon me the need for unity in the home mission field of the growing North West. I answered him explaining as fully as I could the reasons that had led me to decide that my life should be devoted to another field realising that my answer would be a disappointment to him and might cause some weakening of the ties of friendship already strong between us. The next that I heard of the subject was that Mr Dayton had written to the foreign board assuming our support for the personal representatives of his family in the foreign field. Thus instead of weakening our friendship my choice was the beginning of a closer and warmer relation than ever. It has always been recognised as a family matter and I shall never forget the comfort and strength that came to us in one of the early years through a letter from Mr Dayton. It was written on Sunday afternoon and contained words to this effect. Today was the time appointed for the annual offering of foreign missions in our church. Before going to church I gathered the family together and talked to the children about you as our representatives in Syria. Then we united in prayer at the family altar for God's blessing on you. At church I placed in the collection my check for the amount I have pledged to the board for your support. Through letters and visits in the home when on furlough this delightful relation has grown more and more precious as the years have passed and it has been a pleasure to acknowledge that we come from private funds which we are sure is situated in the state of felicity in the United States of brotherly love. It has been said that a missionary furlough is an excellent thing if it is not needed too urgently. We have had two most thoroughly enjoyable furloughs in the homeland during our missionary life. Each visit to America has tended to refresh and vigorate us most admirably for a new period of service and we have added many to the circle of friends who encourage us in our work and keep vigorous the connecting link with the workers at home. The periods of our absence from America have had a curious coincidence with a change in methods of lurk emotion in America. When we first came to Syria in 1888 the horse car was still supreme in American cities. Experimental lines of electric trolleys were being tried in certain places but I had never seen an electric car. When we returned to America in 1897 we found the trolley in all the cities and I remember being disturbed the first Sunday in Philadelphia by a strange whirring sound during the morning service. I could think of no explanation except the weird creaking of the great water wheels in Hamath but there was no such waterworks in Philadelphia. I soon became familiar with the hum of the trolley. During that first furlough there was much written in the magazines about automobiles and people were wondering whether the auto would really be practicable but I did not see a machine. Our first sight of an auto was in Cairo in Egypt. We reached America on our second furlough in 1908 and the first day on shore gave us our first ride in an auto which we found rapidly taking a recognised place in American everyday life. Again, the magazines had much to say about the airplane but we did not see one while in America. My first sight of a human flyer was at Alalahabad in India. It looks now as if a ride in an airplane might not be a strange experience in our third furlough. The meeting of earnest Christian workers all over the land in conventions and missionary meetings is a real refreshment physically and spiritually. So long as the missionary's health is good, he finds it a joy to speak for the cause and mingle with the workers at home. I travelled a good many miles to meet appointments on each furlough. I spoke on many platforms and a cordial welcome extended and a close attention paid to the message were an ample reward for whatever there was to take in the service. Many times I felt humiliated by what seemed to me extreme and unmerited deference paid to us simply because we were foreign missionaries. So far as Syria is concerned the missionary of today asks for no sympathy on the score of physical privations. We are in close touch with European and American civilisation. We can obtain whatever is necessary for physical well-being and comfort. The climate is not excessively innovating and we can have good homes. There are many things that are trying in the life of a missionary but no more so than in the lives of many workers in the homeland. The isolation from friends and relatives is often one of the most trying features of missionary life. When sickness or death enter the family circle far away it is not easy to think of the miles of restless ocean that lie between us and them. The whole un-Christian, unsympathetic atmosphere makes life hard at times but the compensations are so many that it makes one ashamed to be had as a model of South sacrifice. The missionary feels as the earnest worker at home feels and as Paul felt years ago when he said, the love of Christ constrain of us. The first homegoing was a peculiarly happy for in neither of the two family circles had there been any break the only changes had come by marriage and birth. The circles were expanding and there was no place vacated during the period of our absence. The second going was very different in this respect. Many who had been vigorous were feeble. Many who had bidden us a bright farewell were not present to welcome us on our return. Children had become men and women. There were wrinkles on the faces and grey hair on the heads of those who would expect to find still as young but somehow he began to dawn on us that we ourselves are no longer counted among the young folks in the church. The general recollection of these two furloughs is one of bright smiles and cheery welcomes helpful hands clasps and a joyous fellowship. End of Chapter 12 Recording by Roof Chapter 13 of Silver Chimes in Syria, Glimpses of a Missionaries Experiences This is the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Elsie Selwyn Silver Chimes in Syria, Glimpses of a Missionaries Experiences by William S. Nelson Chapter 13 Personal Friends It was one of the most delightful faces of our experience in charge of the boys' school to find how closely the ties of love bound them to our hearts and to realize that with many of them it was no mere oriental compliment when they called us their father and mother. There are many of those lads now growing to manhood and whose successes we take a parental pride and for whose growth and all that is good and true we pray with parental earnestness. Among the many preachers and teachers in all the churches and schools we count many as most truly our brethren and fellow workers for the master. There are very many Syrians in all parts of America as well as in this land of whom we think in terms of truest brotherhood. It is with no sense of disparagement to the multitude that I have selected three of the elders in our churches for special mention. It has seen to me as I look back over their lives that there are some specially suggestive elements in the way that the Lord has led them and blessed them which are worthy of special note. At the same time these experiences have brought all three into specially close relations with myself personally. I shall mention them in the order of the commencement of my acquaintance with them. In 1885 before I entered the mission I was for a few months in Syria merely as a visitor. It happened that in the college in Beirut was short handed that year and in need of an additional teacher Dr. Bliss asked me to help them out and so I became for two months a member of the teaching force in the preparatory department. I then made the acquaintance of a lad in the senior class of that department named Taufik Salam. He was a quiet studious lad who made no trouble and was always busy with his books or seeking to increase his English vocabulary and the brief time of my remaining in the college my acquaintance was slight and the memory of this boy would have passed from my mind had there been no subsequent association. When I became a member of the Tripoli station and made the acquaintance of the various I found that this lad was the brother of the preacher in Hamath. Their father had been the first preacher in that church and upon his death the eldest son had succeeded to his father's position in the church as well as to the parental responsibility for the care and training of his younger brothers. Taufik spent some years in the service of the mission as teacher in intervals of his college course. In 1892 he was graduated with honor and in 1896 took his degree in medicine also. He settled at once in Hamath where he was well known personally and where his family associations made a valuable professional asset. The conditions of life in ancient Hamath are exceedingly primitive and only a small portion of the population have any intelligent appreciation of the value of modern medicine. Perseverance intact won their way and a valuable practice was built up. With increasing years and widening acquaintance the doctor became generally known, universally trusted and highly respected in government circles as well as among the people. In case the governor wished a reliable report on any case of attack or murder he was sure to send Dr. Salam to investigate. He was to be trusted to tell the truth. When the new constitution was promulgated in 1908 it was provided that all religious sex were entitled to representation in local administrative courts and rotation. Irrespective of the size of those bodies, formerly only the largest of the Christian sex had been allowed representation. This provision gave the Protestants a right to civil equality and they put forward Dr. Salam as their representative who was accepted and served most creditably for the term of two years. It was then the turn of the Catholic sect to have a representative and the heads of the various bodies were summoned by the governor to arrange for the choice of the new member. The governor explained the situation and said that as the Protestants had held the office for two years to choose a representative to succeed the Protestant member. Then, turning to the Catholic priest he said if you have a candidate who is more capable than Dr. Salam or who is his equal we shall be glad to welcome him. But if not I should advise you to ask him to continue in office acting now as representative of the Catholics. The priest replied most cordially that his sect would be delighted to be represented by Dr. Salam if he would consent. In this way the doctor has become practically a permanent member of the governor's council acting alternatively for the Protestants and the Catholics. At the same time the proud member of the large Greek Orthodox sect has to give place every two years to the member chosen by the Jacobite church. In 1892 I was in hams for the administration of the sacraments. Among those who came in on Saturday evening was Mr. Rafful Nasser, a young man who had not been long identified with the Protestant church. He told me that he wished to have his little girl baptized the day. He had been married for several years and this was the first child so the occasion was one of more than usual joy. The next morning before the service began I saw Mr. Nasser come in and take a seat quiet at the back of the church contrary to his usual custom. He seemed depressed and I wondered what had occurred. When the time came for baptisms he made no move to come forward and so I proceeded with the children who were presented. At the close of the service I inquired into the matter and learned that Mr. Nasser had informed his wife the evening before that the little girl was to be baptized the next day. His wife then informed him that she had already had the child baptized secretly by the priest. This explained the depression I had noticed in the father's face. Two years later the parent stood together while I baptized the second child and all the others had been presented without question for the right of baptism. This was the beginning of my acquaintance with Mr. Nasser with whom I have been somewhat intimate in recent years. He was a man of prominent family and homes and has been highly successful in business having become one of the most substantial men of the city. Most of the successful men of homes owe their prosperity to business conducted in Egypt. They spend the winters in Egypt advancing money to the peasants on their cotton crops and also furnishing them certain classes of imported goods on credit. It has been a profitable business even to those who have not been led by the temptation of avarice to impose on the simplicity of the Egyptian peasant. On one occasion I was talking to Mr. Nasser about the high standards of morality obligatory on the true Christian merchant. He then told me the following incident and the simplest manne. As a young man he started with his cousin on a very small capital. They invested their cash, capital and stock for their little store purchasing so far as they could on credit Mr. Nasser returned to Homs leaving his cousin in charge of the business in Egypt. Scarcely had he reached home when the word came of the complete destruction of their store and all its contents by fire. It was a heavy blow for the young men and the first impulse was to go through bankruptcy, settle up as well as they could and give up the enterprise. Friends and creditors came to their help and volunteer to scale down their claims and furnish new capital for the two men to start again. They were prospered from the beginning. At some years Mr. Nasser was unwilling to have the friends who were so kind to him suffer from the old loss. He wrote to his cousin saying that he had no wish to control his partner's actions but asking him to pay off his share of those old losses carried by their friends after the fire and charge the amount against his personal account. The cousin wrote back, whatever you do I shall do also and the light of this incident will anyone say that commercial honor is confined to the West? There was a long period of hesitation when Mr. Nasser was convinced intellectually of the truth of the evangelical faith before he joined the church. He has explained this to me in the following way. He knew that if he gave in his adherence to the Protestant doctrine his conscience would require him to give far more of his possessions than he had been accustomed to do in the Greek church. It took a long time to bring his will to yield. In fact his head was reached before his purse was opened. He gave up the conflict at last and then said in closing the account of his experience I've gotten way beyond that now for I have learned the joy of giving. He is not a millionaire but the Lord has blessed him with considerable property and he recognizes his position as that of steward. He has been the leading spirit in the enterprises of the Homs church spoken of in another place. About the end of the year 1895 I was sitting one day in my study when the bell rang and one of my neighbors Mr. Yusuf Ferris entered. He laid on my desk a bundle of Turkish silver dollars amounting to some thirty dollars American money. He said he had been looking over his accounts for the year and found this balance in his Thai account and so he wished me to use it for him in a way that he indicated in the furtherance of the Lord's business. This was a little matter but it was a true index to the man. A few years previous to this he had moved to the city from a neighboring village. Among his motives for this move was to avoid being forced into a political position he felt to be persistent with his new position as a Protestant Christian. He decided to open a dry goods store in the city but was unwilling to conduct business in the ordinary way of the country. He rented a very small shop and brought his stock of goods from Beirut. He decided upon a fair profit and set his price on the goods. People were not accustomed to this method and were so slow to buy from the new shop. When they found him unvarying in his prices they went away to buy elsewhere getting a inferior article at a slightly lower price. Mr. Ferris had his full share of determination and was not to be turned back from the course upon which he had decided. He had an unfailingly pleasant manner with everyone and showed no resentment at those who bought elsewhere. For months the sales on this little shop were not enough to pay the rent but there was no change of policy. Gradually people began to compare more carefully and discover that in no case were they able to buy the same quality of goods elsewhere than Mr. Ferris's first price. They began to realize that it was a distinct saving of time and temper to avoid the long haggling over prices to which they had been accustomed. By degrees they began to buy from Mr. Ferris and it was not long before some of the country shopkeepers would come to him with a list of goods and asked to have them put up without even asking the prices. Business grew, a larger shop was necessary, two shops, three shops, until at present his goods fill three large rooms while a fourth is necessary for his office and bookkeeping. Two months seldom pass and often less than a month between trips to Beirut for fresh goods and he and his three grown sons are kept busy handling the undertaking. In every good enterprise in Tripoli or in the Presbytery Mr. Yusuf Ferris is a leader with clear advice and generous subscriptions. When the home mission work of the Presbytery was organized he was one of the leaders and has continued to be the main support of his work. When the plans for the Tripoli boy's school were under consideration and there was some danger that lack of money and other considerations might necessitate the removal of the school from Tripoli, Mr. Ferris and his sons came forward with a generous offer of financial help during a period of years aggregating nearly $1,800. This made him the third largest individual donor and we were glad to place his picture among those on the wall of the school reception room and all the intercourse these years while watching the growth and development of character in this man there has grown in my own heart a strength of personal attachment such as I have seldom felt for any other in America or in Syria. End of Chapter 13 Read by Elsie Selwyn Chapter 14 of Silver Times in Syria Glimpses of a Missionary's Experiences This is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Elsie Selwyn Silver Times in Syria Glimpses of a Missionary's Experiences by William S. Nelson Chapter 14 Tripoli Boys School The one enterprise which stands out most conspicuously in our life in Syria and which has absorbed more of our thought and activity than any other is the boarding school for boys in Tripoli. In the earlier years of our work in Tripoli field I found an important item to be the selection of promising candidates from the pupils in the village schools for further education in one of the mission boarding schools. We were anxious to encourage the higher education of boys for in this respect as in many others North Syria is more backward than other parts of the country. Means of communication were poor and it was not an easy thing for people to send their children to a distance of four or five days travel. We used every means at our disposal to persuade reluctant parents offering free tuition and sometimes traveling expenses and help with clothing. By all these means we could gather from the whole territory a dozen or fifteen or at most twenty boys whose parents were willing to send them to school. But immigration to America gradually opened the eyes of people to the commercial advantages of education. Ignorant parents who had gone abroad began to send back money with urgent instructions to put their boys in the American schools. We found the number of applicants increasing in a new willingness to pay for the education. Instead of a dozen we had sixty or more to provide for and the tide was rising. Conditions were the same elsewhere and it was not easy for the other schools to receive this larger number from our district. Why then should our boys go so far from home? The eagerness of some of these lads to get an education went to our hearts and the hardest thing we had to do was to refuse an earnest pleader for whom we had no place left. One day in homes a young man came to me pleading for a place and sit on. He was making his own living as an artisan and had only a simple education. I wished to test his plot and pointed out all the difficulties in the way of one in his circumstances. He had thought it all out and said he could work at his trade in the summer vacations and earn enough for his clothing. But it was a five days journey to sit on and the cost of the journey must be provided for in some way. There was not a moment's hesitation as he said, I'll walk. And he did walk showing a manly contempt for obstacles in the journey. This growing demand for an education such as our American schools give with the increasing ability of many to pay the cost seemed a clear call for action. Our mission had been criticized for putting too much energy and money into education. So it seemed a chance at the same time to take a step in advance in the line of self support. I did not wish to go before the mission with my proposition until I had it well supported. For this reason I wrote to Mr. George D. who had supported us through all our missionary life and laid the matter before him, making two distinct requests. If such a school were to be a success it must have its own permanent premises, especially adapted to its use, and I asked whether he would help us to secure this for the school. It did not seem wise to wait, however, for the accomplishment of this purpose to open the school. I was confident myself that the school could be made self supporting if the promises were fulfilled. And so I asked Mr. Dayton to underwrite the enterprise to the extent of $300 a year in case of a deficit. He responded promptly exceeding to both requests. I was ready then to go before the mission. Our proposition called for two things from the board. The addition of a missionary to our triple E station and provision of rent for premises in which to open the school temporarily. Both requests were granted and we were authorized to go ahead even before receiving it. Ten years after opening the school owing to removals and delay for language study, the whole work of the station with the addition of the school still rests on the shoulders of two men who live in hope of having their new associate promised ten years ago. It has been like the pursuit of a mirage or the fatuous end of the rainbow. More than once we have given a sigh of satisfaction and said, well, next year or at latest the year after we shall be able to settle down to normal lives and emergency has always arisen somewhere our pleasant dreams have faded away and we have settled down again to try to carry the extra load but each time this is done the weight seems to press more heavily and a sense of discouragement steals into the tired heart. We were ready to begin school in 1903 and had laid in some supplies for the coming year when cholera appeared in the land interfering with all lines of travel and communication. I always decided to postpone the opening until the next year and special plans and temporary work were made for the various teachers. In October 1904 the Tripoli Boys School opened into doors and there was every indication of hearty support. We had planned to begin on a very small scale with only 20 borders. We had rented a house in which the boys were to sleep and study the kitchen and dining room being in the basement. Before the day of opening we had 32 insisted applicants and wanted very much to receive them all. Rooms were rented across the street for study and recitation purposes releasing for a dormitory the large room before assigned to study. This with extra cutting of the beds made room and the whole number were admitted. The beds were very crude being merely boards laid across rude iron supports. Everything was as simple as possible. We were all inexperienced in school administration and had about as much to learn as did the boys but that first year was a year of real delight the school was small and the family feeling was encouraged in every way. Every Sunday evening the boys came to our home with a social scene and we learned that the neighbors look forward to the enjoyment of the volume of boyish voices that rang out on the evening air and the middle of the year was possible to transfer the school to much more commodious quarters where all the school and household functions could be under one roof. The most satisfactory feature perhaps was the financial outcome. When the books were closed at the end of the year there was no deficit to be provided for and so our highest anticipation seemed to be justified. This continued to be the normal record of the school the current income providing for the current expense accepting the item of rent. The second year we were able to start in with American desks and iron beds in the dormitories and had an enrollment of 60 pupils. A detailed history of the school would make this chapter too long but its growth and success have meant a great deal to us in our missionary life and 1909 when we returned from our second furlough we had a sufficient building fund to justify definite plans for the permanent home of the school it was not easy to decide on the best location every place suggested had advantages and disadvantages we could not visit any locality in the most casual way without very largely increasing the value of land in the vicinity we looked at land near the sea in the gardens on each side of the city but gradually all mines turned to an olive orchard on the brow of the hill just north of the city. It might not be possible to purchase it but we all agreed that it was the place we wanted if it could be obtained. Inquiry revealed the fact that this piece of property belonged to a family of brothers and sisters who held it as a joint heritage from their father one of the brothers got the hole into his possession accepting the share of one sister who was claimed with something less than one 12th. Her husband was an average fellow who thought he could hold us up for whatever he might demand. We purchased the remainder of the property but could do nothing toward the building until a partner's share should be set off and a legal division made. We proposed every possible division but nothing was acceptable We tried the courts and found it almost as hopeless as Dickens picture of chanceery Finally an amicable adjudication and division out of court was arranged by common friends We went to the hill with professional measures and proceeded to lay off our partner's portion. When he was convinced that we would prefer to give him at the north end he promptly announced he would take the south part which was after all much to our advantage. Then the boundary was laid out very exactly giving him his full share. After the peg had been carefully set his son petulently moved it a foot or more farther on our side evidently intending to irritate us into our refusal of the division We consented however the division was erected the legal papers drawn up and our property was secured. The next step was to obtain a building permit from the government. Every official is suspicious of every other and each is watching for a chance to enter a complaint against the other From on office we went to another with favorable reports from the city engineer but nothing was accomplished There seemed to be no valid objection anywhere and we were assured that the permit would be sent back as soon as our petition reached Constantinople. After long waiting instead of the permit there came back another series of enquiries and points already fully explained. Preliminary work on cisterns, foundations and preparation of stone was in full progress but the winter pass of no permit was received. At last a new governor came to Tripoli who for some reason took a personal interest in bringing the matter to a conclusion He sent vigorous letters and telegrams to Constantinople and in due time the permit was issued and at the end of May 1912 work was begun on the building proper Every means was used to push work forward as fast as possible through the summer and fall so as to have the roof on before the rains came. The walls were completed, the roof, timbers in place but where were the tiles? These had been ordered long in advance and were known to be on the way. Just at this unfortunate moment war between Turkey and Greece was declared and it appeared that our tiles were coming in a Greek steamer which could not now approach a Turkish port. The fall rains came down on our roofless building and it was not until January that the tiles were received. When they arrived there was great rejoicing the workmen all left their tools to help unload the wagons. The school boys went up on the hill and forming lines from the ground to the roof of the building, passed out the tiles from hand to hand with shouts and songs of joy. No damage had been done to the building since the rains tended to set the stone walls and cement flooring perfectly but the plastering and carpenter work for the interior were delayed and the precious rain water for the cisterns was lost. After the roof was finished work progressed rapidly and the utility and beauty of the building developed every day more and more clearly. When Easter vacation came everything was ready and in the absence of the boys the school furniture was moved up to the new building so that all was in good order when vacation was over. The new term opened in the new home. On May 21, 1913 the day was given over to the dedication of the new building and a happier day than that has not come in the history of the school. In the four noon there were races and athletic sports with a football game on the playground behind the building. In the afternoon hosts of friends and neighbors inspected the building and grounds and at four o'clock the assembly hall was crowded with the pupils and their friends. On the platform set the governor and president of the municipality with the missionaries and teachers. The boys sang heartily their songs of welcome and special dedication to him. Written for the occasion from the text, except Jehovah built the house, they labor in vain that build it. Their voices rang out especially as their handkerchiefs waved in their own school song in honor of TBS. This building is rich in significance for does a memorial throughout. The main fund was raised in honor of my father and so the building is to be known as the Henry A. Nelson Memorial. Smaller sums were given as special memorials to relatives of the givers and the bell in the tower was given by parents of a young man, their only son who was called to the heavenly home just before his 21st birthday. Those parents had the comfort of feeling that their son's voice is still calling in the tones of that bell to the lads of Syria and so still serving the master. Our rejoicing in the new building was great but not complete with all our efforts it was not possible to finish the top story of the building and the friends of the school will have plenty of opportunity to help us improve and increase our facilities in the service of the youth of North Syria. End of Chapter 14 Recording by Elsie Selwyn Chapter 15 of Silver Chimes in Syria Glimpses of Emissionaries Experiences This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Larry Wilson Silver Chimes in Syria Glimpses of Emissionaries Experiences by William S. Nelson Moving In 1910 the Syria mission decided upon an advance. The Constitution had been declared in Turkey and everyone hoped that a new era had really begun for the people of the empire. Whatever might be the political results there were clear signs of industrial improvement. The German railroad was being pushed toward Baghdad. Work was progressing rapidly on the line from Tripoli to Homs. There could be but little doubt that the importance of Homs as a commercial center would be greatly enhanced in the near future. The strong evangelical community had been urgent for years that a missionary family live in Homs. This was finally decided upon and the choice of the mission fell on us. There are very few houses for rent in Homs and hints it seemed necessary to plan for missionary residence as soon as possible. An appropriation was made from the Kennedy bequest for this purpose and a piece of land was acquired from the management of the Syrian Evangelical boarding school. Moving in Syria is a different proposition from what it is in America. There are no professional packers. The missionary must do his own packing if he would avoid excessive breakage. He must keep an eye on the porters as they put his goods in the wagons. He must oversee the freight men as they stow away the goods in the cars. At the Homs end of the line every piece had to be carried to its destination on the back of a donkey or a mule. It was no easy matter to balance some of the large boxes on the insecure saddles, but it was all accomplished with time and patience, with very little injury. We secured a little house in the city for six months and it was occupied while the new house was in process of erection. It was a curious little place, but the owner was very proud of it. There was a minaret directly across the narrow street, so we had the calls of prayer almost over our heads five times a day. The section of the city was known as the grass market because it was occupied largely by greengrocers. We were all awakened early every morning by the merchants calling their wares and all day long to hear cries like this. Oh plums! Oh generous one! A penny a pound! Help and strength come from gods! Oh plums! Oh plums! The woodwork and windows of this little house were so poorly constructed that it was impossible to keep anything clean. The strong wind which gathered up straw and dirt seemed to discharge its load all day long in the various rooms of that little house. In October the new mission house was ready for occupancy and we gladly made the transfer to this permanent home. The city of Holmes was perfectly flat and quite compact. The streets are narrow and crooked, the houses low usually but one story high. The better houses are built of black volcanic stone and the poorer houses of sun-dried brick. As a rule the street wall is a dead blank surface with merely a doorway admitting to the enclosed courtyard. The old city was surrounded by a wall and a deep moat and at the south side on a high hill was the ancient castle faced with black stone. This castle has been a complete ruin for over 70 years and the city has outgrown its walls and spread across the moat. The evangelical school and the American mission house lie to the south of the castle hill on a rise of ground among the vineyards. Many houses are being built near us but we are still the vanguard to the south. Directly opposite to us on the north side of the city is the great mosque of Said Khalid said to have cost 16,000 pounds. It is a beautiful building but recently completed. Between us and it lies the old city and its 70,000 plain people. At present a vast majority of the population look to the north rather than to the south but it is our strong hope that the spiritual strength represented by Christian education and Christian homes will win the victory over this great city and the surrounding country so that all shall be won for Christ. End of Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Silver Chimes in Syria Glimpses of a Missionaries Experience This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer visit LibriVox.org Recording by Larry Wilson Silver Chimes in Syria Glimpses of a Missionaries Experiences by William S. Nelson The Muzan or the Bell As the close of this little record comes near, there appears before me a contrast or a conflict. Shall Syria continue as in the past dominated by the minaret and all it signifies is how the church bell be heard more clearly and more truly than it has been in the past. Many years ago in the city homes the large and influential Orthodox Greek community wished to put up a bell in their church. This was found to be wholly impossible because of the unyielding bigotry and hostility of the Muslim community and the government. Finally the bishop consented to hang up a slab of hard, thoroughly seasoned wood, and this was struck with a mallet at the time of worship to call the people together. After quite a long interval when the controversy was largely forgotten this wooden slab was quietly exchanged for one of steel and a clearer sound was obtained. This created a little disturbance but was quickly accepted as an accomplished fact for it is a common saying in Turkey whatever is done is permitted whatever is requested is forbidden. After another long interval a large bell was sent from Russia for this home's church of the 40 martyrs. In view of the relations of Turkey to Russia no open opposition could be shown and the bell was brought with great demonstrations of joy where it rings to call the people to worship. Following the lead of this strongest of the Christian communities all the others have brought bells since and they are in regular use. But the near city of Hamas waited some years longer before hearing its first regular church bell. Many years ago an old shake in Tripoli was calling on me. He was intelligent and friendly and I felt that I could speak to him somewhat freely. When I said to him that the voice of the musin in the neighboring mosque was not so clear as it might be he told me the following incident in his father's life. The French consul in Tripoli lived near a mosque. The musin had a musical voice and the consul enjoyed hearing the call to prayer in the summer evenings. For some reason this man was removed and another put in his place whose voice was harsh and unpleasant. A few days later the consul arrayed himself an official style and with the attendance of his cavices in full regalia he went to call on the old shake and inform it. It was not a feast day nor time for official calls so his coming in this manner created some astonishment and a little uneasiness. After the ordinary salutations had been exchanged the consul addressed the shake in formal manner to this effect. I have come today officially to convey to you my own personal thanks and that of the government I represent for the great favor you have done me. The shake was even more astonished at this opening and protested that nothing worthy of such recognition had been done. Yes said the consul you may not have been aware of the great kindness done but it is no less worthy of note. In the mosque near my house there was a musin who gave the daily call to prayer in a voice that went to the heart of the hearer and it would not have been strange if he had won my allegiance to Islam. However he has been removed and a man with a harsh repellent voice put in his place so there is no longer any danger that the representative of a Christian nation should deny his faith and follow Islam. For this reason I convey to you officially and personally my most profound thanks. No sooner had the caller taken his leave than orders were sent out to have the sweet voice musin restored to his former position in the vicinity of the consulate. The keen consul had gained what he wanted and what a direct request might not have accomplished. No offence was given and all were pleased. After he had told me this story I said Sheikh Ali there are two things which I grudged to you Mohammedans. One is the custom of summoning people to divine worship by the call of the human voice rather than by a metallic bell and the other is the exclusive use among yourselves of the salutation peace be to you. When one Moslem meets another he salutes him peace be to you and the other responds and on you be the peace of God. A Moslem will never intentionally give this salutation to a Christian. I continued that salutation belongs to the Christians more than to you for it was the farewell message from our master to his disciples when he said peace I leave with you and I run to you. Which is it to be in Syria? Shall the separation continue and one large part of the population heed the call to prayer by the human voice from the minaret while another part worship the same God in the churches in answer to the summons of a bell? This unfortunate state of affairs will never cease until the heart of the Christian church is so full of the love of Christ and his perfect peace that the Moslem population shall hear through them a louder cry than the voice of the Moslem calling them to worship the one living God and to know him through the perfect life of his only son, our Lord. Come unto me all ye that labor in our heavy laden and I will give you rest. End of Chapter 16 End of Silver Times in Syria Glimpses of a Missionaries Experiences by William S. Nelson