PROGRESS AND PROMISE.
BENEVOLENCE, EARLY MANIFESTATION OF.--PROGRESS.--REVIVAL OF BENEVOLENCE
IN APRIL, 1861.--INTEREST OF PARENTS FOR THE CONVERSION OF THEIR
CHILDREN.--PEACE IN FAMILIES.--REFORMED
MARRIAGES.--ORDINATIONS.--COMMUNION SEASONS.--MISS RICE AND MISS
BEACH.--CONCLUSION.
The pupils were early trained to form habits of self-denying
benevolence. In 1844, the day scholars made as many as fifty garments
for poor children. Early in 1845, when some mountaineers came to beg
money for their ragged children, the question was put, "Who will give
her own clothes and wear poorer ones till she can make others." Many
responded at once, and she who gave her best dress was deemed the most
happy. Some even wept because they could not do the same. In a letter
written December, 1848, the pupils say, "The last day of the term was
monthly concert. We had a good time of prayer, and then a collection,
which went up to thirty-two sahib korans--(seven dollars.) We hope this
will be increased, and used for sending the gospel to the poor people
of the mountains."
They were accustomed to devote several hours a week to sewing for some
benevolent object. At the close of one term the articles thus prepared
were sold for sixteen dollars, and the proceeds sent to Aintab to pay
for teaching women there to read.
The same virtue was assiduously cultivated in the people. Deacons John
and Yonan had for some time been urged to take up a collection at the
monthly concert at Geog Tapa, but they dared not try; not that they did
not wish it, but they feared that the people, in their poverty, might
take offence at the innovation. At length, on the first Sabbath of
1852, John preached on the subject, and a few korans (worth twenty
cents each), were contributed. The first Sabbath of February it was
Yonan's turn to preach there. So he prepared himself thoroughly on this
subject,--Miss Fiske had read with him the prize essays on Benevolence,
published by the American Tract Society,--and, carrying his map into a
crowded church, he spoke at some length about missions in various parts
of the world. His account was well received. Then Bibles were
distributed through the church, and the readers were called on to read
passages previously selected, showing, first, the antiquity of
benevolent contributions; secondly, that the poor were to give as well
as the rich; and thirdly, that the blessing of God was promised to the
benevolent. The readers were scattered all over the church, and the
people listened with great attention. Then several spoke on the
subject, and the elders of the village gave the work their hearty
approval. Afternoon came, and as the time for meeting drew near, old
and young were eagerly engaged in getting ready their contributions (in
Geog Tapa the monthly concert is held on Sabbath afternoon), and as
many as two hundred came together. There were remarks and prayers, and
while the missionary hymn was being sung at the close, the collection
was taken up, amounting, in money and cotton yarn, to more than fifteen
korans. One sick boy, who had heard what was going on, rose from his
bed, and crept in to deposit his little coin. Instead of spending their
saints' days in idleness, as had been the custom, many now wrought on
those days to earn money for giving, saying to objectors that it was
better to labor for the spread of the gospel than to be idle for Satan.
Mr. Stoddard attended the March concert, with some idols from India,
and so interested the people that the collection amounted to more than
twenty-five korans, thus the good work went on.
After this the spirit of benevolence steadily increased, and instances
of marked self-denial were not wanting. It shows at once their poverty
and their disposition to do what they could, that at the monthly
concert a basket was passed round along with the contribution box, to
receive eggs from the little children and such as were too poor to give
any thing else. Crosses of ivory or silver were often found among the
contributions.
One day, a man was seen to take a silver coin out of his purse; and as
the missionary went on to describe more of the condition of the heathen
world, a second and a third was taken out, and held in readiness for
the collection. At another time, a woman, whom she had not seen before,
asked for a private interview with one of the ladies of the mission;
and when alone, besides requesting prayer that she might become a
Christian, she took out a gold ornament, the only one of any value that
she possessed, which had been handed down as an heirloom in her family
for several generations, and said she wanted to give that to send the
gospel to others, only no one must know who gave it. The ornament was
sold for four dollars and fifty cents, and the woman, in less than a
year, became a useful Christian. Sometimes the amount of interest might
be measured by the number of silver coins manufactured into buttons
that were found in the contribution box; for when their feelings were
aroused, the women cut off the fastenings of their outer garments, and
cast them into the Lord's treasury.
But the most remarkable revival of benevolence occurred in April, 1861;
and we condense the following account of it from a long letter of Yonan
to Miss Fiske and Mrs. Stoddard:--
"The prayers and tears of our missionary friends have, this winter,
received a joyful reward from our Father in heaven. We were told that
the first week in January would be devoted by all Christians to prayer
for great things, and my heart was never so enlarged before. It seemed
as if Persia, nominal Christendom, and all the heathen were under the
power of prayer; as if the Christian's measuring-line was stretched
round the four corners of the earth. One day the missionaries met, as
usual, for prayer in Dr. Wright's large room. It moved me much, and I
said to my companions, 'They are praying for us while we are idle.'
They said, 'It is good that we spend this half hour in prayer every
day.' We did so. On the Sabbath, I went to my village, Geog Tapa, and
mentioned these things to the people at the evening meeting. The Lord
opened the mouth of Abraham, who said, 'Brethren, in these places we
are always idle--let us meet for prayer half an hour before sunset.'
They did so. The clouds over our heads seemed loaded with blessings:
still they did not descend. Mr. Cobb and Mr. Ambrose had talked with me
about commencing in our village to support preachers in the mountains.
So did Mr. Labaree last week. I told him of our poverty. He said, 'I am
grieved for that; but begin with some little thing.'
"We went to Geog Tapa the last Sabbath in March. John gave notice, as
it was the gospel Sabbath, [monthly concert is so called], of the
contributions for our brothers in India. In his sermon he said that
much of our poverty is from our indolence. Last year our collection was
fifteen tomans. [A toman is about two dollars.] If we had more zeal, we
might raise twenty, and that would support a preacher in the mountains.
At once Guwergis cried out, 'I will give one.' I said, 'We will support
one preacher and two schools among ourselves, and if any thing is over,
we will send it far away.' Priest Abraham approved of this. Then all
the brethren in the congregation began to speak. 'So is good.' 'Thus we
will do.' John would have stilled them; but I said, 'Perhaps God is
blessing your preaching; let them speak.' Praised be God's name
forever; in a moment every obstacle was swept away. Had we known that
God was so near, we would have bowed our heads before him. Now Aib Khan
cried, 'I give one toman;' and 'I,' said Priest Moses, 'twelve korans;'
and another, 'I two monats.' [A monat is seventy-five cents.] Moses now
took out his pencil to write. The Malik said, 'I have often thought
that I would put a gold imperial in the box [four dollars and fifty
cents]; write that.' I then said, 'My family of eight souls hear
preaching all the year, and three or four attend school. I am a debtor;
write for me three tomans--it is not too much.' When God pleases,
excuses flee away; high prices and oppression were not thought of; we
were lords of wealth. Moses then said, 'I am troubled that I remain to
the last; but we are three brothers in company, and I know not whether
they will act through me, or each one for himself.' One brother cried
out, 'Our agent and I, five korans more.' Another man then said, 'I
also am at a loss on account of my brother;' and his brother replied,
'Four monats.' These things made brotherly love very firm. Guwergis now
cried out, 'Women, where are you? In the wilderness women gave their
brazen mirrors.' I said, 'Holy women, to-day ends fifteen years of the
prayers of Christianity among us. Speak!' [It was fifteen years since
the revival in 1846.] One replied, 'I half a monat;' and 'I a
head-dress;' 'I a silver ornament;' 'I my earrings;' and so on. A widow
said, 'I have kept my husband's coat till now; I will sell it, and give
half the price.' And others made similar responses. Isaac, a poor old
mountaineer, gave two korans; and another said, 'I have nothing but the
mat I sit on: I give that.' It was a new one he had just finished. A
mother said, 'I have nothing now, but I will give the work of my hands
this winter--a tope [ten yards] of cotton cloth.' A pilgrim said, 'When
I was in Jerusalem, an Armenian and a Russian bid against each other,
and the Russian prevailed, giving five hundred tomans to the Greek
convent. If they had such zeal for error, we ought to have more for the
truth.' And one unaccustomed to come to church gave the fruit and
prunings of fifteen rows in his vineyard. [The prunings of the vines
are sold for fuel.] We were in the church about four hours. Time was
given for all to contribute, and then we spent a season in joyful song
and pleasant prayer.
"The report of what had been done spread quickly through the village,
and my mother-in-law sent word that she would give a hundred and
twenty-eight pounds of raisins. At evening meeting, the house was full.
Benjamin said, 'Brethren, the teacher of our school was one day
explaining the verse, "Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that
treadeth out the corn;" and Mr. Stoddard, who stood near, added, "But
the Nestorian oxen eat from the straw of America." That word has worked
in my heart ever since. I trust that, hereafter, we will eat our own
straw.' That night we lay awake a long time for joy. In the morning,
before I was up, my uncle and his wife came and promised a load of
wheat [five bushels]; and when passing through the village, a woman put
an ornament in my pocket to sell for the cause.
"Monday we came to the city for the gospel day [the concert is held
there on Monday], and every one who met us remarked our glad faces. In
the meeting, after Mr. Coan spoke, John opened a bundle of the gifts,
and Moses described the scenes of the day before. I said, 'One toman
led to sixty in our village yesterday: perhaps it will lead to hundreds
more. Many times the good in the heart of the Christian comes up into
his mouth, and then goes back; but when the power of God prevails, it
not only comes into the mouth, but comes forth and abounds.' Priest
Moses arose, and said, 'As long as a man is sick, it is no shame if he
does not walk; but if the blood walks well in his veins, and he becomes
fat, and still lies in bed, every one reproaches him. We have grown
fat; and how long shall we lie under the quilts?' Priest Yakob added,
'For twenty-five years we have said, "Let the Lord go before;" and now
that he has come, let us wait no longer, but give.' He gave two tomans,
and others followed. Mar Tohanan's wife gave a toman of ornaments, and
almost every girl in school from one koran to three or four. Isras, of
Degala, gave fifteen tomans and a new vineyard that he had recently
bought. Guwergis, who had already proposed to plough the field the
second time, now rose, and opening his hand, said, 'If a man thrust his
hand into a pile of gold, and give of it to God, is it a great thing
when He has filled his hand with the blood of his Son, and given it to
us?' Sagoo,[1] of Gulpashan, said, 'My father gave each of my two
sisters thirty tomans. When Hannah died, hers became mine. I give it
for the bride's veil; [The kingdom of Christ is here spoken of as the
bride], also a silver watch.' One who had only two or three sheep
promised one of them. My little girl, Sherin, had asked, a few days
before, for a new dress. She now sent word to me that she would do
without it for a year, if I would give the money for the gospel. I
cannot fully describe the spirit of the meeting: we went out wondering
and congratulating each other at having witnessed such a pleasant
sight. At the evening meeting one said, 'I heard in the market what you
were doing; I give a gun, the price of which was seven and a half
tomans.' Some gave for themselves, and others for their wives and
children. Moses gave four monats for his brother's children. There were
tithes and sixths, fifths and fourths, thirds and halves, of crops of
hay and grapes. Priest Abraham said, 'We say a thief will never own a
house. Did you ever see one that had wealth? We are thieves, and
therefore are so poor. We have robbed God. I will give a tithe of my
vineyard.' Another replied, 'And I of every thing.' And a man, who had
before given one quarter of his vineyard, now gave the half. A widow,
who had nothing but a cow, pledged a hepta [four pounds] of butter. A
poor man, who has a few fruit trees in his yard, promised ten heptas of
apricots. Guwergis spoke up, 'We have butter: what shall we cook in it
for the bride?' A woman answered, 'I give four heptas of rice;' to
which her husband added two. [Footnote 1: See page 209.]
"Mar Elias now kissed us much; he put nineteen korans into John's hand,
saying, 'As yet I have not grown indifferent.' And Mar Yohanan said,
with tears, 'The crown of the bride remains for me. I give thirty
tomans.'
"In our village, besides the tithes, seventy tomans were collected, and
in the city two hundred and fifty. I hope the whole will go up to five
hundred or more. I stand amazed. I can think nothing but, 'I am a
miserable sinner.' The glorious God has gone before us in mercy. For
two or three years our village was going down; we were at variance and
in trouble; but Immanuel has met us with a blessing, a hundred fold
beyond our expectation. It is the beginning of a great work for future
generations. I know that the joy of heaven is awakened in the joy of
blessed Mr. Stocking and Mr. Stoddard. I want to fly to them and talk
with them about it, but this veil does not allow it. You, too, will
want to fly to the people that are so dear to you. I trust that this
pouring out of such a spirit will be the door of many blessings. We
have had a scarcity for seven years, so that wheat is six times its
former price. Our people are poor and sorely oppressed. From the depths
of their poverty they have given: I never knew them before. If all were
Christians, what might we not see? Perhaps the poor widows and orphans,
who have contributed for our good, have been discouraged; but truly
their gifts have not been sown in vain among our people. I believe at
the last day you will see fruit according to the word of Jesus--thirty,
sixty, and a hundred fold. The time is not far off when every converted
Nestorian will go to ten Mussulmen to teach them the word of God.
"Pray for us more than ever, for many are the enemies of Nehemiah and
ruined Jerusalem. Our hope is in God. He has begun, and he will finish."
The pledges then made have since been fulfilled, with very few
exceptions, and that not regretfully, but with a heartiness truly
affecting to those who knew their poverty. In July, 1861, the mission
resolved to furnish no teacher for a school--except in new
villages--where a part of his support was not assumed by the people.
The Barandooz congregation, in the spring of 1862, cheerfully assumed
the burden of their schools; and some have also expressed a readiness
to aid in the support of their pastors. A number of pupils, in both
Seminaries, contribute liberally towards their support.
In bringing to a close these glimpses of the changes wrought by grace
among the Nestorians, we must not pass by the number of pious parents
who now aid the missionaries by their prayers. While, in the early days
of the Seminary, its teacher was left to pray alone for her pupils,
before she left, in 1858, she rejoiced to know that two thirds of them
had either a pious parent, or other member of the family, who prayed
for their salvation.
One cold morning, in 1856, a pious mother walked three miles through
the snow, to inquire if there was any interest in the school. "Why do
you ask?" replied the teacher. "I have thought of you continually for
two or three days; and last night, after falling asleep, thinking about
you, I dreamed that God was visiting you by his Holy Spirit. So, when I
awoke, I arose and baked, and hurried here. I am so anxious about my
daughter! Can I see her?" She was told that her daughter was among the
inquirers the evening before, and sank down where she stood, weeping
for joy. The heart of the teacher grew strong in the feeling that the
mothers were wrestling with her. The mother passed into an adjoining
room to see her daughter; and a missionary brother, who came in just
then, could not restrain his tears as he listened to her earnest
intercessions, saying, "This is more to me than any thing I have seen
in Persia." After that year, some parents, when they came to the
Seminary, were never willing to leave till they had prayed with their
children. A father once wrote, "Yesterday I invited some Christian
friends to my house, and had three prayers offered for the school; and
while praying for you, we felt our own sins very much, and cried to God
to save us from their power."
Nor were the pupils wanting in interest for their impenitent parents.
During the long vacation in 1850, Hanee, who used to spend several
hours a day in prayer for her mother, so pressed her with entreaties to
come to the Saviour, that one day she roughly replied, "Enough! Enough!
Stop your praying and weeping for me: you will weep yourself blind." "O
mother," was the beautiful reply, "it seems as though I would gladly
become blind, if thereby you might be brought to Jesus."
Perhaps the effects of grace were nowhere more conspicuous than in the
effects it produced in those great households already described. Let us
first look in on the hinderances they occasioned to a life of piety.
Yonan writes, in his journal of March 7, 1858, "Widow Hatoon is a
devout woman, and tries to erect the family altar in her house; but it
is very difficult. She often collects the readers in the neighborhood
on Sabbath morning, to read the Bible with her family. I asked her, 'Do
you pray with your children? They have no father; they are left in your
hands, and God will require them of you again.' 'I do; but I find it
very hard in our house: we are all in one room, our beds very near each
other, and there is no separate chamber: when about to retire, I gather
them together behind a quilt, and talk and pray with them.'"
Again he writes, "Hatoon, the wife of Sarhoosh, is a member of a large
family. Three of the women in the house, and one of their husbands,
fear God; but the older members of the household are very wicked, and
even violent in their opposition. She is much troubled about family
prayer. While the devout ones engage in worship at one end of the room,
the rest, at the other end, talk, laugh, and revile."
Yet, even in such households, grace reveals its divine power. We find
Yonan putting this question to a communicant: "Do you and M. live
pleasantly together?" M. was her sister-in-law, in a household of more
than thirty souls. "She is a little quick tempered," was the reply;
"but I try not to trouble her, and to have our love perfect that we may
be a good example to the rest." Yonan prayed with her, and asked if he
could do any thing for her relatives. "Dear brother in Christ," she
replied, "in the name of the Lord Jesus, our precious Saviour, I beg
you to pray with my husband: it maybe God will bless him." "My sister,
God will bless him: this your anguish shall be turned into joy." "My
own heart was moved," adds the narrator. "I saw my own love very
little, compared with hers, and felt my unworthiness very much."
The change in their social condition was beautifully illustrated by a
little incident in the Seminary, in 1849. One of the older pupils had
been betrothed; but when the ring of betrothal was brought, to be
placed on her finger, she could not be found. After long search, her
gentle voice was heard in the most retired part of the building,
imploring the blessing of God to abide with her in that new relation.
Only those who had seen the rioting and folly common on such occasions
could appreciate the change.
The marriage of Mar Yohanan, in 1859, was a step in the work of lifting
up woman to her true position. Formerly, marriage had been deemed
something too unholy for a bishop; and the consequence was the general
degradation of the sex. The entrance of the gospel corrected public
sentiment on this point; and that act of the bishop only gave
expression to the popular conviction that marriage is honorable in all,
even the highest and holiest, nurturing some of the loveliest graces of
the Christian character. The event for a time caused some stir among
the enemies of the truth; but it soon died away, and the old ascetic
views of piety are passing away with the social degradation in which
they had their origin.
About the same time Yohanan, whom we have seen laboring in the
mountains with his estimable wife, was ordained to the work of the
ministry without any of the mummeries that had been added to the simple
usage of the New Testament; the venerable Mar Elias uniting with the
missionaries in the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Two
months later, six more of the most pious and best educated young men,
who had long deferred ordination through aversion to the old forms,
followed his example; among them our mountain friend Oshana, Deacon
John, of Geog Tapa, and Deacon Yakob, of Sapergan. Marriage ceremonies
and entertainments have long been improved, and the revelling of former
days on such occasions is going into deserved disuse among the more
enlightened.
In the year 1858, the people of Memikan left off keeping their fasts,
on the ground that they tended to nullify salvation by grace through
Jesus Christ. Formerly this would have brought down on them, the wrath
of the patriarch, their village would have been devoted to plunder and
the torch, and themselves to death or exile; but now it caused scarce a
ripple on the current of events--not that men did not see the drift of
things, but they allowed it to have free course.
There is another sign of the times that calls for more special mention.
Other missions in Western Asia had been forced by persecution to the
early formation of churches. They had to provide a fold for the lambs
driven from their former shelter. Here there had been no such
necessity; yet the converts longed for a more spiritual observance of
gospel ordinances.
The mission had hitherto celebrated the Lord's supper by themselves,
and with one or two exceptions, no Nestorian had witnessed its
observance. There had been some thought of admitting them; but nothing
had been done, till, in the spring of 1854, three of the converts, who
had been reading an English treatise on the subject, asked one of the
ladies of the mission to intercede with the gentlemen to allow them to
be present. She informed Mr. Stoddard of their request, and he
encouraged them to go forward. The matter was laid before the mission,
and it was concluded that a few of those judged most fit for admission
to the ordinance should be invited to partake.
The first communion to which the converts were admitted was celebrated
in September, 1854, in the large room on the lower floor of the Female
Seminary. Eleven Nestorians partook with the missionaries, and three of
them were women, who had graduated there. After the service, some of
the men went up stairs and sat down without speaking. Miss Fiske, not
knowing the cause of their silence, and fearing lest they might have
been disappointed by the simplicity of our forms, did not venture to
allude to the subject, till one of them asked, "Is it always, so when
you commune, or was this an unusual occasion?" "Why, did you not enjoy
it?" "Not enjoy it! Jesus Christ himself seemed almost visibly present;
it was difficult to realize that it was not the Saviour in person who
presided at the table. It must have been just such a scene when the
ordinance was first instituted in Jerusalem; and I could not get rid of
the inquiry, 'Shall one of us go out like Judas and betray him?'" It is
a significant fact that those most accustomed to mediaeval forms, when
regenerated by the Spirit, relish them the least; and the more
spiritual they become, the more they crave the simple forms of the New
Testament, because they draw the least attention to themselves, and fix
it most completely on the Saviour.
In January, 1855, as many as seventy of the converts, after careful
examination, were allowed to partake; and once every four months the
privilege was renewed, with an accession of from twelve to thirty
communicants each time. These were occasions of unusual interest.
Several days were devoted to religious meetings, and even in midwinter
pious people made long journeys, and crossed bleak mountains on the
snow, to attend them. One woman, Hoimar, of Salmas,[1] travelled sixty
miles, through deep snow and piercing cold, to be present at this
ordinance in January, 1858. [Footnote 1: See page 171.]
In June of that year, the better to distinguish those entitled to this
privilege, before the sacrament all entered together into solemn
covenant with God. The whole number received up to that time was two
hundred and forty-nine; at the close of 1861, it had swelled to five
hundred. As the meetings became too unwieldy, and it was inconvenient
for so many to come so far, the ordinance was administered at Seir
also, in September, 1858; and here providentially another end was
secured, for as Dr. Wright was then too sick to distribute the
elements, some of the natives had to perform that service. In June
following, a very interesting communion was observed at Memikan;
Yohanan and his wife crossing a high mountain, even then covered with
snow, to bring their little child for baptism. Next year, the ordinance
was celebrated in every village where there was a sufficient number of
hopeful converts to justify its observance. Thus has God led his
people, step by step, in a way that they knew not, till now there are
all the essentials of a church at every place where God has raised up
members of the body of Christ. They enter into covenant with him and
with each other. They keep his ordinances, and grow in grace, in
knowledge, and in numbers. They may take one step farther. Since this
last sentence was written, the converted Nestorians have proceeded even
to the adoption of a creed and directory for worship.
Did the limits of this volume allow, it would be pleasant to dwell at
length on the labors of Miss Mary Susan Rice, who joined Miss Fiske in
November, 1847, and has ever since toiled diligently, and without
interruption, at her post. Since the return of Miss Fiske she has
entered into all her labors, both thoroughly and successfully. Her
fifteen years of toil will never be forgotten by those who have been
privileged to receive her instructions, both in and out of the
Seminary. They form an important part of the instrumentalities God has
employed to bring woman in Persia to the knowledge of her Saviour. A
mass of her correspondence now lies before the writer, which he has
read with much interest; but to quote from it would only be,
reproducing scenes already portrayed. It is not necessary to describe
the laying of each course of brick in the walls of the spiritual temple.
One sentence, however, now arrests my eye, which I must quote, because
it shows how the Saviour was preparing her for the sole care of the
school, that has devolved on her ever since, owing to the protracted
illness of Miss Aura J. Beach, who was sent out to her assistance in
February, 1860. Writing to her predecessor, three years ago, she says,
"O, what a relief to roll the burdens, which we cannot bear, upon the
strong arm outstretched to help, and feel that, like sinking Peter, we
shall be sustained amid raging billows!"
Labor among the Nestorians is becoming more assimilated to labor at
home. Instead of the national peculiarities conspicuous at the outset,
different from our own, and prominent because so different, things
begin to move in familiar orbits, because they set out from similar
conditions and tend to like results. In proportion as the gospel
advances in its work, the distinguishing characteristics of a people
fall into the background, to give place to those spiritual features
common to the work of grace in every land. The river is most
picturesque high up among the mountains, while its stream is yet small
and many obstacles oppose its course; after it glides out from among
the hills into the open plain, it moves with larger volume, but in a
more monotonous current, to the sea.
May the work of God advance, till this unity of all nations in Jesus
Christ shall every where replace the diversity and hostility under
which to-day creation groans, till in the placid surface of such a
river of life the Saviour shall see his own image reflected, as it is
from the sea of glass above!