more fruitful for good than day schools. One sort of school that seems
to have had the happiest results has been where a lady missionary has a
little group of some twelve girls living with her. They are her
companions night and day; she shares all their conversation, their play,
their household duties, their lessons. The pure, refining influence of
her constant companionship has more effect on these young lives than any
other that has been tried. Will not many Christian women give themselves
to such work as this?
Much might be done in the way of small orphanages for girls, or homes
where the children of divorced mothers might be received.
The possibilities before us of what these girls might become through the
home training of several years are almost unlimited. The natural
intelligence and sweetness of character shown by many of them show what
might be made of them. They have all the light-heartedness and merry
ways of western girls, with the same tenderness towards suffering. And
at the same time there is a strength of character and determination of
will that not only explains, perhaps, many of the divorces which now
take place, but it raises hopes of what these girls may become, and may
accomplish for the regeneration of their people.
If they become followers of Christ, they are of the stuff of which
martyrs are made. One little girl in a mission school in Egypt stood up
in front of all her companions and boldly said that she believed in
Jesus. The news was quickly told at home and she was severely beaten. A
day or two afterwards, she was back in her place at school. Her teacher
asked had she been beaten very much. "Yes," she said, "but never mind,
wasn't Jesus beaten for me?"
The centuries of oppression that have passed over the heads of these
women have not crushed their spirit. It rises afresh against all the
stupidity and ignorance of those who oppress them. And men still find
out even among Moslems:
"What man on earth hath power or skill
To stem the torrent of a woman's will?
For when she will, she will, you may depend on't,
And when she won't, she won't, and there's an end on't."
That efforts to educate and train the girls are really appreciated by
the men is evident from one fact known of large training schools in
Syria. We are told that not one girl graduated there has been divorced,
nor have any of their husbands introduced a second wife into their
homes. This shows us that what the Moslem man really needs is a wife who
is able to be a companion to him. One who can talk to him, keep his home
neat, and knows how to take care of his children. And in many a case the
lessons of heavenly things which the young wife has learnt at school
have been willingly listened to by the husband.
The chief aim in our work should be to have constant touch with the
girls, to love them, to win their love, and to live Christ before them,
not resting satisfied with anything short of their salvation.
But all this needs to be taken up in dead earnest; and Christian women
can only do it in the power of the Holy Spirit, yielding their lives
wholly to the Lord for it. If we do rise to it, and diligently give
ourselves to win the women and girls of Islam for Christ, and train them
up to live for Him in their homes, we shall find the answer to Abraham's
prayer for his son Ishmael begin to come true: "As for Ishmael I have
heard thee. Behold I have blessed him,"--and God's blessing _is life for
evermore_.
And to Our Moslem Sisters may come again the words that were spoken to
Hagar: "_The Lord hath heard thy affliction._" "_And she called the name
of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me, for she said, Have I
also here looked after Him that seeth me._" The fountain of water in the
wilderness by which the angel found her was called Beer lahai-roi: "_The
well of Him that liveth and seeth me._" And the very name of Ishmael
means, "_God shall hear._" Is it not an invitation and an encouragement
to us to take on our hearts these multitudes of their children and claim
the promises for them? _Blessing is life._ "_I am come that they might
have life and that they might have it more abundantly._"
For this end we ask you to enter into a covenant of prayer with us, that
we may not cease to intercede for our broken-hearted sisters, that they
may be comforted, and for the captives of Satan, that they may be set
free, that the prison gates may be opened for them so that the oil of
joy may be given them for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit
of heaviness.
"Life! life! eternal life!
Jesus alone is the giver.
Life! life! abundant life!
Glory to Jesus for ever."
When this Life becomes theirs, Our Moslem Sisters will be our own
sisters in a new sense of the word, and we shall see the evangelization
of the Mohammedan home and of all Moslem lands.
A PRAYER.
"O Lord God, to whom the sceptre of right belongeth, lift up
Thyself and travel in the greatness of Thy strength throughout
the Mohammedan lands of the East; because of the anointing of
Thy Son Jesus Christ as Thy true Prophet, Priest, and King,
destroy the sword of Islam, and break the yoke of the false
prophet Mohammed from off the necks of Egypt, Arabia, Turkey,
Persia, and other Moslem lands, so that there may be opened
throughout these lands a great door and effectual for the
Gospel, that the Word of the Lord may have free course and be
glorified, and the veil upon so many hearts may be removed,
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen." (From the C. M. S. Cycle
of Prayer.)
LATEST IMPORTANT WORKS ON MOHAMMEDANISM
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Constantinople and Its Problems
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Henry Martyn
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Transcriber's Note:
Varying transliterations of Arabic words have not been changed, but
obvious mistakes have been corrected.
Underscores have been used to denote italics, as in the following
example: _italic_.
The illustration referred to in footnote [D] is the illustration entitled
"A CRY OF DISTRESS FROM ALGIERS."