CONCLUSION
A Persian was one day talking to an English missionary and asked why
our King did not annex Persia.
“It is not right,” said the missionary, “to take what belongs to
someone else, and Persia belongs to your Shah.”
“Still your King is surely bound to do as the Bible tells him, and the
Bible tells him to annex it.”
“Where does the Bible say that?”
“Does it not say that if you see your neighbour’s ox or ass fallen into
a pit you are to pull it out? And Persia is an ass fallen into a pit,
and your King should pull her out.”
Yes, Persia has indeed fallen into a pit, and we must pull her out,
but the pit is not simply one of political difficulty, it is the pit
of Muhammadanism, Persia’s most real difficulty, and we must annex
Persia for the King of Kings. As long as the Persians are Muhammadans
lying and dishonesty will be the rule, cruelty and injustice will go
hand in hand, the poor will be oppressed, the girls and women will be
treated as inferior creatures, the children will be liable to overwork
and cruelty, and religious persecution will continue. And the Persians
are finding out that they are in the pit and they are struggling to get
out, they are crying to us for help. Are we going to help them?
Thousands of Muhammadans in Persia are dissatisfied with their
religion, and are looking for something better. Many are trying a
dissenting form of Muhammadanism, called Bābīism, but many are looking
to Christianity for help.
At first they distrusted the Christians, and Christian work was
constantly hindered or stopped. Now they have learnt to know and trust
the Christians, and the work is not greatly interfered with. Indeed
everywhere the Persians are asking for teachers and doctors, for
schools and hospitals, and for Christian teaching.
If we do not help them in their search after the Way, the Truth, and
the Light, Muhammad’s mistake, which has caused so much misery, may be
repeated, and Christianity rejected in favour of some new religion made
to suit the needs of the moment, but not the needs of eternity. We must
all put our shoulder to the wheel to prevent that.
The Persians are well worth an effort. Numbers of Babis went to their
death in 1903 rather than deny their prophet, and even children have
stood persecution for Christ. “I have a foolish husband,” said one
little girl. “He says he will beat Jesus Christ out of me, but he can
only beat my body, and Jesus Christ is in my heart, so he cannot beat
Him out.”
And the Persians are naturally a religious people, and if their
religious energy could be turned from dead works, formal prayers,
fastings, pilgrimages, divining,--turned to the service of the true and
living God, what a splendid people they might be again, what a force
for God in Asia, and in the world. For the wave of true religious life
would act again on us and help us on. God grant we may yet see the
Persian, stunted as he is by Muhammadanism, grow up to a perfect man to
the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. And what is _our_
part in this great work? It is threefold.
1. _Prayer._ Persia wants our prayers. God wants our prayers for
Persia. We none of us know all the power and possibilities of prayer,
and most of us are surprised when we get direct and obvious answers
to our prayers. It takes us a long time to find out that God answers
all our prayers, but He does. And there are many in Persia who need
our prayers: the missionaries; the converts, often standing alone in a
Muhammadan house or even in a village or in a quarter of the town, with
no Christian friend to encourage them; the inquirers, perplexed as to
the truth, or struggling with their fears of confessing the Saviour in
Whom they have learnt to believe; the untouched Muhammadans, oppressing
or oppressed; the schools, the hospitals and dispensaries, and the
services held week by week in the name of Jesus Christ.
2. _Giving._ We may help to send out missionaries and to keep up the
schools and hospitals, either by giving some of our money, or our time
and work. Have you only five loaves and two small fishes? Our Lord can
use them to feed five thousand men besides women and children.
3. _Personal service._ We cannot all be missionaries in the foreign
field. No, but those who cannot give themselves for foreign service can
do “garrison duty” at home. People often try to dissuade missionaries
from going abroad, telling them they are wanted at home. But they ought
not to be wanted at home; every Christian who cannot go abroad ought to
be doing his share of the work at home, so that those who can go abroad
may be spared.
And you who read this book, if you want to help forward God’s kingdom
in heathen and Muhammadan lands, set to work now at once to fit
yourselves to work as Christian teachers, that you may be ready to
take your place in the ranks here or there as the great Captain
places you. Get to know your Bibles well, studying them if possible
with commentaries or aids. Do not let shyness stand in the way of
your undertaking direct Christian work if you are old enough. Do your
lessons or your work thoroughly and well, and so make yourselves more
fit to be used when the time comes. Get into good habits of healthy
living and simple food. Put away all unkind words and thoughts and
learn to live in charity with all men. Be regular in your prayers
morning and evening, and if possible get a regular time for midday
prayer, even if it is only two minutes, but speak to God too all
through the day--get into the habit of turning to Him at all times. For
whether we work here at home or far away in foreign lands we can only
do God’s work by keeping in close touch with Him.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] For the credit of the hospital authorities it must be stated that
they were making every effort to destroy the cat, but had hitherto
failed owing to its wildness and cunning.
[B] This description is taken from the Shiraz copper bazaar.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.
End of Project Gutenberg's Children of Persia, by Mrs. Napier Malcolm