The Portland daily press., 1893-10-14
MISSION WORK IN TURKEY.
Miss Agnes Lord Relates to an .sAudience
at Williston Church Some Interesting
Facts From Her Experience.


Facts From Her Experience.
At the vestry of the Williston church
yesterday afternoon there was held the
| first fall meeting of the Congregational
Woman's Mission Society. The president
Mrs. Fem. announced that this was a
| rally meeting preparatory to the meettllng
which will be held here in November OF
| the Woman's Board of Foreign Missions
| for New England and the Middle States.
| The business session was devoted to
consideration of the preparations for the
| reception of visiting delegates at that
time, after which Mrs. Pratt, as chair
man of the meeting introduced Miss
Agnes Lord, as one who had been mis-
sionary in Turkey for many years, on ac-
count of which the Williston people had
reason to feel very happy at having
missionary of their very own.
Miss Lord then addressed the assembled
ladies. She said that it is not, perhaps
in good taste to say at a missionary
meeting that the people at home seemed
lacking in interest and enthusiasm. 1t is
because they cannot realize the distress
missionary has come from. But this
church has done SO much for me that
l want to ask you to share the burden
upon my heart. For it is a burden. 1t
seemed to me when left Smyrna as If
| must find the people at home engaged
in nothing else but the effort to relleve
the people there. look at things SO
differently from what I did when I left
here twelve years ago.
l must tell sou first something of the
people. They are not barbarians, but semi
civilized Ships from all nations are in
the port and there is large European
help are Jews, Greeks, Armenians and
Turks When the mission was first
established, sixty years ago, the work
was begun with the Jews, but it proved
such a hopeless task that it was given
up. Now attention is devoted mostly to
the Greeks, Armenians and Turks. "
The Turks are to me very interesting
people. It is true that the officials are
malicious and ignorant and treacherous
to the last degree, but the common people
are much better than the Greeks and
Armenians, who are Christians. There
is something very touching in the way
| the Turks try to get near to God You
know there are "whirlingp and "hnoWl,-
| ingD dervishes. The former whirl around
faster and faster in the efforts to blind
| themselves to the things of this world
and to thus be able to get into commun-
ion with God The latter sit in the
mosque and begin to sway back and
forth crying all the time their name OF
God, which is Allah, but theirs is such
reverence that they do not, pronounce
the a as in other words, but broader SO
that it is "Olloh." They sway faster
and faster and their calls of "Olloh"
increase as they sway till it makes one
almost dizzy. It is their attempt to get
nearer to God.
But we can't get the Turks into our
schools. The ' .-:4
Government Absolutely Forbids
it. We can only speak to them as we meet
them and this has brought many into
Christianity. More Bibles are bought by
the Turks than by any of the other
peoples, and they are read secretly. 1t
was only few weeks ago that i, a Turk,
who was,a Christian, was put upon the
rack, and after terrible torture it was
Apostle of God, Mahomet or Christi" He
replied. "Christ, though it kill mel" and
soon after he was dead.
Our work, therefore, is confined to the
Greeks and Armenians. They are
Christians, so-called, and their religion is
like Catholicism, but SO covered up with
superstitions that it is worse than
nothing But this makes it all the more
difficult to uproot religious methods.
When | first went there it seemed to me
that evangelical would be better than
school work. / wanted to go and talk to
the people in their homes. But it is dis
couraging after you have talked and read
and prayed for half day to find that
they have not understood at all. | have
become convinced that the school work
is the only way. Once get the children
to school for a few years and we never
lose hold upon them. Also they go home
and they carry the entire family with
them This is almost Invariably the
case. rs
In regard to the expense of our school
for girls in Smyrna, the board gives us
annually $780, We get from the pupils
from S1700 to $500 year.. Therefore
about $500 pays for everything, and we
have family of thirty-fve. The tuition
| of pupils is $SS a year.
When | first went to Smyrna, nine years
ago, the school was two years old. There
in the floor of the building and the rain
came through the roof The highest
classes were in history, grammar and
geometry The girls were all shamefully
untruthful and rude.
Now there are ninety pupils and two
preparatory schools, one for the Greeks
and one for the Armenians. After three
years there in the primary branches
they, if they pass examination and can
| read the Fourth reader in English, come
into the upper department. which is a
five years. course The studies are
zoology, botany, physiology, astronomy,
geology, history, ancient and modern,
mental and moral philosophy, English
literature, French, music, drawing, sew
ing and gymnastics, the Wellesley girls
having sent them recently forty of their
old suits. Also the Greek girls study
old Greek and the Armenians old Armen-
ian. We have corps of nine teachers
1t may seem unnecessary to teach girls
there SO much. but better school even is
necessary. They come too us SO lacking
in reverence, SO hard and unfeeling.
They will not believe anything and
especially they will have nothing to do
with the Bible But the study of science
opens their minds SO that they are able
to grasp the great truths. We were study
ing the stars one night and the teacher
explained their great distance. One of
the new pupils said to another in great
scorn: "Do you believe that?" But their