The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-01-05
NEED CHURCH FUNDS
mrssrox BOARDS FACE NEW TRoU- B BLES EARLY.
19r6 prnce ts Laber--workers Tn the v nnrtan,n Realm CenstantIy Meet
 sng With Fresh Dis

aa ! Special to The Advertiser.
 I3oston. Jan. 1.-The new year has hroareht it's crop of troubles to the A roerfcan Board of Commissioners for { Forofrn Missions of most concern at preserlt arc the dismal reports from the Eastern Turkey and Armenian fields, 3 where xamine has set m earner than usual and probably with more are CT xects.
 xnalrn. What has been allowed to get mt shows that food Is scarce ana 2 prices high. which means that the re- Sources of the Board will be seriously taxed another year to meet tnese con dftions. This section whence come me stories of hunger and despair n1akes up one of the principal mission Aelds of the American Board.
 The Protestant missions are support- .ed cflfef1y by the American Societies. N NCongregaticna1. Presbyterian ana ne- formed the workers associatea Wilh <. the American Board being nearly one- fbfrd of It's total force abroad. IL is q AnId of trouble, one so rich in results ] fl, some respects, but one so uncertain AZ to the future that the Board IS m an almost constant state of perplexity as to what shall be done with iL me battle is always against the MosieH' creek, Roman and Gregorian Churches,
 
 flald and which seem to appeal more directly to the people who have been $ ancustomed to the form and ceremony that goes with these Eastern reiis ions and fail to appreciate the qunet earnestness. of the Christian faitn: Ihe fntoIerance*of the sultan, himsel no head of the Mohammedan Church, IS aiso < drawback, for, despite all the pro faStations made by the Porte, It mas 1ittle love for the Church of Christ.
 From Harpoot and Erzroum come the most disheartening reports or tne iaih- inc. It is imperative that ala pc senl the mission workers and the teacnels lt X contend with that is wholly aside from their difficulty in making con verts. They have neither sufficient cap stal fo propagate the Gospel, nor the means to keep themselves while doins fine work The salaries are necessar- lly small because there are many wno zsuet bA paid. This is one or the chiel ,~r,.rarns of the Board, for the workers are 50 earnest and the converts so sin cera that the field must be constantly filled lest it become sterile agalh.
 So far this year the workers nave been more fortunate than usual InsS ' have not encountered serious opposi- fsc,, in tha Harpoot field so far as the government goes, though at Erzroum' RitHs and Van. three of the eastern nrowinces, the political conditions nave been anything but good Tor eltectIve work. it is the men and women wno are laboring as colporteurs or the American Bible Society who leel ene conditions the most. The consuls nave heen appealed to many times lest severe punishment be visited upon these tireless purveyors Of the Bloie' charges being trumped up for no other purpose than to hinder them Tn tnelr work, A colporteur at Bitiis was thrown into prison one July, ana the erd of inc wear found him still in a miserable cell, though there was no charge other than one connected with a parfectfy innocent business letter ne had written, but which the Government would not allow him to explain.
 Greek colporteur who labofed In the provinces of Broosa ana Daroanei- res was much annoyed by the Sultan's apfes. Several times he was placed under arrest. He was released, only to he ordered to move on, and In am ofher town would be prosecuted in the same manner. It was admitted that there was nothing wrong with his methods or the books he carried. The creek priests tried at one place to be- little him by claiming that the copies of the Bible he carried were not uenuine, but the village elders ordered some from the Patriarchate and found them Identical with the ones the col porteur carried. It gave him prestige for the time and helped more than all his own words could have done But everywhere he encountered the same poverty that is being reported now to fhe American Board. His Bibles were sold on installments, and payments, when any were made, were so slow that it was discouraging trying to get rid of them. except as gifts, and the gunds of the mission did not permit Of that.
 Al Trebizond and Sivas Government Interference is almost chronic, accord ing to the reports received. The work CTS are seized and imprisoned, their property confiscated and when finally fhe release comes the damage to the cause has been done and they have to start all over again. The natives feel the same oppression and hundreds of them are leaving the country. especial ly those to whom Christianity has come as an enlightenment. Hundreds have left the vicinity of Harpoot in Ehe last eight months, and the tide has not been stemmed as yet. In some places notices have been posted warn Ing the people against the American workers. Odd forms of opposition have sprung into being some of them most dreaded because they purport to be part and parcel of the religion it. self, when as a matter of fact they have nothing to do with it. But the American Board knows that any relief sent to the missionaries in the Turk ash and Bulgarian fields in times of famine will be like casting good seed on fertile soil and the members of this great organization are seeking new sources of income with which to seize upon the opportunity for making new converts to Christianity.