The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1922-01-20
A YOUNG MANS EXPERIENCE
IN PERSIA

intimate glimpse Of work being carried
on in Persia by our missionaries there,
and inspires us who enjoy so many of
the good things D: life to at least help
the cause along with our money.
Sistan, Pesia, Oct 2S, 1921.
My dear friend:-
You may recall that in my last
letter told Of our leaving Mcshed and
coming down here to Sistan $50 miles
to the South. | am thankful to say
that our fears of u Bolshevik invasion
of Meshed were not realized. But in
stead, Meshed revolted from the Te-
heran government and there was Il
little fighting for few weeks. The
Z rebel governor" was a strong young
, man of unusual integrity who had been
educated in Germany, and being the
enemy OF the present Prime Minister
he was faced with the alternative of
resigning or revolving. He chose the
latter course, and according to the
story we have heard lost his life few
weeks ago in battle. So all is quiet
now, and the doctors who accompanied
me to Sistan have returned to Mcshed.
But AZ we are expecting DR.. Speer to
come up from India into Persia the
I last of December, ! am waiting here
/ to meet him ut the terminus of the
! Baluchistan railroad 1870 miles south
of Sistan, and conduct him to Mcshed.
| You can imagine | am very much OK
cited over the prospect.
| During the first six months of our
stay in Sistan my work was largely
1 in the hospital waiting room. Each
day from forty to eighty people would
come to see the doctor and whenever
they were willing to listen, would try
to read and talk with them. But sick
| ness does not seem to open the hearts
/ of people to the Gospel, for in the
midst of some story Of Jesus love,
Somonc was sure to say, Nov, won't
you let me go i'm to see the doctor at
once. ! have come from far away"l
| At any rate we tried to make them
understand that il they We're cured
they must give the praise to the Lord
! Jesus, for He il was who sent the
doctor to them. and perhaps there
were some who did return to give
glory to Him like the Samaritan leper
of old.
A number Of patients came from
Afghanistan and was especially inter
csted in an old mollah who was an
impatient for several days. Sistan
seemed metropolis to him and the
dress and habits of foreigners were
source of endless wonder read n
good deal to him from the Bible, but
like all Moslcms he was not pleased
with what he heard about Christs
being the Son of God, yet he liked to
talk and before he returned to his own
country,l think he considered me his
bosom friend at least | judged 30
| from the favors he asked of mel He
was surprised to find that had u
Bible in Pushtu, the Afghan language
for most Of their books are written in
Persian, and kept showing this pretty
| blue book to him till he became very
covetous of II las | intented he should)
and at last sold it to him for II silver
tcothpick he hadl have picture o'
him with his Bible in one hand and his
beads in the other.
used also to go out into the streets
and sit down and read to the people
that came by. Most of those VIII,
stopped did 20 out Of curiosity, and
| | found the soil very hard and very
rocky. but ! was always hoping that
some chance seed Of truth might fall
into II bit Of good ground somewhere
and bear some fruit. One Sunday
evening ! was reading as usual with
lot of little ragged begger children
climbing over me when two young
fellows stopped and began to ask ques-
tions. ] thought they we're merely try
ing to annoy me so ! j0ked with them u
little and then went home. As ] went
into the gate to my surprise ! saw
them just behind me, and they asked
when they might come to see me. Next
day they came, and ! found they were
eager to find the truth. They had long
since broken with Islam. and were tru-
~ men without faith. ave have
come in from the desert" they said,
speaking in PARALLELS. ave know moth
ing; can you show us the way" had
several good conversations with them
and believe they really wished to fol-
low Christ. But they were travellers
on their way to India, and they had to
leave Sistan before they had gotten
very far along the way. Before they
left. one of them prayed as follows
80 God, ! am blind. make me to see.
am n child, give me strength. ] am
sick, give me medicine. am Oft The
road, show me the wayW How like
the prayer Of the Publican "God be
mcrcrul to me II sinner!"
But our labors have not been alto
gcthcr fruitcss. My language teach
er, young man from Tcheran, who il
in the Post Office here, has asked Il
be baptized. lie used to attend Tho
church services in Tchcran, and TIL
day after we arrived in Sistan he can'
! to call and brought "a Bible. He has {
good education and II fine helpful spir
il, 80 trust that some day he may b.
: a useful servant of Christ in Persia
Without doubt one strong apostle Il
worth years labor.
Two months ago, a young man iron
the church Of Meshcd came down I,
helm me here. He liz a village boy will
very little education, but about II yea
ago he became Christian, and at one
he became a fisher of men. In man,
things he reminds me Of the first dis
ciplcg those Galil"np fishermen mus
have been Just such diamonds in tn
rough as he Is. He was provided wit
"A donkey by a church in America, an
for some months was engaged in ped
ding tea and sugar about the villag
of Mnshcd, preaching the gospel Wh"l
- ever he went. Fanatical people seN
Il cral times set upon him, and beat hin
I, and scattered his wares, but he ha
already brought more than half-dozc
d people into the church. Since his con
/ ing here, | have stopped reading in tn
d bazaar, because he felt II stirred up ~
. necessary fanaticism. and he has bee
quietly going about talking TO peOpI
and doing n work foreigner nevt
d could do. Ne has already gathered
Il group Of interesting people about HIN
Il ! spend two hours "A day teaching hi
II the Bible, and ! never had kccner {
NJ more interesting class TO teach.
n wish the people who think the u
p. BILE is too difficult for college SUDDEN
TO understand, could hear this unlette
ed village boy recitc his lessons
smile will spread over his homcly fa'
= az some new truth da~ns upon hlf
and he will cxclaim, at grows sweet
and Sweeter all the time" dare ~
he knows the book Of Matthew now
great deal better than some The0lOR
cal graduates do.
J. Recently rode out fifteen miles ca
of Sistan to visit the ruins Of gre
city that once hourished there.
stretched out for some fifty miles pc
10 haps along the banks Of river tn
10 now has dried up. A man in near
10 village told me the city had been de
NJ troved by KinpTimur fIamcrlanc) }, b