Page 389 - Neglected Arabia (1911-1915)(Vol 1)

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in the presence of all. If such imperfections appeared in those first
days of apostolic zeal, we certainly cannot expect missionaries to be
very much different to-day—we write this, therefore, that those who
really strive together with us in their prayers may the better kn*»w how
to intercede for us when they realize that we, their representatives, are
persons of like character with them, neither worse nor better, and
therefore in need of the intercessory prayers of all friends of Christ’s
kingdom.
One of the very first temptations to meet the missionary upon ar­
% rival is to weakness of faith. It is one thing to sing, in the midst of
a Christian congregation, a hundred voices joining in:
“Jesus shall reign where e’er the sun,
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Doth his successive journeys run.’'
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MASKAT-A BIRDS-EYE VIEW.

It is another thing to sing it alone in the midst of the thousands
of followers of the false prophet who deny Christ’s right to reign over
them. The new arrival on the Mission field passes through some
solemn hours when face to face with the dead monotony of human
shame and sin, the halo which in his mind had been associated with
Mission work, lifts like the morning mist before an oriental sun. It
is then that he begins to understand the Biblical definition of faith—
that it is an assurance of things not seen. For to see the complete
victory of Christ’s Kingdom on the Mission field requires indeed the
assurance of things not seen there as yet. Later, of course, he gets

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