Page 3 - History of Arabian Mission 1926-1957

HISTORY OF THE ARABIAN MISSION
blessing vaa the favor, In some of our stations, which enabled us to use the
APO mail facilities during the latter part of the war. !
1926-1957 *
Our furlough schedule was disrupted and travel was unpredictable and
unusualo Many of us saw part3 of the world we had never expected to seel
Most, of our travel was done under black-out conditions, and those who were in
x. THREE DECADES - A BACKGROUND couvoys with oil tankers were In real danger. A ship was actually sunk In
Muscat harbor* i
"For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesteaday when For two months, at the time of the threatened Invasion of Madras, on
it Is past, and as a watch in the night." Psalm 90 the cast coast of India, the parents of children attending school in Kbdaikanal
did not know where 'they were.
In the early days of flying, John Van Ess was walking across the
mission compound in Basrah with an Arab friend, when a great Imperial Airways Cur hospital a suffered not only from shortage of staff, but from the
plane flew overhead, Mr. Van Ess stopped what he was saying, shaded his ayes extreme difficulty of securing drugs and supplies. Understaffing affected all J
with his hand and looked up at the plane with admiration and awe, and ex­ our stations and all. departments of work*
claimed, "Isn't that wonderful I" The Arab, without looking up, said, *Xt was
made to fly," and continued the interrupted conversation. Recruiting our ranks was difficult and irregular.
so amusing to us as a revelation of difference in atti- The aftermath, of war was anti-imperialism and a strong trend toward
tudes, man be l as a parable of the Arabian Mission. It was made to fly I nationalism and self-determination, which the Near and Middle East shared with
fTrn*> foemder* tod the impossible, just as the Wright brothers did in their the Far East. Along with this was the increasing self-consciousness of the
long toil to a heavier-than-air machine which should conquer the sky. proletariat in all these countries, resulting in far-reaching economic and
In the face of seemingly insuperable difficulties, our pioneers, and we who political changes, and in many places affording a fertile soil for coaarunism.
have followed them, have been air-borne on the wings of faith, hope, and de­
termination. As we look over the last thirty years, so fateful In the world's During the war the Palestine problan was pushed Into the background,
history, we can truly say, "What hath God Wroughtl" and there was a sort of uneasy truce, But once the war was over, tensions
between the Arabs and Jews increased until a climax was reached. The creation
In the span of time which this chronicle covers, 1926-1957* events have of the State of Israel has caused deep and growing resentment in all Arab
occurred - some calamitous, some fortuitous, some the natural result of the countries, and has greatly enhanced national consciousness.
progress of the human race - which have had a profound effect on our world. ■ 1
In some of these Muslim states, the anti-Western spirit has .manifested
A financial depression, World War II, the rising tides of nationalism, | itself by summary banishment of foreigners who have criticized them or who i
the Arab-Jewish conflict, the spread of communism, the discovery and develop­ have been too prominent in developing their civic or military systems. An
ment of oil in the Near East, the rapid development of air travel, the increas-t attempt to do this was made in Bahrain in the spring of 195&. ;
ing influence of radio - all these have made a tremendous impact on the back­ ;
ground of the Arabian Mission. Inextricably bound up with the development of nationalism, are the
revolutionary changes brought about in the whole Near East by the discovery t
The depression caused us to give up some of our work and to curtail it of oil. Fabulous wealth has caused a wave of materialism to sweep over the :
all, including the maintaining of mission personnel. area, and altered the whole scale of values.
World War II. brought many American and British Troops into our mission Iraq, which was admitted to the League of Nations in 1931* stead­
area, a fact which on the whole promoted international understanding and good­ I ily progressed in national development and a sense of political responsibility. 5
will. Officers and service men were welcomed into missionary homes In every There is a constructive program for the use of its oil royalties - medical
station, and expressed the deepest gratitude for our friendliness and hospital-I facilities for country districts as well as towns; flood control and vast
Ity. They were greatly interested to see mission work at first hand, and often irrigation systems; a widely expanding educational program; road-building and
expressed their appreciation In tangible ways. Our ties were very close with town-planning, and many other branches of civic development. Western techni­
the Amy YMCA in Basrah, which for a time used one of the mission residences cians are present purely in an advisory capacity. The standard of living has
\ and the Bilkert Memorial Library, till it secured premises of Its own. All gone up, and women have increasingly greater opportunities and freedom.
members of this station helped In canteen work for service men, and did hos- ,
pital visiting in the area. Many valued friendships were'formed with chaplains: Kuwait is a much smaller state, and was far more backward until oil
of both a ray and navy by members of all our stations. suddenly revolutionized it. The little Arab walled city, with the sea in
front and the desert behind, became a boom town almost overnight, and is
Everyvhfe that there we-u c' in*** . v** r^-tf.vt irony substantial • /valiantly struggling to adjust itself to its incredible wealth. The old wall
benefits for our work and oua^elven, and jw-'.u »—cr igoc. A great has been iaz».-d aad'rnuob of the old city rebuilt, a i the population of fifty
; thov.joxid has Inc VC*,.. to more than four times that number. A Welfare State