Page 39 - Neglected Arabia Vol 2

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NEQLECTED ARABIA

Missionary Nows and Loiters
\ Published Quarterly
FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION AMONG THE FRIENDS OF

THE ARABIAN MISSION I

The Outlook in Oman ‘
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Dr. Paul W. Harrison
I E have opened Men’s Medical work in Matrah, and we hope ■i
that this will make it possible to carry Christ's message to the
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interior. The Oman Arabs seem cordial and open-minded and
the opportunity they afford is undoubtedly very great. Now is
! die time to study our field and learn if we can what obstacles to avoid and
| how to commend the message to the men we want to reach. A good
engine is more important to the motorist than a good road, and the power •i
oi God behind the preaching of His Word is more important by far than
any avoidance of obstacles. It still remains true, however, that smooth !
roads are better than rough ones, in missionary work as elsewhere. We •i
try to understand the people we work for, so that we can pray at home and
work on the field, intelligently and earnestly and effectively.
Oman is the southeastern corner of Arabia. It is made up of moun­
tains bare of any blade of grass or other green thing. Between them are
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valkys of great fertility and beauty. Along the coast a level strip about
hvciily miles wide liiimeues between llie iimimudiis mul die sen. Ion*
practical purposes there is no rainfall, all cultivation depending on wells and
.springs which irrigate very limited areas. Oman is warm in the winter
and in the summer the heat is extreme. Cities like Muscat and Matrah
which are surrounded by mountains, are deserted even by the Arabs during
diat season. The bare rocks seem to retain the sun’s heat through the
whole night and blasts of hot air sweep down on the city, raising the ther­
mometer at times to 120 degrees at midnight. Such an extreme tempera­
ture usually lasts only fifteen minutes to half an hour, after which the city
cuols off to probably 100 degrees. The hospitals in Matrah and Muscat l
can remain closed during the summer with little disturbance to the work,
iur many of the Arabs themselves are away on their own vacations.
Half a million people are estimated as living in this corner of Arabia. :
It was originally purely Arab, but thousands and thousands of slaves from 1
Africa have been brought in and they are gradually mixing into the general
population. Pure strains of both negroes and Arabs can be found, but
the mixture becomes constantly more intimate. Along the coast there are
colonies of Belouchees and a few Indians. They mix very little with the