Page 7 - Neglected Arabia Vol 2

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NEGLECTED ARABIA

Missionary News and Letters / :

Published Quarterly
for private circulation among the friends of
THE ARABIAN MISSION
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Reflections o£ a Quarter Century
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• aT ' Rev. John Van Ess

0 N THE 18th of October 1902 I stood at the stem of the Anchor , i
Line Steamship Columbia and watched the shores of America
fade away. It seems only yesterday. Never once in all that
quarter century that has elapsed have I felt one pang of regret i:
* my decision to go to Arabia, nor once have I been conscious of sacri- «!i
fcc in so doing. Indeed, I have found everything and lost nothing. The f\
«aJy tiling that bothers me is that, since by Jesus’ own definition, tliscinlo- M
S|kl|» Hiunt Involve aacrllico, my diieluleihi|) may bo lacking a vital elc- ■
•MUt< I l°vcii my country, and still alwuys feel a lump in my throat
uy
•hell 1 see Old Glory again on each succeeding, furlough. I loved my .*• ;
kxnc, nor has ever a person been blessed with a better. And yet, not
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ier anything in the world would I miss the exhilaration of the task, the
Wosd sweep of new horizons, the fellowship of a peerless body of ’men
wd women, and. the special presence of Christ, which have been my lot
■ this quarter century. And this is the first reflection.
The second is this: Twenty-five years ago I visualized myself as a
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Ught of the Cross sallying forth to attack the citadel of Islam. I had «
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Wi<ht and well-tried armour, sharp and shining weapons. It was to be a I
Unle and a triumph. As the years went by, and I caravaned with
Christ on shimmering noon-days, or sat with Him through breathless
a«hu and learned to know and love the sons of Shem, His kinsmen, the
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■fm of battle and conflict, of strife and victory and vindication, have
needed. I have discarded the old conception of citadels and arenas and
g] the imagery so foreign to Himself, and have tried to learn from Him ; *
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His own method and language, His thought and purpose, His ideas and ;
»kals, and to measure success by what He approved. In the house of :•
<«aun the leper when the woman poured upon His head the alabaster t ;
tritc of precious ointment, the disciples murmured and said: To what
is this waste? In that hour Christ deprecated the measuring of
mccai by pounds and pence, spent or saved, by figures and statistics.
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-She hath done what she could, she hath done a good work unto me,"
•w the criterion He set, and a sufficient justification for her effort.
1U» the Arabian Mission been successful in its forty years of effort? It »
a* in so far as it has done honor to Christ. I strike a match and blow
tv'll. For a fleeting second it was aglow, and now In my luuul rciiuiliin

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