Page 26 - History of Arabian Mission 1926-1957

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Pan Arabia Tour
uguot 23rd we left for Jidda and the sea. There are two routoa
from Yu if to Jidda. The more direct and easier is often spoken of aa the '
Under the title of Pan Arabia Tour, Dr. Storm wrote as follows: "On
Sunday, June 23, 1935* a most significant Christian service was hold in Riadh, Derb el Muslimeen (Road of the Believers) and leads directly through the holy
proud capital city of Saudi Arabia. Only a few days before, two missionary city and Mecca. The other, which is longer and more difficult is often called
parties of the Arabian Mission had met in this great desert metropolis. The Derb el Kafireen (Road of the Unbelievers) and makes a detour around Mecca
one party, consisting of Dr. Dome, the Rev. and Mrs. G. D. Van Peurscm and through the famous Wadi Fatima. We, of course, were taken by the longer route."
Robert Van Peur3em had Just returned to Riadh after a most successful and epoch-
making tour into the northern part of Najd, during which time they had been able Dr. Storm visited Yambo, the seaport for the holy city of Medina, where
to visit Hail, Baraida, and Aneiza. This was the first missionary tour ever the prophet is buried; then went by ship to Jeizon, the chief seaport of Acir -
made to this historical stronghold of Northern Arabia." formerly a buffer state between Yemen and Ilejaz, but now incorporated in Saudi
Arabia. Here he spent three weeks living and working in a native Asir hut. i
Mrs. Van Peursera contributes an interesting side-light. She said, Kama ran Island was reached after four days in a sailboat, and the doctor pro­
"In Aneiza, (truly the Paris of Arabia, as Ameen Rihani says) we heard children ceeded from there to Hodeidah by camels, after a disaster to one of the sail­
in the street and on the roofs of houses singing familiar school songs. When boats in which his convoy began the trip. Yemen was unfriendly and only the
we inquired where they had learned these songs, two of the girls replied, 'We medical bag could open seemingly closed doors.
learned them in Basrah, in the Khatoon's School, and now we are teaching them
to these other girls.'" By an antiquated steamship Dr. Storm travelled to Aden, whose bare
formidable mountain peaks typified for him the obstacles encountered in ?IuGlIra
The other party, consisting of Dr. Harrison, Mrs. Dame, Dr. Storm and mission work, over which the Keith Falconer Mission of the Church of Scotland
Rob Roy Storm had Just arrived from Bahrain. For nearly twenty years Doctors and the Danish Mission stood out as great beacon lights. Here he had two weeks
H&rrisca and Dame have slowly but effectively been wearing down the barriers of heartening comradeship, saw their work in detail, and discussed plans of the
of opposition and prejudice in Interior Arabia. How fitting and proper that future of mission work in the unoccupied quarters of Arabia.
these two medical pioneers should meet in consultation at the palace of Arabia's
His next goals were Makalla and Hadramaut, where he disembarked and made
) great King, Ibn Saud! Particularly significant also was the presence of Mr. Van a trip into the great valley of the Hadramaut - the first recorded visit ever
Peursem in the party. Hitherto the doctors had made such tours by thcrase} •'s.
Here for the first time a minister of the Gospel moved about with freedom . the made there by a missionary. )
very heart of Wahhabi-land, one of the world's most fanatical centers.
Then on a sailing vessel to Dhufar, a trip which should have taken eight
or ten days at most - but "Thirty-three days later we arrived, Intact yet rather
weatherbeaten. We had experienced every conceivable delay - terrible storms,
Dr. Storm Continues i
absolute calm, 1068 of three anchors, deceptive captains. Christmas and Hew
Year were 6pent riding the waves." ;
"It was a quiet and impressive service attended only by the mission­
aries (six adults and two children) and the hospital staff, of whom two were
Christians. This was probably the largest number of Christians ever to meet Two months were spent In Dhufar,* binding more closely the friendships
together at one time for worship in interior Arabia. Our hearts were full of already made in several medical tours, and with doors wide open due to the
praise and thanksgiving as our thoughts went back over the forty-five years of Sultan's friendly attitude.
mission history and realized that step by step the prayers of so many during Another fifteen days on a sailboat, and Dr. Storm arrived back in i
this time were now being so clearly and definitely answered.
Bahrain on March 28, 1936, after a ten months' medical Journey of five thousand
miles.
"A few days later all excepting Robert Van Peursera (who proceeded !
through Taif on his way to America to school) and myself and three hospital i
helpers, started back for Bahrain. We soon departed in the opposite direction The Camp Of A Modern Job I
on our long projected tour across and around Arabia. Thus one tour ended and
another began. In January, 1937, Dr. Wells Thoms was the doctor to be summoned to
Riadh. From his picturesque Journey there he gives the following vivid picture:
"This Pan Arabia Tour was being undertaken chiefly In the Interests of "From the top of a sand hill a most striking scene met our view. On the green
the World Dominion Movement and the British and International Leprosy Associa- plain around the famous wells of Ramoh were pitched a score of tents. Before
tions. For the World Dominion Movement we were undertaking a general survey the large central one stood the masts of a telegraph outfit. Scattered among *
O of oJ 1. Arabia from a missionary angle. For the other we were making a leper camels and sheep. Except for the modem touch one could easily imagine it wa* . i
the tents were several cars and lorries, and on the meadows grazed hundreds of
Reports of both these surveys are being written.
survey among the Arabs.
the approach to Job's or Abraham's desert encampaent. We learned on coming
"Our trip to Taif followed the same route taken by Dr. Dame in 1932. closer that they were the tents of Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman, the King's oldcct
In all we spent six weeks in this delightful city. The volume of work and the brother. He sat in solitary grandeur under the shade of a tent large enough to
splendid reception from both royalty and Bedouin were much the same as Dr. Dame
experienced on his first tour to Taif. cover an aimy. Before him in a semicircle sat his men, every one of whom
carried a hunting hawk on his left forearm. Sheikh Mohammed, aa he is called
*. *b<