Page 335 - Neglected Arabia (1906-1910)

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are profoundly grateful to the Almighty, who is steadily working in i
the hearts of this people to bring them into the kingdom of His Son.
However, it is not the few words spoken at morning prayers which !
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seem to have the most influence for good, as much as it is the steady
meeting and talking with the patients in the hospital. We have detailed
one man for this work, Salomi Anton, a native colporteur, and he
has had no other work since the first of March. So far his time has
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been well filled, since there has been a daily average of twenty
patients in the hospital until the present writing. We have had as
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many as six or seven Mohammedan women in the hospital at one time, !
and Mrs. Vogel has given them Bible readings. For my own part
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I have had the pleasure of speaking with several young fellows who
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became interested in Salomi’s talks and wished to know more about the
gospel. i
One was a young fellow of about twenty-five, Isa by name (this i
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name is the Koranic one for Jesus), who had come from a place near
the Persian border to undergo an operation for vesicle calculus. After
the operation he was obliged to remain for some time in the hospital,
and, little by little, became very much interested in the gospel. Before
he left he expressed his desire to become a Christian and showed his
sincerity by learning the Lord’s Prayer in Arabic, and some of the
gospel stories. He comes from fanatical Arabs, and is one of those
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who live by raiding travelers and neighboring tribes. Very innocently
he told me that, in gratitude for what we had done for him, he desired
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to present us with some sheep, and that as soon as he returned home
he would make a raid and bring us the booty. I thanked him for his
generosity, but told him that he need not make us any such present as
we regarded the means haram, i. t\, unlawful.
This is only one case of several which we have recently had at the
hospital. Another is a Mullah, who came near being convinced that
our religion was the best. At any rate, we have seen that the hospital
work is a tremendous factor in breaking down the superstitions of the
people, and this is the first step toward getting toleration for our
claims. As our patients come to us from far north in the Euphrates i
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Valley, east into the Persian frontier and west to Kuweit and Nejd, i
our influence also extends very widely and we know that our books I
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and methods are discussed among them. And it cannot be long before 4
this influence will bear fruit among these people since His Word can­
not return to Him void.