Page 137 - Neglected Arabia Vol 1 (2)

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4 NEGLECTED ARABIA

and carried on this service for all who were interested to conic,
The two Turks attended faithfully, and received instruction, although
the meeting place is a long distance from Makina, where the railway
works are, and in the hot weather it meant a great deal to come
so far.
In the autumn they had reached the point where they wished to
make a public confession of their faith and receive Christian bap-
tism. Careful examination and questioning showed that they
thoroughly understood the essentials ol’ Christian doctrine, and the
implications of giving their witness to it, and that they were eager
it) pledge themselves to Christ as their personal Saviour. So on
Armistice l-)ay, after the usual Sunday service in Arabic, these two
Mohammedans were baptized. The short and simple baptism service
was in Turkish, as they understand practically no Arabic, and after
it a hymn was sung in Turkish by the little group of Armenian
refugees who tilled the back of the church. The strains of their
hymn, a translation of “(J happy day, that fixed my choice,” .tilled
the little church, and the two Turks* kneeling before the minister
made a scene touching beyond description. The Armenians, singing*
so fervently, represented the race and religion who had suffered such
untold persecution from the hands of the fellow-cotmlrvmeii ami
co-religionists of the two new converts, themselves former member*
of the Turkish army—but now “no more strangers and foreigner*,
but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of Cod.”
I'rom this service we went directly up to the English cemetery,
where rows and rows of little white crosses mark the graves ol
British soldiers who fell in the war, and where, in the corner *ct
apart for civilians, are the graves of Harry VViersum and Christine
Iverson Bennett, and of an infant of Dr. and Mrs. Worrall. Thi»
memorial service, with its two minutes* silence at the end, wa*
impressive too. Armistice Day brings a very special appeal to 14
who lived within sound of the guns of the Great War. But we
long, just as much as tor world peace, for the spiritual armEdc*
which was represented by the baptism of our Mohammedan brother*.
We long for such prayer, such faith, and such power, as to put to
everlasting flight the Bowers of Darkness, and make all uica
brethren in Jesus Christ.