Page 173 - Neglected Arabia Vol 1 (2)

A SEGLECIEU A KAMA
tlie young man's work prc\cnted this until alter tin* iVnning"’ departure,
lie had been forced to sail in another port jusl before tin 'Mindav >vt
tor his baptism. (in his return lie came to us and was \er\ anxious
that his I<:i|iti>tn lake place soon. I lien lie went home ami told ||js
father dial he had become a Christian. 11 i> lallier became \ei\ angry,
expelled him from 11i> home and ihrealened to kill him uni r**s lie came
back lo his old failli. For two days he stayed al the home ui one uf
hi" friends and then he came to us and told us what had happened.
He had lost all that he had in this world. He had no home. Ilis work
was taken from him. He worked for his father who e\en had ;hc r
papers of ownership of the boat which had been written in \li’> name
changed back to his own name. 'That Sunday he was baptised. Since
that time practically all of his friends have left him, even refusing to ■
return his greetings when he meets them on the road. He has been 1
living in the Mission house because ids life is in danger. And the moat I
wonderful part of it all is that he realized that all this would happen
to him when he announced that he was a Christian and yet he iuo
hraved all and confessed Christ.
'fhe week following his baptism, many people came to see him to try
to bring him hack to Islam. His father took the matter up with the j
government, trying tu get the sheikhs to force Ali hack into Islam, but
he was unsuccessful. 1 hen he came to see his sou ami tried ali he
could through threats and finally through kindness to bring his son back
to him. He opened lus home to him again, offered to again give him
work and even said that he would not interfere with his religion ii he .
would only come back and live at home. Hut Ali does not trust him
and does nut dare to go hack for fear of his life. Hut he did promise
to visit his father as often as possible.
It was my privilege to accompany him on his first visit home. He
lives on another island, a short distance from here. While walking
from the pier to his home, in fact whenever we showed ourselves, wc
were followed l»y a crowd of from twenty to thirty people. I thought .
it was all because lie had turned Christian, hut I found out afterward '*
that the people were trying to get outward indications of his new faith. I
They were quite surprised that he had not put on Kuropean dress ami
many times he was asked. "Don’t you wear a hat like those mission,
aries?” Quite often since that time we have been asked what Ali**
nesv name*is as they think that his name must he changed since he i* ‘
now a Christian. Finally we arrived at his home where he was recei\nl
in silence. Here the young man got out his Bible and read great jn,r.
tions to his father and gave a wonderful testimony. He tried to situ*
his father what had led him to Christianity and what Christianity i*.
He tried to show how far superior Christ \vas to Mohammed and Ik,*
great a difference there is between Christian ethics and morals amj
Those of Islam. 'Hie same testimony was repeated later when v*c
visited his especial friends anti pals. It is remarkable what a grasp oi
the essentials of Christianity he has. He also has a fine grasp of th*
Koran and he uses this knowledge effectively in discussion*. ,
Since that time we have made other visits to his home and many of ;
his old friends have come to visit him. This has given him a goul j