Page 313 - Neglected Arabia Vol 1 (2)

10 NEGLECTED ARABIA
his mother finally and learned that his father had gone away and left
them. He came hack in a few days to get Hassan but the child refusal
to leave his mother and now he sits all day breaking bricks to help earn
their living. Lulua too came all winter with her sister and baby
brother. Now the sister carries the baby for Lulua has been put out
to work in a family. She runs errands and looks after a baby and so
earns her keep and sometimes a few annas. Fener (lantern i is the
oldest of four children and she musters them all in each Sunday. Her
baby is one of the sweetest little teasers you could find and chubby
Abbas is the most solemn little fellow imaginable. To watch his face
during a song you would think that singing was the most sciimis busi­
ness in all the world. There are many others you would love. < hie uiul
all they contribute to .my daily joy until that hour on Sunday morning
when i have them all together, my happiest hour. God ble^ that hour
unto them even as He has so richly blessed it unto me.

Twenty Years After

Mrs. E. E. Olcott

I T WAS with considerable misgiving that I acceded to the request
to write an account of our- recent visit to Arabia, for though we
visited all our mission stations except Amara, and saw and were
entertained by all of the missionaries now in Arabia, with the
exception of Dr. and Mrs. Moerdyk, our stay in each place was so short
(only a few hours in Maskat and Basrah—and one niglu each in
Bahrein, Basrah and Baghdad) that 1 feel hardly qualified to give un­
satisfactory idea of the work of our devoted Arabian missionaries, who
have given so many years of sacrificial labor to that stronghold of
Islam. I cannot begin to express my deep appreciation of their
courage and consecration amidst so much that would have overwhelmed
most of us. It was a joy to shake hands with a few convert and sonic
inquirers and to realize that there have been some “sweet lirsl-fruits"
even in Arabia, where an open confession of Christ leads to certain
persecution and sometimes even to death.
It was my privilege, twenty years ago, to visit Bahrein and Maskat,
and, while the latter has not undergone many changes, except for the
addition of the Zenana House, now occupied by the single lady mi*
sionaries, and of the Dispensary and the abode of the invaluable "Nurse
Mary,” the improvements in Bahrein have been amazing. Formerly one
unsanitary native house accommodated all the missionaries, whereas there
are now comfortable homes for four missionary families and a nice
chapel.
Mrs. Dame’s splendid school is a great improvement over that 0f
twenty years ago. Dr. Dame showed us many trophies given him by
“grateful patients” during his inland tours. A visit at twilight wa*
made to the little Christian Cemetery, where he Mrs. Marion Well*