Olive Trees 1905 - Rparchives.org

Monographs.
speaking out and saying tbat a great wave
of sadness sweeps over our bearts; in fact,
dismay for tbe prospects of tbe work fills
our hearts. AVben Emin Pasha was to be
relieved by Stanley, hundreds of men
volunteered to accompany tbe sturdy explorer;
a Japanese Consul in San Francisco
bas only to send word to hundreds
of Japanese in America tbat tbey are
needed for the flghting line, and there is
a rush for transportation, regardless of
social or industrial interests, while tbe
financial question bas only one item in it
;—"Have I saved enougb to get me across
tbe seas?" Where is the chivalry of our
younger rainisters? AVhy are tbere no
volunteers to respond to tbe Cburch's call
for raen and woraen? Surely tbe spirits
of Mrs. EUa Eobb and of Dr. Maude
George, of Dr. Metbenj^, of all who bave
passed to their rewards, sbould inspire
young raen and woraen to go to these
needy places.
It seems to rae that tbe tirae is near at
hand wben the wbole work raust be abandoned
or taken up in earnest. Steadily,
in tbe providence of God, workers are reraoved
tbrough inability of health. It is
possible that tbese reraovals point to an
unhealthy raissionary coldness—a sort of
paralysis—in the home Cburch. If we
concede the correctness of tbe figure of
tbe Churcli being a body that is "compacted
by that whicb every joint supplieth,"
we must look upon God's dealings
with individual workers as witb tbe
solidarity of tbe Cburch.
Doubtless the Board bas had before it
the possibility of necessity compelling
tbem to withdraw a missionary from some
point or other but illy equipped at
present, in order to prevent disaster in a
more vital field. As I look over tbe field,
it is with great reluctance that I am corapeUed
to say that I fear tbat Suadia will
be the flrst fleld to be abandoned. If I
were asked for an opinion, I would say
that if the worst comes to the worst, the
whole force of workers bad better be withdrawn
from the Turkish Empire than to
let the work of Cyprus suffer defeat. Next
to Constantinople, it is most iraportant
as the key to the Turkish Empire; at least
Lord Beaconsfield thought so, and there
has notbing happened within the whole
history of our Mission to negative this
idea; it is wholly imoccupied excepting
by our Church; the conditions tbere are
ideal for pushing tbe work, being under
tbe British flag; and from it the mainland
can, when tbe tirae is ripe, be permeated
by ihe principles of Christ's sovereignty
over men in all relations of life. This
was ray opinion in 1892, when 1 volunteered
to go to Cyprus; the other counsels
located rae elsewhere.
Of tbe mainland stations, I would rank
them, Latakia, Mersina and Suadia, in
order of iraportance. But Suadia is a
place where raost iraportant work can be
done, chiefly because it is unoccupied by
any other workers. It is an.unobserved
place, wbere there is a rainiraura of
governmental espionage of tbe work, so
that a good worlc is not likely to be hindered.
On the other band, the Tarsus
Mission occupies a very iraportant location.
As corapared with Suadia, it bas a
vaster population, bas greater opportunities
to reach a population of a raost congloraerate
character, and bas the advantages
accruing frora a large coraraercial
center. Suadia's population is quiet and
permanent, whereas tbe triple center of
the Tarsus Mission touches large numbers
who raay learn raucb of the gospel and
then carry it away to far distant places.
I cannot but feel that in case of a
forced abandonraent of any field,that our
own rauch-loved Suadia will, in prudence,
be first to suffer. But let no one
think for a moraent tbat any single mis-