Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

expense"
The Daily Rounds
By Wilbur W. Weir
1. Back on the job after a furlough of eighteen
months, I am inclined to look at the work more
objectively, for a year and a half of separation
breaks a number of links. It affords an opportunity
to step aside, look at the work, attempt an appraisal.
When I told the Director of Education that the
Academy had apparently run smoothly during our
absence he said that was the way any well-organized
school should do in the absence of the Headmaster.
So that was that. To the Staff and students assem
bled for chapel, I felt impelled to say that after
every furlough I had found the Academy a better
school. The impression after this fifth furlough was
no exception. No comment : the assumption seemed to
be: what else can you expect from a growing or
ganism During these last two months a question
has often come to my mind: "Why was it neces
sary to speak in defense of the school when on fur
lough"
It seems incredible that anyone should
question the value of throwing one's life into a proj
ect of this sort.
2. Yesterday when I was about to put into the
waste paper basket the typed schedule of preach
ing for January, February, March, it occurred to
me to count the number of sermons that had been
preached in the mission here during those thirteen
weeks. To my surprise they added up to 90. Rev.
C. Copeland was high man with 20 sermons preach
ed. Rev. C. Christou was second with 17 ; I was third
with 11 (in 9 weeks). Rev. G. Moissides, 9, Rev.
Thomas Hutcheson 8, (but for illness he would have
preached more. The Sabbath before he became ill
he preached three times, taught a Sabbath School
class, and was sponsor at the Young People's Meet
ing.) Mr. Barnabas 7, Mr. Halvadjian 6, Mr. Kyriakos
4, Mr. Chopourian 4, Mr. Kassauni 2, Mr. Pana
yiotides 1, Dr. Mouradian 1. That means approxi
mately 7 services each Lord's Day. Success cannot
be measured by the number of sermons preached;
yet, like Paul, we can rejoice that the Gospel is being
preached.
3. On our return in January we were led to
compare prices here with those we had been paying
in New York. Bread here is 9 cents a loaf, New
York 20 cents, and the loaf here has at least twice
the substance of the New York loaf. Eggs in N.Y.
were 45 cents a dozen, here 47 cents. Sugar 10 cents
per lb. in N.Y., 9 cents in Cyprus. Rice 18 cents a
lb. N.Y., 19 cents in Cyprus. Pork roast 40 cents
N.Y., 55 cents in Cyprus. A 3 lb. chicken cost 1.05
in N.Y., 1.80 in Cyprus. We saved money by buying
clothing in N.Y., especially when we bought second
hand.
4. The last time I got my hair cut in Bronx
ville, N.Y., I asked the barber, an employee, how
many hair-cuts, at the price I would pay him, he
could
buy with the money he earned in a day. The
answer was "21." In Brindisi, Italy, I asked my
barber the same question; his reply was "5." Here
in Larnaca, Cyprus, my barber told me he could
buy 8 hair-cuts with what he earned in a day. That
shows something of the difference in standard of
living. It means nothing to compare wages and sala-
May 4, 1955
ries of different countries; the important question
is, what can you buy with what you can get for a
given period of work. In New York a carpenter can
buy 420 pounds of potatoes with one day's wages.
In Naples a carpenter can buy 100 pounds with a
day's wages. In Cyprus he can buy 112 pounds.
In Naples a carpenter can buy only 2^ pounds of
beef steak with a day's labor; in Cyprus he can
buy 41/2 pounds ; in New York he can buy 21 pounds.
Many still wonder why Communism enjoys the pop
ularity it does in so many countries. When people
cannot see how a change could make matters worse,
they rally to the movement promising help.
5. The Rev. Argos Zodhiates was with us for a
week-end about the middle of March. He came to
bring his mother to Cyprus, but he said he was at
our disposal on the Lord's Day. He preached at
Nicosia, Limassol and Larnaca. His message on
Sabbath evening at the English service attended
by the boarding students was most helpful, on the
text: 1 Samuel 4:21 "The glory is departed from
Israel."
He flew back to Greece on Monday. We
had special prayer for his guidance in the days
ahead. His permit to remain in Greece would ex
pire on April 14. No word has yet come to show
whether he has succeeded in getting an extension
of time.
6. The Cyprus Commission of Synod has just
adopted its budget for the year beginning April 1,
1955. The 1600 dollars sent annualy to Cyprus for
"field is 85 per cent of the Commission's
income. The 15 per cent comes from rent of prop
erty and from offerings at certain worship serv
ices. At this point two facts are worth noting:
1. The money sent for field expenses never gets
into the schools. The Cyprus Commission has a
treasurer who is bound by the budget adopted by
the Commission annually. His report goes to the
Foreign Board. The new treasurer is the Rev. C.
Christou. 2. The amount of 1600 dollars is the sum
which has been sent to Cyprus for field expense
for a good many years. In the Minutes of Synod
one reads a much larger figure. For example, in
the Minutes of Synod, 1953, page 111, it is recorded
that Cyprus field expense amounted to $5399.04.
Actually
what happens appears to be that when
the Cyprus schools ask the treasurer of the Foreign
Board to pay bills for goods (especially books)
purchased in America, he charges that to "field
expense"
though he actually cuts it from the amount
he is to spend for salaries, and from the 1600 due
to come for field expense. It is a helpful service
he renders us, and we don't mind how he records
it, as long as he doesn't lead people to complain
that the Cyprus Mission is a greater burden on
the home church than it actually is. Readers may
be interested in learning what the 1600 sent an
nually is used for. Here are the items that ap
pear in the expense column of the 1955 budget:
1. Travel for those conducting services. 2. Trans
lation work. 3. Part salary of H. Memour. (The Ar
menian pastor is paid by the local people.) 4. Re
pairs and upkeep of church buildings. 5. Water,
Ins. Taxes, Telephone. 6. Rent. 7. Church building
fund. 8. Literary Fund tracts. 9. Evangelism.
10. Sundries.
7. Last Sabbath we had communion services
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