Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

much."
pass."
from Nicosia,
enjoyed dinner at the school. Then in
the evening we met as a Mission group here in our
home for a buffet tea and Christmas tree. The day
was rainy but our spirits were not dampened.
Speaking of rain, in the last three months we
have had almost thirteen inches in the Larnaca
district while for the same period last year we had
only a little more than five inches. We have really
not had any very cold weather yet, while last year
we had a longer cold season than is usual.
The high light of this month will be the re
turn of the Weirs to which we are all looking for
ward. Their coming will give us and the work here
a big boost. We are thankful to them for the way
they have labored during their furlough year in
raising money for the Building Fund and we hope
they feel rewarded. Through their efforts quite a
sum has been raised though we are not yet in the
clear.
The new building for the Nicosia school is
steadily going up and it seems quite possible that
they will be using it by next September.
There are probably questions in your minds re
garding the recent disturbances here. Things were
a bit unsettled for a few days and in Nicosia and
Limassol they got slightly out of hand. As a mis
sion we were not molested with the exception that
Mr. Copeland got caught in a mob quite uninten
tionally. He and Rev. Christou, our evangelist, and
Mr. Barnabas, the Bible colporter, had gone to
Limassol for the funeral of one of our members there
and on getting back to Nicosia he was taking Mr.
Christou to his home. In a square on the way he had
to stop the car because the one in front of him
stopped and it happened near a mob of fifty or so
boys gathered there. Recognizing him as an Am
erican they let the stones fly breaking 'both the
windshield and the rear window and some of the
side windows. No one was hurt inside the car ex
cept for a few scratches from flying glass. For this
we give thanks. The body of the car had many
dents all over it. Things have quieted down now
but the issue is still alive. We are hoping, however,
that there will be no further demonstrations. We are
also thankful that our students were calm and not
involved in any way. All the Greek secondary schools
have been warned that they are liable to have their
schools closed if they permit their students to
demonstrate.
We are feeling keenly the loss of Mr. Scott from
our boarding department. We have no consecrated
Christian living in the boarding house to do personal
work with the students. All our boarding masters
are fine teachers and dependable in carrying out
their duties but they are not able to do personal
work with the boys. We ask you to join your pray
ers with ours that God will send us a consecrated
young Covenanter to work with these boys before
the beginning of another school year. "The effect
ual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and
He shall bring it to
National godliness is the true balance between
liberty and law; national godlessness is anarchy.
72
United Brethren
Life In and Out of School
By Eunice L. McClurkin
After a day of making and receiving New Year's
calls and attending the first prayer meeting of this
week of prayer, on the eve of school's re-opening
after the Christmas holidays, we pause to let you
know some of the events in Latakia during the last
month of 1954.
Attendance at Intermediates' meetings Sabbath
mornings has been around 45 to 50. As many of you
know, these meetings are conducted in English at
eleven o'clock, following the worship service in
Arabic in the church. For the second year the In
termediates are meeting in the first floor central
hall of the Girls' School. Muallim Fuad Tomeh
(Boys'
School Boarding Dept. teacher), Rev. Bas
sam Madany, Rev. Herbert Hays, and I were leaders
during December. The group's second party of the
schoolyear was Friday evening, the 17th. After
games and refreshments, we sang some Christmas
carols, before closing with the last verse of the
fourth psalm. You might be interested to know
that each one coming to the party pays about seven
cents for refreshments. For that amount this time
the refreshment committee provided a frosted
gateau from a local bakery, a small banana, and a
tangerine. The Word of life the young people receive
at their Sabbath meetings is without money and
without price. Pray that the Holy Spirit may make it
effectual in their lives.
Early
in the month we had an unwanted vaca
tion week for the schools due to the country-wide
strikes fomented by a small but vocal and violent
minority. We were in no danger, but there might
have been damage to buildings and danger to per
sonnel if we hadn't dismissed as the other schools
in town did. The first quarter of our schoolyear
had ended just before the week of strikes, so we
used the time to good advantage on school records
and report cards. The following two weeks of school
before Christmas vacation were quiet and uninter
rupted except for one period. We were unable to
have our usual chapel service one Friday morning
because of demonsrations in town. This was a local
protest because the Member of Parliament from
this district, elected the day I arrived back here
in September has had his election disputed on
grounds of bribery.
Had you climbed to the third floor over the
Girls'
School on the Wednesday afternoon before
Christmas, you would have seen the two kinder
garten and two first-grade teachers and Helen
Fattal and me "filling the bags" for the traditional
treat to the schoolchildren. Each paper bag contained
a large handful of roasted peanuts-in-the-shell (a
local crop), a cupful of chick peas, half of them
sugar-coated, and a nice big orange. At the Girls'
School the bags were distributed after Christmas
parties held for groups of classes. For the parties,
the kindergarten room was decorated with hand
work and with a Christmas scene in the sandbox;
the first floor hall and our third floor hall each
had a potted living Christmas tree, trimmed with
lights and ornaments. That day we had rain at
recess-time, and as the youngsters milled around
in the big central hall, they seemed not to tire of
looking at the lighted tree, puny and poorly trim-
COVENANTER WITNESS