Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

nant"
war"
earth"
quest."
med as it was to our American eyes. Some of the
new students among the older girls, from non-
Christian homes, expressed their appreciation and
said they'd never seen a Christmas tree before.
Many of them had never heard the story of Christ's
coming into the world, as it was well told by Muallimy
Labeebeh Khashoo at their party.
Though Christmas Eve was rainy, a group of
young people, including Philip and Norma Hays
went caroling, visiting several homes in our quarter
of the city. On Christmas Day we of the mission
group were together in the Hays home for bounti
ful meals, opening of presents from under the tree,
and playing of games. When it poured outside, we
said it was our "white" Christmas. On that very day
a stack of Christmas cards, with many heart-warm
ing notes enclosed, arrived from the States. Many
had come earlier, and have come since, and we
thank you folks at home for your remembrance of
us and your prayers for Christ's work here.
Following a week with many hard rainstorms,
sometimes with hail, December 30 dawned clear.
But the rains had their effect, and during the night
a part of the newly rebuilt wall west of the former
hospital building collapsed, this time with no dam
age to life. The new wall had been founded on rock
and reinforced with iron and concrete, and the job
engineered by a competent architect. The founda
tion stands, but some of the reinforcement broke
like wood. Have you any idea what responsibilities
for the care of property rest on your men on the
mission field We're glad that the Fareeda Ibra
heem Fund has been designated by the Board for
the rebuilding of the Sabbath School Building, but
short-staffed as we are there has not yet been
opportunity to go ahead with the project. We're
behind with necessary repairs to buildings in use.
Those of you who heard of the need for a new
edition of the metrical psalter in Arabic will be
interested to know that a complete psalter as pub
lished by the evangelical church of Eigypt (with
out the additional section of hymns used by that
church) had been ordered during my furlough year
for the church and mission here. We have just re
ceived word that the shipment of psalters arrived
in Latakia during December. Pray that we may be
directed in training the friends here in the use of
all of the psalms of the Bible in worship of God.
A correction is due: Bassam and Shirley
Madany's
son has been named Roland after the Cana
dian grandfather, not Michael, as I mistakenly re
ported.
Two young men of our congregation have placed
high in competitive examinations given by the
Latakia port company and will be sent to England
for two years of study for future work with the
company. They are Labeeb Kashoo, who joined the
church at the last Communion, and Elias Mishtaway.
Remember these and other Latakia students
far from home, that they may always recall what
they have learned in home and school and church
of the Way of life, and pray that they may walk
worthy
of their vocation.
Just arrived in Latakia are materials for a
Blue Banner donated and prepared as far as pos
sible without the Arabic lettering by the A. D.
Robbs of Topeka. 'Tor Christ's Crown and Cove
in Arabic will sound something like "Leajl
Taj al Maseeh wa Aahdehe." Some of the girls
February 2, 1955
skilled in needlework will be busy now getting the
banner ready to hang in the church. Pray that the
hearts of the members of the congregation may be
prepared to renew their covenant vows.
Yours in the King's service.
THE WHY OF EVANGELICAL MISSIONS
(Continued from front page)
ultimate truth. They link the name of Jesus with
Buddha and Mohammed as one of the great found
ers and teachers of religion. Rejecting the deity of
Christ, the doctrine of redemption through His shed
blood, the justification of the sinner by faith, the
work of the Holy Spirit in conversion, and the
eternal punishment of the wicked, liberal mission
aries are not interested in converting the world to
Christ. They preach a social gospel and seek rather
to build a "Kingdom of God on with their
non-Christian "brothers in the common
This liberal doctrine infiltrated many education
al institutions and missionary boards and eventual
ly found expression on the mission fields. In 1930-
32 it made a well-calculated assault on the denomi
national missionary programs through the Lay
men's Foreign Missionary Inquiry. It was financed
by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and headed by Dr. W.
E. Hocking of Harvard. Its theological findings orig
inated in the minds of highly-placed liberals in
mission boards who, daring not to make known their
revolutionary views to their own denominations,
took advantage of lay anonymity to spread their
poison. But the Protestant world was not ready for
this atomic explosion. Such great missionary lead
ers as Dr. Robert E. Speer of the Presbyterian
Board of Foreign Missions took the field against
the Inquiry's report. Dr. Speer stumped the nation
for the preservation of evangelical Christian mis
sions, appearing in practically every city where Dr.
Hocking went. The liberals "lost the battle," but
they are now "winning the through the Di
vision of Foreign Missions of the National Council
of Churches.
It may be well to look for a moment at the
wreckage of the American Christian missionary
enterprise, caused by the infiltration of liberalism.
The Northern Baptists (American Baptist Con
vention) were rent by the issue as far back as 1923.
After a succession of cases in which liberal mis
sionaries were upheld by the Foreign Mission So
ciety, the Conservative Baptist Foreign Mission
Society was established in 1943. The ABFMS has
steadily lost in number of missionaries on the field
and in percentage of missionary income. The CB
FMS has grown until it now has over 200 mission
aries and an annual income of around one million
dollars.
The Disciples of Christ have experienced the
same debacle. The United Christian Missionary
Society has lost the support of thousands of church
es. Conservatives began sending out "direct-sup
missionaries"
and today have 300 missionaries
port
on the field with an annual income exceeding a
million dollars.
The Northern Presbyterian Church saw the
rise of the Independent Presbyterian Foreign Mis
sion Board. Because of the ecclesiastical authority
conservatives found them
of the General Assembly,
selves under disciplinary action. The Independent
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