Volume II Part 16 (1/2)
The annual convention of helpers and representatives of the Nestorian churches occupied three days of October, 1867. Ninety members were in attendance. Mar Yohanan was elected moderator, and Priest Yoosep of Dizza Takka, the former moderator, preached the opening sermon. The aged preacher lamented the prevailing worldliness of the church, and earnestly enforced the duty of prayer as the great remedy. He alluded feelingly to the destruction, by a Koordish chief, of one of their oldest and best churches, which dated back more than a thousand years. A part of the materials had been used to construct a fort, and a part to build a mosque upon the site of the church. The recent increase of wine drinking, among some of the communicants, received a faithful rebuke. Carefully prepared papers were presented on practical subjects, such as education, benevolence, temperance, family wors.h.i.+p, and the means for promoting the spiritual efficacy of their body as a communion, and these were followed by free and animated discussions. The duty of a.s.suming more fully the support of the gospel and of schools among the entire people, was earnestly enjoined; and during the discussion the spirit of self-denying benevolence rose to an unusual pitch. Several pledged a tenth of their income, and the contributions on the plain rose higher than ever before.
There were pleasing episodes during these deliberations,--in the reports of Deacon Yacob, a seminary graduate, of two and a half years' colportage in Russia, and of Deacon Eshoo concerning his successful labors for some years in Tabriz. Deacon Yacob reported the sale of nineteen hundred Bibles and Testaments, and many other books and tracts, in Modern Russian, German, and other languages. He also spoke of revival scenes, resulting in the hopeful conversion of several adherents to the Greek Church. The Emperor of Russia, he said, encouraged the circulation of the Scriptures in the spoken language, allowed free pa.s.sports to colporters, and exacted no duties for the largest sales.
”The subject of wine drinking,” writes Mr. Cochran, ”the greatest bane of the people in the wine-making districts, was discussed with vigor, and, with one or two exceptions, in the spirit of a determined purpose to urge forward a reform. It was manifest that, on the whole, there had been a decided growth of conviction, that total abstinence is the only safe remedy for the evil. It was gratifying to hear no complaints of the use of stronger drinks, except among those outside of our communion.”
Several churches, as well as the seminaries, had enjoyed special seasons of revival. A sunrise prayer-meeting of an hour was held each day of the session, was well attended, and characterized by much fervor and importunity in prayer, and the last evening was spent in devotional exercises. The burden of prayer seemed to be for the outpouring of the Spirit on the churches and the conversion of souls, and many of the congregation were at times deeply moved.
Deacon Yacob was ordained in the month following, that he might be able to administer the ordinances to the converts among the Malakans of Russia. Mr. Shedd wrote of him as ”a man whom we delight to have among us, so full is he of the Holy Ghost and of faith.” One other person was also ordained as an elder or priest, and four as deacons, in connection with meetings of district conferences composed of preachers and delegates.
In the first week of 1868, the ”week of prayer,” Mr. Labaree made a tour in five villages, and never pa.s.sed that interesting season more delightfully, finding in each village cheering evidence of the special presence of the Lord. The Christians were induced to pray and labor earnestly for the unconverted around them. In each village two meetings were held each day, and were attended by considerable numbers outside of the church. Indeed that week was observed, generally, among the evangelized Nestorians, and there were indications of a blessing in the two seminaries, and in several villages.
It is an important step towards the support of religious inst.i.tutions, when a people have once acknowledged such support to be their duty; and this admission will be the more effectual when organizations exist that can attend to the performance of the duty.
In the progress of events there had grown up four ecclesiastical bodies, called _Knooshyas_, that is, a.s.semblies, three on the plain, and one in the mountains; which had their confession of faith and rules of discipline. The local a.s.semblies sometimes met together as one body. As in kindred bodies among the Armenians, the missionaries were admitted for counsel, but not to vote. At a meeting of one of these bodies, the duty of self-support was fully acknowledged, and the desire was strongly expressed to show their grat.i.tude to the American churches by a.s.suming the entire support of the gospel among themselves, and sending it to regions beyond, as did their fathers.
The following resolution was adopted, namely: ”That it is the duty of every member of the church, as he has received spiritual benefits from his pastor, to aid in the temporal support of the same; and also to aid in meeting the necessary expenses of the church according to his ability.”
It was recommended that pastors preach on the subject of these resolutions; and that the pastor and lay-delegates, on their return home, use their influence with the brethren and congregations of their respective villages to bring the people up to their duty in these matters.
The following reflections by the venerable Dr. Perkins, written about this time, will be refres.h.i.+ng to the reader: ”The progress of our work,” he says, ”is steadily onward, and is probably as rapid as would consist with its highest prosperity. This progress is not always in a uniform current. It often resembles a succession of circling eddies, caused generally by obstacles in the stream, but sometimes by the accelerated speed of the current, which, but for these self-regulating checks, might bring upon the work serious disaster. Such eddies are often our best missionary regulators, correcting mistakes or undue haste, and giving to our converts occasion and time to examine the foundations of their faith.”
Miss Nancy Jane Dean joined the mission in October, 1868, to labor in the female seminary. Miss Rice and Mrs. Rhea had left Oroomiah in the previous May, with Dr. Perkins, and arrived at New York in August. Miss Rice had been connected with the female seminary twenty-two years, and her good influence was felt in hundreds of Nestorian homes on the broad plain and in the wild glens of the mountains. Mrs. Rhea's return was due to her children, but, like that of Miss Rice, it was a sad loss to the mission circle, and to the women of Persia. The return of Dr. Perkins, the father of the Nestorian mission, seemed like a removal of the foundations. ”It is difficult,” wrote Mr. Shedd, ”to over-estimate his labors, continued now for more than a third of a century, or the value of his experience. It is a gratification to him, and to us all, that he can leave us in the atmosphere of revivals; and that, after he is gone, the many works from his pen will continue to speak to the people whom he loved. But many will sorrow at his leaving Persia, and most of all that they shall see his face no more.”
Dr. Perkins had seen much accomplished in the thirty-six years of his connection with the mission. From eighty-five centres, and to congregations averaging nearly two thousand four hundred, the gospel had come to be proclaimed, by more than a hundred native helpers, of whom fifty-eight were fully recognized preachers; and more than nine hundred persons had professed their faith in Christ, of whom seven hundred and twenty were then connected with the evangelical communion. The seminaries had educated hundreds of youth, whose influence was seen in the general social and moral elevation of the people. In the common schools there were more than a thousand pupils; and from the press more than half a million of pages had gone forth in the year preceding his departure; making an aggregate of nearly nineteen millions (18,996,450) from the beginning.
The mission was commenced with the expectation that the revival of gospel light and influence among that people would rekindle their ancient missionary spirit. Extreme oppression and poverty have made the development of this spirit very difficult. But we have already seen among them as fine specimens of it, probably, as there ever were in the olden times. Witness the venerable Bishop Elias, Tamo of Gawar, Guwergis of Tergawer, Isaac of the Patriarchal family, Joseph the translator, Priest Eshoo of the Seminary, Oshana of Tehoma, and, more recently, Yacob, among the Malakans of Russia, and Deacon Eshoo in the commercial capital of Persia. These were really missionary men; and there seems also to have been even a greater development of the genuine missionary zeal among the Nestorian women. There were, and doubtless there are now, men and women, who would have resolutely carried the gospel into Central Asia, had the door been open.
The time had now come, when it could be no longer safe for the reformed Nestorian churches to defer entering upon incipient foreign missions. The healthful reaction of such missions had become as indispensable as it was when the churches at the Sandwich Islands were providentially led to send missionaries to Micronesia and the Marquesas. The churches at the Islands, living under a free const.i.tutional government, were indeed able to support their missionaries, and the oppressed and impoverished Nestorians are not; but it was a great thing to have messengers go forth from among themselves to make the gospel known to less favored peoples.
And here, to ill.u.s.trate the high-toned missionary spirit of the Nestorians of our day, I will quote from the correspondence of Sarah, a daughter of Priest Abraham, of Geog Tapa. She was a convert of the first revival in 1846, and one of the earliest graduates of the female seminary. She seems to have gone, after graduation, to reside with her father, then laboring at Ardishai, one of the most wicked villages of the plain; where she persuaded her father to go and work for Christ. She was afterwards married to Oshana, one of those named above; and the following letter, written two years after to Miss Fiske, then in the United. States, will give a good idea of her spirit. She is giving an account of her visit to Tehoma, with her husband, Oshana, and her two little children:
”Through the favor of our heavenly Father, I have made a journey into these mountains, rejoicing in the opportunity to labor for my people. I am very happy that my father and friends brought me on my way in willingness of soul. From the day that I left my own country, in every place that I have entered, until now, my heart has been excited to praise my Guide and my Deliverer, and I have also been grateful to my teachers, who brought me to labor in a desolate vineyard joyfully; I, who am so weak, and such a great sinner. In all the various circ.u.mstances through which I have pa.s.sed, your counsels have been of great benefit to me.
”I think you will be glad to know, that the gospel door is wide open here. You and your friends will pray, that the Lord of the harvest would send forth laborers into his harvest.
”We left Oroomiah, May 6th, and on May 8th we reached Memikan, and remained there three days. It was our first Sabbath in the mountains, and I met that company of women, for whom our departed Mrs. Rhea used to labor. May 12th we left Memikan, and went up to the tops of the snowy mountains of Gawar. The cold was such that we were obliged to wrap our faces and our hands as we would in January.
As we descended the mountain, we found it about as warm as February.
That night we spent in the deep valley of Ishtazin, in the village of b.o.o.bawa, where Yohanan and Guly dwell. The people here are very wild and hard. Yohanan and Guly were not here, having gone to visit Khananis. Only a few came together for preaching. The people said, 'Yohanan preaches, and we revile.' May 13th, we left b.o.o.bawa, and soon crossed the river. Men had gone before us, and were lying in wait there. They stripped us, but afterwards of themselves became sorry, and returned our things. As we were going along this wonderful, fearful river, and beheld the mountains on either side covered with beautiful forests, we remembered Mr. Rhea, the composer of the hymn, 'Valley of Ishtazin.' And when filled with wonder at the works of the Great Creator, we all, with one voice, praised him in songs of joy fitting for the mountains. Here the brethren reminded me, that our dear Miss Fiske had trodden these fearful precipices. This greatly encouraged me in my journey. This day we went into many villages, and over many ascents and descents. At evening we reached Jeloo, and remained over night in the pleasant village of Zeer, which lies in a valley made beautiful by forests and a river pa.s.sing through it. They showed great hospitality here, and were eager to receive the word of the Lord. May 14th, we left Zeer, and went to Ba.s.s. It was Sat.u.r.day night, and we remained over the Sabbath in the village of Nerik. I shall always have a pleasant remembrance of the Sabbath we pa.s.sed there. From the first moment that we went in till Monday morning, we were never alone, so many were a.s.sembling to hear the words of the Lord. With tearful eyes and burning hearts, they were inquiring for the way of salvation. They would say, 'What shall we do? We have no one to sit among us, to teach us, poor, wretched ones.' Truly a man's heart burns within him as he sees this poor people scattered as sheep without a shepherd.
May 16th, we mounted our mules, and went on our way. Half an hour from Nerik we came to the village of Urwintoos. An honorable, kind-hearted woman came out, and made us her guests. This was Oshana's aunt. As soon as we sat down, the house was filled with men and women. They brought a Testament themselves, and entreated us to read from that holy book. Did not my heart rejoice when I saw how eagerly they were listening to the account of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ! When the men went out, the women came very near to me, entreating for the word of the Lord, as those thirsting for water.
Then I read to them from the Book.
”There are many sad deeds of wickedness among these mountain Nestorians; and when Christians hear how anxious they are to receive the words of life, will they not feel for them? We reached Tehoma May 17th. Now, from the mercy of G.o.d, we are all well and in the village of Mazrayee. I am not able to labor for the women here as I desired, because many of them have gone to the sheep-folds. It is so hot we cannot remain here, and we will go there also, soon. I trust, wherever I am, and as long its I am here, I shall labor for that Master, who wearied Himself for me, and who bought these souls with his blood.”
Sarah returned to Oroomiah in the spring of 1860, and left in 1861 for Amadiah. During the winter of 1861-62, no messenger could cross the snow-covered mountains between Oroomiah and Amadiah, and she thus wrote in March, 1862, to Miss Rice.
”I did greatly long for the coming of the messenger. We were very sad in not hearing a single word from home. Now I offer thanksgivings to Him, in whose hands are all things, that He has opened a door of mercy, and has delighted us by the arrival of letters. They came to-day. Many thanks to you and your dear pupils!
The Lord bless them, and prepare their hearts for such a blessed work as ours.
”Give Eneya's salutations and mine to all the school. I think they will wish to hear about the work of the Lord here. Thanks to G.o.d, our health has been good ever since we came, and our hearts have been contented and happy in seeing some of our neighbors believing, and with joy receiving the words of life. Every Sabbath we have a congregation of thirty-five, and more men than women. For many weeks only the men came; but now, by the grace of G.o.d, the women come too, and their number is increasing. I have commenced to teach the life of the Lord Jesus from the beginning. I have strong hopes that G.o.d is awakening one of them. His word is very dear to her. Her son is the priest of the village, and a sincere Christian. Four other young men and five women are, we trust, not far from the door of the kingdom. We entreat you, dear sisters, to pray in a special manner for these thoughtful ones, that they may enter the narrow door of life.