“The home in Syria whose mother was taught in a school can always be distinguished at a glance, whether it belongs to the Protestant community or to one of the old Christian sects. Neatness and good taste prevail, the children are more carefully trained, the members of the family work for each other’s benefit. One of our school girls, who was married to an uneducated man, told us years after: ‘Letter by letter I taught him to read, figure by figure I taught him arithmetic, and then I drew him down upon his knees and word by word I taught him to pray.’”[74]
Boys of West Africa.
From the Spirit of Missions we quote the following about the boys at Cape Mount, West Africa:—
“These people can be reached by Christianity best in their childhood, before superstitions, belief in the Gregre, or the influence of the life of a Mohammedan has become grafted into their lives. If allowed to grow up in their native villages they often become leaders of tribal wars, and, unknowingly, men of the vilest character. In one tribe from which several boys are at the mission, the mother tattoos curious marks on the forehead of her babe, in order that if during war he is captured and in after years she becomes able to redeem him from slavery, she may be able to recognize her own child. With the influence and training of a Christian mission, even though the boys go back to native life, they do not go back to all of its vileness, and one can soon distinguish between them and the un-Christianized heathen.”
It takes faith and hope and love and a vision far into the future to teach boys like these. But it pays, and the “bread cast on the waters” is often found again in most unlikely places, such as those described in a letter from Mr. W. C. Johnson of West Africa:—
“Everywhere I find in the village schools sources of Christian influence. In one village where I stayed all night, all of the boys and all but two of the women were Christians. This was entirely the work of Christian school boys. In another place a young man told me that there were only two young men in the community who were not trying to lead Christian lives. This too was the work of the Christian school boys.”
A few months at school and what they accomplished.
A little Mohammedan girl attended for a very few months the mission day school in a near-by city street. Her cruel step-mother persecuted her bitterly, throwing her school books on the floor and trampling them under foot to show her contempt of Christian learning. Some kind friend at the school gave the child forty cents,—unheard-of wealth to the little one,—and the missionary suggested that a teacher should help the child spend it for something she greatly needed before the mother could take it away. “No,” said the little girl, “I don’t want to spend it in that way. I want to give it all to the Lord and then I shall have treasure in heaven. I learned that at school.” She was married,—without any choice in the matter,—to a man who had known Christians and was favorable to them, and the little wife lived a consistent Christian life and died trusting in Christ as her Saviour.
Only a few months at school for a few hours of each day, but they made all the difference for time and for eternity! How many children are having such an opportunity because of us and our missionary society? How many are deprived of the opportunity because it is “not our business” to help them realize the truth of what was said in days of old,—“Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”