INTRODUCTION OF MISSION WORK.
While the sky of Persia was covered with heavy clouds of ignorance and even the dim ray of light in Assyria was almost quenched, suddenly God, in His great wisdom and wise providence, awakened the consciences of godly men in America to think about mission work in Persia. In the year of 1832 Messrs. Smith and Dwight were sent by the A.B.C.F.M. to examine the degenerate and antique churches of the East. They traveled through Syria, Asia Minor, Armenia and Persia. In the latter country they remained in the city of Oroomiah for several weeks, and met the bishops and leaders of the Assyrian church with whom they visited the villages of Assyria. Men, women and children everywhere greeted them with great joy. In this way they became acquainted with the needs of the nations. Mr. Smith said at that time: "I see that this field is white and ready for the harvest. In all my journey I have seen no people as willing to accept the gospel as are the Assyrians of Persia. It is a good field for the work."
On their return to America Messrs. Smith and Dwight reported the needs of the Assyrians and their readiness to accept the gospel. But the question arose, Where is the man qualified for the work, who can overcome the difficulties? In the beginning of every great work there must always be a unique man to lead it. God found only Moses among all the Israelites as being competent to bring His people out of Egypt. He elected George Washington to make free America. Even so, in His providence, he found the Rev. Justin Perkins to be the man equipped for this great mission work. In 1835, Justin Perkins and Dr. Grant as his medical assistant were appointed to the work in Persia. These two blessed messengers of Emanuel shone in the dark skies of Persia, and I believe will everlastingly shine in the sky of heaven.
They were received by the natives as if God had sent them from heaven. Many Assyrians went out to meet them with tears of joy in their eyes. Perhaps some one will ask why the Assyrians were so eager to receive the missionaries. Were they awakened to their spiritual condition? The answer is, they were not fully awakened to their great need of spirituality, but they were eager to be saved from the wicked plan of the Mohammedans to convert them to that faith by force, if need be.
CHAPTER II.
METHOD OF WORK.
Mr. Perkins gained the confidence and won the love of the people by making himself one of their number, by adopting their customs and speaking of Assyria as "our nation." In this way he got very close to the people, they believed him their friend, and were not afraid to come near to him. In adopting the native dress it must be remembered of him that he wore the hat commonly worn by aged religious men. It was made of sheep-skin and was not less than two feet high.
The Assyrians churches were open to the new missionaries and they preached two or three times every Sunday. There was marked interest in the new teachers from the beginning, and every service was attended by 200 or 300 natives. In addition to the observance of Sunday the Assyrians have numerous sacred or saint's days; at such times the churches are better attended than on Sundays. Services were also lead by the missionaries on these days. Through every day of the week the missionaries were busy scattering the blessed seed. When there were no services held in the churches they would meet in some private home. Several neighboring families would come in, and all would listen to the gospel. The writer remembers when he was a boy of Dr. Coan lodging at his father's home several nights and holding meetings. Our homes were very humble among the Assyrians. The houses were low and dark, blackened with smoke from the ovens. The floor was covered with cheap mats, but some people had a carpet which was spread when guests came.
Most of the families are very large, numbering from ten to thirty-five. In many instances, five or six sons having married are found raising their families under their father's roof. The food for all is cooked in the one oven, but more than one table is used when the family is very large. The meals set before the missionaries were very different from what they had been accustomed to. There were no knives and forks, no tables and chairs. But the missionaries humbled themselves, sat on the floor, and ate of the poorly cooked food with their fingers.