Syria and the Holy Land

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Jul 1, 1909

Syria and the Holy Land

[At the early morning meeting, May 30, Elder W. C. Ising spoke as follows of the conditions existing in Syria and Palestine.]

WHILE there are about two and one-half million Mohammedans in Syria, there are also about a million people of Christian faith, made up of various creeds of Catholicism—Greek, Armenian, Syrian, Roman, and a number of others.

It is in Syria that many of the old Christian churches were raised up in the days of the apostles. In this field we have to deal with the descendants of the Christians of the first centuries; and from church history we know of the difficulty and the strife existing among these churches all through the centuries. Our knowledge of the battles and strife that these churches of old passed through, may give us some faint conception of the peculiar conditions existing there to-day.

And these enmities of long standing between the various faiths of Christianity, make it exceedingly difficult to impress the Mohammedans with the superiority of the Christian religion over their faith. Indeed, so tense is the feeling among the various sects, that in many of the so-called holy places, or shrines, in the land of Palestine, there are stationed Mohammedan soldiers to keep the peace. In spite of the precautions taken by the Turkish authorities to preserve order, there are occasional outbreaks in these holy places, and Christians, so-called, fight against Christians. Only recently there was a conflict between the Greek native Christians and adherents of the Greek Orthodox Church, of Greece, and nearly fifty persons were killed. For some time terror prevailed throughout the city; people feared to leave their homes, lest they might be shot down in the streets; and every other morning some priest would be found massacred within his own home. At this place, the difficulties are not all yet settled, and there is danger of another outbreak at almost any moment.

About every place in Palestine to which tradition has attached sacred interest, has been set apart as a shrine or holy spot by these professing Christians. Many churches or temples have been built on various spots; and portions of some of these churches are set apart for the exclusive use of certain sects of the Christian religion. It is at these places that the Mohammedans have to preserve a very strict watch, with armed guards, lest outbreaks occur. Even the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is thus divided and guarded. There stand the soldiers, armed with swords and guns, taking care lest the “good Christians” kill each other within the confines of their own so-called sacred shrine. At Christmas time, one may find several hundred soldiers stationed at this one place. This situation makes it very difficult to persuade the average Mohammedan to give serious thought to the merits of true Christianity.

Thousands upon thousands of pilgrims visit the Holy Land every year. Among these, are Christians from every land. For instance, nearly fifteen thousand Russians pass through Palestine in the course of a year. These pilgrims, when visiting the holy shrines, take with them an offering, often the savings of years of toil and deprivation; and after listening to a short service by the priest, they kiss his outstretched right hand, place their offerings in his left, and pass on to allow others to go through the same ceremony. A few years ago I saw a Russian hand to the priest a very large bag of money, I suppose all that he had been able to save for many years. As we witness these scenes, we are reminded that apostate Christianity is becoming rich through this merchandise,

for all this is surely a means of gathering money, rather than of imparting to the people spiritual grace.

The providence of God is going before us in Syria, opening the way. We have had some remarkable experiences, indicating that the Lord is indeed working on human hearts. About a year ago, I became acquainted with a Mohammedan who claimed to have been converted to Christianity about twenty years ago. As the Mohammedan faith requires that those who apostatize shall sometime be put to death, this man, upon professing Christianity, retired to Mt. Lebanon, and there lived in quietude for nearly twenty years. This man sought me out, and desired to have me arrange for him to attend our Foreign Mission Seminary at Washington, D. C. I soon learned that he did not wish to come to America because of his love for the third angel’s message, but simply because of his desire to study English in the United States; and so I dropped the matter. However, it was through this gentleman that I made the acquaintance of a young Syrian who had been a member of the Greek Orthodox Church, and whose experience is very encouraging. A native of Syria, he spent about fifteen years in South Africa, where he and his father came in contact with one of our workers, and received a copy of the tract, “The Seal of God.” Before leaving South Africa, the father, seventy years of age, began to keep the Sabbath, and taught his children the Sabbath truth, and other truths regarding the papacy, the mark of the beast, etc.

I have had some interesting visits with this family. The father speaks only the Arabic; but he used the Gospel of Matthew with telling effect, in proving the perpetuity of the law. The son is conversant with English, French, and Arabic, and is much interested in the truth. We need just such people as these in the truth, in Syria; and we are praying that God will give to us some strong young men to help us in our work.

Some time ago I made the acquaintance of an old German, over 73 years of age, who had formerly been a subscriber to our German paper, Herold der Wahrheit. At times he had had occasion to take long walks in the country, in passing from place to place; and once, when crossing Mount Lebanon, and attempting to ford streams swollen by the melting snows, he was swept away by the current. Finally he landed on a rock; and afterward, upon reaching home, he discovered in his pocket a copy of Herold der Wahrheit. He had been reading the paper, and had been impressed with what he had read; and so he thought seriously of this circumstance. Later on, he had a similar narrow escape, and again he found in his pocket a copy of Herold der Wahrheit. He continued to subscribe for the paper, and to read it with increasing interest.

This man has begun to keep the Sabbath, and is desirous of doing all in his power to advance the truth. He wishes to hand to us, for missionary purposes, all his surplus means, amounting, perhaps, to about a thousand francs. Just before I was leaving, he gave me 250 francs. He works diligently at his trade, that of a painter; and he is depriving himself of many creature comforts, in order to save means for the cause. Only recently I learned of his walking all the way from Beirut to Baalbec, a distance of seventy miles or more over mountain trails and poor roads. In this journey he had to cross, once more, Mount Lebanon. All this hardship he endured in order to save some means to the cause we all love. His noble self-sacrifice shows what the acceptance of the third angel’s message will do for these people. His self-denial has been an inspiration to me, and leads me to seek to consecrate myself more fully than ever before to God’s service.

While we do not have, in Syria, all the advantages that you enjoy in America,—sanitariums, schools, printing-houses, and all these agencies,—yet we do have that which the apostles of old had,—the Word of the living God. We believe that this Word, which was effectual in the raising up of strong churches in the days of the primitive Christian church, will to-day have the same power to transform hearts and lives. We believe that in Syria we shall see of the salvation of God. We should like very much to have a small sanitarium established there, and we look forward to the time when we may have one; but we desire above all things else to consecrate ourselves so fully to the Lord that he may use us in his service, and that through our feeble efforts, aided by his divine blessing, there may be raised up strong churches to stand as memorials of the true Christianity, which alone can have influence in the stronghold of Mohammedanism.