p. 14 | Notes of Travel in Turkey by Claude D. AcMoody

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 18, 1908

Notes of Travel in Turkey

By Claude D. AcMoody

—No 1

CLAUDE D. AC MOODY

SHAKSHAK, MARCH 11.—This afternoon of ideal weather finds me in a little Armenian village of one hundred houses, all of which are made of sun-dried bricks of mud and straw. The village is situated at the top of a high hill. We will not look into the village itself; for all that we see are its filthy, and narrow streets and rickety old houses; but we will look off to the Sea of Marmora on one side, with the Princes Islands in the distance, and off to the south to the range of mountains lining the south coast of the “marble sea.” With the glasses, Constantinople can be seen, commanding the exit of the Bosphorus into the Marmora. From the point where I am penning these lines I can see the ruins of what is said to be the birthplace of the mother of Constantine the Great. It is close to the sea. Near this old ruin is seen what appears to be the remains of an old stone road, built out into the sea. How far it might have extended is not at all certain; but it is thought by some to have one time reached across to the Princes Islands, which are a considerable distance from the shore. The line of hills stretching back at an angle from the sea to the southwest presents a beautiful sight from the more elevated position of the village. In the evening, as the sun sinks behind the mountains, the valleys between the ridges, filled to the lip of each hill with a smoky haze, have the appearance of vast depths of violet.

We reached this village by twelve hours’ travel on horseback from Bagtchedjik (little garden), where I have conducted an institute for two months this winter, which closed last week. Ten students were in attendance. Though we have labored under some trying disadvantages, not having a good interpreter part of the time, still the Lord has blessed the effort, and the students, many of whom are quite young, have been of good courage. One young man who was in the institute will do some Bible and tract work this summer. We do need ways and means for educating our youth so as to prepare them for the field. This institute has been a start in the right direction; and we are glad to have been able to conduct it. Of course we have no rights from the government to conduct a school, and but for very friendly relations with the civil heads of the church communities and Turkish officials in Bagtchedjik, we could not even have conducted the institute without being interfered with by the authorities. We hope and pray that the institute plan may develop into a permanent school, with a permit from the government to conduct it.

I have just passed a Sabbath and several days with the brethren here, enjoying some good meetings with them. Their membership is twenty-three, all of whom are rejoicing in the message of Christ’s soon coming. This is one of the places where I live strictly Turkish fashion. For one week I have sat Turk fashion to meals by a table about ten inches high, and dipped from the large dish in the center of the table.

LALEDERS, MARCH 12.—The season is opening especially early even for this country. Constantinople is on the same parallel of latitude as New York City, but the spring comes much earlier. Since the middle of February the weather has been delightful. It is therefore very

pleasant traveling on horseback. Yesterday afternoon a breeze came from the sea, and blowing gently across the Bythinian hills, dotted here and there with flocks of sheep with their shepherds, it had an exhilarating influence upon the traveler. One could dream himself in the years gone by, when our Lord and Master drew forth those sublime lessons of the kingdom of heaven from the flocks and herds and hillside scenes of Judea. A few days ago I saw a shepherd in the midst of his flock, with a little lamb under each arm. Jesus could not have drawn a more significant picture of his care over his people from any source than from the life of these Oriental shepherds. They spend the nights in all seasons with their flocks, so that they are “wet with the dew of heaven.” Likewise our great Shepherd cares for his sheep, bearing the weak ones in his strong arms. He has endured the ravages of sin that we might be gathered at last safe from all the storms of this cursed earth.

We have only one brother and one sister in the faith in this village. They are numbered with the Shakshak company,—the place from which I wrote yesterday. These were very anxious that I should visit their place, and speak to some of the village people. It is my first visit here. Last evening between sixty and seventy people gathered to talk, ask questions, and hear a lesson from the American who had come to their village. Through my faithful interpreter the Lord blessed as I opened to them the simple and practical truths of the gospel. Buried in the dark superstitions of the old Gregorian Church, many unable to read, only the simplest lessons can be grasped by them. My congregation last evening would certainly have been a strange sight for our American brethren who have not traveled in Oriental countries. My interpreter and myself were seated each on a “minder” (the cushion placed on the floor of a Turkish house, which serves in the place of a chair) at one end of a room, with a little low table about eighteen inches high before us, upon which was a lamp and a large ancient Armenian Bible. At each side of the room, and across the center, “minders” were laid, and occupied by the simple Armenian villagers. After I had spoken for about an hour, we passed through what is a usual ordeal in such a place as this,—listening to and answering all manner of questions, religious and secular. I would remark here that, though this village is but about forty-five miles from Constantinople,—in fact I saw Constantinople this morning early by the aid of strong field-glasses,—the people, in common with many other villagers within short radius from Constantinople, seem nearly as far removed from the world of affairs as they would be if the Sahara desert intervened. Villages of one, two, and three thousand inhabitants have no postal service. To all who could read Armenian, we gave some of our Armenian tracts. There are hundreds

of these places, which have never been entered by the Protestants, to whom we long to send workers to enter the open doors. Of course progressive work in any place lays us liable to interference from the government, but with care one can go ahead even under difficulties.

This morning we have just come from a walk to an ancient Greek cemetery. Unfortunately there were no inscriptions to be found. I was told by those attending me that there were some inscriptions, but that they had been destroyed or carried away. This whole country is covered with the relics and ruins of ancient civilizations. Alexander passed not far from this part of the country after the battle of Granicus. Later it was the scene of campaigns by the Philips of Macedonia.

Constantinople.