p. 12 | Algeria by Lydia Jesperrson

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 21, 1906

Algeria

By Lydia Jesperrson

LYDIA JESPERRSON

Some time ago we learned of a family, about six hundred kilometers distant from Algiers, who had been reading the French Signs of the Times for twelve years. While living in France, a canvasser had taken their subscription, and ever since that time this paper has been their instructor, and has never failed in its mission, as the lady expressed it, and it has been the only religious influence or help they have had.

As I had an opportunity to travel at half rate, we decided that I should pay this family a visit, to see what could be done to help and encourage them in their loneliness. A day’s ride by rail brought me to Oran, where there is connection with Vemours, my destination, by means of small steamers. But as the sea was rough, and there was little hope that the steamer would be able to land at Vemours, I thought best to make the remainder of the distance by rail and carriage, via Elemcen, thus lengthening the journey one day.

On arriving in Elemcen, an Arabic town of about thirty-five thousand inhabitants, I was told that the stagecoach had been taken by robbers recently, the six horses, the coachman, and others having been killed. This did not seem very encouraging, and especially as several persons told me that it was not at all safe for a woman to make that trip. But as I was on the Lord’s errand, and going as his messenger, I took courage, trusting in him who had sent me, and who has said, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” The carriage started before daybreak, and took us through mountains and valleys, and over deserts where no man was to be seen, and, thank God, not even a robber. The coachman had to change his six horses five times, so it took thirty horses in all to bring the journey to an end. But I arrived safely a little before sunset, the beginning of the Sabbath, after being three days on the way.

In the carriage was an Arabic chief, who entered into conversation with me, and among other things, he told me that he had long wished to have a Bible, but had not been able to find anything but the Gospel of John. As I had some with me, I handed him a copy, which he accepted with great thankfulness. The evening I arrived, I had one meeting; on Sabbath I had four, on Sunday three, and on Monday, the last day, two. Among the attendants were many distinguished persons, also young people, mostly Catholics, and it was a great pleasure to see them listen so attentively to the Word of God. One exclaimed, “I should like to be here all the time, to hear.” Another said, “Why have they changed? and why do we not keep the seventh day, as Sunday is the first day of the week?”

It was my privilege to make some visits. We went to the hospital to see a French officer, who is a Protestant, but whose relatives are Catholics. As he understood German, I could encourage him to resist the influence of the Catholic priest, without his relatives understanding the conversation. One of the children said that the priest had prayed for her father, and if he was not healed, she would become a Protestant, for that would be a sign that the Catholic religion was no good. On the other hand, if he was healed, she would remain a Catholic.

It is certainly high time that we should do something for these poor souls plunged in superstition and darkness, many of whom are willing to learn, and anxious to know something better. Sacred music and religious meetings seem to be a rare thing in this place, a town of three thousand inhabitants. In one family that I visited there was a harmonium, and as I played and sang some of our gospel hymns, a great crowd assembled on the street. Such places ought to be supplied with gospel workers now, before the field is occupied by other denominations.

As it became known that I was a medical worker, I also had a number of consultations.

After a three-days’ stay, I had to leave these dear souls, my duties calling me back to Algiers. My heart was filled with thankfulness to God for blessings received, but I was sorrowful because there is nobody to further instruct and help them.

Vemours is situated near the frontier of Morocco, and one can hear the shooting going on in that country of dispute and disturbance. Several of the Moroccans had come to Vemours, in order to escape the present danger in their native land. They were very poor and miserable looking, and certainly deserve our pity and sympathy. Morocco is still an unentered field. How long shall it remain so?

We thank the Lord for a beginning in this needy country, and we ask our dear brethren and sisters to remember us in their prayers.