THE JERUSALEM CHRISTIAN UNION MISSION.
By Mrs. Agnes Ben-Oliel
A Review of the Past Year.
WITH thankful hearts we raise our Ebenezer for the blessings of the past year. In looking back over it I am forcibly reminded of the text that came as if whispered to me, as I opened my eyes on last New Year's morning: "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." I had been weak and ill for some days, and it came with the assurance of strength to be renewed for God's service. The expression "they shall mount up with wings as eagles" conveyed to me the thought of being kept above one's troubles; and this has indeed been our blessed experience this year, amid worries and vexations from without. I am sure our friends will be gratified to hear that my dear husband seems much younger and brighter than he has for at least two years, and day after day God's ceaseless fatherly care of us and our precious children, many of them far away from us, has given us constant cause for thankful praise; and we feel that he is showing his approval of our work by supplying our needs, and the increasing ones of the mission. In my last paper I urged my desire to give my poor "mothers" warm dress skirts instead of jackets this year, and very soon unusual donations came in, which have enabled me to do so. Satan has been very busy in trying both to hinder the work and to prevent the means coming to carry it on, but the Lord has been overruling all for his own good purposes, and has granted us the happiness of seeing the very persecution give strength and courage to confess more boldly the faith in Jesus which had been steadily growing for three years or more. One convert, who has suffered much for persisting in coming to the mission house, was baptized on October 27 by the Rev. Curtis E. Long (Presbyterian) in the upper room after morning service, in presence of several ministers of different denominations, from the United States. A week or two ago we paid a visit to a Moslem bey and his wife, our near neighbors. Mr. Ben-Oliel was received downstairs by the bey and his male friends, and my daughter and I were conducted upstairs by a woman to the apartments of his wife. There we were taken into a room with divans and sofas almost all round, and handsome Turkish carpets covering the center. Soon after we were seated, cigars were brought in and offered us, which of course we declined, but the lady of the house took one, which her maid brought her ready lighted. It was amusing to notice how the women servants clustered round the open door to see and hear all that passed. It reminded me of when Joseph wanted to make himself known to his brethren. He said, "Cause every man to go out from me." Yesterday the bey's wife returned our visit, her husband having called on Mr. B. a few days ago—husbands and wives never go out together. She came with a group of ladies and children, handsomely dressed in brocaded silks and furs and bright colors. Our daughters prepared a Christmas tree, and we invited the bey's little girl to come and see it lighted up on Christmas day. She came, and was so pleased that the next day she came again. Some Jewish friends were also invited to spend the evening; some came, but many were deterred by the very urgent threats of the rabbis against all persons going to the mission house. They are threatened with excommunication, that is, their dead would not be buried, their young would not be married, nor their sons circumcised, nor would they get any help if sick or poor. One young man who ventured to come is the son of the friendly rabbi, our former neighbor, who invited us one year, with a number of ministers and students, to witness the Passover at his house. He was so kind as to pause occasionally in his recital of the Passover service to allow Mr. Ben-Oliel to translate and explain to our friends the meaning of different parts of it. On coming out these gentlemen made the remark that Mr. B. was evidently "the right man in the right place." This son told my husband on Christmas day that he only wished the rabbis would question him about coming here, as they have done to others, and he would tell them, "Only go yourselves once, and you will want to go again, for you will hear explanations of our own Scriptures which will make you want to hear more." He comes nearly every Saturday. The New Year's Fête, 1896.
The New Year's fête for Spanish Jewesses attending this mission was on a much larger scale this year, as our work has expanded and the numbers increased. On January 1 seventy gathered in the large hall upstairs, or, as Mr. Ben-Oliel likes to call it, the "upper room," the tree I have before mentioned being lighted at one end, and the presents and prizes for the girls being arranged on tables on either side; another table was covered with kindergarten work, embroidery, lace, etc., made in the school. Evangeline's children were arranged to the left, the girls and young women of Miss Volty's class in front, and, behind, the mothers of my mothers' meeting, with a few of their children, and one or two mothers of the girls, who had been admitted to hear their children recite and witness their enjoyment. First they sang some hymns in Spanish, and then, the tiny ones beginning, they all recited, generally two together, hymns and texts in Spanish, French, and English, and then the first class stood up together and repeated a selection of texts from the Old Testament in Hebrew prophecies referring to Christ, giving chapter and verse, and following each passage with its translation in Judeo-Spanish. Mr. Ben-Oliel, who presided, was delighted and surprised to find what progress they had made since the last season of recitation. We all felt that they did their indefatigable teacher great credit. This over, some of the young women of the dressmaking school repeated together some texts they had been taught by Evangeline in their own language, which was followed by some kindergarten action songs, which gave great satisfaction and amusement to all. The little ones, standing in a ring, gave "Pussy's in the Well;" the middle class, "I'm a Good Musician," with trumpet, violin, and drum, imitated by the little ones, who declared they were "all good musicians." Then the first class did the scarf drill, to the delight of all, after which came the giving of presents. Each one was called up to receive a dress, an orange, a cake, and some sweets, and for the little ones there were dolls and toys, and some warm scarfs, etc. The girls who had made most progress in reading received Pentateuchs in Hebrew, and others got work-boxes for good conduct. Our warm thanks are due to the kind friends who have by their gifts enabled us to give so much pleasure to these poor people.
Jerusalem, Jan. 6, 1896.