N EGLECTErr'ARABI A No. 188 APRIL—MAY—JUNE 1940 THE LANDWARD APPROACH TO MUSCAT IS BY A NARROW DEFILE THROUGH A ROCKY GORGE Annual Report of the Arabian Mission for the Year 1939 Edited by REV. JAMES E. MOERDYK The Arabian Mission OF THE REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA 156 Fifth Ave., New York City Officers of the Board of Foreign Missions Rev. Edward Dawson, D. D., President F. M. Potter, L. H. D., Secretary and Treasurer Rev. L. J. Shafer, Litt. D., Secretary Rev. W. J. Van Kersen, D. D., District Secretary MISSIONARIES Rev. James Cantine Stone Ridge, N. Y Emeritus Rev. S. M. Zwemer 156 Fifth Ave., N .Y C. Retired Rev. and Mrs. F. J. Barny 156 Fifth Ave., N. Y. C.. Emeritus Rev. James E. Moerdyk Amarah, Iraq Evangelistic Work Rev. and Mrs. J. Van Ess Basrah, Iraq Educ. and Evan Work Miss J. A. Scardefield 156 Fifth Ave., N. Y. C. Emeritus Miss Fanny Lutton 156 Fifth Ave., N. Y. Cr Emeritus Rev. and Mrs. D. Dykstra Muscat, Arabia Evangelistic Work Dr. and Mrs. C. S. G. Mylrea Kuwait, via Iraq Med. and Evan. Work Rev .and Mrs. G. J. Pennings Kuwait, via Iraq Evangelistic Work Dr. and Mrs. P. W. Harrison 156 Fifth Ave., N. Y. C. On furlough Rev. and Mrs. G. D. Van Peursem 156 Fifth Ave., N. Y. C. On furlough *Mrs. May De P. Thoms Baghdad, Iraq Educational Work Miss Charlotte B. Kellien Basrah, Iraq Educational Work Miss M. C. Van Pelt 156 Fifth Ave., N. Y. C. On furlough Miss Ruth Jackson 156 Fifth Ave., N .Y . C. On furlough Miss Rachel Jackson Bahrain, Pers. Gulf Educational Work Miss Cornelia Dalenberg Bahrain, Pers. Gulf Medical Work *Rev. and Mrs. B. D. Hakken Baghdad, Iraq Evan. Work Dr. and Mrs. W. J. Moerdyk Amarah, Iraq Med. and Evan. Work Rev. and Mrs. G. E. De Jong Bahrain, Pers. Gulf Evangelistic Work Dr. and Mrs. W. Harold Storm Bahrain, Pers. Gulf Medical Work Rev. and Mrs. George Gosselink Basrah, Iraq Evangelistic Work Dr. and Mrs. W. W. Thoms Muscat Arabia Medical Work Mrs. Mary Bruins Allison, M. D., Kuwait, via Iraq Medical Work Miss Esther I. Barny, M . D., 156 Fifth Ave., N. Y. C. Medical Work Dr. and Mrs. L. R. Scudder Kuwait, via Iraq Language Study Mr. John Van Ess, Jr. Basrah, Iraq Educational Work Miss Madeline A. Tull Kuwait, via Iraq Medical Work Miss Ruth O. Crouse, M. D. Kuwait, via Iraq Language Study Miss Roelphine Bakker, 156 Fifth Ave., N .Y.C. Under appointment All Air Mail service to Iraq and the Persian Gulf has been discontinued. Regular mail service to all Stations is subject to long delays as deliveries are made only through .occasional sailings around South Africa. Postage rates are the same as heretofore, five cents for the first ounce and three cents for each additional ounce or fraction thereof. /T he Arabian Mission which was organized in 1889 as a separate mission, was amal­ gamated with the Board of Foreign Missions of the Reformed Church in America in 1925. The change did not affect the work in Arabia or the organization in the field, but concerned only office administration and legal status. All former contributions should be continued and sent to the Board of Foreign Missions. They may be specially designated “ For Work in Arabia" if desired. ♦Member of the United Mission in Mesopotamia in which we cooperate with the Presbyterian Church end the Reformed Church in the United States. N e g l e c t e d A r a b i a Missionary News and Letters Published Quarterly FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION AMONG THE FRIENDS OF THE ARABIAN MISSION Report of The Arabian Mission for 1939 We believe that we have received our commission from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself who said: “ Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you alway, unto the end of the world.” And we believe that in order to carry out this commission we must explain in no uncertain terms “ how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.’’ The Rules of our Mission say that “ our methods are preaching, Bible distribution, itinerating, medical work, and school work.” Medical Work Muscat Station for part of the year has been without medical work. The lady doctor returned to America and resigned from the Mission. This leaves a hospital building standing without anyone to care for the needy sick among the women of that city. The hospital in Matrah was reopened after the arrival of Dr. Thoms who returned from fur­ lough in America. This hospital can accommodate men, and women who are willing to come even though the doctor is a man, are admitted also. The doctor’s right-hand helper there is a man who came to Christ after several years of employment when he was a Mohammedan. His family has also come out and joined as members of the group of believers. Medical clinics have also been supported every week in one or more of the towns out along the sea-coast; these towns will very 4 NEGLECTED ARABIA probably become centers for established work. Visits to places farther inland can at present only be possible upon invitation from the local sheikhs or rulers. Amarah has been without any medical work for one-half of the year. This was because of local vacations and appointments by the Mission for transfers to other stations. It was encouraging at such a time to learn from the people how well they had become acquainted with the missionaries and how highly they appreciated their work; they never ceased imploring that the work might be reopened and asked when the missionaries would return. They proved their sincerity by crowding the clinics for men and women as soon as the hospital was reopened. The hospitals in Bahrain have been open the year round and have both been more than busy; for the number of sick coming from the mainland as well as from the city has been larger than before. In the men’s hospital the clinics have reached a level taxing the capacity of one doctor to handle them. Patients will not wait two and three hours for a doctor unless they are very sick. The number of inpatients and outcalls has markedly increased. For many months the hospitals have been full to overflowing; it is a problem to find room for them. The pioneer days have passed and we are now entering into a more settled phase which demands concentration. Five promising boys have been accepted as a start for a training school for nurses. We are also trying to make the same beginning in the women’s hospital. An invitation from the ruler of Inland Arabia for a lady doctor was accepted and the doctor spent several months there, as also a lady nurse who was called to attend a patient in Hassa. Other invitations to the mainland could not be accepted because there was no doctor to go. In Kuwait the government is more or less committed to a plan which includes a hospital building and a resident physician and a physician has been brought from Syria. Just how much work the hospital is actually doing is hard to say. But our hospitals go on and on, day in; day out, year in, year out, treating more or less 100 patients daily in the men’s hospital and more than 100 in the women’s hospital. 1939 has been remarkable for the large number of patients who have come to us from Saudi Arabia, from Mecca, and from the Hejaz. The new Olcott Memorial Hospital was opened and “ there were huge throngs of patients coming to the clinic.” The addition from home to the staff of workers was an encouragement to care for this large increase in numbers. The patients do appreciate the new hospital. The Arab women were increasingly willing to come and stay in the hospital. Altogether more than 150,000 men and women have come to the clinics in these stations. And let us not forget that this means that all of H r ! 'S Iteti. lam pa (EanîittP, IL 1. Sont Ulani) 3. IBBl 9<rb 3nlg 1, 1940 Dr, Cantine, beloved pioneer missionary, died at Kingston, New York, at noon on Monday, July 1st, 1940, after a long illness. The funeral services were held in the Fair Street Reformed Church, Kingston, on Wednes­ day, July 3rd, at 2 P. M. Dr. Frank B. Seeley, pastor of the church, presided and gave the opening sentences and offered prayer Rev. Fred J . Barny, long a colleague of Dr Cantine in Arabia, pronounced the benediction. The services at the cemetery in Stone Ridge were in charge of the Rev. Harold J . Hoffman, pastor of that church, of which Dr. Cantine was a member, Dr. Samuel M. Zwemer and the Rev. Fred J Barny also participating. Addresses given by Dr. Zwemer and Dr. F. M. Potter at the services held in the church will be found in the follow­ ing pages, as well as the tribute given by Rev. Harold J . Hoffman at the graveside. Dr. James Cantine An Address by Dr F. M. Potter, Secretary of the Board of Foreign Missions, R. C. A.