no more he was beaten and his wife insulted, and so
it was in almost every Protestant house. They
began to love the Gospel, and the men who knew how
to read, would meet to read and pray together.
One evening, all the Protestants met together in one
of the houses. Their sufferings were very great.
Their winter stores had been plundered, their olives
gathered by Beit Beshoor, and they talked and prayed
over their trouble. It was a dark, cold, rainy
night, and the wind blew a gale. While they were
talking together, a man came rushing in crying, run
for your lives! the horsemen are here! Before
they could get out, a squad of wild looking wretches
were at the door. The men fled, carrying the
larger children and the women carrying the babies,
and off they went into the wilderness in the storm
and darkness. Some women were seized and tied
by ropes around their waists, to the horsemen, and
marched off for miles to prison. The men who
were caught were put in chains. Some time later
they got back home again. But they would not give
up the Gospel. Beshoor sent men who told them
they could have peace if they would only go back to
the Greek Church. But he offered peace quite too
late. They had now learned to love the Gospel,
and it was worth more to them than all the world beside.
One night they were assembled in a little low black
house, when some men came to the door and threw in
burning bundles of straw and then shut the door, so
that they were almost stifled with the smoke.
They sent a messenger to Beirut. The case was
laid before the Pasha, and he telegraphed to have the
Protestants let alone. But Beshoor cared for nothing.
A Nusairy was hired to shoot Abu Asaad, the leading
Protestant. His house was visited in the daytime,
and the man saw where Abu Asaad’s bed was placed.
In the night he came stealthily upon the roof, dug
a hole through, and fired three bullets at the spot.
But see how God protects his people! That evening
Abu Asaad said to his wife; the floor is getting damp
in the corner, let us remove the bed and mat to the
other side. They did so, and when the man fired,
the bullets went into the ground just where Abu Asaad
had slept the night before! He ran out and saw
the assassins and recognized one of them as the servant
of Beshoor’s son. The next day he complained
to the Government and they refused to hear him because
he did not bring witnesses!
But the poor people would not give up. Every
day they went to their fields, carrying their Testaments
in their girdles and at noontime would read and find
comfort. Their children were half naked and half
starved. When word reached Beirut, the native
Protestant women met together and collected several
hundred piastres (a piastre is four cents) for the
women and girls of Safita. They made up a bale
of clothing, and sent with it a very touching and
kind letter, telling their poor persecuted sisters
to bear their trials in patience, and put all their
trust in the Lord Jesus. That aid, together with
the contributions made by the missionaries and others
in Beirut, gave them some relief, and the kind words
of sympathy strengthened their hearts. The school
was kept up amid all these troubles. One of the
boys was taught in Abeih Seminary, and two of the
girls were sent to the Beirut Female Seminary.