fv

Ncilienibei7Decernber 1968
•••Volume.VII,
X Numbe
r 6
"Let the children come to me,
anckdo ,,eor hinder them;
such belongs the kingdom of God."
--Luke 18:16

ABOVE: The Jordan Adventist Welfare Society Orphanage, now being. (II
veloped near Amman, will aid refugee children. LEFT : Sligo MV Society-
Columbia Union College Student Missionary Ellen Lorenz supervised the ou
patient clinic treatment room at The Adventist Hospital, Benghazi, Libya, la.
summer. BELOW: Mother Erna Kruger and her little flock live at TF
Matariah Mercy Home near Cairo.
 MESSAGE from the

Noversabcs-Decemfiaz 1966
Volume XVII, Number 6

RICHARD LE FINN. ....... Acting Editor

Published bi-monthly, The Middle East Messenger is the official Journal

of the
GENERAL CONFERENCE OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS
Middle East Division
Sabtiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon
Post Office Box 2020
Phone: 260258

ADMINISTRATION

FREDERICK C Wxasvix Prevident

Roy L jacoas Secretary
Roomer C. MILLS . Trreill/rei Auditor
ROBERT DARNELL` .. Field Secretary
GEORGI YARCD Airitant Aodnor

MART GHATAI Cashier

STAFF

Achim Dazurii.Public Relatiour / Reltgiour Liberty Rehgioor 'fervor b

Mass A. Haman' Mituolary Volunteer / Teiriperanir
Roy L. Aeons _ Education
JAPAS .. Divans Erougeli4
MAI Rio ICAtitio . Poidabrog * This special issue of The Messenger has two prime purposes. The
rooms KHouxv .„ Divarron Lionel/it
HPRSGHII C. LAMP. DLO . Medical J (Acting) Temper.iiii.
first is spelled out above by residents and friends of The Matariah Mercy
I: Curs. Mn Lax
MiN011, HALM'.
Min/Her/al j Radio-TV / Sabbath School
Lay Actiouter / (Acting) Mituomary Pawnees
Home near Cairo, Egypt : GIVE. We are sending a copy of this
.011 kart issue to every ordained and licensed minister and to every Sabbath school
superintendent in the North American Division and to selected personnel
MAJOR INSTITUTIONS in other areas with the high hope that you will be inspired to pass on
nom, East Cot I to, Sabriyeh, &ma, Lebanon (Post Office Box 11'0,
!tonic Lebanon, Phone • 261100) Kt too-RH L. Vtar. Portnienr• I9NAT11.:,
the Mercy Home's message to your congregations and Sabbath schools in
YAGOUB. Aradearrt Dom Gwent. GHAZAL, Bones: Manage:. time to gather in a great Christmas 13th Sabbath overflow offering for
Mood 1. EA,' Pasha, Sabnyeh, Beirut, Lebanon (Post Office Box 2343.
}tonic Lebanon; Phone. 260932): Roams E ARDriasor, Manage;
the Middle East.
HOUIROS GHAZAL, Tietinteser, Nato AmAls. Editor in Chief.

or ADPIHTurr Hosorrai. Ring Road. Benghazi, Libya (Post Office Box

*Preparation for this issue began way back in July. The temperature
210, Benghazi Libya, Phone. 6481)• D. Curootin LUDINGTON. Medical then was just too high to feel very Christmasy, but by the time it was all
Dneitor, Ciro JOHNSON, Bowies, Manager.
wrapped up in early September the thermometer in Beirut was easing
down and we were quite full of early Christmas spirit.
SECTIONS AND STATIONS

CYPRUS J Sparrow Jaers, Pre fident/Actrug Secietaiy.nearurer; 32

Gladstone Street, Nicosia (Post Office Box 1984, Nicosia, Phone. 76142)
*Note these photo credits, please: front cover, Maxiphoto : N. B.
Nercessian; page 4 (top), pages 6 and 7 (center), page X-1, Charles Mills;
1,6100 • HABIB CHAU Atudent, Smarm GHALL Secretary; HOS.NI WADER
K01,, 7 trawler lb Avenue de Kobbeh. Heliopolis (Post Office Box 12. page X-2 (top left), pages X-2 and X-3 (top and bottom center), page
Phime: 360292).
X-3 (top right), Maxiphoto : N. B. Nercessian; page X-3 (middle right),
less- HAROID L. GRAY, Premien,: Vicars S MARLARIA‘. Secretary-Tora• page X-4, and back cover, Charles Mills; all other pictures by the editor.
sorer, 111 Pahlavi Avenue, Tehran. Iran (Phone: 4-4525)

IRAQ:, Stubs MAH•ro, Pre,ident: Bastes Rum°, Secreiary•Treasureir Sadoun * Our editorial appreciation goes to the management and employee
A112/2/1, blidhal Street, Baghdad (Post Office Boa 2077, Baghdad,
Phone: 84971).
staff of Middle East Press for bringing all of their printing talents into
play for the production of this color number.
JORDAN: WILLARD ) CLEMONS, President/See/MD pTiramper, Jabal Amman,
Amman, Jordan (Post Office Box 2404, Jabal Amman, Amman, Jordan,
Phone 25545)
Our second prime purpose (we didn't forget) is to wish you and
yours a happy Christmas holiday and a New Year full of Heaven's best
LEBANON CHAFIG SROUR, President; MINAS MTGURDITGNIAN, Secretary-
Treasurer; Rue Mat Elias, Mouseitbeh, Beirut (Post Office Box 5715, Beim, blessings! And thank you for your gift of love to the Middle East!
Phone: 247706).

Levu: The Adventist Hospital, Ring Road, Benghazi (Post Office Box 240,
Benghazi; Phone: 6481).

STRIA: GAIRIEL KATIUB, Acting Peerident/Acirog Seeittary-Triviiirer; The

Damascus Center, Damascus (Pont Office Box 839, Damascus; Phone. 22441).

SCORN: Post Office Box 724, Khartoum.

TURK,. MANUK BENZATYAN. Ifierideur/Secretary-Treiturier; 14 Stray

Ark., Ayazpasa, Takaim, Istanbul (Phone. 49-1443)
 The Middle East Messenger
November-December 1968
Page 4

BY FRED.ERICK C. WEBSTER
President, Middle East Division

Recently an international fair was

held in one of the countries of the Mid-
dle East Division. Seventh-day Adven-
tists operated a temperance education
booth at the fair. The booth was un-
usually well-attended by the people of
that land. At the close of the fair the
manager invited our representative to
his office. "We appreciate the contribu-
tion you have made to our fair and to
our country," he said. "Your temperance
message is wonderful; but we believe
you have something additional to teach
us. We have been observing your way
Middle East College oilers Aaventist youth an opportunity to achieve a total of life. Soon my people must hear
education in preparation for a life of meaningful service to God and man. more."
Middle East College is training our
V :led faces, turbaned hea camel greate, of all missionaries to redeem a youth so that in all of these lands men
as s oA e es desert e same lands may hear more of God's truth for our
All o early church day. This educational facility will be
these scenes en oge r ih mos nits as of w nessng, first solidi- a recepient of the December 21 Chris-
peoples' minds when their thoughts turn fying into a strong home base and then tmas 13th Sabbath overflow offering.
to the Middle East. carrying the *'onderful of Jesus Another key institution of the Middle
The lands of the Middle East Divi-
around the ir East Division that will benefit from the
time, vitalize i was united giving of Sabbath school mem-
sion acutally do encompass all of these
of the Holy Spirit, accomplished such Lers around the world on Christmas
unique characteristics and many others.
a complete and re rk Iest. me 13t Sab ath is The Adventist Hosital
Endless deserts, yes; but where water
stand amazed as t This
can be had to give moisture to the soil,
penings of that da oc Led
produce unexcelled grows plentifully.
,reat gospel voice o the rst century is of e people ofit ya ast an ary
These are also lands with modern,
heard today in the lands of the Middle We still need an educational unit in
beautiful cities connected by good high-
East. It seeks to warn 140,000,000 connection with the hospital so that we
ways and rapid air transport. And the
people that the Christ who trod the can become more fully involved in the
lands and the cities are inhabited by the
sands of the Middle East 2,000 years life of the community.
most friendly and hospitable people in
ago is soon to return in glory, this time There is also a budding institution in
all the world.
in its skies. Jordan dedicated to making a home for
It was to the people of these lands of From Libya in North Africa east to at least a few of the many orphans and
the Middle East that Heaven sent the Iran and the frontiers of Afghanistan displaced children of Palestine. God
and Pakistan, and from the Black Sea will certainly reward us as we offer a
south to the Arabian Sea, live these home to the homeless and parentless
140,000,000 people, most of whom are children who are today sheltered in
Benghazi's Adventist Hospital moved makeshift dwellings surrounding the
followers of Islam. Christianity has
into this new building last January. It
been unattractive to Muslims. To a crowded capital city of Amman.
was a 13th Sabbath overflow project. Throughout the centuries the Middle
great extent, Christian witness has been
weak and unconvincing as a power to East has been torn by hatred and strife.
help men live better lives; but today a The people of this region have grown
new concept of Christianity is beginning up in an environment of insecurity and
to make an impact on Islam. It is the bitterness. How wonderful it is that
Adventist faith that points men to a our message brings to them hope and
better way of life. The emphasis that peace and love.
Seventh-day Adventists place on health- We are happy that the echo of that
ful living, temperance, superior stand- first century witness is beginning to re-
ards, and humanitarian ministry is sound in the Middle East Division.
making their faith stand above and Soon, under God's power, the honest-
beyond that which Muslims have hearted of these millions will heat
generally termed "Christianity." heaven's message in its fullness.
1 he Middle East Messenger
November-December 1968 Cr?W:0-2
Page 5
The following story is told by Ben about the accident itself? cn the Whitehouses' front porch, and
ghazi Adventist Hospital Physician Don (Janie shakes her head again.) Mrs. Whitehouse was giving her mouth-
Fahrbach, Wife Alice, and Children Do you remember anything at all to-mouth resuscitation.
Danny and Janie. Questions and com• about Monday? ALICE : Janie had walked from the
meats in italic are by the editor. JANIE : About 12 or 12 : 30—dinner field to the porch under her own power !
time—something about going to a fel- When Beth told me I had no hesitation.
Tell us about the Fahrbach low by the name of Mohammad to buy I went right away. I just wondered
some soft drinks. why Janie would be fainting if some-
ALICE : Don and I have been married Did you go to school that afternoon? thing were in her legs.
1' years. Our children are Danny, 14; JANIE : Uhm mmm.
Janie, 12; Nancy, 9; and Torn, 7. Describe your experience from the
Do you remember anything about
time you turned into the road where
DON : We've been in the Middle school?
the Whitehouses live.
East two years now. We came from (Janie shakes her head.)
Georgia--the little town of Cleveland— Dan, where were you? ALICE : I turned the corner, and I
where I was in general practice. DAN : Playing—about 75 yards away saw the Libyan neighbor. She was run-
at the other end of the road. ning and motioning me to come. She had
What prompted you to come? a bottle in her hands ammonia—
What did you hear?
DON : Probably our and she said, "Qwais!
Qwais!"—you know—
acquaintance with Dr. Janie and Danny Fahrbach "Alright ! Alright!" But
Cliff Ludington, medical
director of the hospital she was terribly agitated.
here, and Dr. Eugene I got there. I stopped
Hildebrand. They asked the car and jumped out
about the possibility of and saw the crowd.
coming and we said if Judy Whitehouse was
things worked out, why, giving mouth-to-mouth
we'd come—and things resusctitation and Laura
worked out. Dennis and Jane Sines
What was the date of were there. I just didn't
Janie's accident? have any idea what
DON : Monday, April it was all about. So I
8, 1968. shouted, "Get a doctor !"
Do you recall anything I looked up and there
significant about Sun- was Cleo Johnson, the
day, the day before? hospital business man-
DON : The furniture ager. And Cleo said,
for Dr. and Mrs. John "Don't you think it
Allen Sines, our dentist, would be better to take
arrived. And there was at the blast site, her to the hospital?" And
a program Sunday night. naturally that was very
But some helped the Sineses unload. DAN : I heard two explosions. I good sense.
Furniture was all over the place. It was wanted to go and investigate, but it We quick picked her up and put her
quite an event. sounded further away than it was— in the back of his car and he started
ALICE : Pastor J. Ernest Edwards about a mile off, I thought. I thought driving. Judy kept trying to give
and Pastor Manoug Nazirian were here some armed forces were practicing bom- mouth-to-mouth. Somebody said, "Lau-
bing or something. ra, why don't you try heart massage?"
that week end to promote lay-activity
work. Mrs. Fahrbach, what was the first Laura said, "Well, she's got this hole
word that came to you about the ac- here. I don't dare." That was the first
Janie, you joined the unpacking crew
cident? saw the hole.
on Monday. Why?
ALICE : I was here ironing. The door- To the best of my knowlede Janie
JANIE (pronounced Jan-y): We were bell rang and I went. Beth Dennis, the took a breath about twice on that trip.
burning trash to help them, and we girl that was with Janie, came to the We all shouted to her and told her to
were earning something for Sabbath door, obviously quite shaken, and she keep it up : "C'mon, Janie! Breathe!"
School Investment. said, "Mrs. Fahrbach, there's been a—a Her color was very poor. She didn't
Did you notice any strange objects in —something blew up in the trash and look very good.
the trash? Janie's legs are bleeding and she's Cleo was driving like mad. Someone
(Janie shakes her head.) fainting! " said, "You'd better take it easy with
Where were you when the accident Beth had run all the way from the Judy working on her."
took place, Doctor? field—and that's about a quarter of a We finally got to the emergency room
DON : I was in surgery at the hospi- mile from here, isn't it? and it was locked. I started running
tal, about a half a mile from here. DON : I'd say so. around the hospital shouting, "Get a
Where were you, Mrs. Fahrbach? doctor !" You know how women are!
DAN : Beth told us to come when
But I looked around just in time to see
ALICE : Here at the house. she started down the road to get Mom.
Janie, do you remember anything I went to the scene, but Janie was lying (See JANIE FAHRBACH, p. 9)
a tic Ittiuttic zabt messenger as one of Lebanon's officially accredited the continuing program of growth or
November-December 1968 institutions of higher learning, Middle Adventist influence in oil-rich Benghazi,
Page 6 East College must continue to develop one of the kingdom's two capital cities.
its physical facilities as it enriches its The main thrust, of course, is The
curriculum. If the school fails, govern- Adventist Hospital, a modern medical
ment recognition could be withdrawn facility which, thanks to your generosity
in a twinkling. Then the bachelor of when a previous overflow offering for
arts degrees conferred by MEC on its the Middle East was gathered in, opened

Your Christmas 13th .Sabbath over- candidates wouldn't be worth the paper its new building last January. It is no
flow offering for the Middle East will they're printed on. idle boast to declare that The Adventist
be cut three ways. You are therefore A new gymnasium will not only serve Hospital is the nation's finest. Members

Pastor Jon Green and other Bengahzi Adventist Church members visit
the site of the proposed two-room school and auditorium.

justified in asking if the slices will be the students and faculty of Middle East
too thin to mean anything really sig- College, it will also be a great blessing
nificant. to the leaders of the Middle East Di-
To get the answer, let's swing around vision, the Lebanon Section, and The
the Middle East Division, visiting the College Park Church, all of whom have
places and institutions designated to long prayed for the day when they
receive this 1968 Christmas overflow. could program great rallies, evangelistic
We begin at Middle East College, meetings, and other special church ser-
Beirut, Lebanon, where young people vices in a hall large enough to seat
from nations north, south, east, and everybody who would like to come.
west are securing a total Christian edu- MEC's new gymnasium-auditorium will
cation at the crossroads of the world. do just that—thus fulfilling a spiritual
Members of the college board of purpose as well as meeting physical and
management and administrative officials social needs.
have long realized, however, that there This is a big project for the church
is a glaring incomplete on MEC's in- in the Middle East. It is not surprising
stitutional report card : an adequate then that the MEC gymnasium-auditor-
gymnasium for physical education. ium will get the biggest slice of the of the royal family and government A q,
Well, why not teach "PE" in the Christmas pie our Sabbath school mem- circles think so. They come regularly Th1
great outdoors? bers everywhere are going to serve on for medical check-ups. They and thou- Mida
MEC does just that. But, believe it December 21. sands of Libya's indigenous poor get
or not, there are days on end—even Another educational project whose the same kind of care—the only kind of
weeks—when the late fall, winter, and success will be determined to a great care Adventist Hospital personnel know
early spring weather in Lebanon is too extent by the size of its share of the how to give: the very best.
wet for even ducks to do wing flaps Christmas 13th Sabbath overflow is the These thousands who visit the hos-
outside. development of an elementary-junior pital every year are Muslims. To be a
Rainy weather isn't really the most academy institution in Benghazi, Libya. Libyan is to be a Muslim. We have
important reason why MEC needs a Actually not a new idea at all, an not one Adventist Libyan—yet. All
gymnasium. To maintain its standing enlarged school for children is part of SDAs now working at the hospital are
 November-December 1968 The Middle East Messenger

Don't Forget
BY L. CURTIS MILLER

Secretary. Middle East Division Sabbath School Department

I can't get the picture of them out of my mind—but then I really don't want
to. I want the memory of them to stir me—and anyone who will listen to me—to
do something about their plight.
Them are the refugees and orphan victims of the Six-Day War of June
1967. This lightning-fast clash of armies broke family circles by death, leaving
thousands of children—innocent children—homeless. It's always the innocent
children who have to suffer when political intrigues created by adults lead to war.
Here are some actual pictures of the Middle East today. The bombed-out
Allenby Bridge sprawls grotesquely across the River Jordan. Refugees pick their
way along the catwalks. They carry their meager possessions in their arms as
they flee to the East Bank. But they will not find homes to live in. One man
wades the muddy waters on foot. He carries a tiny little girl under each arm.
Their home in Palestine was gone when the bombs and shells stopped falling.
A ragged, barefoot boy—only three years old—stands forlornly in a barren
field in the valley of the Jordan. He stands there because he has no place to go.
Another waif has all but given up hope : he sits in utter dejection on the rocky
ground.
The stark reality of the ruthlessness of war burns into my mind as I see the
picture of a five-year-old girl in an overcrowded hospital ward. Her face and
right arm are a mass of napalm-seared flesh. Indeed, the innocent children suffer.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Middle East hasn't been standing
by in idleness. Drive through Jordan today and you'll probably see in one place
or another a blue tent with white stenciling which says in Arabic : "A gift from
your friends the Seventh-day Adventists." We pass out clothing and blankets,
shoes and cheese. But there isn't enough to go around. Here's a girl of 12 who
represents her family of seven. She's holding two blankets—that's all they get.
And it's already plenty cold in the ancient hills of Moab, Edom, and Gilead.
I can tell you more: Like the story of the women who do their cooking over
an open fire in a refugee camp. (How many people will be fed from that small
pot?) Like the story of the men who sit in the dust as outcasts, rejects—material
for the human scrapheap. They have nothing to do.
And the children, of course. They are everywhere shooting marbles on the
hard ground or pushing little sticks of wood in the mud puddles that decorate a
refugee camp.
No, I can't forget these helpless, hungry children. Winter has arrived. The
time of the great religious feasts is close at hand : Ramadan and Fitr for the
Muslims, Christmas for the Christians. But these thousands of Jordanian children
wcn't get any holiday gifts to dazzle their eyes. Eighteen months have passed
since the Six-Day War—and with the passage of time the world (and the-c hurch
too, maybe) tends to forget about the orphans of Jordan. How can these kids
have Christmas without a home? Without food and clothes and a bed of their
own? That's right, they can't—unless. Unless you and I do something about it!
Well, what can we do? We can give—give a generous Christmas 13th
Sabbath overflow offering to build a new orphanage in Jordan where some of
these children will finally find a home—an Adventist home. We can give a
generous Christmas 13th Sabbath overflow offering to build a new orphanage in
Jordan where some of these children will finally find nourishing food and decent
clothing, where they'll find the warmth, love and security that was snatched from
their young lives by a vicious war.
You and I have received much from our Father God. His Son Jesus Christ
lived and died and yet lives for you and me. His Heart of love goes out to the
orphans of Jordan who wait in meekness for us to do for them what He would
do if He were in the Holy Land today.
As you and I think again upon the gift of the Saviour, let us not forget the
children of whom He said, " `... as you did it to one of the least of these ... ,
you did it to me.' "
 iJie.righteous . . . grow

For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the ci

Hebrews 13:14:

Remember the. Midd e East.,.

Pastors Mousa Azar and Willard

J. Clemons inspect work at the site
of Jordan's new orphanage.

Construction of the new orphanage in Jordan goes forward in faith of a big Christmas
13th Sabbath offering!

4, 09 - at'•)!e,F.,:4 &tined. that you .ear rn

In 1_, ch .

"From the wilderness ... as far as . . the river Euphrates, all the 'mid to the
Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your.territory." ,foshmet 1:4.

on Christmas 13th Sabbath!

E...GIVE,
Michael Habib and, Moses Elmad-
jian and their MEC sChoOhnates .
need' a gyrrinasiiim for, recreation.
Make .their dream tome true
Technician Bishara Aziz and Dr. Rob Johnson =examine a Berighazi.Athentist Hospital
patient who has tuberculosis of the spine. The blue marks on the man's back indicate
previous witch doctor treatment.

and so prove to be my disciples.' John 15:8.

Page X-4 The Middle East Messenger November-December 1968

Love . . . Live . . . Give!

Next Sabbath is Christmas Sabbath. Our church and our Sabbath
school will pause in the whirl of the holiday season to think seriously
about the meaning of Christmas. It's something we've thought about
before—that's true. Last Christmas, for instance. If that was the last
time, then it's time to think about it again—seriously.
Why did He come? Why did the Father let Him come?
"For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost" (Luke
1 9 : 1C).
He came because you and I were lost. He looked for us, He found
us, and He saved us!
This took a lot of love—the kind of love we don't see very much
of in the world today. And yet He wants to see us developing and using
this kind of love, for it is still the more excellent way.
If we truly love Him we must sincerely love others : orphans in
Jordan who need an Adventist home, children in Libya who need an
Adventist school, youth in the Middle East who need a complete college
education.
If we truly love Him we must demonstrate our love by living for
Him and for others.
And if we love Him and live for Him, then we must give to Him
by giving to others : orphans in Jordan who need an Adventist home,
children in Libya who need an Adventist school, youth in the Middle
East who need a complete college education.
Love . . . Live . . . Give! This is why He came. This is the meaning
of Christmas. And next Sabbath—Christmas Sabbath—you and I must
show Him that we are finally beginning to understand.

—RICHARD LEE FENN

,gejzaeolzt
YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!
We couldn't afford to send a copy of this Christmas issue of The Middle
East Messenger to every worker and member. But we do want you to get maxi-
mum use from this appeal pull-out section (pages X-1—X-4).
First, present Pastor Curtis Miller's stirring article, "Don't Forget the Child-
ren," as a Sabbath school mission feature.
Second, give the short editorial above a bit of time during the worship hour
on the Sabbath just before you gather in your Christmas 13th Sabbath overflow
offering for the Middle East.
Third, open the full-color centerspread before your congregation or Sabbath
school, inviting the members to look at it closely on the bulletin board where you
will give it a prominent position.
With your kind help, at least part of The Messenger will reach many of our
good people around the world!
—R. L. F.
 from other countries : Egypt, Lebanon, ready attend. We have applications in The Middle East Messenger
Jordan, Iraq, The Philippines, Korea, hand from European families." November-December 1968
and, of course, the United States. Meanwhile, as a stopgap measure, Page 7
Direct evangelizing of Muslims is Benghazi Adventists have set up a large
strictly proscribed in Libya, but Ad- pre-fab, two-room elementary building
ventists can certainly answer questions to serve until the permanent structure
when they are asked. We need to is opened in the future.
present to the people all kinds of op- The auditorium of the new school,

FENN portunities for asking questions. An states Pastor Green, will serve the Ad- some 4,000 trees. Our goal is to care
elementary-junior academy educational ventists in Benghzi as their Sabbath for 50 children—boys and girls. Our
institution would make an important house of worship. "It will function on constitution declares our willingness to
Sundays as an open community church accept children right from birth if that
—with SDAs conducting the services." is what's necessary. Actually, we will
Benghazi Adventists, an international probably start with pre-school children.
group, are far from discouraged. They After we get our bus we'll begin to take
are, however, certainly challenged. And older ones who will be transported daily
they want you to know that their goal to our school in Amman.
is to make their international group "The children will attend Bible clas-
national too. That simply means the ses and worship services—all of the
addition of Libyan Seventh-day Adven- phases of training which we are accus-
tists. tomed to giving to our own young
The remaining portion of your Chris- people.
tmas 13th Sabbath overflow offering for "Jordan's government leaders are
the Middle East is the smallest. But it very much in favor of-this great project.
may well be the portion which does the When we presented it to them, they
most in the least time to spearhead Ad- expressed great happiness with it. We
ventist influence in Jordan. applied for the paving of the entrance
In faith that Sabbath school members road and the government took care of
around the world are going to give a it for us."

The day before this picture was taken, these Matariah Mercy Home children
returned from a fine camp on the shores of the Mediteranean Sea.
contribution. Church leaders responsible
for the development of this project be- record-shattering overflow offering, But will a little orphanage near
leive that many influential middle and Jordan Section leade:-s began plans and Amman really win souls? Yes, indeed!
upper-class Libyans would be only too actual work on a new orphanage over The Matariah Mercy Home near Cairo
happy to enroll their English-speaking a year ago—right after the tragic Six- proves it. Opened in 1947 and directed
children in the Adventist school. Day War of June 1967 raged through by Mrs. Erna Kruger, a veteran of 36
the Holy Land. years' service in Egypt, this orphanage
Says Benghazi Church Pastor Jon Pastor Mousa Azar, named director lists over 120 graduates. What have
Green, "My dream is to see our school of the new home for homeless children, some of them gone on to do?
include Libyan children, for here is a tells the story : Answers Mother Kruger : "We have
kind of evangelism which would be per- "The 33,000-square-meter site is very a minister at The Cairo Center Church,
mitted. Our own national children al- proper for an orphanage. It has on it an accountant out at Gabal Asfar
Page 8 The Middle East Messenger November-December 1968

School. Two former residents now in up in our schools. He asked for bap- other plan to make a living. He tried
America have Ph.D. degrees. We have tism and joined the church. So all his to emigrate to Australia. He was ac-
a half-dozen nurses around in the life he has been an Adventist. Nabil cepted—but after a month his accept-
world. hoped to go to Middle East College, ance was withdrawn without any reason
Another appeal for your support of but the door was closed for many years. being given.
Adventist orphanage work in the Mid- He was called into the army, but he "These disappointments came rather
dle East comes from Mrs. Habib Ghali, had a car accident so the army sent him close together—the pathway to college
vivacious wife of the president of the home. He found a job and went to blocked, emigration blocked, plus the
Egypt Section. She tells about Nabil work. When the employer found out fact that he couldn't find work—not
Mansour, one of the older members of that Nabil's school certificate from even in the mission : he lacked a college
the Mercy Home family : Gabal As far was not recognized by the education !
"Nabil first came as a little boy into government, he lowered his salary by
"He struggled on with his low-paying
the orphanage and, of course, he grew more than half. He had to work out some
job. One day while going to his office
in this frustrated state, Nabil suddenly
felt great pain in his back. With this
First Student Missionaries came a very bad headache. He scream-
ed for the bus to stop, but nobody help-
Comment on Summer Experiences ed. Nabil continued screaming and pull-
Ellen Lorenz, 21, Detroit, Michi- ing on his shirt from the pain.
gan, a nursing senior at Columbia "The next stop was the location of
Union College, comments his office. Climbing up the steps, he
On being chosen student mission- had another great pain in his head. He
ary: "I was simply flabbergasted !" fell unconscious at the last step. He
On her work at The Adventist was taken to a hospital in an ambulance.
Hospital, Benghazi: "Besides giving "We at the mission heard the news,
approximately 5,000 shots, I changed so my husband and I hurried to the
an uncounted number of dressings. hospital where we found him in coma.
I helped out with Vacation Story He remained in coma for 22 days.
Hour and Sabbath school. "Nabil has one brother, but no father,
On the Libyan people: "It is said no mother. The brother left his own
that little things make them happy office work for 20 days to stay with
and little things make them mad— Nabil in the hospital, losing his salary
and that's just how it is." for those days, of course.
On witnessing in the Middle East: "The diagnosis : cerebral hemorrhage.
"You have to witness by being in- He remained in the hospital for two
terested, by smiling, by giving them months. Then he was transferred to an
Gordon Pifher, 21, Paris, Ontario, an intangible feeling that you care." army hospital because he had been a
a theology senior at Atlantic Union On future mission service: "I'd soldier. He stayed at the army hospital
College, comments like to say yes, but certainly not 15 days.
On being chosen student mission- single!" "About this time an American neuro-
ary: "When they called my name, surgeon visited Cairo. Nabil asked for
it was a real surprise!" brain surgery saying 'If God wants me
On his work in the Middle East: to live, I will make it.'
"Camps! Camp meeting in Iran—the "Nabil is much closer to God than
best I've attended anywhere. Junior he has ever been before. He had not
camp pastor in Iran and Egypt. More been completely faithful in Sabbath ob-
junior and senior camps in Turkey servance: all of the places he had been
and Lebanon. Egypt gave me a real emjoyed required him to work on Sab-
thrill. Pastor Mikhail Fahmi, who bath. Since the time of the accident,
taught the baptismal class, and I Nabil says, 'I reaped what I sowed. Be-
saw 17 of our junior campers bap- cause I wasn't faithful to God, He had
tized." to bring me close to Him the hard way.'
On camp life: 'The food was "I would like to say that three doctors
good, but it didn't always agree with stated their fears Nabil would not live
me!" more than three days after the cerebral
On communication: "Expressions hemorrhage occurred. But we all fasted
like 'Be quiet! Go to sleep! Atten- and prayed. I'm sure Nabil's life was
tion!' are more useful to a camp spared through the fervent prayer of
worker than greetings. I tried to learn the church.
them in Farsi, Arabic, Armenian, and "Nabil is not completely well yet.
Turkish." One leg and one arm are partially pera-
On pot-smoking collegians: "If lyzed. But he is improving slowly,
they had a God-hope they wouldn't steadily. He can walk, he can move his
need it." arms, he plays, he exercies, he studies,
November-December 1968 The Middle East Messenger Page 9

he talks (by the way, he couldn't talk

for awhile after the accident). He is The
getting back to normal. He has good
courage. This year he will be at Middle
East College. The opening of the op- Janie
portunity for Nabil is an answer to the
many prayers offered for the work in
Egypt."
Fahrbach
And what does Nabil Mansour plan
to study at MEC? Story
Replies the 24-year-old Mercy Home
graduate : "I am planning to study the
ministerial course."
Back in Amman, Pastor Willard J. (From page 5)
Clemons, president of the Jordan Sec-
tion, counts the cost of establishing an the door was opened. Cleo had the key. Let's continue reviewing the scene in
Adventist orphanage in his field : I have no idea how we got her in, but the emergency room. Following the
"Up to now we have received only we did. We laid her on a stretcher on insertion of an inhabation tube and an
advances with the expectation and hope the floor. attempted I-V, what procedures did you
that we will have a large overflow offer- follow?
Dr. Fahrbach, when did you first see
ing. I suppose when we are finished
Janie and what was her condition at DON : The thing was to keep the air-
with the first phase we will have spent
that time? way open and oxygen going in—to keep
in the neighborhood of $40,000. It has
DON : The time lapse was probably cardiac massage going. As her condition
been estimated that our share of the
a few minutes. She didn't look too became worse, we got more vigorous.
Christmas overflow could amount to
bad at first. The problem was, she Dr. Ludington came in and started to
that much. So we're hoping that we'll
wasn't breathing. I didn't feel any do a cutdown on her leg—a cut through
receive that amount and more—because,
pulse, and as time went on her color the skin to find a vein. It was just
of course, we'll always have a project
became poorer—bluish, cyanotic. The about the time Cliff cut into the vein
at the orphanage where we can use the
s'-:in began to discolor across her chest. and said the blood looked awfully dark
f un ds."
Doctor, you saw that the girl on the that she took her first breath.
Pastor Azar appeals personally : "We
believe that Christ worked for the stretcher on the floor was your own Was this first breath followed im-
needy. This project will be a great help daughter. What was your reaction as mediately by others?
to the work in Jordan, especially in a father and as a doctor to this scene?
DON : Well, not immediately. There
these days of trouble when we have so DON : What happened? Was she was a period of probably many seconds,
many orphans, so many people driven hit on the head and unconscious? She and then she took another one. Gradu-
out of their homes. I hope that our wasn't moving. She wasn't talking. aly they came more frequently. We
brethren will see our situation—although What had happened was the main began to feel a pulse. She developed a
they are far from us—and back this thing. It was peculiar that her legs were blood pressure of 90 over 70 or 80. We
project with the very good offering I covered with streaks of blood—cuts on moved her up on the examining table.
know they are planning to give." them from fragments. That's all I saw She began to carry on a bit then.
Pastor Clemons agrees, of course : at the time. I didn't see the chest
ALICE : When they said that she had
"Certainly we are looking forward with wound.
started to breathe, I talked to Danny
anticipation to a good offering. We Did either of you have any fear at
outside for the first time. I told him to
know that if our people around the this time that Janie would not pull out
"keep praying—she has a chance now
world are made aware of our needs and of it?
because she's starting to breathe."
of the very worthy project we have ALICE (nodding): About this time.
here, they will respond. They have The fear came over me that she was DAN : I'd been outside there five or
never failed. We are hoping and pray- gone. ten minutes, I believe, and then Mom
ing they will respond in a very positive DON : I didn't feel that way. came out and said Janie had started
manner to the needs here in Jordan for Why, Doctor? breathing. That was really the first
the refugee children—for the orphans. DON : Well, you can never give up time I knew anything really bad—really
We are confident of a very good over- hope on anybody. She wasn't looking that bad had happened.
flow." exactly that bad. I mean, she could We know that Janie was in the emer-
Must the Christmas 13th Sabbath have. She didn't breathe, but we were gency room long enough for Dan to
overflow be sliced so thin the various getting air into her lungs through the make two trips from the hospital area
portions lose their significance? Ob- inhabation tube and we were pumping to the house here. By his own count he
viously, no ! The slices must be thick, the heart. was at the hospital at least a few
the shares must be generous. But after At this time was your doctor-self minutes between the trips. He wets out-
all is said and done, the actual size of taking possession of your father-self? side the emergency room for at least
those shares is really up to you. We DON : About a fifty-fifty mixture. I five minutes before Mrs. Fahrbach
in the Middle East are positive you'll be had to force myself not to think of her emerged with the first hopeful news.
showing your overflowing Christmas as my daughter. We may figure then that Janie was in
love by your overflowing Christmas ALICE : He had to keep telling him- the emergency room for approximately
giving! self that this was just another patient. 24 minutes to half an hour before Mrs.
Page 10 The Middle East Messenger November-December 1968
Fahrbach relayed to Dan the first words DAN : Craig Ludington and I went about this murmur being louder. So I
of hope. back to where it happened and Habib finally ordered a lateral chest X ray. I
ALICE : The Libyans in the hall out- Bana came with us. We got there and think it was on Sunday, April 14, be-
side made signs that they too were were looking around in the rubbish. cause Cliff was in a house committee.
praying and I know that hospital work- Craig turned around and he just pointed I got the X ray and looked at it and
ers were praying together over in the at something on the ground andthere then I could see a piece of metal about
library. I didn't even look at her for was one of those anti-tank shells, just an inch long and the diameter of a car-
awhile when she started breathing. I lying there. Craig and I ran. penter's nail, whatever that might be.
thought she had gone, but then she DON : These are the warheads of Then there was some slight enlargement
started to make the noise—a moan like World War II shells. There ale many of her heart. We all sat down together
an ether cry, you know. Everybody had of these around here. In the fire, they and talked it over and decided that
sort of a half smile and said, "Qwais! got hot and the powder inside went off. this was a problem that needed to be
Qwais!" Then she vomited a lot and Having learned that Janie was the looked after by hands that could handle
I tried to sing to her because I thought victim of a bomb-type explosion, did it. In a short time we decided to make
something familiar would strike the you alter plans for her medical care? arrangements to go.
back of her mind. * * *
DON : You were singing to her be- To go—on a 24-hour air trip to
fore that. Loma Linda University, Loma Linda,
DAN : You were singing to her be- California. There Janie went through
fore you came out and told me. many tests as Drs. Ellsworth Wareham
DON : Oh, right from the beginning and Joan Coggin, members of LLU' .r
—Jesus Loves Me. renewned heart team, prepared the
DAN : Angels Watching Over Me. young Sabbath School Investment work-
ALICE : OK, I'm overruled! I just er for open-heart surgery.
thought it was something that would Back in Benghazi, Dan returned from
help her. Somehow—in her subconscious a week-end excursion into the desert to
somewhere. That was my feeling. find his parents and sister gone. "I
This first breath that Janie took— thought she had died," he said.
DON : That was good news! Janie made good progress. Dr. Fahr-
ALICE : But sometimes they take a
bach went up the coast to look for
breath like that before they expire. medical equipment. Then Janie "got sick.
DON : But Janie hadn't taken one all Actually," Dr. Fahrbach recalls, "she
the time I'd been in there. And that
went into a congestive heart failure.
was very bad news. She developed a hemopericardium. She
Because of the time that had elapsed,
looked sicker almost than she did in the
did any of you doctors in the emrgency emergency room."
room fear other damage?
On Thursday, May 2, ar.. Wareham
DON : The next worry was cerebral and his Loma Linda teammates opened
anoxia. We just had to wait and see Janie's chest cavity in an effort to repair
on that one—which was about 15 hours a hole in the ventricular septum—a hole
before she woke up. Anyway we gave DON : I don't think so. The main in the wall between the two main
her medicine to quiet her down and thing we were worried about after the pumping chambers of the heart. The
Cliff did most of the suturing. We first day was respiratory infection. And surgeons also hoped to remove the frag-
took an X ray. It was a portable--poor the heart murmur became louder. We ment that had pierced her heart. It was
quality. We looked at the picture and thought a piece of metal would show now located somewhere between the
didn't see anything—humdulillah! up even on a portable X ray pretty pulmonary vessel and the bronchial
How long was she in the emergency clear, but it didn't. tubes.
room? When did she actually regain con- The surgery was a success. The hole
DON : About 45 minutes. sciousness? in Janie's heart was closed, the hemo-
ALICE : We didn't have any extra DON : Tuesday morning about 6 or 7. pericardium was removed, but ironically
beds. I know that.
Janie, do you remember anything at the fragment that caused all the damage
DoN : The hospital was full. We couldn't be found.
all about this?
had to dismiss a patient. Janie's post-operative course was, in
(Janie shakes her head.)
How did the first night following the Mrs. Fahrbach's words, "beautiful!"—
accident go? What was the first thing she said?
until she had a relapse. By then, Dr.
DON : Rattles in her lungs. Tubular DON : Laura Dennis just walked in Fahrbach had gone back to Benghazi.
respiratory sound. We detected a heart and asked, "How are you, Janie?" She "I was done in. I thought Janie would
murmur. She did very well, though. said, "Fine, can I go to Sabbath school?" die for sure," Mrs. Fahrbach remembers.
The main concern was her level of con- Just like she had been asleep and woke "But the doctors put her on medicine—
sciousness at this time. She was un- up! and she responded."
conscious. There was no response. When did you decide that she had Janie's strength returned. And Janie
What was it that injured Janie in the to have further work? and her mother returned to Benghazi.
explosion? Had any attempt been made DON : Well, a couple of days went She's with her family this Christmas in
to determine what had happened and by and we took another X ray. We perfect health and that's the best
what had caused her injuries? still didn't see it. We kept worrying Christmas gift they could ever wish for.
ABOVE Arithrorpologist RobertAittr 'Off •MED rtdent"Fredih
Webster about the 2,000-year-old skeleton discovered last summer during the %
Andrews University Heshbon Expedition in Jordan. RIGHT: Middle East'.
College Ministerial Student Najeeb Nakhle greets Atlantic Union College
Student Missionary Gordon Pifher who worked with youth at seven different"'
camps in Iran, Egypt, Turkey, and Lebanon during the summer. BELOW
, • °
Voice of Prophecy Associate Speaker H. M. S. Richards, Jr., (back row, third:
from left) brought a large group of friends to the Middle East last August.
These people will be big givers on Christmas 13th Sabbath when the overflow
offering for the Middle East is gathered in. May their tribe be increased—
by you

"And men will come from east and west, '

and from north and south,

and sit at table in the kingdom of God."

--Luke 13:29