The Lord's hand is not too short to save, and his ear is not too deaf to hear. He hears our cry he sees our tears, and though he hesitates to help, the matter is in his sight, and we must trust him (Job 35, 14).
And then a heartfelt thanks for faithful prayer and faithful work for our dear Armenian people this past year. We will continue to be faithful to him and we will thank him for allowing us to join the work for the little orphans and all those in need. How much has not the Lord abundantly blessed the small things we were allowed to do, how has He not made many willing to sacrifice and drawn more into the work? Let us pray that all "our" children must be conquered for Jesus and become witnesses for His people, and that He will strengthen them and empower them to suffer for His name's sake.
I had thought that I would be sending you a greeting from down there at new year; but instead I still sit at home. I have been in doubt and struggle to become aware of the Lord's will as it seemed to me as if He had stopped me. At first it was little Fridtjof, whom it was impossible to bring along at this dangerous time and I thought it was wrong to leave him, but dared to do so, when Mrs. von Dobbeler, my dear friend and co-worker in Musch, who now is in Germany, promised to raise him with her 3 children until I could bring him down after me. Then came news of new unrest and carnage, and in addition my right hand was really bad, and we had just prayed that the Lord would cure it if I were to go out, but it only got worse. The Lord has made me completely silent in waiting, and it is so good to rest in the fact that my time is in the Lord's hand.
The Norwegian Armenia Committee also found that I should wait until conditions improved and my right hand working again to be of use down there. Because of the turmoil, it was also uncertain whether we could get into the country. It is not so easy to only be able to do so little; but the Lord has a loving purpose for this and will exercise me in patience. And maybe he wants to call on a sister, who can follow along, so we become two. Let's pray towards that. We could then work from the orphanage and among the many women. May the Lord guide us and show where He wants us to work. To me it seems that we should start somewhere where there is no work already in progress. Put also this matter before the Lord in prayer, dear friends.
I am very pleased that Mrs. Grünhagen has traveled out in my place, and it is possible that the Lord held me back to get her out, who is so much better suited to be the mother of the children in "Emaus", where she for so many years has been a blessing. She has now been home for approx. 7 years and long to return to Armenia – she has not experienced the terrible massacres. If only now she reaches Mesereh. She and sister Alma Johannson have arrived in Constantinople, but still have to wait there, probably because of the troubled conditions. An American colonel who works in "Near Eash Relief" and was supposed to go into the country is detained in Samsum, by the Black Sea, and is not allowed to travel back or forth. The Kurds in Dersin - near Mesereh - have revolted against the Turks and united with the Bolsheviks. Everything looks so difficult down there; but to God nothing is impossible, so he may open the way for the two sisters, if it is according to his will.
I have had a letter from the Armenian bureau in London stating that there must be over 100,000 orphaned Armenian children in Asia Minor and double the number of widows. These numbers tell us of the great distress. On august 27th the Armenian bureau in London writes about the situation in Armenia: postponing the final decision in the Orient naturally causes regrettable consequences for some
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