June 1925
TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
257
A Marvelous Story of Conversion from Bolshevism to Christianity ARTAN ATCHINAK was born not far from the city of Tarsus, th e birthplace of P aul th e apostle. He was be kept beyond the age of ten or twelve, which had not been previously possible.
While pioneering in the cities - and villages of P alestine and Syria in the service of the B ritish and Foreign Bible Society, he came in touch w ith a school in Shweifat, Mount Lebanon, which had been established by two sis ters, the daughters of F aris Bey Trad, who had been converted from Cathol icism / and being burdened for th eir own people, sta rted in 1907 a school fo r girls and small boys, and in 1913 one of the sisters, Miss Asoum Trad,
They have today in the schools over 150 girls and 100 boys. O thers are eager to come but th e re is no room for them . The children of the various nations of the Bible lands have for centuries been ta u g h t to hate and despise one another, b u t; in these schools they listen to the same Chris tian tu to r, attend the same worship
brought up in th e Armenian church.' Before he was ten years old, he saw one day lying in th e church yard the bodies of seventy-five Armenians Who had been cruelly slain by the fiendish Turks, among them being th e fath er of one of his dear boy friends. A feeling of b itter hatred against
the T u r k s took possession of him, and even a t th a t t e n d e r age he vowed to avenge th e slaugh ter of his people. As he grew older the h aired increased, and a t sixteen he became an active member of a revo lu tion ary organi zation whose aim it was to o v e r th row the Turkish government. Because of his revolutionary ac tivities, he was e x p e l l e d from Turkey, and ta k ing up th e 'c ig a rette business in A lexandria as a means of liveli hood, b e g a n to study the Scrip tures to find argu ments for his so cialistic and revo
morning, a f t e r noon and evening, sing t h e s a m e h y m n s and are daily pointed to the “Lamb of God th a t ta k eth away th e sin of t h e w o r l d . ’ ’ M a n y graduates of the schools are now actively - engaged in Christian work in Egypt, Syria, P alestine and else where. Xf th e reader d e s i r e s fu rth e r inform ation about this splendid work in the land made dear to the h eart of every believer because of t h e fact th a t there our L o r d a n d the apostles lived and labored, w rite to Mr. and Mrs. V. A t c h i n a k, 113 Fu lton S t r e e t,
Pupils und teach ers in th e Lebanon H igh School and -Bible T raining In stitu te." founded by the M isses Amelia and A soum T rad (th e la tte r now M ts. A tch in ak ),1d au g h ters of an old and noble Syrian fam ily. A sep arate school for boys w as established in 1920.
lu tionary ideas in order to destroy the faith of his people in the Bible, believ ing th a t ta ll th eir persecution at the hands of the Turks came from th eir belief in the Bible. While thus engaged, God, in His infinite love and mercy, brought con viction to his soul and he was “ born ag ain .” He immediately left th e cig are tte business, for he felt th a t he could not sell his fellow men poison ous nicotine and a t the same time say, “H allelujah, I am saved!” He did not even take the wages due him, for he felt it was defiled money. Instead of spreading revolutionary propaganda in the Bible Lands, he now desired to preach the saving message of the Gos pel and its power to transform the life, and so began to w itness for the Lord Jesus.
became Mrs. A tchinak. At this time, also, Mr. A tchinak becamè one of the directors of the school. During the World W ar the school passed through fie ry , trials, bu t the grace of God was sufficient and the school was not closed even for one day, though Mr. A tchinak was twice arrested by the Turks and pu t in prison, but was m iraculously delivered from prison and death. When th e War was over, Mr. Atchi nak and his associates saw more than ever before the g reat need of the Gos pel in the historic lands of Christian ity, among the A rmenian and Greêk Christians, the Jews and the Moslems. To meet th is need, thé Bible Lands Gospel Mission was organizéd, arid at the sàrrié tim e a separate school was opened for the boys so th a t they might
New York. They are now on the Pacific coast, and available for a lim ited number of speaking engagements in churches, Bible conferences or camp meetings. • They have a th rilling story to tell of persécution at th e hands of th e Turks; how God m iraculously delivered them time and again from Turkish prisons • and court-m artial while others were condemned to be; hanged; how God wonderfully provided for and pre served them and th e ir school from famine and pestilence and the ravages of w ar; how God helped th eir associ ates in heroic sp irit to endure a most cruel death ra th e r than accept Moham medanism and live. Contributions may be sent to Wm. A. F isher, Treas., W estern Council, in care of The K ing’s Business.
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