Page:«Armenia og armenierne.» (Bodil Biørn okt. 1944).pdf/10

- 8 - on, it was a big event because they had never seen such a thing. They went barefoot even in the winter in the snow, and it was very cold, for Leninagan was c. 5,000 feet above sea level. I also do not forget the children's joy on Christmas Eve when they saw the glittering Christmas tree and received their small gifts. I have told and written about several of our children from there, but will only tell you here about one that was very lost:

Little Hagop Arskagian was only 3-4 years old when he was admitted to our home. His parents died in a village near Erivan in great poverty. His grandfather's brother brought us the little one in a state of disrepair. He was just skin and bone and so miserable that I didn't think he would survive. But Hagop recovered wonderfully and became a fat and happy little guy. It was such a joy after some time to see this poor child so healthy and satisfied. Surely it is great to take care of such little ones, and Jesus has said, "He who receives such a child for my name's sake receives me." Matt. 18, 5. What a glorious promise.

I also rode out on a longer trip with an Armenian Protestant priest to 13 Armenian villages to see how they were and to evangelize. The distress was indescribably great, famine in several villagers, only grass to eat, but if they had any bread, they would gladly give us some of it, as the Armenians are very hospitable. We had food ourselves and could help some. Later we sent out flour and several boxes of condensed milk to the mothers who had nothing to give their children except a little dry bread in a rag dipped in water. It was terrible to see the emaciated mothers with their little ones, as well as the entire population in such distress. But everywhere, they gladly heard the word of God. In some places we had quite large gatherings. Only 3-4 of these villages were doing somewhat well, among them was Irind where I met many friends from the Musch area. In Leninagan lived 40 families from Musch, so I felt at home there. I very much missed a co-worker. The field of labour was large, but the workers were few.

The last year the house was taken from us, so we had to move over to a small house that the Americans left us. It was very cramped and bad, but they had nothing better to give us, and we were glad to have a home to resort to.

I had Sunday school and gatherings with children. Many had come to know Jesus and had given him his heart and wanted to follow in Jesus' footsteps. That last year I got sick, so I had to go home to great grief for all of us. When I later recovered, there were so many obstacles in the way of my departure that it was not possible to leave. I can't say how much it hurt me not to come back to my dear children. A nice believing Armenian woman continued the work for a time, and some of the children later came to American homes.-