THE EGYPT MISSION

Evening Star, Issue 17031, 30 April 1919, Page 6

THE EGYPT MISSION

Mr Douglas Porter delivered an address last evening in the Y.M.C.A. Hall on the subject of 'Mission Work Among the Moslem* of Egypt.' Mr C. G. Wilcox occupied the chair. Mr Porter said a good many people thought Egypt was a remarkable country. It was the most fertile country in the wholo world. The lower part of the_ country was very populous—that was, in the triangular delta of the river Nile. If one could tiy over that in an 'aeroplane it would look like a green carpet. It was a little' triangular piece of land with sides about 130 miles long, and contained about 140.000 people. There were alone 140,000 people who might be reached by the Gospel message. The country was as fiat as a billiard table, and the soeme was relieved by thousands and thousands of date palms. Egvyit had a charm of its own, especially in 'the evening. Ninety-five per cent, of the people were agricultural, and the inhabitants were Mohammedans. It was surprising, coming from a Mohammedan country, that a great many people in Christian lands thought the Mohammedan was a very good' sort of fellow, and next door to being Christian. That was not the case. Five times a day from the minarets was heard the call to prayer : "God is greatest. God ia greatest; come to prayer." The Mohammedan believed in Jesus Christ, and that He was sent from God, but absolutely denied that He was the Son of God. He would not believe that Jesus Christ died upon the Gross. It was found in the Koran that the story of the Crucifixion was absolutely denied. The Mohammedan was perfectly satisfied that his was the true religion, and that every other religion was false, especially Christianity. That was a thing, Mohammedanism 'was especially designed to destroy. Mr Porter, speaking of the work of the "mission, described the boys' and girls' schools, where'they adopt, as far as possible, the Government syllabus of education. In .it religion took'a very big-place, and they had every day a Gospel lesson. The native teachers were not very good at making a defbite appeal fox Christ. The children were very impressionable, and they had cases where the boys' really touched by the Word of God.