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Chapter 25
MOVING FROM PLACE TO PLACE
They stayed three
years in Aleppo. A functioning church was progressing encouragingly. It had
started in a house and then moved to a larger hall. Anastasia longed to go
back to Adana to visit relatives and friends and if possible, to resettle
there. At the time Cilicia, with its capital city of Adana, was under
French occupation as Syria was. At last, the two women found convenient
transport, said their goodbyes to all the friends in Aleppo and traveled to
Adana. Aneta began to serve refugees there, just as she had done in Aleppo.
Nevertheless, their hopes for any future in Adana did not look promising.
The city was not to remain under French control for very long. The whole
situation was contingent on the ongoing Turko-Greco war in Anatolia
(1919–1922). The outcome did not look promising for the Greeks.
Adana was no longer
the former city with large Christian communities freely practicing their
faith. The few Armenian Christians there now were returnees from the
deportation. As for the Greeks, their time of departure had not yet come.
An air of uncertainty prevailed. People no longer felt safe. Old fears
resurfaced, haunting the Christians. The situation carried their thoughts to
the lament of Nehemiah: “The survivors there in the province who escaped
exile are in great trouble and shame” (1:3a). A new exodus started, this
time voluntarily because the French were giving every indication of
abandoning the city.
Again, refugees
took to the road. The ordinarily moderate climate of Adana that year gave
way to a fierce winter for the first time ever. A cold wind roaring down
from the mountains caught the refugees by surprise. Thousands of these
unprotected people walking all the way to Aleppo or Beirut were engulfed by
the severe blizzard. Many froze to death, including a friend of Aneta’s, a
strong and healthy woman, along with her twelve-year-old daughter and
eight-year-old son.
The time came for
Aneta and Anastasia to say good-bye to their beloved Adana. After giving
themselves to prayer, the two women made up their minds to proceed to
Mersin. They bade an agonizing farewell to Adana. Tarsus, their first
destination, the Apostle Paul’s home town, is about thirty-five kilometers
southwest of Adana. Another forty kilometers to the south of Tarsus is the
beautiful port city of Mersin. This place had a very large heterogeneous
Christian community. Its port was a convenient embarkation point for ships
taking off for any country around the Mediterranean. Refugees from all over
Anatolia were thronging there to catch a boat to wherever they could go.
Both Armenians and Greeks wept as they left their beloved Anatolia forever.
Aneta and Anastasia were among those departing these beautiful climes. They
caught a boat which would sail along the enchanting Mediterranean coast for
Izmir (Smyrna). After five days of refreshing sea travel with several stops
along the way, they landed in the historic city of Smyrna. At the time the
city and the whole region were under Greek control. The Greek army was
fighting against the rising force of New Turkey under the leadership of
Kemal Ataturk.
Smyrna has always
been a large port city catering to outlying areas. Its population was
largely Christian, mainly Greeks. This antagonized the Turks who referred
to it as Gavur Izmir, i.e., ‘Infidel Smyrna’. Besides Greek
and Turkish being spoken here, Italian, French, English, Armenian and a few
other languages were widely used. In this cosmopolitan city, there was a
sizeable Jewish population. The metropolis was full of Christian churches.
To the Church of Smyrna Christ addressed his second letter from the Island
of Patmos. The Smyrnean church was highly commended by the Savior for her
faithfulness. Anyone familiar with church history will remember the name of
Polycarp, first bishop of the church in Smyrna. When he was about to be
thrown into the fire along with some other Christian martyrs, the Roman
officer who pitied him suggested that he recant his faith in Christ, but go
on believing in his Master from within. Then Polycarp gave that classical
reply: “Four score and six years he has been true to me. How can I now deny
him, my Lord and my King!” Then the inevitable happened.
Izmir was in a
state of tenuous peace. The Greek army was fighting the Turks in the
interior of Anatolia. The Turkish army was pushing westward and the Greek
army was slowly retreating. The outcome looked bleak for the Greeks. An air
of uncertainty and trepidation prevailed.
Among the many
churches in Smyrna was a large Greek Evangelical Church, pastored by the
able and scholarly preacher, Xenophone Moschou. Some years before Haralambos
had preached there while visiting Smyrna. It was in this church that Aneta
had the joy of attending a Greek service for the first time. The only church
meetings she knew until then were in Turkish and some in Armenian. The
pastor’s message that Sunday left a lasting impression on her. It depicted
the crucial times facing Christians in Smyrna. Pastor Moschou, following the
catastrophe of 1922 when all remaining Greeks were thrown out of Asia Minor,
moved to Athens. There he transplanted his church, which until today is
known as the Second Greek Evangelical Church. The members of his
congregation were mostly Smyrneans and a smattering of Greeks from other
areas of Asia Minor.
There were two
American academies in Izmir, one for boys and the other for girls. These
were part of the country-wide American educational institutions run by the
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Pastor Moschou was one
of the teachers at the boys’ academy where Aneta had a unique meeting with
the renowned Dr. Samuel M. Zwemer. Generally referred to as ‘Apostle to
Islam,’ he had started to proclaim Jesus Christ to the sons of Ishmael from
his early youth. On one of his many world tours he also visited Izmir
where he was invited to conduct a series of meetings at the boys’ academy
about his ministries in Arab lands. Many people attended these
extraordinary lectures.
As Aneta described
him, he was a tall, captivating and love-radiating messenger of Christ.
During the meetings in Smyrna he expounded the awesome truths about Jesus
Christ and how he related them to Muslims. The principles he propounded
during his presentations could constitute a manual for Christian witness to
Muslims.
Some of the
teachers in the girls’ academy gathered a sizeable group of Turkish students
studying English to hear Dr. Zwemer. But they needed an interpreter. Aneta
was the only woman who spoke both languages fluently, so was drafted into
translating for Dr. Zwemer. She was thrilled to relate the life-transforming
message in Turkish presented by this scholarly missionary. All the girls
listened with deep interest.
The place of Dr.
Zwemer stands unique in missionary annals. He was an untiring
evangelist-preacher for forty years in various Arab countries. He traveled
extensively in many lands and preached in every place where there was a
Muslim population. He authored about thirty-five books, many of them out of
print today. He was one of the ‘giants in the land’ in those days.
One day when Dr.
Zwemer finished his speech, a young American teacher from the academy wanted
to say something and asked Aneta if she would be willing to translate for
him. She consented, but as soon as he started talking he expressed his
enthusiasm for Islam saying that there wasn’t much difference between the
two religions. He was obviously one of those tainted by modernistic
theology, against which Haralambos had warned her! Aneta said that she was
shocked at such a statement and that she didn’t share his opinion. She told
him before the whole audience that she couldn’t continue to translate his
thoughts.
The city of Smyrna
was full of refugees, much like the other places they were in following
Haralambos’ death. Tens of thousands of Armenian refugees thought they had
found shelter here. But sadly, the temporary tranquility was coming to an
end. The refugees were left in the same despondency they had already
experienced in their home towns. Aneta and Anastasia spent eleven months in
Izmir, the last agonizing place they stayed in.
During their time
in Smyrna Aneta took a trip to Patras in Greece to visit her father who was
a Bible colporteur there. She had not seen him for years and they enjoyed a
gratifying time together. It was the beginning of 1921, the centennial year
of the Greeks’ uprising against Turkish rule in Naphlion, Peloponnesus.
Sadly, the Greek army was now fighting a losing battle against the Turks in
Asia Minor. A great celebration was arranged at the stadium in Athens to
commemorate the centennial of Greek independence. Aneta went to Athens to
witness the occasion. It was a moving festivity with the king, members of
the government, the clergy and a large number of other officials in
attendance. As the parade moved along in the stadium, incense rose from an
altar erected for the occasion, on which these words were inscribed, “For
Faith and Fatherland.” In the parade were veterans in wheelchairs back home
from the ongoing war in Anatolia. As they approached the altar, everyone
stood to their feet to cheer them. Aneta’s tears flowed freely as she
remembered her own painful experiences in Anatolia. At that moment she
visualized the martyrs’ welcome, including her husband’s, as they were
honored on their glorious entry into heaven. She committed herself anew to
the Lord to walk in his footsteps, accepting his reproach. She never forgot
that commitment. The following day Aneta returned to Smyrna with her cousin
who was a teacher at the American Academy there. |
