| |
Chapter 3
IN
PAMBUKIANS’ VINEYARD
The young nation of the
United States had no missionary organization. The American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions grew out of the 1806 Haystack Prayer
Meeting already mentioned. This first mission society was established in
Boston, Massachusetts, in 1810 with the view of sending missionaries to the
unevangelized peoples of the world, especially Asia. One of the targeted
countries of this vision was Asia Minor, which lay within the borders of the
Ottoman Empire. A decade after its founding this worthy missionary
organization sent its first missionaries to present-day Turkey. The people
who heeded the call were single-minded men and women who offered their lives
unreservedly to the service of Jesus Christ.
They are gratefully remembered for their earnest efforts to
evangelize several ethnic groups, start churches, schools, theological
colleges, hospitals, clinics, orphanages, print shops and various vocational
schools across Anatolia. In Aintab, in connection to their college a medical
school was established.
Phenomenal advances were scored in the Ottoman Empire among the
Christian elements, namely the Greeks, Armenians, Aramaians, Arabs, etc.
Naturally, the Muslim populace comes to mind. From the very outset, they
were adverse to the proclamation of the Good News because of the prohibition
to convert to Christianity as stated in their book. However, they were not
neglected. After strenuous efforts a group of forty baptized converts from
Islam was established as a church in one of the sections of Constantinople.
They had their own ordained pastor under whose leadership they were
regularly assembling. News of this reached the Palace. The Sadrazam (Prime
Minister) was highly agitated and went on to issue a decree that no
conversion from Islam to Christianity would be tolerated. In the same edict
members of the church were ordered to return to their former religion.
Twelve of them who refused to do so were thrown into prison; several went
into hiding and the pastor was whisked away outside of the country. There
is no record of anyone being executed, as news of this event was quite
scanty.
Conversion of the Turks to Christianity and the establishing
of fellowships throughout the country would have to wait for over a hundred
years. During that century there were scattered isolated Turkish believers
dwelling in semi-secrecy. The government was very favorable to the
formation of a new group of Christians, i.e., Protestants, who came out of
the mainline Orthodox or Catholic churches. In fact, a special law was
passed by the Palace recognizing this new community as ‘Millet’ (a
nation).
Then World War I came, ferociously engulfing the Ottoman Empire.
It brought unimaginable calamities on all Christian ethnic groups in the
Empire. Millions of people were uprooted from home and hearth. The
notorious Armenian massacre which cost the lives of approximately one and a
half million people was cruelly orchestrated. Whole towns were reduced to
rubble. Farmlands were destroyed. Churches and Christian institutions were
wiped out. Other heinous atrocities were committed, too numerous to
mention. A great many churches were converted to mosques.
Going back to the pre-World War I years, there were amazing
spiritual awakenings in Anatolia. It is quite obvious that the Holy Spirit
− knowing what was coming − opened the way for a large number people from
the vast Christian population to enter into God’s kingdom. The main thrust
for this achievement was the translation of the Bible and its introduction
to people who didn’t know the message. The remarkable evangelistic efforts
were catalysts to form a stable Christian witness at the time of the
ingathering clouds. To mention just one of these soul-lifting spiritual
awakenings will gladden the heart of the reader:
During the time of the Welsh Revival in 1905 a remarkable Swedish
evangelist-preacher, Reverend Fredrik Franson, unexpectedly visited Asia
Minor on one of his world tours. Without having informed anyone of his
coming he stopped in the city of Marash in Cilicia to preach for a night or
two. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit from the very first meeting was
sweeping. This induced Fredrik Franson to extend his stay. For six weeks
these astonishing meetings continued in great fervor. The city of Marash
was one of the Armenian strongholds in Asia Minor. It is said that there
were eleven or twelve Evangelical meeting houses and churches there. Great
numbers of people were converted; many lethargic Christians were revived and
a number of young people were called into the ministry of the Gospel.
Marash was visited by a genuine revival. The impact of this revival was
felt in several parts of the country in a succession of waves which moved
from town to town. Fredrik Franson moved on from Marash to Aintab – an
equally great Christian center – where he was again instrumental in an
unforgettable spiritual awakening. He spoke at the college in this city; a
number of the students were converted and received the call to serve the
Lord in their own land, and at the dispersion of the Armenians, to many
parts of the world.
In the same year, i.e., 1906, in one of the colleges established
by the American Board, namely St. Paul’s College in Tarsus, a young student
named Haralambos Bostanjoglou was in the graduating class. Having been
converted to Christ earlier he was consumed with an unswerving devotion to
become an evangelist. He was certain that evangelism was the gift of the
Holy Spirit to him (Ephesians 4:11). His conversion dated back to
1901 when he was sixteen. Since that experience of new birth he was praying
and preparing to serve God and his people. A deep restlessness possessed
him impelling his heart to serve his master. He also was talented
musically, competently playing the violin. He utilized this ability to give
music lessons to other students in order to subsidize the small allowance he
received from his widowed mother.
Haralambos regularly attended a sizeable Armenian Evangelical
church in Tarsus where he became a close friend of a respected older couple,
Hampartsum and his wife Aghnes Pambukian. The man was treasurer of the
church. He and his wife were not converted but had open hearts for a
genuine relationship with Jesus Christ. They started inviting Haralambos to
their spacious house, situated in the middle of a large vineyard. Their
home soon became a center for meetings. From the outset house gatherings
throughout Anatolia held a very important place in the life and assembling
of believers. Churches often grew out of them. Hampartsum’s fellow elders in
the church were not very happy at his choice to become so closely associated
with this young, zealous evangelist. They considered Haralambos not a true
friend of the church leadership. In one of these house meetings, both
Hampartsum and his wife were converted to living faith in Christ. After
this, the meetings picked up momentum, interest grew, and the effectiveness
of the Word became evident. An increasing number of both men and women were
finding their way to the Pambukian vineyard and joyfully encountering the
Savior. The messages, mostly given by Haralambos, centered on Christ’s
redemptive work, the crucified life of the believer and the return of the
Lord. Hampartsum and Aghnes were quite well off. So they invited the young
student to live with them. It was God’s provision because he needed privacy
to start writing his book on ‘The Second Coming of Christ.’
He had already studied the subject extensively. There was no better
arrangement for him to proceed with his writing than in the ideal
surroundings of Pambukians’ vineyard. However, he thought such a sacred
subject could not be written while sitting comfortably at his desk. He
expressed his deep appreciation of the glorious subject of the Second Coming
by preparing the whole manuscript on his knees.
Hampartsum Pambukian was a skillful mechanic – in fact the only
one − in Tarsus, and a reputable machine shop owner. So he had a wide
variety of acquaintances. Because of his highly sought proficiency he was
recipient of many favors, especially from Turkish army personnel who badly
needed his services. This expertise was eventually going to save the
Pambukian family from the horrors of deportation and the massacre.
The close friendship between the Pambukian family and the young
evangelist continued until the end of Haralambos’ life. As a note of
interest, Hampartsum’s son Samuel who changed his name to Pambakian, later
moved to Cyprus where he became a well-known business man and leader of the
Evangelical Brotherhood Church in Nicosia. In the upheavals on the island,
all his property was left behind in Turkish-occupied territory. He moved on
to Beirut, Lebanon, where he served the Brotherhood Church very
effectively. In 1980 he migrated to the United States where he is still
living, well into his nineties, at this writing. He is widely involved in
the Armenian Brotherhood Church in Pasadena, California, and until recently
has been making occasional trips to Armenia where he preaches to his own
people.
|
|
