Chapter 1

WAR ENDS SCHOOL LIFE

"A man is not established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous will never be moved. The strong tower of the wicked comes to ruin, but the root of the righteous stands firm. The righteous flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the LORD, they flourish in the courts of our God" (Proverbs 12:3,12; Psalm 92:12,13).

In the mid-Anatolian town of Sungurlu a lad called Vahram was working for the grocer, Hanif bey. Clever and amiable, he was just the sort to attract customers, and Hanif bey was well pleased with his apprentice. A few years passed and the lad's father, Apraham, sent his son and two daughters to Istanbul. A long time later Vahram, now grown up and much changed, returned to Sungurlu. The first person he saw was Hanif bey. "Hello, Uncle Hanif. Do you recognise me?" he asked. The ageing grocer strained his failing eyes to study the visitor. "If I'm not mistaken, you're Vahram," he exclaimed. The two joyfully embraced each other and kissed, expressing their feelings after long years of separation.

Then came the surprise: "Uncle Hanif, I have an account to settle with you. Take this money! It's the money I pilfered when working for you." The startled grocer could hardly believe his ears." Let's forget the past, son," he said. "I always was pleased with you. What's past is gone. let's put behind us unpleasant memories".

Vahram insisted: "No way, Hanif bey. I've been cleansed from sin. I've found salvation. The Lord Jesus has made me a new person. He has given me eternal life. I must admit my past sins and make amends for my dishonest dealings. This money is yours — with just a little added. For me to keep it would be a sin!"

Tears welled up in Hanif bey's eyes. Again he hugged and kissed Vahram. "May you be recompensed for this a thousand times over, my child," he cried. And with that they sat down and started talking.

Hanif bey was not the only one to be touched. So many were to be influenced by Vahram's life and words that his name became legendary. Great joy had been brought to the home of Apraham and Siranush Tatikian when their first child was born in 1909. They belonged to a generation that was moderately religious adhering to the Armenian Gregorian Church. Some of Vahram's uncles had even chosen to serve as priests.

Apraham was a blacksmith. His two brothers were next door neighbors and the three homes shared a courtyard. All three houses had been built by their father who had planned that his three sons should live close to each other. The trouble was that they just could not get along with each other. Everyone in the neighborhood seemed to know about the sons' unpleasant relationship. The word would go around, "The Tatikians are at it again!" Usually their wives would join in too. Happily, Vahram's mother Siranush was a peacemaker who lived up to the meaning of her name, 'Sweet Love'. As a girl she had attended an American school. She taught prayers in the Armenian language to Vahram and his four younger sisters. According to the light she possessed she instructed them in the elements of the faith. Because of this some called her, 'Godly Mother'. Apraham wasn't much interested in matters of faith; he saw nothing wrong in quarrelling with his brothers. Siranush, on the other hand (being true to her name), tried to build bridges of reconciliation in the extended family.

The courtyard formed by the three houses was full of life and bustle. Camel caravans, mail-carrying Tartars and all sorts of visitors would camp for the night there. The poor, the hungry and the naked, having once experienced the bounty of 'Godly Mother' never hesitated to come again. Siranush treated each one, whether known or unknown, according to the person's needs. To some she handed out provisions; others she invited to her table. No caller ever went away empty-handed, and from the information she gleaned from them she would delight her children with wonderful tales that fed their imagination. Siranush was a true Anatolian mother. With her own hands she prepared her bulgur, tarhana and cheese. When the men finished their work in the evening her work would start all over again. When Apraham's two older brothers died, the care of all three families fell to him, and Siranush had ever heavier demands upon her.

Vahram passed his childhood in these surroundings. He loved playing games. Best of all he liked flying his kite or playing knucklebones. He painted the knucklebones in a variety of colors which proved quite an attraction to the neighborhood children who often gathered in the Tatikians' courtyard. For a brief time he was enrolled in one of the primary schools founded by the Americans. But in adult life he would say, "I don't recall ever being promoted from one class to another." And yet he had a very sharp memory. He continually memorised passages of various works. The whole neighborhood loved to listen to his enthusiastic recitations. Many would stop him in the street and say, "Hey, recite something for us!" And Vahram would launch into a spirited performance. When the 0ttoman Empire entered World War I in1915, Vahram's school closed. He never attended school again. Once he was struck down by a paralysis of unknown origin. Some suggested that this was the malicious attack of 'an evil eye'. But health returned after the application of a few folk remedies!

Chapter 2

THE WAR YEARS AND AFTER

When the Ottoman Empire entered World War I, Apraham Tatikian was conscripted for military service. Vahram had no alternative but to work in his father's blacksmith's shop. At that stage of his life he could scarcely read or write. Feeling that ignorance was a dreadful thing, he taught himself to read from a primer that had come to hand. He applied himself to the blacksmith work and at the same time was learning to read and write. In a short time he had mastered the primer. Under the ever- present influence of 'Godly Mother', his interest turned to spiritual books. The biography of Gregory the Illuminator came into his hands. Vahram was captivated by the illustrious life of this historic Armenian who had become a Christian and was ordained bishop in the year 302, afterward leading his people to the same faith. Those who heard Vahram's subsequent recitations were deeply stirred and concluded that he was a religious child taking after his mother.

One day he came across an interesting volume which related how Abraham was called to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice to God, and how God raised up Isaac from the altar, providing a ram in his place. The contents of the book so captured his imagination that he summoned all his neighbors to listen to him read the fascinating account, which he did with great sincerity and suitable emphasis.

Vahram had been keen on music from early childhood and he chanted this long account like a folk ballad. It became the talk of the whole area. Some committed 'the hymn' to memory and also repeated it. But neither Vahram nor his hearers could appreciate the profound truth of the story. There was conviction of sin in Vahram's heart but he didn't know how to get rid of it. He didn't understand the reason for his spiritual hunger. He was constantly going to church, lighting candles, giving alms, fasting and visiting the sick. All this time his passion for music was growing and he occupied himself by singing folk songs, the kind of music he was familiar with.

The burden of responsibility for the family had fallen upon his mother when his father went into the army. Income dwindled and conditions worsened. Siranush had to travel long distances to grind her wheat. The family had fruit trees and gardens but there was nobody to tend them. From time to time bandits raided the villages. Surrounded by fields and orchards, Sungurlu suffered constant harassment. In those days Sungurlu was a town of two thousand households, two thirds Muslim, one third Christian. There was a Protestant church with a congregation of twenty people and a preacher by the name of Kirkor Atmajian. Vahram's uncle Haygaz, a good musician, played the violin beautifully and led the Armenian community orchestra. It was he who taught Vahram to play the violin, a skill that became very useful to him later on. From his other Uncle, Yervant — a tailor — Vahram learned this trade which was to become his occupation.

At the end of the war, poverty and destitution were widespread. Apraham returned from military service but it was well nigh impossible to collect the debts that people owed him. In these circumstances he decided to settle his family in Istanbul. In 1922 he sent 13-year-old Vahram and his two sisters to stay with their uncle who lived in Gedikpasha, the section of Istanbul where all migrants from Anatolia settled. A few years later after disbanding their Sungurlu home, Siranush came to Istanbul with the two youngest daughters. They rented a house in Kumkapi and waited for their father to join them.

It was at this time that Vahram became a master tailor. Having reached the age of sixteen, he decided to open his own shop. In partnership with another tailor he rented a place in the Covered Bazaar. From the outset, work was plentiful and they worked long hours. They hired many apprentices to help. But Vahram could not forget Sungurlu and particularly the spiritual books he had read when he was small. The story of Abraham's offering Isaac and God's providing a ram was foremost in his memory. He could not get that remarkable story out of his mind. Too bad his partner Daniel had no interest in spiritual matters. Vahram could not talk about anything outside of work with him. Work, productivity and profits were thriving, but Vahram longed for something else.

Chapter 3

FAST LIFE IN ISTANBUL

Here was a young man plucked out of a quiet and slow-moving Anatolian town and thrust into the vast metropolis of Istanbul where fast life was the accepted norm. What temptations would lure a young person, especially if he were the proud owner of a profitable business? A lot of directions are open before such a person. A vast variety of allurements beckon and stimulate — like the most exciting video. Many a young person has found himself ensnared by catastrophic pitfalls from which he could not extricate himself. Others have achieved success by choosing the well-studied direction. Every young person leaving Anatolia and making his way to a city like Istanbul has his own story to tell. What will Vahram do? Is there any difference between him and other young people?

One day fellow tailors said to him, "We've planned a great time for this evening. Do you want to join in the fun?" Without a second thought Vahram agreed. They met at a given point. He followed them not knowing where they were leading him. Soon he found himself in a section of the city known for its cheap movie houses. Excited by the explicit female pictures, he surrendered his then valuable coin of twenty-five kurush at the box office and rushed into the cinema. His friends made him feel even more excited as they shouted, "Just you wait. You're really going to see something now!" Vahram was having his first cinema experience and was musing about what cinema is, how it works, and what he was going to see. His imagination was leaping in every direction.

The instant the curtain rose he was left speechless by this twentieth century invention. Very soon, confronted by the explicit pictures, his unspoiled feelings stirred him to think, "What business do you have in such a place?" In a flash the story of Abraham and Isaac and the exemplary life of Gregory the Illuminator came to mind. He was shaken by the stark contradiction between those sacred visions and what he was seeing on the screen. He could hardly wait for the film to end. Leaving the movie house he said nothing to his friends. There was nothing he could say! He lacked spiritual conviction by which he might persuade his friends to something better.

The next week his friends again asked him, "Do you want to join us for some great fun?" He couldn't muster any resistance. "All right," he said obediently. This time they went in another direction and plunged down a long passage-way lined with flashing lights, to the entrance of the exciting show. Everybody was eagerly waiting for the curtain to rise. When it did, a titter spread across the room. On the stage a woman teasingly began to take off her clothes. The sight was so electrifying that every eye and every thought were fastened on her. But instead of enjoying it Vahram was very uncomfortable. "Come on, let's get out of here!" he said to the friend sitting beside him. "What!" guffawed his companion. "We paid good money to get in here. Whoever heard of anyone leaving a striptease?" Only then did Vahram learn that the show was called "striptease", and he vowed, "This is the last time that I fall for this dirty trick." Coming away from the night-club, while his friends kept re-living what they had seen, he trudged on with a heavy burden on his heart. He learned later that this was called, 'conviction of sin'.

Next time he wanted to take them in another direction. "Come on," he said, "Let's go to church this Sunday." They made fun of him: "That's for old fogeys. Let's enjoy ourselves while we're young!" He realised that from then on he would have to take a lonely road. All alone he would go to church, light a candle, mutter a prayer and pay his respects.

Leaving the church he felt satisfied, but his inner burden remained. "Strange," he said to himself, "I wonder how I can get rid of this burden." So began the great search for reconciliation, peace and for God Himself.