As he spent time at the Bible shop, Sam soon learned to distinguish the parade of characters who passed by: Arab pearl merchants who hurried along carrying large boxes; Persian men who sat down to chat and drink coffee with their countrymen; and an armorer who squatted all day opposite the shop, grinding swords, repairing flintlocks, and putting new handles on bowie knives. There were also Turkish soldiers returning footsore and hungry from the fighting on the Qatar Peninsula; chance pilgrims from India, who arrived on the various steamers that stopped in Bahrain; black slaves from Abyssinia; and closely veiled women navigating the street in silence.
Word spread quickly around Manamah that an American was selling Western books in the bazaar, and Sam quickly became adept at engaging local people in conversation. He would say, “Ta’al shoof! Come and see. Here is an Arabic gospel, a portion of the whole Injeel [New Testament] of Isa the prophet for only one anna. Have you read it? The Koran says it is ‘light and guidance.’ Or do you want to read the wonderful psalms of David in this pretty green binding for three annas? Here is the whole Torah [Old Testament] in Persian for one rupee or a gilt-edged New Testament at two krans.”
If a person disputed the authority of the Bible, Sam would reply, ”You don’t care to read the Holy Book because it has been corrupted, you say? How do you know if you have not read it? Do those on a caravan call the water bitter before they reach the well?” And if a person started to leave the shop, he would call after them, “Don’t go away. I sell other books besides the Scriptures. Here is an atlas, all in Arabic; there are science primers, grammars, poetry, stories. Have you read The Greatest Thing in the World or Swiss Family Robinson put into Arabic?”
Hour after hour, day after day, Sam prayed and talked and tried to interest those who visited the Bible shop in the Old and New Testaments. He was pleased when someone would linger long enough to listen to a portion of the Bible.
While tending the Bible shop, Sam had plenty of time to watch the local “dentist” at work. The dentist was also the local blacksmith. He would drive small wooden wedges between the teeth to loosen an ulcerated or infected molar. He would then use his smithing pliers to extract the tooth. The procedure was bloody and painful, and Sam was convinced that he could do a better job. He sent to Bombay, India, for four dental forceps and a lancet. When the equipment arrived, he set up a dental clinic. He bought two red curtains and divided his room above the pearl market into three rooms. One room was his bedroom, the second a study, and the third room, closest to the door, was his dental surgery and dispensary. Wealthy people often preferred that Sam come to their homes to administer dental care, though this sometimes created problems, especially when a woman in the house had to be treated. In such cases Sam would find himself extracting troublesome teeth through a hole in a complete head veil.
Sam soon gained a reputation for “painless” dentistry, and it wasn’t long before people started asking him for other types of medical aid. While Sam was not a trained doctor or dentist, he had taught himself enough of the basics of medical diagnosis and treatment and was glad to share what he knew with the residents of Manamah. Since no trained doctors or dentists were living in Bahrain, Sam often quoted an old Dutch proverb to himself: “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.”
Now that he was involved in dispensing medicine, Sam waited eagerly for James Wyckoff to arrive. Instead, he received a depressing letter from Jim. Dr. Wyckoff, who had been in Arabia for only five months, had fallen ill with dysentery and relocated to the hill country of South India to recover. Jim wrote that he doubted the doctor would return anytime soon. This was a bitter blow for Sam and for the Arabian Mission. So far they’d had two doctors join them, and neither one had lasted more than six months. Despite his disappointment, Sam pressed on.
Within months of arriving, Sam felt like he was part of the fabric of Bahrain. He had sold 198 Scripture portions and 162 religious and educational books. He saw other encouraging signs. One Muslim visitor bought a copy of the Gospel of John and slipped back later to confide in Sam that he believed that Jesus was the Son of God. Soon afterward a woman came in to buy a copy of the Psalms. Sam knew it was unwise to speak to her, but she whispered to him that she wanted to learn about the Jewish teachings and was able to read and write herself.
By the time Peter arrived in Muscat in November 1893, Sam felt that things were going well. His Arabic was improving, and he had made several loyal Muslim friends in Bahrain. There were also hints from the United States that big changes were on the horizon for the Arabian Mission.
Chapter 13
Miss Amy Elizabeth Wilkes
When Sam, Jim, and Philip Phelps—under the guidance of Dr. John Lansing—founded the Arabian Mission, they had hoped the organization would come under the umbrella of the mission board of the Reformed Church. At the time, the Reformed Church Mission Board had declined to take on the Arabian Mission because the mission board was severely in debt, with heavy financial commitments in India, China, and Japan.
Now, in 1894, circumstances had changed. The Arabian Mission was up and running and showing no signs of slowing down. The missionary letters Sam wrote and sent home were widely distributed by family and friends, who also brought their influence to bear on the Reformed Church Mission Board. As a result, in early 1894, Sam and Jim received a letter explaining that the mission board was willing to welcome the Arabian Mission into its fold and take over the administration and fund-raising responsibilities.
Sam and Jim were thrilled by the news. It took a load off their minds to know that a group of competent and experienced men back in the United States were willing to shoulder these responsibilities. They hoped there would now be a steady stream of qualified missionary recruits coming to work with them.
In the meantime, Sam kept busy with his work in Bahrain. By now it was obvious that Dr. Wyckoff would not be returning to Arabia. Despite his time of recuperation in the mountains of Southern India, the doctor could not rid himself of his illness and had decided to return to the United States. Sam administered health and dental care as best he could, praying always that another doctor would soon be appointed to work alongside him and take over the care of his patients.
With Peter now settled in Muscat, Sam received letters from his brother, filling him in on how the new mission station was progressing. The first house Peter had rented in Muscat was soon taken from him and turned over to the French consul to use as his residence. Peter had finally been able to secure another large house to rent. He had made a number of repairs to the place, but not to the roof. Peter’s comical letter describing how the roof had caved in put a smile on Sam’s face. Since no one was home at the time of the collapse, there were no casualties. Undeterred by these early housing setbacks, Peter persisted. He found another place to rent and managed to set up a Bible shop, where he sold portions of Scripture and other books to the locals. It was a promising start, and Peter persisted in improving his Arabic. Sam was proud of the job his brother was doing.
In March 1895, news of another one of Sam’s brothers arrived in a letter from his father. This time it was not good news. Sam’s thirty-four-year-old brother Adrian had died unexpectedly of pneumonia, leaving behind a widow, a two-month-old son, and his older son, John, from his first marriage. The news of Adrian’s death saddened Sam and reminded him of how life could quickly be taken away, even in a place like America with modern medical facilities.
At the end of March, Sam found himself in Basrah, visiting Jim, who had been serving the mission in Arabia for five-and-a-half years. Jim was planning to return to the United States for furlough, and Sam wanted to spend some time with him before he departed. The two young men were busy praying together and strategizing about future mission stations when a telegraph arrived. Jim read it and quickly handed it over for Sam to read. “Miss Alice Philips and Miss Amy Elizabeth Wilkes arriving Basrah SS Clan Cameron, April 1, five p.m. Please meet and see on to Baghdad. Much obliged CMS.”
Jim and Sam looked at each other and then sprang into action. The young women would be arriving the following day, and Jim’s house was a mess. The men needed to make the place look more homelike. Sam laughed as he swept and dusted and watched Jim shove a pile of books and boxes under a table and then cover the whole thing with a long tablecloth. The following morning Sam washed and dried two new china cups he’d just bought at the market and eagerly awaited the time of the arrival of the steamer in Basrah. He and Jim were about to meet and entertain two young Christian women—something neither of them had done in years!
Sam and Jim were waiting on the dock when the SS Clan Cameron arrived on time. They watched as two very attractive young women disembarked. They introduced themselves to the two women, who told them that they were from Sydney, Australia. Amy Wilkes, a tall brunette, informed Sam that she was a nurse who had been born in England and then moved to Australia.
Sam and Jim collected the women’s baggage and arranged for it to be transported to Jim’s house while they escorted the new arrivals there.
Back at Jim’s house, Sam and Jim made a pot of tea, and Sam arranged the new teacups on the table. He then walked over and peered out the window while Amy poured the tea. “Look, there’s a caravan passing by,” he exclaimed.
As Amy ran to the window to catch her first glimpse of an Arabian caravan, her foot caught the edge of the tablecloth, pulling it, along with the teapot and china cups and saucers, off the edge of the table. With a loud crash, everything hit the floor and shattered.
At the sight of what she had done, Amy rushed out onto the balcony and burst into tears. Sam and Jim looked at each other, not sure what to do. Finally Sam ventured out to comfort Amy. “Don’t worry,” he said, trying to think of something funny to say. “They are only things. You can come back here anytime you like and break every dish in the house. No one would really care, you know.”
Amy smiled weakly and dabbed her brown eyes with her handkerchief. “I’m not normally like this,” she said. “I don’t cry at everything; I’m just very tired. It’s been quite the trip getting this far.”
Sam nodded. He knew exactly what she meant. Adjusting to the heat, the smells, and the strange customs on top of all the travel could be overwhelming. “Jim and I will do whatever we can to help you,” he said, and he meant it. In fact, Sam volunteered to accompany the two CMS novice missionaries to Baghdad. They arrived there just in time for Sam’s twenty-eighth birthday on April 12.
Sam returned to Bahrain, but he soon found an excuse to return to Baghdad, where he offered to help Amy with her language learning. Over the next few months, Sam made numerous trips to Baghdad, spending more time there than in Bahrain. The truth was, Sam had fallen in love with Amy, and before long he asked her to marry him. She accepted his proposal and on May 18, 1896, a little more than a year after they met, Samuel Marinus Zwemer and Amy Elizabeth Wilkes were married at the British consulate in Baghdad.
Their marriage meant that Amy needed to switch from being a CMS missionary to a missionary with the Arabian Mission. Since she had not completed her three-year commitment to the CMS, she was required to repay part of the cost of her passage to Arabia from Australia. Sam paid the money and often joked that he’d had to buy his wife in true Middle Eastern style!
Just a week after their wedding, Sam received an astonishing letter from his brother Peter. Peter had assumed the legal responsibility for eighteen African boys aged seven to thirteen years. When they heard the news, Sam and Amy took a steamer to Muscat to learn the whole story and see how they could help out.
