Mission and Revolution in Central Asia - Svenska Missionskyrkan

his absolute loneliness. In the daytime he was busy doing literary work, says Hedin, and “at
night he played Swedish hymns on his violin”. 48 Avetaranian, on his part, also writes about
Hedin saying that he was the guest of the Russian Consul, adding,” The Gospel and God’s
Mission seem to them to be mere play things”. He might be referring to the Consul and Hedin
when he says in the same letter, “I have often been ridiculed and mocked by nominal
Christians.” 49 He also mentions the fact that the Muslims of Kashgar had tried to lure him into
something punishable so that the authorities might get a reason to expel him from the country.
Those Christians referred to by Avataranian as living in Kashgar could also have been two
Roman Catholics dwelling there at that time. The missionaries were later to get to know one
of them more closely, namely the Dutch missionary Father Hendrichs. The other one was a
Polish man, called Adam Ignatieff. He came to Kashgar towards the end of the 1880s and is
described by Hedin as a “discharged Cardinal”. No one else but himself saw him as a
missionary, says Hedin, as he had not won one single convert during his ten year stay in
Kashgar. He had not even tried. 50
At that time, Avetaranian was highly appreciated by the Swedish missionaries. They saw
him as an excellent model when it came to the delicate task of preaching the Gospel to the
Muslim population. On the whole he was the first evangelical preacher in this part of Central
Asia. In his sermons he often referred to the prevailing distress among the people. Much of
this distress was due to the numerous broken marriages and to the deeply unhappy conditions
present in many homes. He took up cases of men and women having been married up to 300
times. This situation brought about a lack of love, lack of peace and violence. These unhappy
circumstances, said the preacher, had their origin in the religion of the people. But the Loving
God did not want people to suffer. That was why he sent a Saviour. The preacher finished his
sermon by giving an account of the life of Jesus and his redeeming work. 51 Fragments of one
of Avetaranian’s first sermon have been preserved. It was held in November 1892. In a letter
to the Mission Board he quotes parts of his sermon. Like the good street preacher he was he
had set out for the bazaars in order to get into contact with people and preach to them about
Jesus Christ. This time too he spoke about the distress among the people. There was so much
pain, lack of love, shedding of blood and lack of peace. He went on to say, “…do you think
that the loving God who fills up the whole earth wants people to be so unhappy. No, of course
not! He loves us all alike, and he has given a Saviour to all nations. If you like, I will tell you
about this Saviour, Jesus Christ and about his apostles.” And then he continues in his letter, I
got the opportunity to tell them about the life of Jesus and his atonement, and about his
followers. And the Muslims were amazed, he adds finally. 52
While waiting for the Swedish missionaries, Avetaranian started translating the New
Testament into Eastern Turkish. During the two and half years he had to wait for the Swedish
missionaries to arrive, he had time to translate both the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of
Luke. Later on he also translated Mark and John, and so the four Gospels could be published
in 1898. He was assisted in the translation work by Mirza Abdul Kerim, a man from Kashgar.
The Gospels of Matthew and Mark were taken into use already in 1897. The printing was
done in Leipzig and the British and Foreign Bible Society was responsible for the
publishing. 53
48
Hedin, 1898, p. 191.
49
The Missionsförbundet, 1894, p. 294 ff.
50
Hedin, 1898, p. 188.
51
Lundahl, 1917, p. 306 f.
52
Törnquist, 1926, p. 198 f.
53
The British and Foreign Bible Society catalogue V.II, p. 1628. Also typewritten in a file. Edition nr 9410
(BUB archives London).
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