Advancing the Kingdom

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Advancing T he Kingdom: Kingdom House
“The Syrian Department”:
Kingdom House and Markham Memorial
have been for several years carrying on
conjointly the work among the Syrians,
of whom there are large numbers in our
neighborhood. Miss Huntley, a missionary
belonging to the Presbyterian Board of
Missions, has had charge of the work. The
Presbyterians have paid her salary and
Kingdom House has given her a residence,
for which she has paid by helping in the
office and by being an inestimable blessing
to us and to our work. When the British took
Jerusalem Miss Huntley was called on to
go to Syria with the Red Cross Commission
to Palestine. The war had driven her home
from her work in Syria and she had gone
back to it joyfully at the first opening, but we
shall miss her keenly.…
During the summer two men and two
women of our little Protestant group decided
to unite with the church.…
This group formed the nucleus
of what became a Syrian church at
Kingdom House, with services in
Arabic. Although Kingdom House
sought to bridge the cultural differences
between immigrants and American
culture, the workers strove to ease
that transition for those newly arrived.
Language in the Yearbooks shows a
concern for preserving immigrants’
culture, but also helping families adjust
to language barriers and acculturation
issues.
The Syrian population was part
of a larger potpourri of nationalities
sharing the neighborhood with Kingdom
House. It is of interest to note that the
1912 Annual Report shows twenty-
four “nationalities,” of which “Native
20
P hotos:
A: “Sewing School, 1927”
B: “Girls’ Story Hour, 1927”
A
B