THE THREE SISTERS
It is difficult to write
about each sister single, because they worked together. Because the
first sister's name was Hedwig, all the other sisters who followed were
called " HEDWIGNERE".
This
shows how close they worked together, and may be their similar outside
appearance- all of them wearing the cornet on their head- helped to
regard them as an indivisible team.
On the occasion of the
twentieth anniversary of the three sister's leave from Anjar ( July 2nd,
1972) I want to appreciate their ministry from a now-a days-point of view,
as someone who is struggling in the same field, but in a different time,
with different preconditions, but with the same aim and will. To all those
who know the three sisters personally or have heard of their outreach and
influence in Anjar and its surroundings, I want to quote a verse from the
Bible, to keep them in this way in our memory.
" Remember your leaders, those who first spoke God's message to you; and
reflecting upon the outcome of their life and work, who follow the example
of their faith." ( Hebrews 13:7, New English Bible)
1) SISTER HEDWIG AENISHÄNSLIN
Hedwig Aenishänslin was
born on November4, 1900 in Basel/Switzerland. We don't know much about her
youth time. But surely it wasn't easy, because her mother died when she was
still young.
In Switzerland she was trained in different professions, and in
Germany she attended a Bible School. She could speak French well, which was
important later when she worked in Greece and Lebanon. When she wanted to
serve the Armenians in Greece as a nurse and midwife, the Greek authorities
didn't recognize her diploma, so she had to repeat the examination in Athens
in French language. In Greece Sister Hedwig worked together with sister
Marie Röck among Armenians in the seaport of CAVALLA. There she stayed 14
years and had many troubles. But she was sure that the Lord had called her
to do this work.
In 1944 Sister Hedwig returned to Switzerland and visited the churches there
to make known the work of the Hilfsbund Mission among the Armenians and
their neighbors.
After the Second World War, in 1947, being a Swiss, she was allowed to
travel to Beirut, to help the Armenians there. But the events developed in a
different way. An Armenian pastor invited her to see Anjar. He lived in
Zahle with his family and used to visit Anjar, too.
In the following passage Sister Hedwig describes her first impressions of
Anjar:
"I will never forget the day when we saw Anjar. It was hot, no shadow,
everywhere dust, the wind blew into my eyes. They were burning and inflamed,
when we returned to Beirut. No proper proper dwelling, no water etc. How
could I live there alone and far away from the civilized people? When
I said Good bye to the pastor, I briefly told him he shouldn't think I
would ever come to Anjar...
When I returned to Beirut, the struggle started. Reason said " No, no, I
won't go to Anjar, I'll stay in Beirut", but conscience said: "It's your
way". It took me several days and nights until I was ready to say "Yes!, I
am ready send me God" happily. But then I became so indescribable joyful."
If we really want to understand how the work of Sister Hedwig , and then the
two other sisters developed, then we must analyze her last letter which she
wrote from Anjar to the friends of the mission work in Switzerland and
Germany, in 1972, after 25 years of ministry among the Armenians in Anjar.
" The Lord has made his word true, which He had given to me when I entered
this desert. May I tell you which word from the Holy Scriptures was it? It
is written in the book of Job, Ch 22, verse28: " In all your designs you
will succeed..." Well, dear friends, I hadn't made any designs or plans...
Dear friends, I really may say that I didn't have any plan as well as the
two other sisters didn't have, but we were always pushed. It did cost us a
lot of prayer work, and the blessings of the Lord didn't fail to appear."
"We were always
pushed". May be this is the key how to understand the developments
since 1947. sister Hedwig was pushed by the conscience to say "YES" to
Anjar. When the Armenians of Beirut didn't advise her to go to Anjar because
they meant the people there were still wild and would shoot her, she
replied: " If it is so, then they really need me." "She was pushed"
to organize her work in one of the little 4mx4m 'French houses', using
corner for polyclinic, the other for the kitchen, the third as a sleeping
room and the last for the office work. After gaining the confidence of the
Anjarians, there were so many demands to meet. " The work became more and
more, once I worked in the totally dried garden, another time I visited ill
people. Children came and asked me to read the Bible with them. Women asked
me to have assemblies with them to read the Bible. The Gregorian priest
asked me to teach his children in the Sunday School. The Evangelical church
asked me to lead Bible studies because there was no pastor in Anjar. To make
it short, From all sides they asked me to do something for them. And I was
thankful for that.
The Armenian Evangelical Synod approached with a request that I would lead
the Evangelical School which I deliberately refused because I knew it wads
everything but not a school. But the Sirs didn't give in, again and again
they came with their proposal and finally Sister Marie urged me to say
"Yes". There were 45 children at that time. No kindergarten, no proper
rooms, no books, they learned by anything but books, and if you asked them
something else they looked at me incapable of understanding."
In this way, being
pushed from one thing to another, the work grew steadily. By and by there
were more pupils needed a place to live, so they were put into the little
houses to live and learn there. When more and more boarding students were
accepted, it became necessary to build several buildings for them.
When the first neighboring Muslim came to school in Anjar, there was some
quarrel between the Anjarians and the Arab, and then the school in
Mejdel-Anjar was opened to separate the quarreling parties from each other
and do a Christian work among the Muslims, too. The sisters layed-out
gardens. In the beginning people laughed at them, but then they did the
same. Sister Hedwig brought little fruit trees from her home country and
distributed them among the villagers. the children learned how to cook, how
to keep the house on good order, how to do needle-work and similar things.
Of course the sisters had also to meet the needs of the ill people. they had
to fight against malaria and other diseases, that were tolling the lives of
many local people daily. Really they were pushed from one problem to
another, and the Lord has blessed everything.
If we consider this immense work and outreach a now-a-days point of view, it
seems incredible how much a big work could be mastered. But in the end we
see, that the Lord Himself had been the designer who pushed the plan, and
the sister's willingness to serve a people who had been twice deported from
their home country and who then lived lived in lethargy and hopelessness,
was the secret power which moved both the sisters and the villagers to
accept the challenge and the light of the new life. Surely, life at that
time was simpler than nowadays, the need to survive and make one's
living kept people more modest in their demands. On the other hand the
sisters were mobilized many helpers from their home countries to pray and
give sacrifice for the people in desperate need, both physically and
spiritually. And not only the need, but also the Christian love made the
sisters work blossom.
2) SISTER MARIE RÖCK
Sister Marie Röck
was born in 1897 in Germany. She grew up in her family as the eldest of many
brothers and sisters. Very early in her life, she had heard the word of God
and also His calling.
In
her youth time she was striving for a whole commitment and and to grapple
the work which she had to do. Being already a young sister in sisterhood,
she was ready to do a difficult work, and she wasn't discouraged by the
difficulties. In 1925 she finished her examinations at the Bible School and
continued her education as a midwife in Tübingen. There she was asked by the
leaders of the Hilfsbund Mission to work among the Armenian Christian
refugees in Greece. She accepted this calling and was sent to Cavalla in
1927.
After the Second world War Sister
Marie followed Sister Hedwig to Anjar. Being a many-sided experienced person
and having a motherly approach to the people, Sister Marie soon acquired the
confidence of all the people who had passed times of need and who were not
able to see a way for their lives. she also had a quick contact to the
youth, who were willing to accept help from her. So Sister Marie was one of
the persons who had passed their years in the boarding school in Anjar were
shaped by the Gospel and received decisive impulses for their lives.
Sister Marie had always been a faithful and exemplary co-worker. she knew
that the Lord had called her and that He had carried her through the end.
Therefore her life has been for many people a reference to the Lord, to whom
belongs all the glory.
From Sister Marie we have a report which she gave to the friends of the
Hilfsbund Mission in 1970, and in a way it is her last official report about
her work in Anjar. At that time she was already 73 years old, and she
expressed her readiness to let younger people continue the work:" In former
times we often sang the song "Did you hear the calling of Jesus, who wants
to go and work today?" Often I have heard this calling, but often I pushed
it aside, I had other plans. But the calling came back again. And now I have
been allowed to serve the Armenian people for 43 years. It wasn't always
easy. To make it short, sometimes it was that I rather preferred to run
away. But if the Lord calls us, we can't escape. - And now we, the three
sisters, became tired. So I believe that the Lord Jesus is telling: " Have a
little rest". Therefore it is important for us that in our home country
young people would her the calling and step in."
Sister Marie was ready to serve, ready to stay and ready to leave when the
appointed time approached. This is a grace from God, if people who have
served so long in a Christian work and ready to leave it, if they still have
insight to see, it is not their work but the Lord's work. This way of
thinking comes from a humble attitude towards the Lord, from a serviceable
listening to the Lord's orders, and if the time of leave comes, to
acknowledge: "We are servants and deserve no credit; we have done only our
duty." (Luke 17:10) - In fact, once Sister Marie wrote about her work that
it was a ministry of a "maid-of-all-work".
Sister Marie's main work was in the polyclinic. In October 1949, about 1200
ill people got help. In 1950, there were treated 8541 sick people during 10
months. People used to come from near and far at that time. Then Sister
Marie took care of the kitchen and cooking for many people. In 1961 every
day about 225-230 people took their meal on the boarding department ( 185
boarding pupils, 4 from Anjar whose mother were working with the mission, 7
to 9 from the village, who otherwise, wouldn't have had anything to eat, 14
teachers, 9 laundrywomen, 9 further co-workers and helpers in the house, the
school and boarding department.)
In her above mentioned "final report", Sister Marie also talks about the
developments which had happened within more than 20 years. There was no
desert anymore, the little and bigger houses were surrounded and hidden by
trees, they got electrical lights, they had meanwhile enough water, the
boarding children were living in nice buildings, even some people started
having radio and television. Many of the former students had emigrated to
United States of America. Meanwhile , in 1970, 220 boys and 150 girls had
been accepted to the boarding department. Parents brought their
children from other countries, as Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, Kuwait
and even from African countries to Anjar. It is also mentioned that in the
neighboring village Mejdel Anjar about 200 children were attending the "
Sisters' School", and were listening to the Gospel every morning.
Sister Marie was also a person who critically reflected and thought about
her work. After years of hardship for both the sisters and the Anjarians,
she writes in 1967: "One could think that the Armenians don't need us
anymore. But still we know that we have a task here, because the people need
our love and also the love and prayers of the friends in our home country.
The Armenian people are enjoying in this country the same rights as the
Lebanese. As all the others they can practice their faith without fear. For
this they are thankful.- But yet the Armenians are scattered in all the
world. They are a people without a home country. Therefore we want to direct
their view to the home country which has been prepared also for them in
eternity. and specially for this reason, we need your prayers so that we can
guide them, and that the Lord makes them hungry of His word."
TOP
3) Sister Hanna Nitschke
Hanna Nitschke was born on January
22nd, 1895 in Hertwingswaldau in the country Schlesien/Germany. Her father
was a pastor.
In 1914 she started a kindergarten teacher's training, and
after finishing this, she had a training how to nurse babies in the city of
Breslau (1916). In 1919 she visited a Bible School, and later she became a
nurse.
In 1926 the Hilfsbund Mission called her to work in Bulgaria in the towns of
Schumen and Philippopolis (later: Plovdiv) to help the Armenian refugees
there. In Bulgaria she learned the Armenian language. There she also lead a
needle-work-school; But in 1932 she had to leave Bulgaria because of the
political condition in Germany. Until 1952 she worked in Germany as a nurse.
Then again Hilfsbund Mission asked her to work in Anjar/Lebanon
together with the above mentioned sisters. In 1953 she arrived in Anjar. Her
main work was in the policlinic, but all the other professions which she had
learned before were useful for her ministry, too.
According to the chronicles of the Hilfsbund Mission, sister Hanna Nitschke
wasn't mentioned until 1961. then, steadily, we hear from time to time some
information from the letters she wrote. From the fact that she wasn't
mentioned in the Hilfsbund chronicles for eight years we can conclude that:
1) Sister Hanna Nitschke was a modest person. She was wiling to adapt
herself to her new environment and situation and not to develop her ideas as
a person coming new to an unknown mission field. From the style how she
wrote letters we also can conclude that she was a modest person, giving
honor to the Lord. You will not find one sentence in her letters about what
she did. But you will get a lot of information about what happened . And she
wrote in a style as if she is observing the things that are going on. And
she is happy in between all these "happenings" and thus finding her role as
a mission worker. One example: A big box of clothings arrived from Europe.
The first snow had already fallen. And Sister Hanna is enjoying in her
letter that the clothes arrived at the proper time in order to be
distributed. so we can indirectly conclude something about her distribution
work.
2) Sister Hanna was a person ready to help, making herself useful. This we
already saw from the above example. The same we can say about the work in
policlinic, while she was treating the sick people.
3) Sister Hanna was a person of faith and loyalty. We can conclude this from
her desire that every activity should be accompanied with the sharing of
Christ's love. When they had their needle-work meetings on Saturdays, the
message of Christ was shared, too. Sister Hanna kept on with her work even
in times when her strength became weaker.
Even in her last years of life, when she lived in Germany, she kept on
praying and writing letters to the missionaries in Anjar. " Happy that
servant who is found at his task when his master comes!" ( Matthew 24:46)
The three sisters left Anjar in July 1972. They stayed for several years in
Ain Sa'ade near Beirut. Sister Marie wanted to stay in the country, in which
she served for so many tears. She died on December 26th, 1975, and was
buried in Anjar. The two other sisters soon later-after the civil war
had already started- were transferred to Germany and spent their last years
of life in a home for retired missionaries. Sister Hedwig died in 1983, and
sister Hanna died in 1988 at the age of 93 years.