William Lethaby – Missionary to Moab

William Lethaby [1837-1909] served a missionary at Kerak in what is now west central Jordan between 1886 and 1894, when he was forced to leave by the Turkish occupation of the region. The book contains numerous photographs which make the file size larger than usual. My thanks to Redcliffe College for providing a copy to scan. This title is in the public domain.

Thomas Durley [1836-?], Lethaby of Moab. A Record of Missionary Adventure, Peril and Toil. London & Edinburgh: Marshall Brothers, Ltd., [1090]. Hbk. pp.339.  [Download complete book in PDF]

Contents

1. Beginnings. 1837-1871
2. Westward. 1872-1873.
3. Eastward and Back. 1874.
4. Selwood. 1874-1883.
5. A Second Time Eastward. Beirût. 1883.
6. Beirût to Jerusalem. 1883.
7. Jerusalem to Alexandria. Waiting 1884-5.
8. Still Waiting. Attempt at Kerak. Entrance. 1885.
9. Approachng the Goal Again. 1886.
10. Moab and Kerak
11. Entrance. Making Friends. 1886.
12. Manifold Work. The New Message. 1887.
13. The Anchor of Hope. 1888.
14. Visitors and Helpers. 1889.
15. Welcome Guests. Furlough. 1870.
16. Saguine Hopes. New Colleagues. 1891.
17. IN Camp. Changing the Base. 1892.
18. The Persian Gulf. A Closed Door. 1893.
19. Turkish Occupation. Good-bye to Kerak. 1894.
20. An Den. 1894-1899.
21. The Last Decade. 1899-1909.

Preface

This book aims at delineating the main features of a man’s life singularly unlike most of his fellows – a life full of incident of an uncommon kind.

His paramount unselfishness carved out for him a rugged, picturesque course, some of the lines of which it would seem worth while to retrace.

Fortunately, material is at hand to aid. Two of his closest friends kept a large number of letters, most kindly made serviceable. Wherever possible, the actual words of the chief actors tell the story.

The correspondence consequent on the unwanted and unwelcome, but frequent, separation of husband and wife at the call of duty, has also been helpful in keeping a comparatively unbroken narrative ; while a small outer circle, closely in touch, -has rendered effective service to the grateful biographer.

To Sir John Gray-Hill, to Mr. John Murray, to the London Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews, to the Secretary of the Palestine Exploration Fund, and to the Methodist Publishing Houses in London and Toronto, we gratefully acknowledge courteous and generous permission to use illustrations which add so much to the interest and value of these pages. [Continue Reading]