much affected by her pleading and granted her request.
The next thing was to get a church; she gave her own little bit of
ground, her all, then begged money to build the church on it. In
addition to these wider interests, she faithfully and lovingly fulfilled
home duties. Her sister, an ignorant, selfish, and very superstitious
woman, was her great trial. This sister became ill, so she took her to
the hospital. The doctors told her there was no hope. She begged them to
allow her to remain. Safsaf spent days and nights praying for her
sister's recovery. She began to mend, and the prayers of her devoted
sister at her bedside that she might be restored so as to have an
opportunity to learn of God and become a converted soul, led her to
accept Christ as her Saviour.

The life of this humble, quiet-spoken, earnest-hearted, patient, loving
woman, who lives close to Christ, is exercising an influence in her
native village which even men wonder at, but only God knows how
far-reaching it is.

The possibilities of the Egyptian women are great either for good or for
evil.

It is said that Ismail Pasha, the grandfather of the present Khedive,
who in his day ruled Egypt with a tyrant's hand, was himself ruled by a
woman. His mother, a woman of strong character, was the power behind the
throne. Much has been said about the downtrodden condition of Egyptian
women, and none too much. Islam puts its heel on the neck of woman. It
debases and despises her. But there is another side to the picture.
Woman was born an invincible spirit, which even the yoke of Islam has
not been able to crush. And in Egypt scarcely less than in lands where
she is more honored, she exercises a sway that can neither be denied or
despised. The lords of creation--and that the men of Egypt feel
themselves decidedly to be--yield to their women far more than a casual
observer or even they themselves imagine.

An illustration of this is seen in connection with the mourning customs.
The government, and in the case of the Copts, the Church also, has
interfered to break up the violent mourning of the women at the time of
deaths. Yet very little have they yielded.

This is only one of a thousand instances in which, despite all
restrictions, they do as they please. But their influence reaches to far
deeper things. They cling to superstitions and a false faith with far
more tenacity than do the men. They bring up their children in the same
way. It is they who make t