Posts : 4902 Join date : 2012-01-01 Location : Belgium
Subject: The American Colony Jerusalem, what a story... Sun 16 Aug 2020, 21:37
I saw this evening a documentary about the American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem. And I was struck by the strict neutrality of this colony throughout all the changing circumstances from the Turkish time till the nowadays difficult Israeli-Palestine relationship.
"After suffering a series of tragic losses following the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 (see "It is Well with My Soul"), Chicago residents Anna and Horatio Spafford led a small American contingent in 1881 to Jerusalem to form a Christian utopian society. The "American Colony," as it became known, was later joined by Swedish Christians. The society engaged in philanthropic work amongst the people of Jerusalem regardless of religious affiliation, gaining the trust of the local Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities.[1] During and immediately after World War I, the American Colony carried out philanthropic work to alleviate the suffering of the local inhabitants, opening soup kitchens, hospitals, orphanages and other charitable ventures."
"In 1871, Horatio Spafford, a prosperous lawyer and Presbyterian church elder and his wife, Anna, were living with their four young daughters in Chicago. That year, the Great Fire erupted in Chicago, devastating the city. In November 1873, Anna and the children set sail for Europe aboard the SS Ville du Havre with a group of friends. Horatio stayed behind, detained by business. On November 21, the ocean liner collided with a British vessel and sank within minutes. Anna was rescued, but all the children drowned. Horatio received the tragic news in a telegram from Anna that read: "Saved alone. What shall I do?" Horatio immediately left for England to bring his wife home. Crossing the Atlantic, the captain of the ship came to Spafford and said that they were approaching the area where the ship went down that had his wife and daughters on board. There Spafford wrote the lyrics of the hymn "It Is Well with My Soul," the music being added later by Philip Bliss."
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