The installation of Suleeba Jerwan as pastor of the church in Hums, occurred in 1865. The Protestants there had long resisted the settlement of a native pastor, hoping to obtain the residence of an American missionary, but their welcome to the native pastor was now cordial. His wife was an excellent young woman, formerly a pupil in Mr. Bird's family, and his assistant in the instruction of her sex. Both pastor and people had a varied experience in after years, not unlike what is often seen in Christian lands. In the spring of 1865, the oppression of the Turkish government became so unbearable at Safeeta, in the district of Tripoli, that a large number of the people resolved to seek relief in Protestantism. A deputation of sixty heads of families, representing nearly five hundred souls, was accordingly sent to the missionaries at Tripoli. Their motives were wholly secular, and they were not at all aware of the spiritual object of the missionaries. This had to be explained, and they were told, that it was beyond the power of the mission to afford civil protection. The government allowed them to register their names as Protestants, and they listened with marked attention to the spiritual instructions of Dr. Post; Mr. Samuel Jessup, the other missionary, being then at Hums. On leaving, they asked for books, and to be more thoroughly inducted into the new way. The region of Safeeta was new to Protestant missions, but was populous and fertile, and bordering on the Nusaireyeh. Among the names handed to Dr. Post, as interested in this movement, were one hundred and fifty of this strange people, and there were a number of them in the deputation; but all of this class soon fell away. Dr. Post visited Safeeta in May, and arrangements were effected with the government, which opened the door for Christian teaching. He had audiences of one hundred and fifty every night, listening with reverent attention to words they had never heard before. "I taught them hymns," he writes, "and heard them repeat passages of Scripture and answer religious questions. On Sunday they commenced coming at five, A. M., and kept pouring in upon me all day long, till ten P. M.,--just allowing me time to eat, and not even leaving the room while I did that. Our large meetings in the evenings were by the light of the moon, as an open light would have been extinguished, and we had no lantern. A most interesting feature was the number of women in the audiences, an exceptional thing in all new religious movements in Syria." Two horsemen came from distant villages, to inquire about the new faith and sect. The motive was doubtless secular, but there is always hope where the Gospel gains a hearing.