Their humble and earnest but not eloquent preacher, whose labors God had so blessed among them, would do, they said, to gather the lambs, but not to feed the sheep.

Contrary to the advice of the missionaries, they called two popular men of the graduating class, one after the other, but both declined, choosing harder fields.
"Meanwhile their preacher was called to another place, and the people came to the city, with their donkeys, to take him and his family home.

These were quietly sleeping at his house, expecting to start on the morrow, when, at midnight, nine of the principal men of Hooeli roused him from sleep, and began to beg pardon for their rejection of him, saying, 'Come, get your goods in readiness, and go with us.' It seems that they took their failure to secure the others as a rebuke from God for their pride; and having met to pray, sent these nine men to ask pardon of Garabed in person, while others wrote letters asking his forgiveness, and begging him to come back.
Both parties then appealed to the missionaries, who declined to interfere, advising them to pray and decide the matter among themselves.

They agreed to accept the preacher's decision as God's will, and he after prayer and reflection, decided to return to his old people.

In the mean time, twenty of the women of Hooeli, impatient at the delay, met also for prayer, and with difficulty were prevented from going in a body to take their old pastor home.
But the brethren kept them back, and when at length he reached the village, no other preacher ever had such an ovation in all that region, within the memory of man."[1] [1] _Ten Years on the Euphrates_, pp.