Theophilus Waldmeier was a Swiss Quaker missionary. Married Susan Bell, eldest daughter of John Bell, at Magdala, Ethiopia on the 4th of December 1859.http://www.archive.org/details/theophiluswaldme00walduoft
He was held prisoner by Ethiopian King Theodore

Tewodros II of Ethiopia

Tewodros II was the Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855 until his death....

 and later released by General Napier

Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala

Field Marshal Robert Cornelis Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala, GCB, GCSI, CIE, FRS was a British soldier.-Early life:...

's British troops at the siege of Magdala

Amba Mariam

Amba Mariam is a village in central Ethiopia. It was known as Magdala or Meqdela during the reign of Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia...

, Ethiopia in 1868.

He went to Beirut

Beirut

Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...

 with the British Syrian Mission (which was founded in 1860). He started the Friends' Syrian Mission in 1873, founded Brummana High School

Brummana High School

Brummana High School is a secondary school in Lebanon. It is located in the village of Brummana, situated in Metn, Mount Lebanon, east of the capital city Beirut.This school was established in 1873, by the Quaker Theophilus Waldmeier...

in 1873 and the Asfuriya Mental Hospital in 1894. In 1874, he traveled to Europe to seek financial backing from the Society of Friends. British and American Quakers provided support for the Brummana School.