T H E W O R K S O F J A M E S M I L B U R N TAY L O R
Touring South America with the Gospel
Touring South America with the Gospel
BY MR. James M.Taylor
First Fruits Press Wilmore, KY c2026
ISBN: 9781648173844
Touring South America with the Gospel By James M. Taylor. Published in the U.S.A. by First Fruits Press, 2026. Digital version at http://place.asburyseminary.edu/firstfruitsheritagematerial/5/ First Fruits Press is a digital imprint of the Asbury Theological Seminary, B.L. Fisher Library. Asbury Theological Seminary is the legal owner of the material previously published by the Pentecostal Publishing Co. and reserves the right to release new editions of this material as well as new material produced by Asbury Theological Seminary. Its publications are available for noncommercial and educational uses, such as research, teaching and private study. First Fruits Press has licensed the digital version of this work under the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/. For all other uses, contact: First Fruits Press B.L. Fisher Library Asbury Theological Seminary 204 N. Lexington Ave. Wilmore, KY 40390 http://place.asburyseminary.edu/firstfruits Taylor, James M. (James Milburn), 1873Touring South America with the Gospel [electronic resource]/ / James M. Taylor. – Wilmore, Kentucky: First Fruits Press, ©2026. 1 online resource 138pages: illustrations; cm. Reprint. Previously published: Knoxville, Tenn: James M. Taylor, [1914] ISBN: 9781648173837 (paperback) ISBN: 9781648173844 (uPDF) ISBN: 9781648173851 (Mobi) OCLC: 1568121011 1. Missions--South America. 2. South America--Description and travel. 3. South America--Church history. 4. Taylor, James M. (James Milburn), 18735. Evangelists--South America--Biography. I. Title.
BV2851. T394 2026eb Cover design by Amanda Kessinger
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First Fruits Press The Academic Open Press of Asbury Theological Seminary 204 N. Lexington Ave., Wilmore, KY 40390 859-858-2236 first.fruits@asburyseminary.edu asbury.to/firstfruits
f
I
JAMES
M. rrAYLOR
BY
JAMESM. TAYLOR, MissionaryEvangelist, Etlitorof tlae Missionary Reporter and aatlaor of more than thirty Books ud Booklets on various 1al,ject1.
Cloth,SOc; Paper, 25c
JAMES M. TAYLOR, Publisher, 807 Deery Street, KNOXVILLE, TENN.
TO THE
INTERDENOMINATIONAL MISSIONARY PRAYER LEAGUE whose prayers made this tour possible, and made it a success, this book is affectionately dedicated.
INTRODUCTION.
Our ''Tours'' are for Missionary Evangelistic purposes. ''Touriug South America With The Gospel'' was for this same purpose. We have lllade no attelllpt to give the reader a historic or literary work; our purpose has been single; nainely, a hope that we might, through these pages, give the re·ader some idea of the appalling needs and golden opportunities in South America. If this small book ''Touring South America With The Gospel'', is successful on its mission in securing a life for South America and the support of a few workers, the author will be glad he wrote while traveling as deck passenger at times, in cheap hotels and cold rooms on other occasions. The book was written with a prayer and purpose, it is published and sent out with the same prayer and purpose. JAMES MILBURN TAYLOR,
On board S.S. Vauban, July First,. Nineteen Hundred Fourteen.
FOREWORD. The Interdenominational Missionary work we have been doing for the last four years is three-fold in its scope and purpose. We mention the three in the order of what we deem their relative importance to the evangelization of the world. First, to scatter Missionary Information from the platform in missionary addresse·s, and by use of the printed page, which we are endeavoring to put out by the million in tracts, papers and books. We do this believing that if the Christian world could be intelligently informed concerning the needs of the unevangelized millions it would not be long until the light of the Gospel would penetrate every dark heathen nation on earth. Second, Missionary Evangelism. FroII1 Bishops, Superintendents and lone missionaries in all parts of the world we are continually receiving urgent, pleading calls to ''come over and help'' them. In these evangelistic se·rvices we see, as a rule, the various missions united. The missionaries often declare the greatest good accomplished is the help they receive in their own hearts. In
addition to this, howevert we have the privilege of seeing thousands accept the gospel for the first time, and the work being carefully followed up by the missionaries the final and permanent results cannot be- estimated in this life. Third, The Support of Missionaries and Native Workers. We have not given the matter of raising money for the support of workers the place of first importance. We are far more anxious to scatter missionary information. atever money comes in we use as requested by the donor, and directed by His Spirit, in the spread of the Gospel in foreign fields. In supporting workers, we always take those who are connected with som-echurch or mission now at work on the field, and with sufficient strength to conserve it. Should the reader become interested in any part of the work or needs mentioned in these pages, and desire more information concerning same, it will be furnished on application, with pleasure. We will be glad to send, free, a copy of our book, Interdenominational Missionary Work. Address the publisher.
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TOURING SOUTH AMERICA TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE Panama
Midnight, February First-Excommunication to the Fifth Generation-Roman Inconsistencies The Results. Page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O CHAPTER TWO C,olombia
Buenaventura. Page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 CHAPTER THREE Ecuador
Esmeraldas
-The Bull Fights.
Page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
CHAPTER FOUR Peru
Callaow --Lima, capital of Peru-Cuzco, capital.
the old Inca
Page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
CHAPTER FIVE Bolivia
The La Paz meeting. Page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
CHAPTER SIX Chile The meeting in Valparaiso---Needs of Valparaiso Southern Santiago meetings,-Concepcion-ln Chile ··The best schools-Los Andes. Pa.ge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
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9
CHAPTER SEVEN Argentine Buenos Aires-Campaign in Buenos Aires-Praying to the saints and images-Modes of oppositionCradle of Romanism. Page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 CHAPTER EIGHT Paraguay Incident from Paraguay. Page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 CHAPTER NINE Uruguay
Wearing images. Page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 CHAPTER TEN Brazil Page .........................................
100
CHAPTER ELEVEN The Guianas
Good liquor in the name of religion. Page ......................................... CHAPTER TWELVE Venezuela The fruit of tract work. Page .........................................
103
•
107
CHAPTER THIRTEEN Church Growth on the Mission Field.
Page ......................................... CHAPTER FOURTEEN Evangelism in South America Page ......................................... CHAPTER FIFTEEN The Accepted Hour Page ......................................... CHAPTER SIXTEEN Good-Bye
Page .........................................
111
116
119
122
10
TOURING SOUTH AMERICA CHAPTER ONE Panama.
This word generally carries to the minds of the American people thoughts of the city of Panama and the canal, rather than the Republic of Panama, which covers an area equal to that of the state of Maine, or nearly 32,380 square miles. The population of the Republic of Panama is 36,100, and like Colombia, Guateinala and Honduras, it reaches from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans. This little Republic is a country of great agricultural wealth and industrial possibilities. They are alre·ady exporting bananas, cocoa, tobacco, sugar, rubber, vegetable ivory, turtle shells, pearls and m-ahogany. Their possibilities are great, if they had railroads to connect the capital and other ports with their farming, gardening, and cattle raising territory. The only railroads at the present are those crossing the isthmus between Colon and Panama City, with a length of forty-eight miles, and a banana line running into the interior for twenty-nine miles. The contract has been let, however, for building a line 274
•
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11
miles up the coast connecting Panama City and David. This is to cost about five million dollars, and when completed will form a part of the contemplated Pan--American system, which will connect Panama City with New York by a main trunk line. The foreign comlllerce in 1909 exceeded ten million dollars. Panam·a bought frolll the United States products valued at about five lllillion, and sold of its exports to the United States, $1,265,000, making a total exchange of $6,265,000. Panama City, the capital of this little Republic, is of course nearing the hour when she will be the mistress of ports on the Pacific Ocean, both in North and South America. It has at present a population of little more than forty thousand, but is enjoying a rapid growth. Colon, the Atlantic entrance to the Canal, is a city of about twenty thousand; while Cristobal, its twin sister just across the line on American territory, swells the population to about thirty thousand. The possibilites for missionary work here on the Isthmus, particularly in the cities of Panama and Colon will undoubtedly be the greatest of any one place on the earth after the Canal has been opened. What a golden
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opportunity to scatter religious literature to the• ends of the earth by handing it out on vessels as they go through this public highway. Lovers of the Bible and salvation should see to it that godly men and women are stationed here to scatter tracts and preach Jesus to the passersby.
Midnight, February First. It is Sunday at midnight. The Government Theater has just closed and caITiages are passing by the dozen with the poor horses being whipped into a hard run up the paved streets. I preached three times today and the conviction by His Spirit was glorious; many sought the Lord, all of them: grown men and women. More than thirty promised to personally invite at least 25 each to the meet• 1ngs.
Ten minutes before the evening service, two bands gathered in opposite sections of the city and marched to the church singing. We could not give standing room for those who came. On my way home I passed 1nany places where public dances were going on, and every few doors the saloons were doing business as on a holiday. There is no Sunday here. This month a ''Bull Ring'' is to be
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opened where the old Spanish bull fights will be held. Last night two men were shot down on the street. The night before that a Roman Catholic priest was tried for killing a man in his own honie. The evidence showed he had seduced several girls, one being the niece of a wealthy man. This man aske·d the Reverend Father not to come to the house any Inore. It was shown in court that the priest had threatened more than once, in the presence of others, to kill him, and finally did, but was freed. I would suggest that the Bible is what the place needs. Pray that He will help us give its account of salvation. Excommunication
to the Fifth Generation.
Our meeting had gained considerable interest; a few hundred pe·ople had knelt in the altar seeking Jesus, when one day the train arrived with about a dozen ''monks.'' The reader lllay not know that the monk is an order of men in the Roman church, which is much the same in ranking as that of the nun. The monk spends all his time for the church. His work may call him to the garden to hoe, or in the homes of the people to visit, and if possible to undo the work
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of the Protestants. They are poorly dressed and we·ar sandals instead of shoes. During these meetings ref erred to, many Romanists seemed to be slipping away to the Prote·stants. The monks were brought to do ''much needed'' visiting, and visit they did. They had women and children help them, and the ''visiting'' began in earnest. Those who had been attending the Ille-etings or sending their children to the school of the missionaries, were all taken in tum. They made fun of us, lied on us, threatened us, argued with the natives, making them offers if they would give it all up; and then at last informed them that the pope was going to write all of them three letters which would be read in the various Roman churches and circulated. If, after these three letters, they did not cease attending the Protestant meetings, and did not take their children out of the Protestant schools, then the pope would curse them to the fifth ge·neration, excommunicate them for five generations-i. e., fix things up so it would be impossible for them, their children and grandchildren down to the fifth generation to escape hell and get to heaven. We were in this place a year before, and saw many saved who are now standing true; but we remembered one boy who at that time
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15
was very active. The priests labored with him and his father; they threatened and argued; then finally they began bidding. The father was out of work, so they gave him a position and put the boy in school. Now he shuns the missionaries on the streets. A great temptation could be removed both from the children and parents in these countries by providing scholarships at a small cost for the children. Then when a family or any m-ember of it begins to attend gospe·l meetings the cudgel of their children's education could not be drawn on them. The poor natives in the place ref erred to nee-d our prayers. The threat of one who claims to occupy the place of Jesus Christ is that he will see to it that they and their children down to the fifth generation, all go to hell unless they cease to hear the gospel preached and take the children out of the Protestant schools. Roman Inconsistencies.
It is often hard to decide which is the most important, the Roman church in her endeav .. or to secure 1noney and prestige,. or the favors shown by authorities of the United States government in orde·r to secure the political patronage of this organization. The average Protestant, and in fact, thousands
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of American Romanists, could scarcely accept as facts the unreasonable actions resorted to by this church. In conversation with the son of an expresident of one of the Latin-Am-erican Republics, he spoke of the various days in which they were required by the priest to abstain from meats. But the young man laughed and de·clared it was an easy matter to settle the meat question on the holy days when they were expected to abstain. '' All we need tQ do,'' he said, ''is to go to the priest with a small am-ount of money and he tells us we can eat anything we want." The tourists visiting Panama City will find at one e·nd of Central Plaza an imposing building which is the Bishop's palace. A large part of this palace is given over to the Panama Lottery for their head offices. The sign is stretched across the front of the building. It is no secret whatever, but is commonly reported that the church ref erred to received more than 25 per cent of the proceeds of this immense lottery business. In the cities of Panama and Colon, through a single square of the business sections one will pass from one to a half dozen venders selling lottery tickets. But the United States authorities here are just about as inconsistent, seemingly, as this
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church. As the canal is nearing completion it has been necessary to drop a great many of the employees. Among those it seemed best to dism·iss some of the chaplains employed by the United States during the building of the canal. According to the statement of those who ought to know, we learn that fully four-fifths of the people on the Canal Zone are Prote·stants. But while discontinuing the service of a number of chaplains, two Roman Catholic priests and one Episcopalian clergyman were retained. The Roman Catholics 0n the Isthmus will represent, as stated, about one-fifth of the population, yet there were two priests retained and only one Protestant. We are told that the Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians compose fully threefifths of the people, but these churches are not represented at all by a chaplain. There is certainly a cause for this inconsistency and the only one apparent is that the ninety per cent. of Protestants in the Unite·d States do not clamor as loudly for favors as the ten per cent. of Romanists. The Results.
The Campaign on the Isthmus of Panama was a most blessed victory in every respect. In the city of Panama the meetings were held in the new church we had helped them
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ERICA
to build since we were there one year before. The crowds were large, interest deep,. and hundre·ds sought the Lord. In order to have services in Colon we had to build a place for the meetings. Colon is the city at the Atlantic entrance of the Panama Canal. Cristobal is the Alllerican part of what is really the same city. Colon has a population of 18,000 or 20,000 people; Cristobal is just ''across the street'' and being a part of the same city, increases its population to perhaps 30,000. While laboring on the Isthmus of Panaina one year ago we became interested in Colon and found the Missionary Superintendent, with whom we were working, much burdened for Colon. He told us upon our return this winter, that the Panama Railroad Company had given him valuable lots for a church and parsonage. The lots are located on one of the principal corners of the city. They had been given on condition that a building be erected on them soon. A year has passed and they '\\ere wanting the lots or a church begun. We found the interest of the Superintendent greater than our own. To our amazement, we found that though it was a city as described, of perhaps 30,000 inhabitants, there was no work at all being done for the native Spanish people. We saw 1
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at once not only an opportunity to preach the Gospel in a church there, but to preach it to two churches or congregations, English and Spanish. The superintendent said: ''Bro. Taylor, you must not leave the Isthmus without holding a meeting in Colon, so we can start a work over there.'' But how could we when there was no building? After looking the field over we decided to put up the frame of a building and cover it in order to provide a she·d for the meeting. This we did and held the tneeting in it, without the sides or floor being put in. The expense was $366.31, including good secondhand seats. All that is necessary now to have a good mission building is to weatherboard it and put in a concrete floor. Material is very dea1", but the missionaries will do most of the ,vork. Six hundred dollars we believe will get t·he material to finish it. 1.~hiswill m~l'e the building cost about $1,000.00, not including tlie free labo1·. The revival has been held. The first ser-vice was on Saturday night, when we saw fifteen people kneel in the altar seeking Jesus under this shed. The interest continued; many professed to find their Christ.
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In order to help conserve the work of the meetings we felt led of the Lord to put two men and their wives, and one· Bible woman to work under the superintendent of this mission. We have also greatly desired to have the privilege of sending a young woman from Indiana, who is a Deaconess and a school teache·r. We will then be able to proceed with the churches and two schools, both being taught in English and Spanish, thus accommodating the West Indian and the native Panamanian children.
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CHAPTER TWO
Colombia. Colombia, like Venezuela, is in a backward state as touching education and evangelism. The missionary work is indeed a very limited one. So far as we have been able to learn, the Presbyterians are carrying on the only work in Colombia that amounts to ·much. We have learned of two independent missionaries from an organization in Kansas City, who are located in Cali, near the west coast. And Rev. William Cocking, representative of the American Bible Society, works in various parts of the republic as a colporteur. This is the only country of South America that extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The area of Colombia is equal to that of Texas, Kansas, Arkansas and Louisiana. The population is nearly four and one-half mfllion, and her foreign trade is valued at about twenty-six million dollars. The leading exports are coffee, cattle, hides, rubber, tobacco, ivory nuts and mineral products. It is believed by n1any that the recent gold discoveries will sooner or later make Colombia one, if not the first, gold producing country in South America.
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Bogota, the capital, is nine thousand feet above the sea level, and a most picturesque city. It has a population of 150,000 and is noted for its culture and refinement. In this great country, with her wonderful natural resources, there is less than 600 miles of railroad. Down through the Cauca Valley, from the Magdalena River to the Ecuadorian border, which is back from the Pacific coast a few days travel, there are cities ranging in population from ten to forty thousand. Very few of these have been touched by Protestant missionaries or even colporteurs of the Bible societies. Christian people should definitely pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth reapers to needy, neglected Colombia. Buenaventura.
This caption, translated into English, means ''Good Venture'' or ''Good Fortune''. Just why it has this name we cannot understand unless it has had a history not indicated by conditions. Buenaventura is the first call our steamer made after leaving Panama going down the coast of South America. It is only about forty-eight hours from Panama and is one of the principal Pacific ports in Colombia, being the
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port of entry for the great Cauca Valley in which are located several large citie·s. Buenaventura has a beautiful harbor, being on the ''Choco Bay'', which is generally called by the name of the town itself, ''Bay of Buenaventura''. The bay is eight miles long from the point of land, but for steamers to enter and leave, another eight miles must be added before deep water is reached. The harbor is really the mouth of Rio Dagua, the largest of eight or ten rivers which empty into it. Our little ship, the ''Manave''-the oldest on this coasL-1 ould only go within about a mile of the town. Here we discharged the cargo into large ''lighters.'' Buenaventura is really built on an island. They claim a population of 6,000, but we failed to see where they lived Most of the houses are covered with trash; dirty pools of water and other filth stand in the streets, and mosquitoes are plentiful. The natives are mostly bla~k, being descendants of slaves once owned by the Spaniards in the Cauca Valley. A government railroad runs back from this port, toward the valley referred to, which is said to be one of the most fertile on earth. I learned that they have been at work on this
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railroad for forty years and six months, and only have 47 1-2 miles completed sufficiently for the operation of trains. From the end of this road it is a day and a half by mule to the city of Cali, a flourishing place of about 30,000 people, right in the midst of this fertile valley. Palmyra, a city of 14,000, is only three hours on mule back from Cali. Popayan is three days by mule, or about sixty miles from Cali, and has a population of 25,000. Manizales is a city of 45,000, also located in this section of Colombia. After inquiring of the Roman Priests and Protestant traveling men, we were able to learn of only two Protestant misionaries working in all this vast region. They are located in Cali, representing a small independent organization. While in Buenaventura we called on the Roman priests. The one in charge was a fat, filthy man with a real animal look. We sold some copies of the New Testament and gave out a large number of tracts to the natives. Men, women and children ran after us begging for them. When we offered them the Testaments they would inquire, '' Are those prohibited books?'' Bro. Compton, our interpreter, answered by asking, ''How can they be prohibited books, being the words of Jesus?''
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The poverty is fearful. We saw two mothers, each nursing a pair of twins, and in both cases they were lying on the bare floor with only a very few rags about them. It was pitiful to hear their answers, when we handed them the tracts, asking, ''Can you read?'' The priest told us the morals of the people were very bad. He said there was a law that they must marry, but the people would not live by it. He did not, of course, tell us that he hilllself was not living by it, and would not marry others unless they paid him a large sum of money. Though the natural wealth of this country is fabulous, we find as the fruit of 400 years of Romanism, poverty, ignorance, impurity, no knowledge of God, and no Bible to read. They NEED the Bible and a Missionary.
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TOURING SOUTH AMERICA CHAPTER THREE
Ecuador. This South American Republic gets its name from its situation. And yet such a large proportion has a high elevation that it has a temperate as well as tropical climate. Ecuador has an area of possibly 116,000 square miles, which is equal to that of the states of Missouri and Arkansas. It has a long coast line on the Pacific ocean. The principal port of entry is Guayaquil, which furnishes one of the finest ports of the western coast. But for lack of sanitation it has been looked upon for ye·ars as a veritable graveyard. Plans are now on foot for its sanitation. In fact, the contract was let about the time of our first visit to Ecuador. Many people have very little faith in the undertaking, but it is quite possible it will be carried through on account of the fact that the United States Government proposes to quarantine the Canal Zone against Ecuador unless Guayaquil is cleaned up. It was very common to walk down the principal streets and find pools of water extending nearly across, and covered with a green scum. In other streets not so prominent we are sure it would be impossible, es-
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pecially during the rainy season, to drive a two-wheeled cart through. We saw dead animals lying in the streets, and there was seemingly no thought of ever removing them. There is very little being done in Guayaquil for the salvation of the people. In fact, Ecuador as a whole is at the present being largely left alone. A remarkable railroad has been recently completed which surmounted great physical difficulties, and now carries the weary traveler fro1n Guayaquil to Quito, the capital. On the journey the road rises to an elevation of 12,000 feet, then a time or two descends to eight or nine thousand, finally reaching the capital at an elevation of nearly ten thousand. Quito is a city of between eighty and a hundred thousand people, while the whole Republic of Ecuador has a population of a little more than 1,500,000. Ecuador's foreign trade is valued at about $22,000,000. About $6,000,000 of this amount is with the United States. The principal articles of export are cacao (in which she exceeds all other South American countries) ; ivory nuts, the famous ''jipi-japa'' hats, known commercially as Panamas, rubber, coffee, gold and hides. The population is largely Indian, this hav• ing been part of the old Inca Peruvian Empire before the conquest.
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ESMERALDAS. The Revolution
Just across the Ecuadorian border our first call was at Esmeraldas, but we were not able to go ashore or even receive or discharge cargo or mail. The revolution being led by General Concha had been on for II1ore than three months, and this was Concha's headquarters. His men were well intrenched all along the coast. An Ecuadorian man-of-war, a vessel presented to them by Chile, was anchored in the harbor to help the president, General Plaza, who had left the capital and gone out in person to conduct the war. Our vessel communicated with the warship and took aboard some wounded and sick to carry back to Guayaquil. General Plaza had gone a little further north to Limon with his army, intending to march south and take Esmeraldas, but we understood that several hundred soldiers with their guns and ammunition had gone over to the rebel leader, who had won every engagement that far. The war-cry of the Revolutionists seemed to be 'vengeance for Alfaro.' Of Alfaro's cruel death we will write elsewhere. The barbarous tribes in Central Africa one hundred years ago could not outdo it for bloody cruel-
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According to information given us, President Alfaro was beheaded at the order of General Plaza, the present pre·sident. The Spanish have a proverb, ''He that lives by the knife shall also die by the knife.'' This proverb is much like God's word which says, ''Whatsoe·ver a Illan soweth that shall he also reap." Because of this fearful truth we predict the downfall of the Plaza government. It may not come just now, but it is certain to come soon. The reader, who has never be·en in these countries to see for himself, cannot possibly draw even a mental picture of what one of these armies looks like. The soldiers awe, as a rule, niere boys, mostly ragged and barefooted. They go to war either because they are forced to go, or because of promises of all they can get when they ''sack a town,'' or promises of position when victory and peace are gained. We have just heard that the boys from the military school we·re taken by the president from the capital to Guayaquil on the promise that they were going for a picnic. Upon arriving at Guayaquil they were put on board a vessel, and when they asked what it meant, were told that they were off to the war. These are mere school boys. ty.
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The sad part about these revolutions is that, as a rule, there is very little moral principle being fought for on either side. It is simply the selfish ambition of certain men to get to the front. The Jesuit priests are known by all who have studied them, read their oaths and watched the countries under their baneful influence, to be the greatest instigators of war on earth. Add to this the fact of the awful ignorance prevailing where Romanism has kept education from the people for nearly four hundred years, and it is easy to see how they will fight on any pretense. The one who is vic-torious will not be able to find 1nen he can depend upon for his places of trust. The· lack of character, which can only be produced by the reading and influence of the word of God, is very much manifested in these countries. Their only hope is the grand Old Book. The Bull Fights.
Five men and one woman were the professional bull fighters who killed the six bulls on Sunday afternoon. This was done to the delight of several thousand people. Among them, fathers with their childre·n and mothers with little girls. All of them cheered loudly when a spike with a flag on it, or a
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sword was stuck into a bull to bring the blood and make hiin suffer. For the pleasure of the crowd, only one bull is let in the ring at a time. He comes with a small flag or colored paper nailed to his back by a spike driven right into the flesh. He is already angry, and when the door is thrown open he rushes in with his head in the air ready to fight for his liberty. The ''ring'' is about 150 feet in diameter. The seats e-xtend all the way around it, the first being 12 or 15 feet above the ground. About every 50 feet, heavy posts are put up and a strong wall is built about 15 inehes froin the main wall just high enough to reach a man's chin. Eight of these are placed at regular distances around the ring so the bull fighters can run behind thein for protection and the enraged animal cannot get at them with his head and horns. Perhaps the reader does not know that a bull, when making a charge, sees his object, then shuts his eyes, and makes his charge. When he enter.; the ring, the band is playing; thousands of people are cheering, and scattered about over the ring are the fighters. They are all guadily dressed in tights, and carrying large flags or cloaks, principally of red; these they wave
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in the air. Finally one will make a dash for the bull's head, stop within a few feet of him and wave the red cloak in a daring manner; dropping his head, the bull makes a desperate dash, closes his eyes and the fighter steps a f e·w inches to one side and allows the cloth to drop over his head. The animal will whirl and make another dash, but this trained fighter tantalizes him until the other five run up and attract his attention. The bugle sounds and one of the fighters rushes out with two sticks, two feet long, covered with colored paper or ribbons and a spike in one end. He must stick both of these spikes (one in e·ach hand) into the anilllal near the shoulders and must do it by reaching over the head while the bull is charging. At times he will sit on a chair and tantalize the animal until it charges on him. Just as he is about to plunge, the man springs to his feet and strikes the spikes into the flesh of this poor dumb brute. As he rushes off bellowing and writhing with pain, this champion ( ?) lifts his hat and bows with a smile to the cheering crowd of men, women and children. Of course the blood is running down the animal's sides, but the more blood, the more pleasure. Once in a while one of the fighters is picked up on the horns of the bull, but when he
Converts
f1~om Santiago
'
College
during
our Tou1~.
•
•
•
TOURING SOUTH AMERICA
38
is again on his feet another wild cheer is heard. The spike and flag act is repeated until six of them have been planted in the flesh of this suffering animal. The blood by this time is very conspicuous. At another sound of the bugle, the champion for that particular bull, steps out with his sword and throws his cap aside. He carries with his swQrd a small red cloth with which to fool the animal, for he must put the sword in to the hilt. It must enter the animal between his shoulders and run down 2 1-2 to 3 feet ro the heart. He must be in front of the bull's head when the stroke is made and the animal must be making a charge. When this instrument of death enters, the blood flies even from the mouth and nose of the bull, and if it does not pierce the heart and prove instant death, he charges about after them with the blood flying. By this time the crowd is almost hysterical ; the delight is past expression. Little girls from four to twelve years of age, clap their hands and cry with pleasure. When the animal falls, a team of horses is rushed in, hitched to him and sent out at a gallop. By that time the waiting crowd of well dressed people are crying and calling for another. While in South America we have visited places where the city government owns the public bull ring, and in it on holidays, they
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furnish the bulls and have a ''public'' or ''free bull fight.'' Everybody is admitted to the ring and any one who cares to do so, can tQrture and kill the bull. At these fights, it is not uncommon to see children, wo111en or men going into the air from the horns of the bull. A party converted in our meeting told us of a ''public bull fight''. They saw a drunke·n man rush into the ring. The bull gored him and when he fell from the horns of the animal, he was practically disemboweled, and in that condition he lifted his hat to the crowd while they cheered, and fell dead. Read the oath of a Jesuit priest and the Knights of Columbus, the only secret order in the Roman church. Then retnember that the book teaching ''Blessed are the merciful'' and containing the 13th chapter of I Corinthians has been kept away frolll this people for nearly 400 years and this love for cruelty and suffering can be understood. We have seen them when driving cattle to the slaughter, take a sharp knife and plunge it in the animal and then laugh as it gave expression to the suffering. Mercy and love are not in any way made a part of the religion of this people. Ninetynine out of every one hundred mentioned in these lines are members of the Roman Catholic church. They have had Romanisrn for over 300 years. They need now the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
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CHAPTER FOUR Callao, Peru.
Our journey from Guayaquil, Ecuador, required eight days. During this time our boat was constantly stopping at various ports in Peru, loading sugar and other articles. At four or five places we took on cattle until there were nearly five hundred head on the vessel. The cattle were brought out to the ship in big flat boats called ''lighters'', out of which they were lifted by the ship's derrick. Sometimes they put the ropes around the horns and pulled them up in that way. Whe·n they are once on the vessel the man in charge takes after them with a pole which has a sharp spike in the end. The treatme·nt of these poor dumb brutes is cruel in the extreme. The entire coast line of Peru from Ecuador down to Chile, is perfectly barren. We were told that it is common to build houses without a roof, except some trash thrown over to keep the sun out, for it seldom rains there. In fact, we saw nice houses in Callao and Lima built practically in the same way, for they had only cane or bamboo plastered over with mud. I was told by a missionary, who
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entertained us in a house of this kind, that they did have a shower once and the water came right through. In spite of the absence of rain, much of the territory back from the coast is tnade to produce by means of irrigation. Wherever a stream can be found, ditches are cut to carry it around the side of the mountain. They throw up the ground in terraces so it can be flooded with water and the land is thus made very productive. We arrived in Callao on Friday morning and went at once to the home of Rev. Archerd, superintendent of the Methodist Missionary work. We found they had made arrangements to entertain us during our stay in the city. After getting located, we went out to call on the native pastor, Rev. Adolfo Vasques. He asked us to take the service that night, as it was their regular prayer meeting. We did so with pleasure. The attendance at this prayer meeting was not as good as usual, but there were several more people at prayer meeting than they have members in the church. The Lord was pleased to add His blessings to the message and we saw seventeen people kneel in the altar when we invited them forward for prayer.
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Callao is the principal port of Peru, and is only about eight miles from the capital, Lima. The glory of Roman Catholicism here, like all coast towns and cities, is waning. All points exposed to the outside world lose much of their superstition as the light and intelligence breaks in upon them. I find the railroads have much the same effect. The only thing of interest to a tourist in Callao is the ruins of the old fort of St. Phillip, the last building where the flag of Spain floated on the main land of the new world. We continued the work in Callao for five nights, and on Sunday we preached to an English congregation at 10 :30 a. m. The interest in the Spanish services increased until the last; we never had less than 25 in the altar after the first night, and generally it was thirty or thirty-five. The meeting continued after we sailed, but the Methodist pastor had already received the names of more than forty who wanted to become members of his church before we left. The superintendent told us if we could continue the work for ten days or two weeks he felt certain a few hundred would be led to the Lord. Our time was limited and we were compelled to sail on Wednesday.
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TOURING SOUTH AMERICA Lima, Capital of Peru.
Lima was founded on June 6th, 1535, by Pizarro, the discoverer of the great Inca Empire. This being a great day with the Roman Catholics, called the ''day of the kings,'' Pizarro named his new capital ''Ciudad de Los Reyes'', or ''City of the Kings''. But the name was soon dropped by the natives, and during the first century after it was founded the name was changed to Lima. ''It stands in a wide flat valley, guarded by steep mountains to the north, on both banks of the broad stony bed of the Rimac, a large part of whose waters has been diverted for irrigation. ''Except where this river water has made cultivation possible, the plain is bare, being part of the coastal desert. The high range of hills already mentioned guards the city on the north and runs out to sea on the northwest. Lofty spurs of the Andes are visible, to the east, but for much of the year the clouds hang so low that the hills are hardly part of the landscape and the great peaks are seldom seen. ''As in most Spanish-American cities, the streets are narrow and straight, cutting one another at right angles. One is at first surprised to find the houses extremely low, many of one·-story and hardly any (save a few new
TOURING SOUTH AMERICA
39
residences on the outskirts) exceeding two stories, and to be told that they are built of bricks, or more commonly of cane and reeds plastered with mud. It is commonly said that in Lima a burglar needs nothing more than a bowl of water and a sponge to soften the plaster, and a knife to cut the canes. But the reason is apparent when one remembers that no place on the· West coast has suffered more from earthquakes.'' Lima is about eight miles from Callao, the port of entry, and can be reached by electric cars running every six minutes, and by steam cars every twenty minutes. They claim a population of 150,000 and in many respects it is a beautiful city. Like all Spanish cities in South America, it is laid out with many plazas-parks. We visited many places of interest to a Christian. The old Inquisition Hall still stands and is now being used for the Senate Chamber. In going through this horrible blood chamber, '\\?e saw the very door that swung there in the sixteenth century when the holy ( ?) priests were using the place as a court room in which to try ''heretics''. This door has a hole in it where the witnesses could stand on the outside and testify through it, for they did not have to go in to the trial in order to give testimony.
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Then there was the place where the ''heretic'' stood while being tried. In those days, just in front of the· accused one stood a very large image of Christ. After the evidence ,vas given and these holy ( ?) representatives of Jesus Christ had learned how much money the accuse·d would pay the holy ( ?) church to be forgiven, they then asked the image of Jesus whether or not the accused should be burned, in reply to which the image either nodded or shook its head. When the work of the Inquisition was stopped by the government they found an underground passage to the place from the Monasteries of the city, and under the floor there was an opening into this large image, so a priest could climb into it at the trials, and nod or shake the head to suit the purpose. From the Inquisition Hall we went down the street to the large Plaza in front of the Cathedral, where the condemned ''heretic'' ns chained to the stake and burned. The buildings surrounding the plaza on t,vo side~5 have balconies, or second story porches, where the wealthy society ladies would gather and witness the burning of the ''heretics.'' Facing this Plaza is the old church said t.o have been built by Pizarro at the time Lima "'as founded. Going through an iron gate ir1to a side room near one of the principal al\\
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41
tars we found a_ glass case with a skeleton in it. which they claim are the bones of Pizarro, the discoverer of Peru. Only a few days before we visited Lima, the authorities discovered the bones of 85 chi1dre11 in an old Catholic church, and only a few months before this the bones of 200 children were found in the old Santo Domingo church across the river in the· older p1trt of Lima. We went over to see this cht1rch and took a picture of it. To find the 1Junes of children and even of grown people, abc,ut Roman churches, Monasteries and Conents, is a very common thing. We reached La Paz, Bolivia, just a few days after the bones were discovered at the door of an old el111rchor convent, and saw the men digging \\·here the bones had been found. The only Christian work being conducted 1n Lima is by the Methodist church and the Evangelical Union of South America. The Methodists have a good school and two churches. The Evangelical Union has a school and one church. Since our work in Callao was ,vith 1,he Methodists, we held services in Lima with. the Evangelical Union. In our opinion the opportunities for real evangelistic work in Lima, like Callao, are limitless. \
1
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TOURINGSOUTH AMERICA Cuzco, the Old Inca Capital.
The journey from Arequipa to Cuzco requires two days on the fast train. The journey is broken in Juliaca, where we spend the night. The train does not run at night. Leaving Are·quipa at an elevation of about 8,000 feet, we arrive in Cuzco at an altitude of about 12,000 feet. This is, in all probability, the oldest city in the western Hemisphere. VariQus writers differ as to the age of this ancient Inca capital, but most all agree that it dates back at least 300 years before the Spanish conquest of 1532-40. While it is believed to have been 1,000 years old when discovered and conquered by Pizarro. While Cuzco is the oldest of any city in either of the Americas, it is no doubt the filthiest, for it is said by South ~ericans to be such. Of its sanitation we cannot speak. The morals of the place keep close pace with the sanitation. We doubt if there is a more destitute place in all of North or South America. Dr. Fenn, the missionary, is doing a good solid work in the place, bt1t there is little hope of success by any one under the present circumstance·s, for a very small per cent. of the people can 1~ead. Some of the conquerors who went in with Pizarro declared the Indian population of this
TOURING SOUTH AMERICA
43
old capital reached 200,000, while the suburbs would total another 200,0'.00. The tens of thousands who were slaughtered by the Spanish while the Roman priests urged them on can hardly be imagined. The old Peruvian Empire stretched over all the present republics of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and northern Chile. Cuzco was the capital. These are spoken of as the Inca Indians because of the name of the ruler. The king of the Empire was called the ''Inca''. But the great nation, with a population variously estimated at 10,000,000 to 40,000,000, was made up of various nations of Indians who were conquered from time to time by the Inca and his trained armies. Great royal roads extended out through the empire, all of them running into the capital city. The·se roads were not built for carriages, but for the footmen and the llama. In many places the ascent or descent of a steep mountain was by stone steps cut in the cliffs. The civilization of this people is a wonder to all who come in touch with it. In religion they were very earnest Sun worshippers. The land of the old Peruvian Empire has never been so scientifically tilled as they did it. Their system of irrigation is a wonder today. From lakes and rivers far up in the Andes they brought water to the desert districts near the
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coast. These aqueducts, at times 3x6 feet, were cut through solid stone on the ntountain sides; at times they tunneled t.he tnountains, and built the canals across rivers and mountain torrents. Some of these aqueducts remain today. Many mountains were terraced clear up to the snow line; each wall being built of stone. At the foot of the mountain they produced tropical vegetation; half way up the plant life changed, and near the top they grew what we have in our most northern climates. The ''Inca'' and all the ''Blood Royal'' which numbered many thousands, lived in real pagan Indian luxury and splendor. Gold ,vas common; silve·r they had in abundance. The royal family used gold vessels ; the throne of the Inca was pure gold. The temple of the sun was richly decorated with pure gold, its value amounting to millions of dollars. Strange to say, they had not in all their civilization discovered the iron and its use. Yet their art as stone masons is not equalled perhaps on earth. While in Cuzco we visited the ruins of old palaces, forts and the old temple of the Sun. The Santo Domingo church of the Ron1an Catholics is built on the ,valls and ruins of the old temple. We went through it and carefully examined the
TOURING SOUTH AMERICA
45
walls. The stones are all put together without mortar, and the joints are indeed perfe·ct. We had read that the joints could be covered by the edge of a knife blade. This we tried by taking the thin edge of our knife blade and putting it Qn the joints. One marvelous thing about the stone work is the fact that the stones are· not squared up. The face of the stone is dressed up, or generally left in an oval shape, a11d rather rough, except at the edge where the joint is to be made; but where the other stones join it is so smooth that the contact is perfect. We saw one stone with twelve corners, but the others fit right to it at every point. The old fort is one of the wonders to all who visit Cuzco. It is located on a high and steep spur of the mountain overlooking the city. The location is such that on one occasion the Indians held the fort after the city had been captured, and their slaughter of the Spaniards by hurling stones down on the city from the fort was tremendous. After a hard climb we finally reached the back of the fort, which is the front so far as the enemy would be concerned. It would be impossible to take it from the side next to the city as the mountain is so steep. On the other side it faces a level place of con-
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TOURING SOUTH AMERICA
siderable distance. Here we found the great Inca stone w·ork. The fort has three walls, each of them several hundred feet in length. The distance between the walls is perhaps 15 to 25 feet, each one rising above the other. The size of the stone used in these immense walls is almost unbelievable. Some of them we measured; one which was in a corner with two sides exposed, we found to be seven feet wide on one side and nine feet on the other, while it was more than twenty feet above the ground, and no doubt several feet beneath. Among others larger than these, one was more than fifteen feet square in the straight wall. These also are put up without mortar, and the joints are such as would do credit today to a stone mansion in one of our American cities. Just across the little level plain in front of the fort the bluff and cliffs began again, but each cliff or bluff had much carving and stone cutting on it. Two or three were cut into seats, one rising above the other, and these are called thrones. One place was in such a shape as to indicate a bath and it is called the ''Royal, or Inca Bath''. Across on another hill, or spur, of the mountain we found even more magnificent cuttings and carvings. In one place they had cut in under the cliff of stone, and back in the cave we found what they called the altar.
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To the writer the most wonderful part of it all is the quarry and its location. Leaving the old fort we descended the side of the hill to the little stream called the ''river''. Crossing the ravine we climbed perhaps 300 feet up the side of the next mountain and found an iminense pile of broken scrap stone, extending far along the side of the mountain, and perhaps fifty or one hundre·d feet high. Going still higher we reached a position to one side of the scrap stone where we could see the great excavation in the side of the· mountain and the immense quarry back of it. In the bottom of this excavation were stones of all sizes, partially prepared. Here history and reason seem to point out to the traveler the quarry from which the great stones of the fort were cut out. They must have been taken from the quarry, down the mountain side, across the ravine, up the ne·xt mountain and then placed in their respective positions. How did they cut the stones without the use of iron and steel? How did they convey them to the fort on the opposite hill ? How did they locate them after they were there? These are the questions naturally asked by all who see for themselves. The answer still remains, ''How?''
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TOURING SOUTH AMERICA CHAPTER FIVE Bolivia.
Bolivia is the fourth largest Republic of Latin America; in fact, Bolivians say it is the third largest. There could be placed in the area of Bolivia the combined are-as of the states of California, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. It covers 708,195 square miles, and lies mostly in the tropics. But the elevation of most of Bolivia gives it a temperate climate. No Latin-American country has made the progress during the last ten years in shaking off the superstitious and tyrannical rule of the Roman church that Bolivia has. La Paz, the capital,. is about 12,000 feet above sea level, but in approaching the city, the traveler reaches the top of a mountain on the train and the first sight of La Paz is from this elevation where the city is se·en lying i11 a valley below. It is reached by a trolley car from the top of the mountain, which winds down five hundred feet to the city. The foreign commerce of Bolivia is estimatetl at about $40,000,000. Its chief exports are rubber, silver, copper, bismuth, cacao, \Volfram (tungsten). La Paz is the highest seat of government in the western hemis-
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phere. It is approached from the western coast of South America either through Chile or Peru, since Bolivia has no coast line of its own. The population of Bolivia is estimated at about two and one-half million people.
The La Paz Meeting. We had not written any one in La Paz, Bolivia, that we were coming, but missionar-ies from other places we had visited had notified theni of our proposed visit. We· were met at the depot by Rev. Baker of the Baptist mission and Rev. Hartzel of the Methodist mission. Since we were not expecting to be met by any one, we had arranged with an American commercial traveler to help us to a hotel; but as we pushed out through the crowd on the platform, Brother Reid heard someone say in English, ''I would not know Taylor, for I never saw him·.'' I spoke loud enough to be heard, and asked in English, ''Who is it that doesn't know Taylor?'' The result of my question was that we met the missionaries who had come for us, passed by the hotel for our baggage and moved it to Bro. Hartzel's home, where we spent the time while in La Paz. The meetings in that city, like most of our work on the campaign, were of a union char-
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acter. We are thankful to say that in ltlany places in South America the missionaries have a far greater spirit of oneness than the same chttrches generally have in the United States. We have assisted in the Lord's Supper when we had Baptist, Presbyterian, l\1ethodist and Dutch Refor1n pastors officiating. This, of course, gives the natives a far greater co11fidence in what we preach. In La Paz the Methodist church has a large school for boys and a smaller one for girls. We had the privilege of working among the students and many of them attended the meetings every night. From this student body we saw seekers in the altar every night, and we believe that from the students saved in this meeting we will have some native preachers in the near future. Brother Baker, the superintendent of the Baptist work, is from Edmonton, Calgary, Canada. He has been in La Paz several years; he knows the Spanish language perfectly and proved a fine interpreter. The work was conducted in the· Methodist and Baptist churches, with some extra services held in the college. We saw the altar crowded the first night and from that hour the interest increased. A woman who had been attending the Protestant meetings for some time in the past,
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came to the altar one night, and when she met the Methodist missionary the next day she said, ''Well, Brother Hartzel, I am done selling beer in my store. I settled it last night in the altar." It would be hard to state how many were in the altar during the meeting; there were from 25 to 50 every night, but many of these ,vere forward two or more evenings. The only regret we had in connection with the work was the fact that we could not remain longer. The missionaries and teachers se·emed to be much helped in their own hearts and lives, many of them said the meetings had done them more good than it did the natives. Everywhere we go they tell us the same story about their own personal need of a new evangelist coming to them so they can get personal help in their own hearts. If we at home need camp meetings and revivals, what about tre missionaries on the field without any help from without. La Paz is the capital of Bolivia and the last ten ye·ars they have taken great steps along liberal lines. In these South American countries it is common for them to pass national laws and enforce them in the capital and other prominent cities, while in towns and cities back in the interior the new laws are possibly never heard of and the Roman Catholic
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element continue with everything to their own liking. This is true in Bolivia. In the last ten years liberal laws have been enacted, and La Paz being the capital, gets the full benefit of them. The power of the Roman priest has been wonderfully curtailed and his liberties, once gre·at, are also being taken from him, so that now it is very common to arrest a priest and put him in prison for stealing, or for raping some young girl. Their sins with young boys are also being watched and prosecuted. One order of priests in La Paz were looked upon as altogether unprofitable to the country because of their work, so one week before we reached the place they were ordered to leave the country on Sunday and their property was taken by the government. The Roman church being the state church of Bolivia, the property does not belong to the church, but to the government and when they decide it is not proving profitable to the country, they claim the right to take the property away from the church and use it for other purposes. One thing encouraging about the future outlook for Bolivia is the open position taken by the daily papers of the country. While we were in the place there was hardly a day
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but what one of the papers would come out with the facts about some priest stealing money, or the common story of the priest and the woman. They published cases of priests outraging the wives of other men, and raping little girls only 12 or 14 years of age. One case was published of a priest who is now in prison for concealing a girl he had outraged and kept her hid from her mother. He even went to pray with the mother and gave her sympathy over the loss of her daughter while he had the girl in his own home. Opportunities in Bolivia are not wanting; there is only one problem and that is, what about workers to take advantage of them?
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TOURING SOUTH AMERICA CHAPTER SIX Chile.
This most southern country of South America on the Pacific coast is remarkable in its location and extent, as can be better appreciated by a little comparison. The length of Chile from Peru to the Straits would extend the full length of California, Washington, Oregon, British Colombia, and into the heart of Alaska. Except Egypt there is not a country in the world so strangely formed. Egypt is 700 miles long and except in one place, is nowhere more than twelve miles wide; Chile is nearly three thousand miles long, and nowhere more than 130 miles wide, and for the most part, much narrower. Much of Chilean territory is a barren desert. Yet this is one of the most noted countries in South America. Revolutions are rarely known. They have a well trained army, using German tactics and instructors. Her navy is not to be laughed at. The area covered by this republic is about 300,000 square miles. The population is nearly four million. Chile's foreign trade is estimated at about $204,000,000. The principal exports are sulphur, copper, nitrates, borax, silver and other minerals.
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Santiago, the capital, with her suburbs, has a population of about 500,000. Valparaiso is the main port of entry and with her suburbs becomes the second city of the republic with a population of about 200,000. To the credit of Chile it should be stated that bull fights have been stopped in this progressive republic of South America. The missionary societies of the Presbyterian and Methodist Episcopal churches are doing quite an extensive educational work, which seems to be highly appreciated and patronized by the best families. That part of school work conducted among the better classes is entirely self-supporting, the only difficulty being the question of securing proper American teachers for the schools. In our four days' work in the capital ,ve had the privilege of seeing several young women from the Santiago College beautifully saved. These represented some of the leading families of the country. If this college could be equipped with sane, well saved, \Veil trained teachers, it would prove one of the greatest instruments in the republic for the evangelization of the people. The women of the country are the only ones being held by the Roman church. Hence, the work among the girls in the religious schools proves an inroad to the best women of the country.
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The Meeting in Valparaiso. It was Monday morning when our vessel dropped anchor in the bay at Valparaiso, Chile. Our friend, Mr. Wilson, a Scotchman, returning to his home from Bolivia, very kindly secured a boatman for us and went ashore to help us in passing customs. While we were in the custom house having our baggage examined, the Methodist missionary came and searched us out from the crowd. After the customary examination, Bro. Elphick, the missionary, soon had our trunks piled on the back of an old horse and in a two wheeled cart ready for our respective homes. We were informed that the meetings had been announced to begin that Monday night and were to be of a union character between the Presbyterians and Methodists. The Salvation Army also joined with us later on. Brother Reid was to be entertained in the home of the superintendent of the Presbyterian work of the district. When he came for Bro. Reid he and the writer found we were from the same town and had been educated in the same school. .My work with Brother Elmore was the niost pleasant and we enjoyed our conversations about boyhood days. The first service was held in the Presbyterian church. The congregation was large,
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conviction rested on the people, and when we made the altar call more than twenty-five came at once to the front for prayer and instruction. The service on Tuesday night was in the large Methodist church, which was at one time the most prosperous and having the largest 1nembership of any on the west coast, if not in all South Alllerica. But a few years ago the teaching of ''tongues'' broke out, and the result was the church was ruined, and over three hundred members left. Many of the very best people left, and of those who remained some are far from spiritual, while others are so fearful that further fanaticism will break out among them that it was rather difficult in the beginning, to get the members to take any stand and make any move. The Lord was pleased to help me in preaching His word the first service and we saw perhaps forty or 1nore kneel in the altar seeking Jesus. The Spirit's presence was very manifest; the penitents wept and prayed, while real victory seemed to come to every waiting heart. The meetings continued to gain interest and power at each service. On Thursday night we saw more than fifty in the altar seeking God; and the last night, which was Friday, we had between 75 and 100 seekers.
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During the meeting I had the privilege of speaking in the schools of the Presbyterian church. One night a father came to us at the close of the service and said: ''My little boy heard you speak in the school today and told me that when you asked all who wanted to be saved and follow Jesus to take their stand, he did so." The man was so delighted he could hardly contain his joy. The interest and power increased from the first service until the last and closing hour. We closed with them begging for the work to be co11tinued. Judging from what we saw during the five nights, right in the middle of the week, without even one Sunday, we believe that two or three weeks spent in that city under the blessings of the Spirit would result in a few thousand people seeking God. It really looks like a crime to see the churches at home just as good as throw away money, when it would accomplish wondrous things down here for God and souls. Needs of Valparaiso.
This is the principal port of Chile and is a city of 200,000 people, if the suburbs are included. The principal forces at work there for the spreading of the Gospel are the Methodists and Presbyterians, and their efforts are not at all i11 keepi11g with the needs
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of the place. When the Protestant church members and those who attend the services are all included we were told by the missionaries who labor there, that not 5,000 people are touched or influenced by Gospel work. In fact, to use their own figure there are not one-half that number. It is easy to reach them, for they are not at all a fanatical people. In fact, the Roman fanaticism so common in the past and even found at the present in the interior is seldom manifest in the coast towns and cities of South or Central America. If Valparaiso was as well supplied with churches as cities of it.s size in the States it would have about 100, but if it only had ten, the condition would be far brighter than at present. The Methodist Episcopal church owns one building, and I believe the Presbyterians are one ahead of the Methodists. More missions and missionaries are badly needed in this city, but in our opinion one of the greatest needs at present is twelve or fifteen mission day schools, where the children can be gathered together for education, and it made a Christian education. The Presbyterians are trying this on a small scale and find it a very profitable way of reaching, not only the children, but their parents. Many of these· schools could be
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taught by natives and superintended by some well educated person from home. All these school rooms could be used on Sundays for Sunday School and other religious ser• vices. The greatest obstacle in the way of such work in Valparaiso, as well as other parts, is not only the lack of money to finance the schools, but the teachers. Here is a golden opportunity for some godly young woman and especially for young married people who are teachers and want to help bring the world to Jesus Christ. In this great city of Valparaiso we found the mass of people seemingly hungry for God. Our congregation grew from the first service, and the numbers at the altar increased during the four nights from twenty-five on Monday night to seventy-five or a hundred on Friday night, the last service. The needs in this city are not peculiar to themselves, for the whole country of Chile, and in fact,. the other countries off er the same needs and possibilities. It would be a pleasure to correspond with any who are interested in going to Valparaiso.
Santiago Meeting. Santiago is the capital of Chile. It is a beautiful city and with its suburbs has a population of about 500,000. To reach it from the
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coast, the government railroad runs up from Valparaiso, crossing one range of mountains or foothills, to the capital nestled up at the foot of the snow-clad Andes, in a beautiful valley between these foothills and the real Andean range. The buildings are not high for they have to build for earthquakes, which occur very frequently. We reached Santiago late in the afternoon on Saturday, and were 111etat the depot by Rev. Teeter, the Methodist Superintendent of the Santiago District; Prof. Shelley, the head of the Santiago College for Young Women; and Mr. Schilling,_ who has charge of the Methodist publishing plant of the city. Upon arriving at the home of Bro. Teeter we found Dr. Browning, Superintendent of the Boys College, waiting for us. They inf armed us that upon learning, through others, of our visit to the city, a committee had been appointed by the Methodists and Presbyterians to arrange a program for union meetings. This program provided for four sermons the next day, Sunday. We had worked hard every night since landing in Chile, so we decided to retire early and look to the Lord for a good night of rest. Sunday, our first day in the city, was a full one. At nine a. m. we preached to the
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young women of Santiago College.
Several expressed their desire to be saved f roill sin. The Union Church of Santiago is a Presbyterian church for English-speaking people, and here we were· to preach serlilon number two at 10 :30. His presence was manifested, and the service seemed to be a profitable one. In our sermons to Americans and Europeans in these countries, we always tried to impress them with the fact that God has them there for a purpose and that is to lead these people to Jesus. We had the privilege at four p. Ill. of lecturing to men only in one of the Presbyterian churches for Spanish-speaking people. Rev. Mr. Boomer, a missionary of the Presbyterian church, acted as interpreter. We spoke to these men on social purity and kindred subjects. The Lord was pleased to bless the message and we saw an altar full of men seeking God at the close of the talk. The fourth sermon of the day was in the First Me·thodist church at eight o'clock. We had a good congregation present. Brother Standen, a promising young Methodist missionary interpreted for us. and did his work well. The question of what kind of an interpreter one has is almost as important as the kind of a preache·r you have. The interpreter can help or hinder the preacher. The power
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of the Holy Ghost was present and conviction rested on the people. When we made the altar call, we saw about seventy-five come quickly and gladly to give their hearts to God. The worl< continued from Sunday for three more 1. ights with increasing interest at each service. There were many advantages in changing the services each night to a different church, which put tts in different parts of the city, but on the other hand it had its disadvantages, in that we had a new and strange congregation each time and were not able to bui]d around us one night a band of prayer and faith for the next night. However, we were gladdened to see altars filled with men and women seeki-ng God at each place and best of all was the worl{ among the members of the different churches, and the blessed reviving to which the missionaries themselves testified.
In Southern Chile. It is not always easy to decide just how to divide four or five days when the missionaries at several places are begging, writing and wiring for even one service. From the time we arrived in Chile we were urged to go down to Temuco, in Southern Chile, for a few services. To reach Temuco we must
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travel a few hundred miles on the train from the capital, Santiago, and return there in order to get across the Andes to Argentine. It did not look like the wise thing to do, especially when we found it would only be possible to spent two nights in the place. After much prayer, and consulting with the missionaries, we decided to go, and wired them to that effect. We allotted them Thursday and Friday nights. Just a day or so before we were ready to go, we found that instead of taking us all day on the train we must travel all night and until two o'clock the next afternoon in order to reach the place. ''What shall we do?'' I asked all the missionaries, and every one answered, ''you must go; it will not do to leave Ten1uco out. You can have a good revival in one night,'' they declared. Since go we must, go we did, and when we arrived, after spending twenty hours on the train, it was raining hard, and oh, how muddy it was. Bro. Valenzuela, the pastor, piled us into a cab and we were soon on the way. Suddenly he stopped the driver, after having driven several blocks, and turning to us said, ''Now, Bro. Taylor, the Episcopalians have a school here with nearly two hundred scholars, and the man in charge is holding the pupils for your train to get in so you can
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preach to them; we will just stop now for this service and then go to your rooms.'' It was 2 p. m. and we had not had breakfast; we had been on the train for twenty hours, but what of that? We are· missionaries and they are supposed to be ''minute men''. I turned to the presiding elder,. who was my companion on the trip, and he smiled as he said, ''Well, I guess we can wait for breakfast until supper time.'' Missionary Presiding Elders often have to rough it like others. I worked with one in Bolivia who said when he met me at the train, ''I have not announced the meeting so very well, for I have just returned from a two hundred :mile trip down in the interior, where I opened up a new mission station.'' I inquired how he had traveled on that trip. ''Oh,'' he replied, ''on foot, of course; I often take such trips and enjoy them.'' We were soon in the building, which is a large one, for they have a boarding school. The professor in charge informed me the scholars were all ready in the gymnasium. __en we walked in we found nearly two hundred -standing and there they stood for the sermon. (All who have heard me preach can bear witness that they were tired before I got through).
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We asked the professor if the children were Catholics, and along what line we should preach. ''Yes, there are about fifty Roman Catholics here, but they know we teach the Bible and you can feel free to preach just what God gives you,'' and we did. Many asked to be prayed for. After this service we drove on to the parsonage where we found a good warm breakfast waiting for us at 4 p. m. We then spent sometime looking over the mission property consulting as to various improvements which were needed. We crawled under one house and helped them decide where to fill in and how to put up some gutters on the church to keep the water out. The evening service began at 8 p. m. When we walked in we found the church well filled. In the simplest manner we knew how we preached to them salvation through Jesus Christ. When we made the altar call we did not insist, we did not even sing; but sixty people walked out and down the aisles, knelt at the altar, wept and prayed God to forgive their sins. Nearly all were men and women, in fact,. most of them were men. Thus closed a one day revival. Was it worth while? Did it pay?
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Concepcion,Chile. After our day in Temuco we had to leave early the next morning for Concepcion, which is the third largest city in the republic, with a population of 75,000. In order that we might make certain of a good interpreter, we took the pastor from Temuco with us up to Concepcion. This journey required another whole day on the train, for we did not arrive until night. ,vhen we reached the city, Brothe·rs Arms and Campbell, presidents of the Girls' College and Boys' College,.and Brother Venegas, the District Superintendent of the district, were at the depot to meet us. We had already heard from them by wire, regarding entertainment, and had wired back that we preferred to spend Saturday night in the Boys' College and Sunday night in the College for young ladies. We were soon hurried off to our home for the night, but there was very little rest as a service was announced for that night. True, it was Saturday night, and the final telegram telling them we would be there, had been delayed and did not reach them until Saturday morning; but what of that? The gymnasium of the Girls' College had been converted into an auditorium as it was the largest place we
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could have; and when the hour for services arrived, we had a large and attentive congregation. The number expressing a desire to be saved was also large. Sunday was the only day we could re·main in Concepcion, so we felt we should make it a full day. After preaching in English at 10 :30 a. m. we had a fine after-service in which many sought the Lord. The Sunday school was in another building at 1 :30 p. m. We ate a few bites and rushed over there for a service at 2 :00 p. m. Here we saw a wonderful time; forty or fifty people wept and prayed their way to God. We never saw · more shouting and general rejoicing than at this service. Nearly all present asked the- privilege of making public confessions, and then we never saw more people in one service go to each other to confess and ask forgiveness. We closed this service at 5 :30 and rushed on to the Girls' College where we spoke to the young women of the school at 6 :00 p. m. Here we also saw a goodly number seek the Lord. We lay down for a short rest before the final evening service at 8 :00 o'clock. At this service the chapel was packed. At the altar call we saw the space around the altar crowded with seekers, who were nearly all men and women. Those pres-
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ent frolll the afternoon service were still re·j oicing in the Lord. My interpreter, who is one of the pastors, said, ''Oh, this is just what we need all over the conference, so all the churches will get right and then lead people to God." Monday morning we bade a hurried goodbye and took an early train back to Santiago. We spent fourteen and one-half hours on this train, the journey leading close to the foot of snow-capped mountains all the way. We a1·e not able to state how many towns and cities we passed with a population of from 5,oo.oto 30,000 people,. with no missionary work being carried on in them. We often wonder whether the Lord of the harvest is pleased with the way we have our gifts and efforts divided up. Here are thousands of people who can be easily reached, and led to a decision for Christ if the effort is put forth. In fact there were many places we did not dare go for services, because the people would have stepped out for God, and there was no one to leave in charge as pastor. Those who have had experience on the field, know that it is better not to lead them to a decision for Christ until they can be cared for, as the Roman prie·st is certain to get after them. Very few can read the Bible for themselves, so that if they stand for God,
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they must have pastoral care. Their cry is: ''I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no m-an that would know Ille; refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.'' (Psa. 142. 4.)
The Best Schools. I have rarely ever been accused of copying after other people, because I am not as a rule sufficiently ''up-to-date'' to fall in line with others. I judge my opinion about the school work needed in South America is also of this character. I will, however, ask the readers' patience while I give my ideas and reasons. Their colleges are good, and can be made a wonderful blessing to the country, but in my opinion the great need of these countries is small schools taught by Christian teachers, where the poor and common children can be gathered in and taught to read and write. They are willing to pay a small amount to attend such schools, which in many eases, makes them like the colleges, self-supporting. But the schools we have found of this character do not, as a rule, teach salvation to any marked degree. Should they do so many of the children would be frightened, or taken away by their parents. We have felt that a large number of such schools could be run with thousands of children, by making the
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tuition free, but with the strict understanding that all the children attend Sunday school in the same building each Sunday. Then let the schools be opened by reading the Bible and prayer each day, and have in addition to a regular lesson in the Bible, a certain hour when each school is visited by a regular visiting Inissionary to labor definite-ly for the salvation of the children. We are acquainted with one city where schools are being conducted in this way, minus the opening prayer, the definite salvation work, and the compulsory Sunday school for the children. The main trouble with the Protestant schools has too of ten been the fact that they have not had financial help fi:om home and have therefore been compe-Iled to make their own way. Here is a wonderful opening for both men and women who can teach, and want to do missionary work. Here is also a wonde·rful opening for some of God's saints to invest His money in the support of such teachers. The fruit of this work in a few years would no doubt be sixty or a hundred fold. One of the greatest openings we know of for workers is that of Christian teachers in these countries. We know of one school where they have so many scholars they are compelled to employ fifteen Roman Catholic
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teachers, although the school is a Christian school and laboring for the salvation of the student body. The salary for teachers is no question at all, for the school is entirely selfsupporting. They are begging for teachers but cannot find any who will go. Los Andes.
The first word in the above subject is the plural for the article ''the''. It really means ''The Andes'', and is the name given to a city just at the foot of the Andes on the Chilean side. It is from this small Chilean city oi 10,000 inhabitants that the famous ''TransAndean'' railroad starts across the moun-
tains. Los Andes is more than one hundred miles from the Pacific coast at Valparaiso, and about the same mileage from the capital city of Santiago. 'fhis distance is covered by a broad, or standard gauge road, and the narrow gauge road of the Trans-Andean Company begins at this point. The trains leave Los Andes at 7 :30 a. m. In the summer, which is the winter months in North America, they run three trains each week, but in the winter months of May, June, July and August, they only run trains two times a week, and these are frequently snow bound until traffic is cut out for even
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two months. In fact, the writer crossed over the last of May and by the first of June they had two trains tied up by the snow, and traffic was suspended indefinitely. The traveler who crosses during the months mentioned must carry along food for such an emergency. We were warned by friends to this effect and through their kindness were supplied with food for the journey. Finding we must leave Santiago on Tuesday and spend the night in Los Andes, we made arrangements to preach in the city Tuesday night. We took an interpreter with us from Valparaiso, and we·re accompanied by the superintendent of the Methodist missions, who went that far to be in the service and give us a final farewell from the Pacific coast. The hall was not a large one, and as the purpose of the service was to preach the goipel the opera house could not be secured by the native worker from a near-by city, who had lllade the arrangements. Such refusals are never known near the coast, but the farther back into the interior the greater the Roman superstition. When we reached the little hall we found it packed like sardines in a box. The attention could not have been better. The singing was
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beautiful. The congregation was made up for the most part of poor people. The writer had real pleasure in preaching the Word of God to them, and when the altar was presented we saw it filled with men and women seeking God. As we strolled back to our hotel, the District Superintendent said, ''Brother Taylor, if you could remain here for ten days and had a large tent where the people could be accommodated, we could see at least one thousand people converted to God.'' We felt after the experience we have had in these parts of the world that his words were sane and very reasonable. He then said, ''But what would we do with the one thousand converts; we haven't any one to take care of them; our workers are so few?'' We knew he was again speaking the truth; and our mind went to the various towns in the States less than one-half the size of this place, and not half that number of professing Christians in the place, but eight or ten, yes even more than that number of pastors in addition to local workers. Truly these fields are white unto the harvest, but who will go? Who will send?
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CHAPTER SEVEN Argentine.
The Argentine Republic is larger than all of the United States lying east of the Mississippi river. In other words it is more than one-third the size of the United States, and has a population a little larger than that of the state of Illinois. It extends over 2,500 miles south from the Tropic of Capricorn, running almost to the Antarctic Circle. The population of Argentine is rapidly increasing. In fact, according to statistics, the immigrants from other countries total nearly seven hundred per day for the entire year. This republic has much of the finest farming land on earth, and is already one of the great wheat growing and cattle raising sections of the world. These South ~erican countries, however, are very unlike the United States. The population is nearly all in a few large cities and towns. The capital, Buenos Aires, is the largest city on earth south of the Equator, and is one of the great cities of the world, having a population of ne·arly 1,500,000 and growing at a tremendous rate. One-fifth of the people in the entire republic are in the capital. It is
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said to be growing faster than any large city in the United States, except New York and Chicago. In Buenos Aires they have one of the most complete newspaper plants of the Western Hemisphere. The great avenues, parks and public buildings, miles of docks, etc., will compare favorably with any city in the world. It is larger than Boston, Baltimore and Denver combined, and yet this mass of humanity only has ten Protestant churches where the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached. Mr. Speer says: ''In this city the size of Philadelphia, there are only forty Roman Catholic churches, and ten Protestant churches for both Spanish and English services. In Philadelphia I believe there are ninety Roman Catholic churches and 690 Protestant churches.'' The people in Argentine are not ''hard to reach.'' They want God. They are hungry for salvation. At the close of a simple sermon on freedom from sin we have given an invitation and without urging, we have seen from fifty to seventy-five people come at once to the altar expressing a desire to surrender to God and be saved. We have preached in other cities in Argentine where they have a population from one to two hundred thousand. And there are still others with a .
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population of twenty-five to seventy-five thousand without any religious work being done. Such cities are to be· found on railroads and n1any are railroad centers, for this republic has over 18,000 miles of railroads. We held meetings in two Spanish churches where they are not only se·lf-supporting, but giving largely for missionary purposes. A great work in Argentine is possible if only men and money can be found to start it.
Buenos Aires. This Spanish name of the capital of the Republic of Argentine means ''Good Air.'' It ranks in beauty among the first of the world. Buenos Aires, with its population of nearly one and one-half million, is the largest city in South America, and one of the largest south of the Equator. It has all the rush and dash of Chicago and New York. We are told they have· inore automobiles there than in New York City. Many of the principal streets and avenues are narrow, which impedes the progress of traffic, so that we have seen street cars and autos backed up for a whole· square waiting to cross another street that was congested. They are now at work widening the streets, which will of necessity be a long drawn out process and cost many millions of dollars.
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They have passed a law that all new buildings erected on a designated side of the street must be set back a prescribed distance, which is, as a rule, twenty to forty feet. The city pays the owner for the space thus lost,. and in this way the streets are beginning to widen out. The wickedness of this great Southern Metropolis is the most flagrant we have ever seen. It is indeed a city without God, burning in lust, and drowned in liquor. Christian wome·n coming here should appreciate, as never before, the· blessings Christianity brought to womanhood, for here woman is at a great disadvantage. The manifest lack of respect for her is seen on every side. On the street it is the rarest thing for a woman to pass without the majority of the men looking right in her face, perhaps say some impudent thing; notice her form, make remarks about it to each other, and that without any effort to keep her from hearing. In all our travels we have never seen any place that furnished the lustful, licentious art we found in this city. At the door of the post card stores and in the show window of the art stores, the most conspicuous thing is tne hundreds of pictures of nude women of the vilest character the reader can imagine. The statuary is of the same kind. Theaters
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are everywhere, and judging by the pictures about the doors of these institutions of the devil, they are also among the greatest agencies of lust and uncleanness. The theaters run until znidnight. It seems there are more people on the streets at ten and eleven p. m. than any hour of the twenty-four. In this great, wicked, sinful and sinning city we are told there are twenty churches trying to give them the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have passed by large show windows and seen them filled with pictures of nude women and infidel books. The enemy of God and souls seems to have the place, and be on the watch to see that nothing is done to defeat his supreme reign in the future. Philadelphia, with six hundred churches, is about the same size as this city, which has twenty churches. Surely the church of Jesus Christ should arise, dare and do. , One easy and quite possible thing for Buenos Aires would be to give out 250-,000 good tracts every two weeks. The missionaries and earnest Christians are anxious to do it. We have a plan for this which makes it possible and easy. Some of our readers have seen our little booklet, entitled ''Pictures on the Wall'', showing the evils of nude pictures and nude dress. We would like
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those who know the booklet to pray with us that we may be able to put it in Spanish and place 100,000 copies in Buenos Aires. All God lacks in being able to reach this city is some consecrated men and women whom He can use there and at home. Campaign in Buenos Aires.
Though the missionaries in Buenos Aires were expecting us, they were not looking for us the day we arrived. The country through Argentine from the mountains down to the coast was flooded by heavy rains. We reached Buenos Aires by going over the Andean Railroad, which crosses the continent from the Pacific at Valparaiso to the Atlantic at Buenos Aires; or, to be exact, Buenos Aires is on the River Plata, which empties into the Atlantic. This famous railroad runs over the Andes, climbing nearly to the top and then is tunneled to the other side. The route carried us the second day through the flooded district. At time·s we pulled right through the water which was over the roadbed. Much time was lost and we arrived three hours late, which put us into Buenos Aires late at night, and no one to meet us. It was soon noised about the next morning that we were in the city, and Bishop Stuntz,
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two District Superintendents, a pastor and the Y. M. C. A. Secretary called to bid us welcoine and make plans for the campaign in the city. It has been a real delight to meet these men of God and labor with them. We found then1 all to be humble servants of Jesus Christ and in every respect real brethren in the gospel. Instead of finding Bishop Homer C. Stuntz sitting up on a pedestal, as we perhaps too of ten expect, we found him a re3l missionary, working at his job. He preaches nearly every night, visiting the little missions conducted in small rented halls. Wc also found his wife to be a very godly and mo~t superior woman. Plans were finally made,. and it was decided that we should begin the work in the Second Methodist church, which is the first church so far as the Spanish work is concerned, the First church being for English speaking peopl~. \Ve preached in the latter at 5 :30 p. m. in English, then each night in the other church we spoke to the Spanish congregation. The victories on the Pacific coast had been blessed. We had just closed out in Chile, where hundreds of people sought God, and we were pra~ying with all our hearts that the tide might not fall, but that we might see the same victo1·ies on the Atlantic coast.
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Ou1·firs·t ~ervice was on Sunday morning. 1'11epastor thought we would do well if we had seventy-five people present at that first service, which had not been well announced; but instead at its close, we saw nearly that number in the altar seeking God. The interest increased from that first service, and while of course many came back to the altar more than once and perhaps some did not get right with God at all, yet we saw more than 350 come to the altar as definite seekers during the four days we were in the church. The District Superintendent, Rev. Schilling, was our interpreter. This brother will weigh about 240 pounds, and is every ounce a missionary. He wept and praised God as the people flocked to the altar, and as his church came to receive the Holy Ghost. The last night will not be forgotten; it seemed like we were just ready to begin the meeting when it was necessary to close. The last of our services was in the First church where we preached in English at 5 :30 p. m. We spoke from Acts 1 :8, and He of whom we spoke was manifestly present. At the close of the service Bishop and Mrs. Stuntz invited us to go with them to a Dairy Lunch room for supper together before he went out to a little mission for service.
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Our group consisted of Bishop and l\frs. Stuntz, the dean of the Theological School, one District Superintendent, Brother Reid and the writer. After a nice plain lunch of bread, butter and eggs, the Bishop said, ''Now, we will soon be separating, and we are all here together in one side of the room, let's have a season of prayer.'' He then led in an earnest prayer, and we all felt the presence of the Spirit. We felt we had been alone with Jesus, even if there were many other people in the room serving and being served while we prayed.
PRAYING TO THE SAINTS AND IMAGES. An Experience Related by a South American Missionary.
''In the year 1897 it was my privilege to visit, on his deathbed, a inan named Jose Pittaluga, who was suffering from dropsy and nearing his end very speedily. I had visited him on several occasions, reading God's Word to him and praying for his consolation. ''On this particular day I had almost finished my visit when his daughter, Cecil·ia, came in. Entering into conversation with her by her father's bedside, I found that she had just returned from one of very many visits
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made to the shrine of 'Virgiu of Lujan.' As we talked I listened to the account of her many sufferings and her struggle for relief through the means of these pilgrimages. I t.hen asked her: 'Will you tell me please, after your lengthy walk to the shrine at Lujan in all sorts of weather, have you ever left it with a feeling of ease and consolation?' She replied, 'No sir, but I have been taught b,y the priests both here and in Lujan, that there is great virtue in that shrine- and in that Virgin. So with continued energy I have kept on taking this long walk by the side of the railroad track, league after league, seeking relief from my mental sufferings, and for healing for my sick father.' ''In making this trip she had in a period of four years, tramped near six thousand miles, over very bad roads. She recognized the fact that never during that lapse of time had she experienced that deep feeling of ease and satisfaction her heart longed for. Our conversation immediately turned to that great source from which every man and woman may find comfort and salvation. Af... ter frequent visitations, with prayer and counsel, both she and her afflicted father were led to the Savior's feet and rejoiced in Him as their personal Savior.''
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Modes of Opposition.
Many are the arts employed by the socalled faithful of the Roman church by means of which they strive to place obstacles in the way of Protestant evangelical propaganda. For instance, it is not at all uncommon in the Latin Republics of South America for enemies of the Protestant faith, and frequently spies employed by the Roman Catholic clergy, to place themselves in the vicinity of Protestant places of worship for the purpose of preventing, as far as possible, passersby from going inside. A person is often just about to enter one of these halls when he is accosted by one of these spies with the following counsel: ''My friend, allow me to tell you something about the place you desire to enter. I would have you understand that this building is used by the heretical sect called Protestants. It will be dangerous to the immortal interest of your soul if you enter this hall. Inside here they spit upon the virgin, insult the saints and coinmit all sorts of devilish improprieties. I pray you not to cross the threshold. For as I have informed you, your eter11al interests will greatly suffer.'' Fre,111ently in the cities of San Juan and Mendoza, as also in Rosario and Cordoba,
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i-\.rgentine, this has taken place. Such an atti.,_t1deassumed by these enemies of the Protestant faith only goes to show the base methods adopted to retard the progress of the gospel in the needy countries of South Americ·a. Cradle of Romanism.
Cordoba, one of the large cities of the Argentine Republic, is called ''The Cradle of Romanism." It is one of the oldest cities of the Republic, being founded immediately after the settlement of Mendoza, which was the first in Argentine. Including the suburbs, Cordoba is a city of 130,000 inhabitants. While a liberal government has power in this Republic, this city and province has remained a very stronghold of Romanism . The Jesuits have been strong there for three centuries. The oldest Jesuit church and no doubt the oldest Roman church in the Republic, is only sixteen or eighteen miles from the city. From this old church, the headquarters of J esuitism, into the city of Cordoba there was at an earlier period an underground passage, such as is found in all South American cities. Many orders of Romanism are represented in this place. We received much information concerning the Roman church in Cordoba .
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from Father Louis Alvarez, Dean of the Cordoba Cathedral. He told us that the following orders were represented with one or more churches in the city: The Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, Lazarites, Capuchins, Mercedaries and Jesuits. Perhaps the reader is not aware of the fact that the Roman Catholic church, with all of her boasted oneness and criticisms about Protestantism being divided into so many sects, is herself one of the most divided organizations on the earth. All these orders of priests, which we have just mentioned, with others, are different sects or organizations within the one great Roman organization. They differ in various beliefs far more than the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists and others. Some of them believe in the Immaculate Conception; others do not. Some of them teach their adherents to pray to Mary, and we might mention many other things including cardinal doctrines of the scriptures on which they are very much divided. One thing, however, they all believe in, and that is the Pope of Rome. The writer takes pleasure in telling them that we Protestants are one ahead of them. While they all become one in the Pope, we all become one in Jesus Christ.
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During our visit to Cordoba, the cathedral was being repaired. It was built in 1650. However, it is a very fine structure already, but they are covering much of the interior with gold-leaf decoration. The Dean told us it was to cost about $200,000. Of this amount the government is paying a large part. The city supports thirty-five Roman churches, the cathedral being one of this number. Father Alvarez told us that 40,000 people go to this cathedral to confess and recognize it as their church home. Of course, the real head is the Bishop. Under him are twelve priests who devote all of their time to the work of the cathedral, ten being employed all the while in saying and singing prayers. Ten priests from the outside go regularly to hear confessions, making twenty-two priests and the Bishop spending their time in connection with this one build•
Ing.
We asked the dean about the nuns. He told us there were more than twenty convents in Cordoba, and that they represented the work of fifteen orders or organizations of nuns, and that each organization had more than two hundred nuns in it, tnaking over three thousand nuns in the· city. He also informed us that they had between three and four thousand priests in
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the city, making an army of between six and seven thousand priests and nuns devoting all their time to the work of the Roman church in this one place. Looking over the vital statistics of Cordoba we found more than fifty illegitimate children being born each month. The standard of illiteracy and impurity is alarming, although these six or seven thousand men and women are supposed to devote all their time to the work of the so-called ''only true representative of Jesus Christ on earth." In the midst of this great army, representing the organization that has done more to encourage illiteracy and to produce illegitimacy than all other things combined, we found one humble preacher of the gospel, representing the Protestant forces of the· world, preaching salvation through faith in Christ. With him we found a small company of humble men and women struggling on, worshipping in a little rented hall, and much in need of a church building.
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TOO-RINGSOUTH AMERICA CHAPTER EIGHT Paraguay.
Paraguay is in the southern interior of South America. It is perhaps one· of the most backward, undeveloped, unevangelized republics of the continent. From what we have been able to learn of the various countries of South America by going through them, and inquiring particularly of those who have traveled more extensively, it is our judgment that Paraguay and Ecuador are very much alike regarding their neglected state, as touching evangelical work. There is practically nothing being done in either of these republics for the evangelization of the people. The capital of Paraguay is Asuncion, a city of 52,000 people. This small interior republic has only a little more than 150 miles of railroad in operation, yet it is easy to reach the capital and much of the entire republic on steamers plying up the great Parana and Paraguay rivers. It might be well to say that these two rivers are all one. It is called the Parana from the place where it leaves the La Plata, about Buenos Aires, on up to Paraguay Republic; where it runs through Paraguay it is called the Paraguay river.
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The Republic covers an area of 196,00-0 square miles, in which could be placed both California and Maine, but its population is 715,000. This, of course, does not include the Indians. Statistics regarding the numbers of Indians, tribes and languages, are very difficult to obtain. A gentleman, who has a branch place of business in Paraguay and has traveled extensively through the country, told the writer he was confident there were at least two hundred languages and dialects among the Indians of that little republic alone. He also informed us, as have others, that they are nearly all the same savage of centuries ago. This is one of the· oldest Republics in South America. The population, like its evangelization, is very slow. ''In 1796 when the first census was taken it gave a population of 97,480. In 1857 the official census gave a population of 1,337,439. Further progress was stopped by the wars of 1865-70 when Paraguay was nearly annihilated in her struggles under the infamous Lopez, who fought for five years against the combined forces of Brazil, Argentine and Uruguay." When these noted and notorious wars ceased the inhabitants were given as 231,079. Of these only 28, 746 were men. In fact, it was not uncommon for women, and even girls to
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take up guns, clubs and large knives and march into battle during the struggles carried on by this infamous general. With such a large per cent of the population women, they were, of course, forced to become the bread-winners of the· country. Polygamy was the rule and not the exception. During these days it was declare·d that 98 per cent of the children were illegitimate. A railroad has been recently completed between Buenos Aires and Asuncion, while another is being built from Asuncion into the interior of Brazil. It is our judgment that this little interior, unknown, backward, halfcivilized republic holds a hand of opportunity to some organization with a sane, godly man to go in and carry the gospel of Jesus Christ to the needly people.
Incident From Paraguay. The following was related by Rev. C. J. Turner, District Superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal church, in Argentine: During several years work in the Republic of Paraguay, it was a blessed experience to travel in the interior from time to time in the company of a local preacher, Rev. Charles J. Bogado, a native of Paraguay. He was at one time a captain in the Paraguayan army and passed through many very terrible expe•
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riences during the five years of war, when the little Republic of Paraguay was standing up against Argentine, Chile and Brazil. At the close of the war Mr. Bogado was presented by the authorities with a small piece of land so that he might provide for the necessities of his family, and he settled down for a quiet life. One day while walking down the main street of the town of Ita he saw, lying on the side of the street, a piece of paper and stooped to pick it up. As he read the page lie was struck with the beauty of what he read, and said to himself, ''Such words as these can only come from some good book. I must go and see the priest and get information regarding it.'' He went to the parish priest and show·ed him the paper. The priest flew angry and said, ''Capt. Bogado, do you know from what this piece of paper has been taken?'' ''No, Father, I do not know,'' he replied. The priest raged, ''This is a page out of the Bible, a bool, absolutely prohibited in the Paraguayan Republic,'' and tore the paper into little pieces, th1'owing it on the floor. Mr. Bogado in his turn, became angry and reproached the priest for having destroyed that which was not his; and gathering together all the pieces of the paper from the
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floor, he resolved to search until he might procure a copy of the book containing simiiar words. After something like three months he obtained a copy of the New Testainent. Carefully scrutinizing the pages he canie to certain passages of St. John's gospel and read in the third chapter the memorable words which he had read on the dirty piece of paper found on the street of Ita-''For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son t}1at whosoever believeth on Hilll should not perish, but have everlasting life.'' In the silence of that night hour Bogado gave himself to God and believed the truth of those precious words. Since that time he has traveled up and down the Paraguayan Republic carrying the Word of Life and preaching the same sitnple message to the down-trodden people of that country. This is a striking illustration of what can be accomplished by giving the gospel to these needy people on the printed page. We could recount more than one incident of how a mere tract, a dirty piece of paper, one of the gospels of the New Testament has been picked up, or handed to some hungry soul in Latin America, who has be-en led to Christ in this way.
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CHAPTER NINE Uruguay.
When viewed from the map little Uruguay looks very much like a joke in the way of an independent nation, a republic of its own. Uruguay is the smallest of the South American republics, and with the exception of French and Dutch Guianas, it is the smallest of all South American countries. Yet it is seen on the 1nap as located in between the Republic of Argentine and the United States of Brazil, the two largest countries in South America. Brazil being larger than the United States, and Argentine larger than all the territory lying east of the Mississippi river. But when the traveler steps off the boat in the proud, well-ordered city of Montevideo, the thought of Uruguay being a joke soon slips frolll the mind, and the magnificent city, the beautiful parks, streets and avenues, with the 350,000 pegple, loom up before the eye. Small as it is,. Uruguay has a population of more than a inillion people. Her commerce with the outside world reaches a total of nearly a hundred million dollars per year, and this is the only republic in South America where their currency is on a gold basis. One dollar of Uruguay money is worth about $1.04 American money.
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ERICA
There is perhaps no other country in the neglected continent where Romanislll has less influence and where the doors are more widely thrown open to Protestant missionaries. Yet there is comparatively little being done along evangelistic lines. This neglect is not due to the fact that the people do not want the gospel. We found them very receptive. We saw large crowds in the altars, and they gave every evidence oi a real change of heart. In the rapidly growing city of Montevideo, the capital, and in other places throughout the Republic, we found a marvelous field for successful missionary work.
Wearing Images. The deplorable and alarming extent to which the idolatrous image practice is carried in Roman Catholic countries can scarcely be described, and is altogether unbelievable where Romanism is not free from the restraints of Protestantism. Those who are· acquainted in Roman countries know that they have hundreds of im-ages of Mary under different names. One never enters a church but that there are va-rious images of the Mother of Jesus to be seen, and also the ''saints'' not only of Bible times, but those who have been canonized in later years. Perhaps the reader is not
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aware of the fact that the very men who were leaders in the inquisition, even the man who instituted the inquisition, have been ''canonized'' and their images are now worshipped everywhere. The ''saints'' are in• creasing every year. We have visited places ourselves where certain devout Romanists in by-gone days, now have their images placed in churches where their grandchildren go to pray to them. It is surprising the faith the poor, ignorant people have in these images. They are not only found in the churches, but just as a small cross is worn by the priest and nun in the United States, these small images in the shape of a medal are worn around the necks of the membership at large through th~se Spanish countries. They are especially anxious to secure some image of Mary and also certain i111agesof Jesus. These, however, are not just i1t1agesrepresenting Mary as the Mother of Jesus, or representing J e-sus as the Son of God, but they are small im·ages in the form of a medal representing other large images of Mary and Jesus. For instance, the most noted image of J e.. sus in all Central America is the one at Esquipulas called ''The Black Christ'', or the ''Blessed Lord of Esquipulas''. Of this large wooden image 49 1-2 inches high, hundreds .
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of thousands of small images on medals to be worn about the neck are made in Europe, shipped to Central America, sold broadcast by the priests. The writer bought a gross of these images and was assured by the one selling them that they had all been blessed and every one had great miraculous power. One of the greatest examples of this fraud and superstitious practice by the Roman priests with their ignorant members as a means of se·curing money, was related by Rev. F. G. Penzotti,. who for thirty-six years has been doing missionary and Bible work all through South America. Rev. Penzotti was present in a Roman Catholic service in Ecuador where the· priest was selling small images to be worn about the necks of his members. This particular one was an irnage of Mary. In his public address, while urging the people to purchase them, he told them it was wonderful the power the images had. ''For instance,'' he said, ''a man was working on a very high building, and wore one of these images around his neck, when the scaffold broke and he started to fall ; but strange to say, as he fell he began going slower and slower until when he reached the· ground he touched it very lightly and walked off entirely unharmed by the fall, which would have
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dashed to pieces anyone not wearing the image.'' Proceeding with his recommendation he told of another case in which he said: ''A fire had broken out; the city was being swept; the firemen were doing the best work they possibly could, but found it impossible to check the fire. The water seemed not to have any effect on it. When, lo and behold, a man rushed down the street carrying in his hands one of these· images. Rushing up to the bt1rning buildings he held aloft this image of Mary, and waving it in the air, he cried 'Stop! stop!' Strange to say the fire ceased, and this image had accomplished what the firemen could not." The ''reverend holy father'' then proceeded to put his goods on the market. Our purpose in asking for missionaries to go and others to give while all should pray, is that this people may have the gospel of Jesus Christ instead of such superstitious teachings; that they may have Jesus instead <>fan image; that they may have salvation instead of this superstition. For ''Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved; how then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed; and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard ; and how shall they hear without a preacher; and how shall they preach except they be sent?'' o will send?
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TOURING SOUTH AMERICA CHAPTER TEN Brazil.
The Republic of Brazil represents more than one-half of all South America. It covers one-fifth the territory of both North and South America. It is the fourth largest country in the world. It has 42 seaports, the greatest river system in the world, and it is judged that it does not know its own area or condition; and less is known of the interior of Brazil than is known of Africa. About as little is known of the population of Brazil as is known of its area. From most statistics given (which are simply guesses of various men) it seems to have a population t·,f near 20 million, which is from onethird to one-half the entire population of the continent of South America. The negro was brought to Brazil as a slave about the sam·e time he was brought to the United States, but slavery continued in Brazil twenty years longer than in the States. Unlike the other South and Central Ainerican Republics,. the language of Brazil is Portuguese. This, of course, does not include the Indians, which have their scores and perJ1aps a few hundred languages and dialects. In the inte·rior there are hundreds of thousands of square iniles unexplored, uncivilized,
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and in no sense evangelized. The wild Indian, savage Indian,. even the Indian cannibal, remain in these· forests and on the rivers as they did centuries ago. It was this South American Republic that brought up the rear guard in American independence, being the last one to declare and gain her liberty from European powers. This took place in 1888, and the constitution was ado·pted in 1891. This, like other constitutions was modeled after the constitution of the United States. The second largest city in South America, and one of the largest south of the Equator, is the capital of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, being translated into English means ''River of January''. The harbor at Rio is counted the most beautiful one on earth and the writer has never seen what impressed him as a more beautiful sight. Its beautiful harbor, splendid boulevards and public buildings, give it the appearance of a veritable park to the visitor. Sao Paulo, the seaport for which is Santos, is the great commercial metropolis of the country. This is the great coffee district. Sao Paulo is a city of more than 300,000 population, and although it is within fifty miles of the coast the elevation is such that it is ·sometimes called the ''Denver of Brazil''.
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The Republic of Brazil is just beginning tq awaken on the question of railroad construction, _now having between thirteen and fourteen thousand miles in operation. The Amazon river is navigable for more than two thousand miles for great ocean liners. Its tributaries provide over 20,000 miles of waterway for boats drawing nine feet of water. The population of Brazil is very much mixed. They have more negroes than any other South American Republic. One-third are white; one-fourth negro; one-half mixed blood of Indian, negro and white, while the remainder are Indians. So far as Brazil's laws are concerned it is the freest from the power of Romanism in South America. The Roman Catholic church is not recognized in Brazil as the state church. This,. of course, is more law than practice. We have ridden along on the street cars and watched the men, young and old, reverently lift their hats every time the car passed a Roman Catholic church. But like the Spanish-American countries, the more intelligent men, being disgusted with Romanism, and not having been offeyed anything better, are turning from religion altogether, taking up various forms of unbelief. ''Behold, now is the accepted time ; behold, now is the day of salvation'' for Brazil.
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CHAPTER ELEVEN The Guianas.
·We have mentioned, in a very few words, each country in South America, except British, Dutch and French Guianas. We have· not ref erred to these on account of the fact that we were dealing particularly with ''Latin America''. These three small colonies of Great Britain, Holland and France lie between the Equator and ten degrees latitude north. All three have a coast line on the Atlantic ocean. British Guiana is the largest and most northern. It is bounded on the north by Venezuela and extends to Brazil in the interior. Joining it immediately on the south is Dutch Guiana, which also borders on Brazil, farther south is French Guiana bounded by Brazil and Dutch Guiana. The three represent a population of less than a half million. The British and Dutch possessions are the best provided for, in an evangelical way, of any South American countries. While the little French possession is, so far as we can learn, entirely neglected. Nearly 200,000 East Indians have been brought to these European colonies and they have their Hindu and Mohammedanworship,
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child marriage and brutality of women, just as in India. For these East Indians very little is being done, or even attempted. In both of the larger and more northern possessions perfect liberty is given to preaching the gospel, and the missionary is well protected by the laws of the colonies. It has been our privilege in both of these places to preach and see many souls seek His peace. The support of workers here is less expensive than in any other part of the neglected continent. Here are great opportunities for Spirit-filled men and woinen who do not speak any other than the- English language. Good Liquor in the Name of Religion.
Those who only know Romanism in Protestant countries where the Bible and Protestant ministers compel the priests to be respectable, have little or no conception of how they live and what they preach where they are not thus hindered. The following report of the priest's sermon in Callao, Peru, which appeared in the daily paper of the place, El Diario, will give the reader sollle idea of what is given in the name of religion in these countries. This man who claims to be the true representative of God on earth, said:
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''As I have said to you, beloved hearers, follow the good way, that you fail not to obtain the reward of your virtues. Yes, yonder in the mansion of the Almighty, surrounded by angels, cherubim and seraphim, archangels and saints, realizing the eternal life of that blessedness which shall never end-for in that great Hotel where everything is gratuitous, ye shall find means of satisfying your tastes and caprices with the most exquisite delights. Ah, Italians, what delicious macar-onies, what tallarinis, with excellent Barbara wine, and foaming Marsala and Moscato. You Germans, will be able to drink and bathe in seas of beer. You Spaniards, will have your rich plates of rice a la Valenciana, savoury cod fish, a la Viscaina, and the good wine of Carlon. You French, after all the plates ye know how to prepare, YQU shall have the ne plus ultra, with good Bordeaux and other delicious wines, and champagne to cheer the soul. You, children of South America, shall enjoy the savoury 'carne con cuero', corn meal, well ground and cooked with milk, not failing the fried cakes and the choice Paraguayan 'mate' and amidst all this you shall sing together eternal praises to the Celestial
Father. ''But, you unfortunates, who persist in sin, ah, God will condemn you to the deep abysses
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of hell, and there, amid the eternal flames, you shall be surrounded by fire, fire below, fire above·, fire on all sides-you shall eat fire and drink fire, and shoot out fire from your eyes, your ears, from your mouth and from all the pores of your body. ''My dear beloved brethren, I must tell you that beside that great Hotel, there are cauldrons of boiling pitch, in which to submerge the Protestants, Masons and all others who are the enemies pf the Roman Apostolic Religion. Withdraw yourselves from those accursed associations of carnivorous monsters, as far as possible, and give them neither bread, clothing nor shelter. Leave them to die like mad dogs; for they are not the children of God, but the children of Satan, eternally condemned to burn in the flames, never ceasing to suffer the torment of that fire which shall consume them to the very bowels. ''The Holy Spirit be with you, and may He accompany you forever, in the name of the Most Holy Trinity, let us retire in peace, protected by Divine Grace.'' May we ask the reader the question, is Romanism in South America Christianity? Do they need missionaries? Do you want to help?
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CHAPTER TWELVE
Venezuela. One of the· sad things about South America, which should drive Christian people in the United States to their knees in earnest prayer is the fact that the most neglected, less evangelized and uneducated parts of the neglected continent are the countries lying nearest the United States. This may be explained in part by the fact that these are tropical countries and that the energy of the people in these sections has been affected by the climate. Of course, the principal trouble is they have not been given the Bible. Jesus Christ has not been preached to them. Venezuela, with a population of nearly three· million, or to be accurate (using the only published statistics) 2,664,000, is largely without the gospel. Some work is being carried on by the Presbyterian church and a very little also by some small independent • • m1ss1ons. The area of Venezuela is more than 400.,000 square miles. Caracas, the capital, is an attractive point to be visited by tourists, as it is reached from Port la Guayra by a short, but very scenic railroad. It has a population of 70,000 people.
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With the area and natural resources of Venezuela it could easily maintain more than 25,000,000 people. Its foreign trade in 1909 amounted to nearly $27,000,0-00. The extent of commerce between this country and the United States was a little- more than nine million dollars. The principal products of this neighbor Republic of ours, are coffee, cocoa, balata gum, rubber, hides, skins, gold, cattle, asphalt, etc. The total length of railways in operation is about 540 miles. The great channel of communication through the interior is the Orinoco river with its branches. This wonderful river, with its tributaries, has a total navigable length of 4,000 miles. In the western section the waters of Lake Maracaybo make other parts of the Republic accessible. The entire Orinoco district, with cities varying in population from three to twenty-five thousand, has nothing whatever being done along missionary lines. There are wonderful possibilities for God and salvation work in this neglected neighboring republic, especially up the Orinoco Valley. This is made ve-ry accessible by the river boats running regularly from Port of Spain, Trinidad, at which point connections are 1nade with vessels from all parts of the world. Ciudad Bolivar, the principal city on the Orinoco river,
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furnishes a most opportune opening for someone to enter this great neglected field with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Fruit of Tract Work. The wife of a missionary in South America tells of her brother's conversion as follows: After my father came to Argentine from England he had some very severe testings in his family life which caused him to drift away froni the Lord. He was a devoted Christian before leaving home, but after coining out here one of his sons, who was my half-brother, became very reckless and this broke my father's heart. For eight years we never heard from this boy, but finally we got word that he was mixed up with a very bad company and was really with a group of bandits, stealing animals. His photo appeared in the daily papers, and that was the first news we had of him. My f athe·r fainted at the news, as it seemed to be too much for him. This had all occurred as a result of there being no religious services in the town where we lived at that time. In the office father used to shed bitte1-tears, and his friends would say, ''Don't worry, come and have a drink,'' and so he commenced the drink habit, causing great sor-
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row to the family. But mother and I stood steadfast, praying for both father and broth-
er. The first thing I did when I heard of my brother being in the prison of St. Nicholas, Argentine, was to send him a kind letter and also a tract. (The Sunday school paper of the Methodist church). Then I wrote to the publishers and arranged with them to have this sent to him in prison each week direct from the publishing house. Through this tract he was converted, as well as many others in the prison. They began religious services in the prison, and so far as I can learn they continue these meetings until the present. Among the number converted was a Mr. Guerrero, who was treasurer of the municipal government of Rojas, and had been sent to the prison for robbing the treasury. He remained true to the Lord until he served his term, and after leaving his prison life dedicated himself to the work of a Bible colporteur for the American Bible Society.
TOURINGSOUTH AMERICA 111 CHAPTER THIRTEEN Church Growth on the Mission Field. We have seen many churches on the mission field run at an expense of one-half, or even less than one-fourth that of an average church in the homeland, where the results were such that it would put the home church to shaine. We have seen such churches many times. We have in mind at the present one in particular located in South America, in a city of two hundred thousand inhabitants. This is an inland city of which one rarely hears. In fact,. when we started there on the train, we supposed we were going to a place of five or ten thousand people, but upon arriving we found it a city of two hundred thousand instead, with splendid electric car system and thousands of automobiles. There is very little being done in this city along the line- of salvation work. Perhaps there are three organizations supporting that many native workers. We had the privilege of spending two days in one of these churches. We found a building with seating capacity much larger than the average church at home. When organized they had 178 full members with 94 probationers. Now
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they have 280 full members with 260 probationers. They have services every night except Saturday. They conduct six Sunday schools with over 600 children attending these various schools. Every Sunday they preach the gospel in the public square to large crowds, and in the penitentiary where 350 prisoners listen to the story of salvation. We spent one Sunday with this native pastor, and his presiding elder accompanied us as interpreter. As we we·re to preach at eleven o'clock to the English-speaking congregation in the city we had arranged a nine o'clock service for the Spanish church on Sunday morning. At this early morning service we spoke on the baptistn of the Holy Ghost, and tried to see how clear and definite we could be about this experience for Christion people, and that it resulted in the carnal 1·nindbe·ing destroyed, the heart cleansed and the Holy Spirit enthroned as an abiding Comforter, enabling us to witness for Jesus. At the close of our sermon we reviewed the message of the hour again stating that this experience was only for Christian people. We then asked those who knew they we·re not right with God and wanted the Lord to forgive all their sins to come and kneel in the altar. To this we had a glad response. After these had knelt we asked all who knew they .
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A South
Ame1~ican Indian
With the
Gospel.
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were right with God and wanted Him to cleanse their hearts and give them the Holy Ghosi, to come and kneel. Immediately upon giving the invitation, this educated native pastor, who was sitting down in front sprang to his feet and turning to his congregation, he rnotione·d them to the altar saying, ''Come on, let's get this experience.'' And Bro. Bar1·oetavena, the pastor, led the way, being the first to kneel seeking the Holy Ghost. Nearly a hundred of his people followed their pastor to the altar. That afternoon at 2 :30 o'clock and again that night at 8:00 o'clock we saw more than a hundred people kneel in the altar seeking salvation. Monday night the congregation was larger and the number in the altar still greater than at either of the preceding ser• vices. Upon our return to the coast we were to pass through this city the following Thursday night, and as we would have a few hours betwe-en trains, they asked for another service, to which we agreed. Our train was late and we had to go from the depot to the service. We found the building crowded and at the invitation we saw the altar filled with people seeking God. It might be well for us to state also that while this native church is doing a work
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which will put the home churches to shame, it is doing this work without one cent of missionary mone-y, for it is entirely self-supporting. In fact, they are not only making this progress without missionary money, but are giving much themselves. We have never visited a church where we were 111ore delighted with the spirit of the IDembers. At these special services many people attended their first Protestant service. When the scripture lesson was being read we were melted to tears as we saw 1nembers of the church all over this large building slipping here and there offering an open Bible to the stranger, that they might follow the presiding elder as he read the Scripture lesson. When we were asking those who knew they were right with God to come forward and pray with the penitents, we would scarcely give the invitation until it seeme·d half the congregation was on their feet, and we have seen the aisles crowded with native Christians on their knee·s pleading with God for the salvation of the people. Whether it pays we leave the reader to decide. On a railroad running out from this city there are three other cities within fifty miles of this one, each with a population of several thousand. These three cities could be easily evangelized from this main church if they
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had a good native worker to labor under the direction of this pastor. When we left the pastor furnished the presiding elder with a map he had drawn of these places with their needs and possibilities, urging him to put it before us, and asked that we get others to pray earnestly that the Lord WQuldfurnish the money necessary to open up this new
work.
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Evangelism in South America. We seriously doubt if there is another place on the earth where real scriptural, Holy Ghost evangelism is more needed, and will be a greater success than in South America, especially that part of the continent south of the Equator. It is possible that India would be as fruitful or even more so, but the urgent needs are perhaps not so great because there is already much being done there, and so little in South America. There are many difficulties to encqunter in the latter place, but the opportunities are greater. There is perhaps no other mission field where it is more expensive to do missionary work than South America, but outside of India, we do not believe there is another place where the opportunities are one-half so great, especially for immediate results. That the South American will leave Romanism is already settled. The old type of Romanism down here is such that it cannot possibly stand before the tide of education, civilization and progress, so manifest in these countries. One seldom sees a college or uni-
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versity student who holds to the old church. The rule is, they are bitter enemies of it. They are open to light and easily reached by the truth. The present force of missionaries cannot properly care for those who have already professed faith in Christ, and for them to make any marked advance on the enemy in the way of real evangelistic work is entirely out of the question. In many cases, the greatest work is needed among the missionaries and native preachers themselves. We would not leave the impression that they are backslidden; no, not for a minute; for as a rule, we have found saints of God among them. But they do need the Holy Ghost; they need a Peter who has been to the upper room at Pentecost to visit them as the one of old visited Cornelius. They told us what we have often felt: ''Bro. Taylor, we feel the neecl of a revival held by someone else, so we can be refreshed and have our faith strengthened.'' Greater than this, however, they need a Spirit-filled evangelist, who is sane and careful, to help lead the host up against the enemy, gain the attention of new people, and lead them to accept the truth. The right man in these places, backed by the pastors, could have a few thousand conversions in a year, and could do wonders in the way of
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he·lping the older Christians and getting them pushed out into active Christian work. Such an evangelist should have the Holy Ghost himself, so he could preach Him to others. This man should have the language so he could not only preach in Spanish, but instruct the penitents and deal with the m.ultitude of difficult cases cqming before him when they ask the privilege of private counsel. He should be one with many years of experience on the field, for a ne·w lllan does not know how to deal with the situation. This man should by all Ineans be a MAN. The men of Latin-America are tired of a ''woman's religion''. They want to hear a nian preach who is manly, one who lives a clean life·, and yet one who can touch shoulders with men and offer a religion that will appeal to an enlightened, progressive man. We know just such a man. He could spend his time in this way inste·ad of in pastoral work if we had his support as an evangelist. His present support would necessarily go to his successor as a pastor.
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CHAPTER FIFTEEN The Accepted Hour.
It is now almost four hundred years since South America was taken in charge by the Spaniards, and the old Indian regime gradual• ly put down. It was at this time that they began forcing the ''cross'' upon the Indian. In many cases where he refused it, or was slow to e1nbrace it, he met instant death at the command of the priest, who would cry out to the soldiers in such words as : ''Kill the· dog; why spare him longer; go upon him instantly; I absolve you.'' During these four hundred years there has never been a time so important for South America as the present. The mind in these countries is passing through a transitional period. Romanism has been honestly and faithfully tried, but it has failed, and as a whole, the people are done with it, turning en masse from it. This is not so true of the women, especially the uneducated ones, as it is of the men, who have already given up the Roman Catholic church. They speak as an ex-senator of one of the le·ading republics of South America said one day to a missionary. We were holding a revival in the capital city
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of his country; much interest was manifested and the results of the meeting were being seen among the young ladies in the college for young women, where his daughter was in school. After asking what the Protestants taught, h~ said: ''That is the kind of religion our country needs. I am tired of my wife running to the priest and telling him everything, expecting him to forgive her. There is nothing in it. Roman Catholicism will do for ignorant people, but educated people cannot put up with it.'' He closed his conversation by saying, ''I want my daughter to get your kind of religion.'' Since South American Romanism is all they have known of Christianity, they are disgusted with it and turning to agnosticism. For this they are to be complimented rather than condemned, for no intelligent man can be expected to believe in the teachings and practices of the Romanism of these countries. And since this is what they have understood Christianity to be they cannot be condeinned for turning from it. On the other hand, they should really be commended for rejecting the so-called Christian religion which they have had to endure for four hundred years. But they should be diligently taught that what they have had is
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nQt Christianity at all; that it is rather paganism with a Christian name-paganism with Christian baptism. At the present time· these people, in fact, hardly believe anything. They are not in any sense Romanists, and yet they are not settled in their unbelief. A change is certain and irmninent, and at just this changing, transitional period is the time of all times to approach them with an intelligent teaching of Christ and the Christian religion. Just as there has not been a time in the last four hundred years when everything was so opportune for this as the present, so we are persuaded there will not be another time, perhaps in the next four hundred years when it will be as easy to preach the gospel here and get a receptive ear as at present. The wrath of man is now being made to praise Him and the very wickedness and failures of the Roman church have brought about this rare opportunity for the Gospel. Shall we enter this wide open door and answer these millions of hungry, disappointed hearts as they cry, ''Come over and help us''? Or will we le·ave them to their own wretched doom and then try to save the next generation from their infidelity? Truly, now is the accepted time, and now is the day of salvation for this people, if they are ever to be saved.
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Good-Bye. An evangelistic campaign on mission fields in foreign countries is a strange and unequalled mixture of joy and sorrow, gladness and regrets, hearty receptions and sad good-byes. The heart strings are pulled on until they are almost broken in leaving home and loved ones. ...en the field has be·en reached and hungry souls by the hundred and even thousands, are seeking salvation, there is surely no joy to excel it. But at the close of each meeting new ties, so recently made, but binding closely, must be broken. The very tokens they give, turn themselves into messengers for the remainder of the journey, calling up pleasant memories and the new-made friends who were bidden good-bye so early. These little tokens consist of various things -at times they are the idol, the image which the ''convert'' had prayed to before being saved from sin; many, many times have we waved good-bye to lone missionaries, native wQrkers and young converts as they stood on the shore watching our vessel pull out. The other vessel, for some of them have already pulled out for the Heavenly shore, and our
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next meeting will be over there. Those we love, and those we have had reason to call friends, and love as such are much scattered, and a large per cent. of them are ''on the field''; some are living in trash covered huts with dirt floors, but on these same floors they bow their knees no more to idols, but kneel before our God in humble heart worship and adoration. However, they do not all worship God, and have not all given up their idols, for some of the kindest acts and most friendly favors we have received have been from the hands of some poor old heathen men, some of the ygung men, others old and white·-haired chiefs. They have housed and fed me; they have ''shown me the way'', given me a drink of cold water, and though it was not in the Master's name we· have a feeling they will still have their reward for it. These friends at times have represented some of the leading dignitaries of various churche·s, but more often humble, lonely and even under-paid and under-fed missionaries; soine going on long trips to meet me, help me, hear and pray for me. We have at times received these favors when their own wife or child was languishing on a bed of sickness. A large army have been the native preachers and workers. Of course, they are just
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men, of like passions as w~ ; they have their faults, make their mistakes, and sometimes some of them fall, but we have seen them seemingly fail, when they had put up a much harder fight than have many of us at home when we seemed to succeed. Some of these have set us down at the· table and wanted to wait until we had first eaten. Much of their sacrifice for our comforts cannot be mentioned. Do we love them ? the word yes is weak. Here comes a larger group; many, inany of their names we can call; many more of their faces are graven on our memory; they are the saints of God; the salt of the e·arth, who have fought in the rank and file of the army; the native Christians who began with us and remained in the thickest of the battle until victory was declare-d, until the last sermon, the last song, prayer and amen. We have seldom met men and woinen in the homeland just like them. A few of this class have been business and professional men, but most of them have been poor, hard-working men and women; many of them had gone deep in sin. In some cases their children went to see them married. Can the reader imagine a man and woman having frolll three to twelve children and all these children going to see their father and mother marry? In
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many cases these friends are bare-footed, very illiterate, among the poorest of the poor. But they would work hard all day and help pray and shout at night. When some of them have asked the blessings of God upon us as we sailed for another field, or climbed on our mule for another town or village, we have felt that it really stood for more than the hands of the Bishop on our head. But if the reader will pause a moment we will ask a real army to pass by. This is the largest company of all, and shall we say, the most loved gf all? This is the company for whom we pray regularly, and over whose failures we weep as though they were our own. These are they who have been converted in our meetings, several thousand in all, from every walk of life. They represent the city, town and hamlet; they are from distant mountain huts and interior tribes. Some of them tramped for days to reach the place where the Word was being preached. These are the trophies He has given us for the conquest. These are the diamonds we have been able to pick up on the way; the fish He has helped us pull out of the deep broad sea of sin. Some are now preaching the gospel to others; some are at the head of families; some, we are afraid, have ''gone back'', but we pray that they may return.
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Do we love them? Ask the mother if she loves her child, ask the father what that boy is to him. These are my children; their success and victory gladdens my heart, and their mistakes break my heart. Will the reader pray for our children? God bless them. To tell them-all of them-good-bye is hard. We always know we cannot hope to se·e them all • again. Our last tour of South America was all we have mentioned. From the very beginning the power, success and victories began increasing and multiplying. It seeme·das we watched the various meetings of from one to four or five days while we pressed on from one country to another, that the Almighty had contracted to make each succeeding me·eting greater than the last. This was true right up to the end of the campaign when we finally reached Montevideo, Uruguay, with tired bodies, rather on the homesick list, and with some local difficulties in the way. Bro. Reid and the writer covenanted together to ask our Heavenly Father to finish up the tour in the same order that it had gone through all these months. The first noticeable feature was the fact that more than half our congregations were outside people. The next was the church in the altar for perfect love. Victory continued; •
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the crowds increased, and the altar services • grew 1n power. Our ship was to leave on Friday, June 12. Thursday night must be our last service. The church was packed. The pastors, dean of the Theological school, and the young preachers were there doing their best, as they had been froin the beginning; yes, the pastors' wives were there as they had been, working as we have seldom seen women do. They visited and prayed, and God used them. At six p. m. two pastors, their wives and the head of the theological school came to the hotel where we dined together. At eight o'clock preached the last sermon, the altar had been filled and we were just ready to close when a gentleman arose and with well chosen words made a few remarks concerning the meeting just closing; then a young woman froin the Sunday school arose and in Spanish· spoke of our work in their midst, and presented e·ach of us with a most beautiful bunch of flowers. In replying, we told them we felt it was not only the good-bye service for Montevideo and Uruguay, but for all the South .. erican tour. As the large congregation arose to their feet expressing their appreciation of our work in their midst, we felt that the flowers belonged to Bro. Reid's invalid mother, and
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the writer's untiring, faithful wife, who during all these months had, uncomplainingly ''stayed by the stuff'' and pressed the interests in the homeland by caring for the office end of the work. We also felt that the expression of appreciation from the congregation belonged to the faithful army of His children whose money and prayers had made the ca1t1paign possible, and brought down the victories from above. We then said ''GOOD-BYE.''
HOW YOU CAN HELP US In Latin America. YOU CAN Open a new work in a city of 3,500 people at an expense of $35.00 per month. YOU CAN Open a new work in three small cities with a combined population of 25,000. They will make a circuit and it will cost $30.00 per month. YOU CAN Go to Peru as a nurse and deaconess YOU CAN Send us $•10.00 per month, which will pay for 100,000 pages of missionary tracts on South America for free distribution in the United States and Canada each month. YOU CAN Finance a tract district in South America for $3.00 to $12.00 per month. This will furnish eager missionaries with from 40,000 to 200,000 pages of tracts in Spanish each month for free distribution. YOU CAN Support a godly missionary and family in Colon, Panama, for $35.00 per month. YOU CAN Be one of 10 to send $5.00 each month for the support of a young woman from Indiana to teach in Panama, and do other missionary work. YOU CAN Furnish railroad fare at $5.00 per month for a young man in printing office to go out each Saturday and preach on Sunday. He works in a mission printing office for one-third what he received in secular work. YOU CAN Take the support of a converted priest at $50.00 per month. YOU CAN Furnish support for either of two missionaries in Bolivia at $50.00 per month. They speak Spanish well. YOU CAN Keep a native minister in training school for $20.00 per month. We have three of these and they are all in charge of • • missions. YOU CAN Build a small chapel in memory of a loved one at La Boca for $600.00. YOU CAN Be one of 15 to pay $5.00 per month to support an evangelist in Chile who speaks as good Spanish as English. Results would be great. YOU CAN Send $10.00 per month to help open the work in Tucuman, Argentine, a city of 95,000 inhabitants.
•
•
An Interdenominational onthly published in the interest o missions in ALL LANDS. The pages of the REPORTER are limited to MISSIONS. Many papers five some space to MISSIONS: the REPORTER gives all its space to MISSIONS.
eco ••NOT A DRY LINE ON ANY PAGE'' is the record the REPORTER has already established. When the REPORTER was two and a half years old we had reached the 50.000 mark. EDITORS
James M. Taylor. Missionary Mrs. James M. Taylor.
Evangelist
Subscription price only ten cent• per year: tbrce years for twenty-five cents. Send personal check. 1tamp1. or cash by registered letter. Published by JAMES 80 'l Deery Street.
M. TAYLOR. Knoxville. Tennessee
BY JAMES
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MISSIONARYEVANGELIST Our Missionary Album was a success. 5,000 of thtm went out on their mission the first year, and words of prai,e came from many.
In SOUTH AMERICA BY KODAK we believe we have nearly reached perfection in literature of this kind.
INSTRUCTIVE Instead of filling the pages with pictures, as we did in the Album, we have one picture to the page in SOUTH AMERICA BY KODAK, and all the other space is filled with reading matter explaining the truth or condition the picture is supposed to illustrate.
SIXTY -FOUR
PICTURES
SOUTH AMERICA BY KODAK contains 64 large pages. On each page is an eloquent picture, telling in a striking manner the needs and possibilities of Latin America.
BOOK OF ART Our KODAK STORY OF SOUTH AMERICA is a beautiful and artistic piece of work, worthy a place in any library. It tells its own story and will undoubtedly move heart and mind to action. This illustrated book on missions in South America is the product of the author's recent Tour through these countrits. The price is only 25 cents. Send stamps, money order check, or registered letter. Published by
JAMES M. TAYLOR. 807 Deery
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Knoxville, Tennessee
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•
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E TOURING SOUTH AMERICA
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. TAYLOR. Knoxville, T cnncssce
J
ames Milburn Taylor was born July 27, 1873 in Blount County in Eastern Tennessee. In 1887, at a camp-meeting, Taylor experienced salvation and became involved in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In January of 1895 he had his sanctification experience and became a part of the Holiness Movement as an active evangelist. He preached throughout Tennessee and Kentucky through the early 1900s, while making Knoxville, Tennessee his main center of operations. He became associated with William Godbey and other Holiness figures, publishing a number of booklets independently for his ministry. Many of these were published by H.C. Morrison’s Pentecostal Publishing Company. In the early 1900s Taylor was involved with the Interdenominational Missionary Prayer League and the Holiness Union of the South, which helped sponsor Taylor on an evangelistic tour of the West Indies in 1906 and 1907. This included St. Thomas, St. Croix, Dominica, Antigua, Barbados, the British Guianas, and Surinam among other islands, making him one of the pioneer missionaries of the English-speaking Caribbean. In 1912, Taylor, along with S. W. Edwards of the Holiness Union of the South did an evangelistic tour of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Panama. This was one of the earliest Holiness missions to Central America. From January to June of 1914, Taylor did an evangelistic tour of South America including Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. By 1917, Taylor had become the Secretary for Missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church Board of Foreign Missions and made missionary tours to Mexico and Asia, including Japan, Korea, China, India, Malaysia, Burma, and the Philippines. In 1921 Taylor became president of Taylor University, a position which he held for six months until he left under a scandal. Taylor then went on the Chautauqua circuit speaking about his many travels, at least till 1926, before finally disappearing from the pages of history.