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A STORY OF PROGRESS AND
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MARION R. DRURY, D. D.

ACHIEVEMENT IN THE WEST INDIES

* Ce ee tet

MISSION

Porto Rico and Santo Domingo

A Story of Progress and Achievement
in the West Indies

By
Marion R. Drury, D. D.,

Associate Missionary, Ponce, Porto Rico

“Puerto Rico Evangélico’’ Press,
Ponce, Porto Rico

1924

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FOREWORD.

Two years ago after my plans had been announc-
ed for going to Porto Rico, some friends, solicitous
about my welfare, inquired as to when I would be
leaving for the “Philippines.” Others desired to know
whether I would sail from Seattle or San Francisco.
All these seemed not to be very clear in their geo-
graphy of the location of this island belonging to the
group known as the West Indies. It is in the Atlantic
Ocean, about fourteen hundred miles directly south-

The Strategic Location of Porto Rico.

east from New York City and one thousand miles a
little south of east of the southernmost point of Flo-
rida, within the tropics, and is a part of the Territory
of the United States.

A few pictures will be found in succeeding pages
some of which are historically illustrative and others
that are typical of interesting physical features that
are among the much prized assets of the island.
Scenic beauty and charm, desirability and comfort of
climate, density of population, and the diversity and

greatness of the needs of the people of the island are
among its distinguishing characteristics. But here
as elsewhere that which contributes most to the value
and prosperity of a country is the quality of the human
element entering into it. I have been here long
enough as an associate missionary, under the appoint-
ment of the Foreign Mission Board, to have very
definite impressions of the spiritual destitution of
the island, as well as of the splendid results that have
attended the efforts for its evangelization during the
past twenty-five years.

It is of these Mission Triumphs, both in Porto
Rico and its neighboring island of Santo Domingo,
that the following pages are dedicated, that the
friends and supporters of the work in these fields may
know and have joy in what has been achieved. Some
suggestions are also made as to a new challenge which
is very real and manifest at this time. It is for the
continued zeal and consecration of money and life to
the further development and strengthening of the
work so well begun that this challenge at the present
time is so urgent. The triumphs of the past justify
rejoicing, but not the laying off of the armor of
spiritual conquest. The field is still white unto a yet
more glorious harvest than that already gathered.
The appreciative beneficiaries of the gifts and prayers
of the churches in the home land join in the earnest
appeal for the gospel to be given to their fellow is-
landers who have not yet heard the good news. The
tasks are great and the problems are hard, but the
resources, human and divine, are adequate and avail-
able. Shall they be utilized? That is the challenge.

“Lift high the Cross of Christ! ~
Tread where His feet have trod;
As brothers of the Son of Man,
Rise up, O men of God.”

MISSION TRIUMPHS

I. PORTO RICO, THE GATEWAY TO ALL
LATIN AMERICA.

A history that reaches back into the very begin-
nings of Evangelical missionary work in Porto Rico
records the progress attained during a quarter of a
-century by the United Brethren and other churches
operating in this field. While the time is short, less
than a generation, it is long enough for worthy
achievement. It embraces not only a record of pioneer
days in mission effort in this tropical land, but distinct
pioneer experiences in planting the Gospel of Christ
among a people unacquainted with the spiritual real-
ities of essential Christianity. It was in this virgin
soil, with the difficult problems incident to a change of
goverment from the Spanish type, largely medieval,
to the American, democratic and progressive, prob-
lems of language, social customs hoary with age,
unsanitary conditions, low moral and industrial stand-
ards, and above all an effete church without vital
religion, that the remaking processes for a new and
free Porto Rico had their beginning. This beginning
was of necessity small, and was met with the bitter
opposition of a crafty and materialistic priesthood,
making the getting of a foothold difficult and progress
thereafter slow. But the mere smallness of beginnings
was not to be despised. The advance representatives
of a new day of hope for a people long bound with
chains of spiritual darkness, ignorance and supersti-
tion, came here with faith, vision and courage, and
were not dismayed by the difficulties they encounter-

ed. It was theirs to do and to dare, and the results
achieved mutely testify to the progress made in
twenty-five years.

It was therefore fitting that the year 1923 should
have special recognition as a landmark of mission
progress. For it was on August 12, 1898, at the close
of the Spanish-American war, that the protocol with
Spain was signed at Washington and Porto Rico be-
came a real part of the United States. A little later
in the year the initial steps were taken to make this
newly acquired territory a field of aggressive mis-
sionary occupation. So that the year 1898 became
the date of the advent of American Protestant Chris-
tianity into the island, the Cross immediately follow-
ing the Flag. Missionary secretaries and mission
boards became the true pathfinders, the explorers
and leaders, in this spiritual and altruistic occupation.
Bishop Wm. M. Bell, then the general secretary of the
Mission Board of the United Brethren Church, was
the first representative of his denomination to visit
this field. He came with official representatives of
other churches to Porto Rico to make personal inquiry
regarding the religious condition and needs of its
people. After visiting all parts of the island, and
finding everywhere an open door and an urgent call
for mission work, a distribution of territory among
the denominations represented was agreed upon. The
area in the southern part of the island, of which the
city of Ponce is the center, was assigned to the United
Brethren Church. This was the beginning of our
work in Porto Rico.

Missionaries then were appointed and soon were
on the field facing the conditions mentioned above.
The first of these to arrive were the Rev. N. H. Huff-
man and wife, both graduates of Lane University,
Kansas, and also of Bonebrake Theological Seminary,
the date of their arrival being July 27th, 1899. Soon

after Dr. W. E. Clymer and wife and the Rev. E. L.
Ortt and wife from Ohio were added to the mission
staff, who, however, only remained a short time when
they returned to the States. Mr. and Mrs Huffman
continued with the mission until 1912, when they
returned to the homeland because of health consider-
tions in their family, after thirteen years of earnest
and fruitful service.

Early in 1901 the Rev. Philo W. Drury and wife,
both graduates of Leander Clark College, were assign-
ed to this field, Mr. Drury also being a graduate of
Yale University and Bonebrake Theological Seminary.
In 1907 the Rev. I. E. Caldwell and wife, and in 1908,
the Rev. C. I. Mohler and wife, all graduates of York
College, Nebraska, were appointed to reinforce the
workers in this now rapidly expanding field. Miss
Elizabeth Reed, who had been a successful teacher in
the public schools of the island for six years, was
added to the mission force as a deaconess and parish
visitor in 1907. All of this group are still in the
employ of the mission. Their collegiate and other
training, their mastery and use of the Spanish lan-
guage, their continued connection with the work
through so many years, their personal consecration
and liberality of spiritual vision—all these things have
contributed immeasurably to their influence in leader-
ship, in preaching and teaching and in social and
religious life. Their long connection with the work
has also had much to do with the unity and continuity
of plans for steady advances through the years.

Mr. Huffman who was the first superintendent of
the Mission, serving until 1907, eight years, is now the
superintendent of the cooperative missionary enter-
prise in the Republic of Santo Domingo, work most
promising in a needy field, a position for which he is
well equipped in training and varied experience in
Christian work. He was succeeded in the superin-

tendency in Porto Rico by Philo W. Drury, who served
in that capacity till 1919, twelve years, when I. E.
Caldwell, the present incumbent, assumed the respon-
sibilities of that office. Thus it will be seen that the
leadership here has remained with the three men
longest in the service of the mission, and embracing
the entire period of its history. Their long connection
with this work has no doubt had much to do with its
signal prosperity and growth.

From the first the aim has been to raise up a
native ministry as speedily as possible capable of
pastoral leadership. From the early days of the mis-
sion to the present time this aim has been in process
of gradual realization. In the beginning, of course,
it was necessary that the American missionaries
devote themselves to evangelism, pastoral and other
work essential to the building up of congregations and
the organization of churches, Sunday schools, and
other forms of Christian activity. But now that all
the churches have native pastors, the product of the
mission itself, trained and equipped for the full
discharge of their duties, the Americans are released
wholly for responsible leadership in administrative
and other work. Mr. Caldwell will continue to give
his entire time and consecrated energies to the over-
sight and direction in superintendency and extension
work. Mr. Drury is the Executive Secretary of the
Porto Rico Evangelical Union, publisher of the “Evan-
gelico,’ and manager of the Evangelical Bookstore,
while Mr. Mohler will serve as a general evangelist.
These goals and special spheres of activity are but
the results of wise and well planned endeavors of the
preceding years in this field. They are the clear
evidences of past vision and fruitful efforts, and a
prophecy of future enlargement and of increased
power in the continued evangelization and uplift of the
people of this goodly land.

How much in contrast are these new plans and the
strengthened organization of the work, with the early
days of seed sowing and the first gathering of the
fruitage of this new harvest field! Note a few of the
most significant early dates: The first missionaries
arrived in Porto Rico July 27th, 1899; first Sunday
school held in a rented building September 17, follow-
ing, with sixteen pupils; first church organized in
Ponce December 16, 1900; first church building
erected in 1902; first Annual Conference of workers
held in December 1903, in a chapel just completed, in
Coto Laurel. This hardly deserved to be called a
conference, so small was it, but it marks the beginning
of organized effort permanently to establish evangel-
ical Christianity in this newly entered mission field.
There were but two American missionaries present,
and two young men who were only licentiate preach-
ers, called native pastors, without training and exper-
ience. There were a few others present at this initial
conference who had identified themselves with the
mission as new converts. The proceedings were con-
fined to one day, and were very meager, including
the dedication of the chapel. But it was the begin-
ning of conferences that have been annually held
through the years since.

Beginning of a New Era.

The twenty-first annual conference, dating from
the one just referred to, was held in Juana Diaz,
Juanary 11-13, 1924, just following the rounding out
of the period of twenty-five years. What do the
records show as to the progress made from the begin-
ning with nothing, to the opening of the present year?
What is the answer of our latest statistics? It is this:

Number of organized churches, 25; other preach-
ing places, 28; native pastors, 13; missionaries, pastors
and other trained workers, 25; present church member-

ship, 1,730, a gain of 235 the past year; number of
Sunday schools, 25; enrollment, 2,322; Christian
Endeavor societies, 12; members, 413; one Otterbein
Guild with 55 members. Church houses and chapels,
18; parsonages, 11. Offerings: For Sunday schools,
$788.89; for missions, $469.74; for pastors’ salaries,
$2383.95; for church expenses, $486.95; for other
purposes, $850.00. Total, $4979.62, an increase of
nearly $300 over the previous year. Present value
of church property, $81,000.

These financial exhibits show a growing response
on the part of our Porto Rican churches in self-support
and in giving the gospel to others, two conditions
essential to fruitful and prosperous churches. While
poor, having little money, with their spirit of giving,
they must increase in numbers, strength and the ful-
filling of a worthy mission.

These are indeed informing and gratifying fig-
ures. Back of them is a great unwritten story of
heroic endeavor, earnest devotion, and the generous
giving of thousands of people in the home land, whose
prayers and gifts have made strong the hands and
hearts here. The figures, however, only have value
as they represent spiritual achievement. They tell
truly of numbers, buildings, material gifts and prop-
erty values, but these are not the essential assets of
missions. They are found in transformed lives through
the power of the gospel, in experiences of right living,
self-control, of comfort and support in sorrow, of
faith and hope when facing eternity, and in simple
and radiant resignation to the divine will. But more,
such results relate also to the character education and
guidance of the young in their thinking, choices,
habits, ambitions and purposes when they have reach-
ed adult years, through the cooperating agencies of
the church, the home and community with which the
school life must combine. Thus it is seen that the

missionary’s work is many-sided and its fruitage
manifold. It is not easily visualized because its results
are essentially spiritual. Its greatest value is realized
when weighed in the balances which show the supe-
riority of the spiritual over the material.

Typical Practical Results.

These are evidenced in many ways, in what the
gospel can do for those who accept it and experience
its power in their lives, in home and social life, in new
ideals and the spirit of service to fellow men. Our
Porto Rican churches are making annual contribu-
tions for the building of chapels in rural communities
destitute of places of religious worship and instruc-
tion. They now have eleven such chapels to their
credit, and will build another one this year. These
same churches are also cheerful givers for the support
of the new mission work in Santo Domingo, and have
released one of their own young ministers to be a
pastor in that needy field, thus showing in a practical
way their interest in the spiritual welfare of those in
their own land and abroad who are without a know-
ledge of the word and love of God. This is their
way of telling to others what the grace of God has
done for them.

A Porto Rican, father of 14 children, living in
one of the cities where we have an influential and
growing church, in speaking of the beneficial influence
of the Protestant Church in the island, said: “It is
the only institution in Porto Rico that is doing
effective work to raise up a young manhood and a
young womanhood sound in moral principles.” There
are many others not identified with the evangelical
cause who are outspoken in the same conviction.

In the early days of Dr. Huffman’s work here
there was a little boy who lived in his home. He
was among the first converts of the mission. He

really grew up in the mission Sunday school and
church in Ponce. He was fed and nourished on their
teachings which prompted to a life of purity, truth-
fulness and strict integrity. He early yielded him-
self whole heartedly to godly living, and like the boy
Jesus, he increased in stature and wisdom, and gained
the favor of God and men.

In due time this lad grew to manhood and became
a teacher in the public schools. Later he married a
noble Christian young lady, who was also identified
with our mission from her early childhood. She, too,
had been a successful school teacher. They at once
established a Christian home, where intelligent piety
and a steadfast devotion to worthy living marked
their happy companionship, both of them much prized
products of United Brethren missionary teaching and
example. They are not wealthy, and yet they are
rich in character. As learners in the school of Christ,
they learned the joy of living from Him. They now
have five bright and beautiful children, and they
are all regularly found in the Sunday school and in
the worship of God’s house. Such a family is both
a credit and an ornament to any community. The
father is the superintendent of a large Sunday school
and the mother is a faithful and capable teacher in
the school. Such examples of the rich fruitage of
our mission in Porto Rico could easily be multiplied.

Among the converts won through the agency of
our mission have been many men of bad habits and
degenerate life. Some were drunkards much feared
in the communities where they lived because of their
vicious conduct when intoxicated. They were at
least of ordinary intelligence, and when sober were
industrious wage earners, but they were without the
power of self-control. Through the influence of
friends they were led to come where the gospel was
preached by our missionaries. They became interest-

ed but they were so bound by the chains of appetite
that they seemed helpless in the face of the tempta-
tions to self-indulgence all about them. This was
years before the people of Porto Rico voted dry at
a popular election by a two-to-one majority. At last
these men were persuaded to take the gospel cure
for the drink habit. They had a great struggle be-
fore victory complete and lasting was achieved. Even
after these men had confessed Christ as their Savior
some of them fell repeatedly. They lamented and
confessed their lapses. The missionaries recognized
their weaknesses and that there was only hope in
the mighty grace of God. They were sympathetic,
charitable, and patient. While their faith was greatly
tried, it remained strong.

After the repeated failures and broken vows of
these victims of appetite, long indulged, they were -
happily saved from the love and power of sin, includ-
ing the love and power of strong drink, their acknow-
ledged besetting sin, through a personal faith in an
indwelling Christ. This was the secret of their
victory and the new life that followed. Such are
the trophies of grace, grace abounding to the chief of
sinners here in Porto Rico, as of old.

Efforts Toward Union.

The history of Evangelical mission work in Porto
Rico is by no means confined to the work of .any one
religious denomination, and this sketch would not
be complete, or true to the facts involved, without
due recognition and acknowledgment of the coopera-
tive efforts of a number of churches that have been
attended with good results. A brief statement, there-
fore, of how the uniting of the forces here was brought
about may have interest and value to the friends of
‘ this hopeful island work.

The several churches joining in this union move-

ment all began missionary operations here about the
same time, soon after the American occupation. At
the first each carried on its work independent of
the others, but with a common understanding which
provided for a distribution of territory and Christian
effort throughout the island. In this way the un-
necessary duplication of churches in any section was
avoided. This plan to prevent the overlapping of the
fields of the different churches has been abundantly
justified by the results that have followed.

This understanding among the leaders in the
several missions was the first step toward practical
unity and good fellowship among the Evangelical
forces working here. The second step taken was in
1905, when these churches formed a federation under
which they worked with harmony and advantage for
several years.

The Evangelical Union of Porto Rico.

Gradually, however, the need of a still closer
organization in carrying on their common task was
recognized, and in 1916, a third step was taken for
a more distinct cooperation of the churches and mis-
sion workers of the island in the formation of the
Evangelical Union of Porto Rico, through which the
general work of the churches has since been directed
as by one body. This Union is not a church, strictly
speaking, nevertheless, because of the very width of
its basis it forms a real fellowship of Christian
believers and workers. It is a simple cooperative
organization of the following American churches
engaged in mission work in Porto Rico: Methodist
Episcopal, Congregational, Presbyterian, Baptist, Dis-
ciples of Christ, Christian Connection and United
Brethren in Christ.

Thus the union of the leading Protestant forces
here was brought about through a series of evolu-

tionary steps whereby they join hands in a common
program to make Porto Rico Christian. This form
of organization has now been in working operation
for over seven years. Considering the smallness of
the island, and the need for a united Protestantism,
the wisdom of this entire plan has steadily grown in
public favor. In the united approach to the work in
hand results have been secured that the churches
working independently could never have attained. This
combined movement has given the several missions of
the island a prestige and recognition they could not
otherwise have had. Among its good fruits are the
development of an effective type of pastoral evan-
gelism, a general stimulus to family religion, system-
atic Bible reading and study, and the creation of a
consciousness of the Christian solidarity of the entire
island. This Union, too, has visibly quickened the
moral and social forces, enabling them to concentrate
their energies to the accomplishment of practical
results in education, in the circulation of wholesome
literature, in promoting social purity, temperance and
other reforms, in raising a fund for the building of a
cottage for tubercular patients on the grounds of the
insular Tubercular Hospital, and finally in giving
substantial aid in sending missionaries to Santo Do-
mingo, the churches of Porto Rico ‘unitedly contribut-
ing at one time three thousand dollars to the union
work in that neighboring island. All these are results
more or less directly traceable to the concerted endeav-
ors made possible by the Evangelical Union with
its fine spirit and unified program.

Statistical Summaries.

What are some of the outstanding results of all
the missionary agencies thus employed in Porto Rico
during this twenty-five year period of their activity?
According to the statistics presented to the Annual

Conference of the Evangelical Union, held in Ponce,
in November, 1923, when the Twenty-fifth Anniver-
sary of the Missionary Occupation of Porto Rico was
celebrated, the following data was presented:

Organized churches, 199; members in full com-
munion, 12,377, a gain of 630 the past year; ministers
and other workers, 282; churches and other preaching
places, 486; Sunday schools, 373, enrolled members,
24,717, a gain the past year of 3,523; Young People’s
societies, 129; membership, 6,150; church buildings
and chapels, 179, other buildings, 74; church offerings
the past year, $55,221; value of church property,
including schools, hospitals, orphanages, neighborhood
houses, etc., $1,798,600.

There are three other Protestant religious bodies
working in the island that are not connected with
the Evangelical Union, the Christian Alliance, Luther-
an and Episcopal, doing mission work, whose statistics
would add somewhat to these figures, increasing the
number of evangelical communicants in the churches
of the island to about 14,000, the contributions of
churches the past year to above $66,000, and the total
value of all church property to more than $2,000,000.

Well may we exclaim, Behold what God hath
wrought here in twenty-five years! Let it be
remembered that the churches working in this field
began with nothing, and that the invoice now made
furnishes only some of the more apparent results
achieved during this period, so largely devoted to
seedsowing and the laying of foundations. The
spiritual results evidenced in transformed lives, in
beautiful homes, and in noble and useful citizens, do
not admit of mathematical enumeration. Though
they are chiefly unseen, they are none the less real
and priceless in value.

If so much has been accomplished in evangeliza-
tion, in building and equipping general educational

institutions, with special schools for the training of
native Christian workers, the building of hospitals,
homes for orphan children, and other kindred agencies,
social and industrial, for the welfare of the young
especially, together with what has been done to
encourage public school education, and in promoting
the social welfare of the people, etc., during the
quarter of a century just closed, what of the next
twenty-five years, and the next, and the next, under
our militant and progressive American Christian
civilization ?

The Protestant Missionary movement in Porto
Rico, so auspiciously begun, has great possibilities,
notwithstanding the fact that many of the people of
the generation now passing, with the example before
them of what religion had been before the days of
the American occupation, have no interest in, or
scarcely any patience with the religious appeal. This
will not be the attitude of the oncoming generations
that will have had no direct contact with the condi-
tions preceding the missionary occupation of the
island. The young people of today and tomorrow
will be different from their fathers and mothers. In
the cities and communities where evangelical churches
have been established great changes have already
taken place in departures from the former life of the
people, especially in the eagerness of the younger
generation to gain knowledge and leadership and to
step out from the seclusion of their fathers and to
take an intelligent part in the newer world. Through
the missionary awakening there has come a desire
for better things not only in civil government and
material comforts, but in education and social advan-
tages, so that there has steadily grown a widening
opportunity and increasing hopefulness for effective
mission work. Thus Christian missions as they have
been conducted by the several churches have been

plainly influential in the recasting of the whole edu-
cational and social program of ‘the life of the island.

This is seen in the steady advance toward self-
support in the island churches, in bridging the gulf
that has separated the wealthy from the so called
peon classes, by creating an intelligent and trust-
worthy middle class, from which will come the future
leaders in public affairs. The men and women of
tomorrow who are to hold places of responsibility in
business, in offices of government, teachers in schools,
ministers and other Christian leaders, are now being
educated in public and other schools, and are being
taught, or must be, under the moral and religious
sanctions supported and vouched for by the Protestant
churches. How much there is, therefore, to hope for
in the future life and prosperity of the Porto Rican
people through these agencies of education and a vital
spiritual religion! The future is as bright and assur-
ing as the promises and grace of God. The twenty-
fifth anniversary year of the beginning of aggressive
missionary activities here, and that was widely and
enthusiastically observed, was the crowing year thus
far in the entire history of the processes to rejuvenate
Porto Rico through the evangelizing power of a pure
gospel.

A Testimony.

The Rev. S. G. Inman, executive secretary of the
Committee on Cooperation in Latin America, with a
deputation going to Santo Domingo, stopped off in
Porto Rico. Speaking of this visit and tour of the
island by his party, for a study of the work and
institutions of the Evangelical Union, Mr. Inman
writes under date of Jan. 29: “We have come away
from the few days’ visit to Porto Rico feeling that
twenty-five years of missionary work in the island
have been among the most remarkable victories

accomplished in the history of the Christian Church
from the days of Pentecost. If any one is doubtful
or pessimistic or disturbed in his faith concerning the
power of the gospel, let him come to Porto Rico and
see what it has done in this quarter of a century.”
This certainly is a very strong testimony, and by a man
who has had many years of observation in many mis-
sion lands.

What Twenty-five Years have Wrought in Porto Rico.

Twenty-five years ago there was not a single
Protestant evangelical church in the island except one
in Ponce for English-speaking negros from the Virgin
Islands, and that was an English Episcopal, which
was given permission to come in by special act of
Spanish law. Until the American occupation in 1898,
no other non-Roman church was permitted. For over
four hundred years the Roman Catholic church had
been the State church of Porto Rico, and not only
dominated the religious life of the people but the civil
government as well.

Twenty-five years ago the first Protestant church
was organized for Spanish-speaking people, and now
there are 229 churches with a membership of 14,000,
with a Sunday school enrollment of 28,624, and church
property valued at more than $2,000,000.

Twenty-five years ago there was no system of
public school education, and no public school property
in Porto Rico. Today the American school system
covers the island and there are 2,322 buildings of all
kinds dedicated to educational work, 637 of which are °
public property, the other 1,685 are rented buildings,
chiefly in rural communities. Twenty-five years ago
there were only 21,873 children in the prevailing
schools, chiefly supervised by parish priests, now
there are 225,600 pupils in all grades, and an American
flag floats over every school house.

Twenty-five years ago modern medical science
was practically unknown in Porto Rico. Today the
best hospitals and dispensaries of the Island are
carried on under the auspicies of the American Pro-
testant churches as a distinct part of their missionary
ministry.

Twenty-five years ago there was no welfare work
of note carried on for the benefit of the poor, the
unfortunate and orphan children. Now there are
homes for the aged, a hospital and home for lepers,
an insular hospital for tubercular patients and orphan-
ages for homeless children and other agencies born
of the spirit of the new Porto Rico.

A New Challenge.

The closing of the first quarter of a century of
missionary work in Porto Rico brings to the support-
ing boards, and to the native churches, all of which
have come into existence during this period, a new
and distinct challenge to increased activity and giving
for the complete evangelization of the island at the
earliest possible time. Why this challenge, and what
does it mean?

Has not a good beginning been made in the
thousands that have already been brought under the
transforming power of the gospel? Yes indeed, that
is true, and yet there are many more thousands and
hundreds of thousands that have not as yet been
reached. Great victories have been won, but the bat-
tle is not over. The greatest triumphs are yet to
come. The hardest fighting, that requiring the most
farseeing leadership and the most heroic support in
men and money is undoubtedly in the future. This
challenge is to a union of effort such as has not as
yet been fully realized. The foes to any further
advance are united or are indifferent to it.

It is here that a field of virgin possibilities was

BISHOP W. M. BELL, D. D. REV. N. H. HUFFMAN, D. D.

Founder of the United Brethren First Superintendent and Present
Mission Work in Porto Rico. Superintendent in Santo Domingo.

RUE Ws 2, We, IDIRUIRNE. 1) 1D) Bi
Second Superintendent, now Exe- REV. I. E. CALDWELL, D. D.

cutive Secretary of the Evangelical Third and Present Superintendent
Union of Porto Rico.

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A Typical Porto Rico River.

A Porto Rico Cocoanut Palm Grove.
“Symbols of the Sun.”

discovered, whose diligent cultivation for twenty-five
years has yielded a bountiful harvest. But who is
there that will not say that its continued development
will require a patience, a skill, and a consecration
greater than that which characterized the first plow-
ing, seedsowing and harvesting. The work yet to be
done is greater far than that already realized, much
as that may be prized. The discovery of a new coun-
try is a great thing, accompanied with its permanent
settlement and organization of society, but to build
it up and to make it strong in structural righteousness,
intelligence and good government will require a vision
of the future, statesmanlike wisdom and courage, and
a devotion to human welfare exceeding that of its
pioneer history. Porto Rico has passed its pioneer
stage, though it has yet much undeveloped territory,
much of primeval forest, but even this has been
prospected and attached to occupied territory, and
thus exposed to the light and institutions of progress,
so that its state is no longer that of the primitive
type. To hold and to cultivate the ground already
possessed by occupancy, and to reach with the gospel
those who have not hitherto yielded to its impact, will
be a larger task, with more complex problems, than
any that to this time has been undertaken.

To recognize these facts and conditions at the
opening of a new epoch is important. To assume now
that the Gospel has been given to the people of Porto
Rico, and that the cause of the evangelical churches
and missions will have clear sailing under bright skies,
and no storms of opposition, is to be lulled to sleep
by false hopes. It is true that the majority of the
people have deserted the priests and the churches
that long held imperial sway over them, and that the
old regime is waning in its influence, but it is not
true that this majority, or even a major fraction of it,
have responded to the appeal of a vital spiritual

religion. Such is not the case. Those who have
abandoned Rome have only in small numbers com-
paratively embraced Protestant Christianity. What
of the others? In large measure they stand unrelated
to the evangelical movement. The task of giving
them the gospel in its purity and power is yet
tremendous and difficult, which by no means is impos-
sible. The day of opportunity for the accomplishment
of this great task is here, and those who do not return
to Rome, under its increasing zeal to control their
action, are likely to drift into benumbing irreligion
and worldliness. This opportunity is present, what
if it is not embraced? What if it is permitted to
pass unimproved?

The present state of Porto Rico from the stand-
point of Protestant experimental Christianity is critic-
al and urgent. This is the basis for the new challenge
of the hour. In recognizing this situation there is
however, no disparagement of the notable work that
has been done to make Porto Rico Christian, but it
does emphasize its need to be more Christian, and
that to make it so calls for a larger consecration of
the Christian forces interested in the island’s complete
deliverance from the regime of 400 years whose
appalling fruitage is poverty, illiteracy, illegitimacy,
and spiritual insensibility and darkness.

New workers cannot take up the tasks now to
be met as they did in the beginning. Among all the
virtues they should have is that one of being able
so to speak the Spanish language as to command re-
spect. At the first that was not so. Then when
new recruits entered the field unfamiliar with the
Spanish they were patiently borne with until they
could learn it. But the years of educational advance
since have changed all this, so that a change of leaders
or the initiation of new missionaries will be attended
with uncertainty if not serious peril without ability

to meet the language requirement. This ability there-
fore, is implied in the new challenge adequately to
meet the demands of the campaign of evangelism
now happily launched. This applies preeminently to
Porto Rico, as it stands at the gateway to all Latin
America. It is in a position of influence and leader-
ship in view of the opportunities it has had and the
achievements it has made under the benign tutilage
of the American government, its churches and schools.
If it is further to develop its work, increase its re-
sources, spiritual and otherwise, to meet its new
responsibilities at home, in adjacent islands and to
other countries of Latin America’s ninety millions of
people whose language is Spanish, it must have a
leadership in its missionaries and preachers of superior
ability. How else can it meet the demands of this
new day? Good impulses, and even a deep and
fervent Christian experience, valuable as they may
be, are not enough. Neither is a collegiate and a
seminary education all sufficient, necessary as it is.
In addition to the language acquired there will need
to be technical training including a knowledge of the
field to be entered, methods of approach, racial
characteristics, temperament, etc. Are these require-
ments high? They are, but none too high, consider-
ing the age in which we are living, and what is expect-
ed if not absolutely demanded, of the moral, religious
and social leadership that is to shape and direct the
policies and destinies of future generations.

There is today a wide open door for the preaching
of the simple Gospel in all Latin America. How long
that door will be open will depend on the faith,
vigilance and aggressiveness of the Christian forces
that have entered these lands, and who are really
awake to their unfinished tasks. Their opportunities
are very real and supremely challenging, but they
are passing, and it may be never to return.. Let not

the glory of the past, brilliant and significant as it
is, blind our eyes and weaken our sense of future
mission, in view of the lure of the greater tasks and
achievements that are yet possible.

We are assured by those who are in the forefront
of the battle line in evangelistic endeavor in these
and other lands that the fields are now white unto
the harvest; that the people will throng to hear the
gospel in places unrelated to the usual houses of
religious worship, such as theaters, public halls, tents,
mission cars, parks or other out of door places suited
to public assemblies. They are hungry for the word
of life, and in such places it may be given them free
from religious misconceptions and prejudices. The
opportunity is here for such preaching where it has
hardly yet been heard, but it is passing. What will
be the answer to this appealing challenge to our Amer-
ican churches and boards as we look forward to other
quarters of centuries to come in this spiritual conquest
of the world in the name of Christ, the mighty and
victorious Captain of all our militant forces? Is He
not plainly saying to his people today: “Ask of me,
and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance,
and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy posses-
sion?” Now is the day of salvation for Porto Rico,
Santo Domingo and other lands.

puUERTO RICO
J

yet

Slogan of the Evangelical Union.

II. SANTO DOMINGO, A VIRGIN MISSION FIELD OF
GREAT PROMISE.

The history of organized missionary activities in
the Republic of Santo Domingo under cooperative
agencies representing several different religious de-
nominations is so related to the mission history of
Porto Rico that the two cannot well be separated. It
was the writer’s privilege recently to make a three
weeks’ visit in Santo Domingo in company with a
a deputation from New York, making a survey of the
work being done there, and of the further opportuni-
ties and needs for the extension of mission plans as
might be deemed wise and timely. This is the first
country discovered by Columbus in the New World,
in 1492. The capital is Santo Domingo City which
abounds in evidences of its age, as seen in the ruins
of buildings and walls constructed more than four
centuries ago, and which are typical of medieval
architecture and customs. In the central plaza of
the city is the monument to Columbus, before the
Cathedral where rest the bones of the intrepid Dis-
coverer. The city has a population of about 40,000
and is growing rapidly, yet without many of the
ordinary modern conveniences, such as a municipal
water supply, sewers, etc. The city has fourteen
Roman Catholic churches including the old Cathedral,
and great poverty and illiteracy are common especially
in the villages and rural districts. Like other islands
of the West Indies group this one has had a checkered
and comparatively uneventful history, suffering fre-
quently from internal revolutions and _ financial
and other troubles through the centuries, so that to-
day it ranks with the most backward of the small
nations of the Western Hemisphere. In area it is

six times the size of Porto Rico and has a population
of 896,000. It has large resources in agricultural
lands, in timber, sugar, etc., chiefly undeveloped. In
1916 came the American occupation of the island,
when a provisional government was formed with an
admiral of the United States navy as Governor,
charged with the responsibility of managing the
finances of the island, establishing a national school
system, directing public improvements, and initiating
reforms looking to the good order, welfare and safety
of the people, etc. Under the American officers great
changes were brought about, sanitary conditions were
much improved, good roads were constructed, foreign
debts paid, and more money turned over to the Domi-
nican treasury for domestic uses than in many years
before. So the American occupation, while very dis-
pleasing to the Dominicans, causing much friction
and discontent, was not without its compensations.
The marines, however, are soon to be withdrawn, new
officers having been recently chosen at a popular
election, who have already assumed control of govern-
mental affairs. With improved conditions and self-
government restored it is believed a new day of hope
for the Republic has dawned. |

However that may be, this is the country that is
now being invaded for the first time by missionary
forces with any thing like a comprehensive plan of
evangelization and social uplift. This work is proceed-
ing hopefully under the auspices of an interdenomina-
tional Board for Christian Work in Santo Domingo,
which was formally organized December 17, 1920, the
Board being made up of members representing the
Board of Home Missions and Church Extension of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Woman’s Home
Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian
Church, the Woman’s Board of Home Missions of. the

Presbyterian Church, and the Foreign Missionary
Society of the Church of the United Brethren in
Christ. This Board at the beginning had only its call
to this field, with no detailed program, neither work-
ers, buildings nor equipment. But with the spirit of
service it was soon able to launch a definite plan of
work in virgin territory.

Of this beginning an official representive of this
Board says: “The Board will always be under debt to
the Foreign Missionary Society of the United Brethren
in Christ that in this emergency it released from his
work in Porto Rico the Rev. Philo W. Drury that he
might go to Santo Domingo and initiate the work.
Under his guidance the work at once took shape and
so rapidly did it develop that at the end of two years
it is not easy accurately to place a chronology of the
growth. |

“The capital city, Santo Domingo, was chosen as
the first station. No building for work or residence
could be rented, so one of the first formal acts of the
Board was authorization of the purchase of a build-
ing on the corner of Mercedes ond Nineteenth of
March streets. Gathering into the building some
temporary equipment Dr. Drury began a Sunday
school and held evangelistic services. Immediate
interest was shown by the people and it became appar-
ent that the way was open for a sympathetic
hearing. Three denominations at once made arrange-
ments by which each released one Porto Rican pastor
for work in Santo Domingo. Because they are also
Spanish-speaking these men were instantly helpful
and they were at once located one at the capital, one
at San Pedro de Macoris, a town about thirty miles
east of Santo Domingo City, and one at La Romana,
twenty miles farther east. A member of the Board
who visited Santo Domingo wrote of these workers,
It looked as though the Porto Rican church had given

of her very choicest young men for this great cause!’
These pastors are meeting with great success in their
church work.”

This is a brief record of beginnings. The prop-
erty purchased was centrally located and cost $50,000.
The large building was well suited to be the mis-
sionary headquarters, and at the same time well adapt-
ed for immediate mission purposes. Three years
have now elapsed since this work began. What are
some of the tangible results?

There are now four well organized churches, three
of them in cities named above, and the fourth at San
Cristobal, twenty miles from the capital, that is being
served by a Dominican pastor, one of the early con-
verts in the Santo Domingo church. These
churches have well organized Sunday schools, young
people’s societies, boys’ and girls’ clubs, women’s
organizations, etc., with large classes of converts who
are in training for church membership. The number
of communicant members is now about five hundred,
with nearly six hundred enrolled in the Sunday schools.
Pastors and others are also giving the gospel to the
people of adjacent villages and in rural places where
it is eagerly received, and calls are steadily coming
from many other places for the same good message.
Work, however, at the present time cannot be very
much extended for the lack of workers. Five young
men who are expected to join the forces there are
now in schools in Porto Rico in training for the minis-
try. Almost unlimited expansion would be possible
if money were available for the support of trained
workers and for the building of churches and chapels.

On the first Sunday in February, 1924, a new
church of modern design and of concrete construction,
the first to be built under the auspices of this mission,
was dedicated. The impressive service was in charge
of the Rev. S. G. Inman, the executive secretary of

the Board for Christian Work in Santo Domingo, who
also made an address giving an appreciation of the
building and its uses. The dedicatory sermon was
preached by Bishop Francis J. McConnell, of the Meth-
odist church. Both speakers were members of
the deputation inspecting and reviewing the achieve-
ments of this cooperative undertaking and in planning
for its future development. This building is within
the mission compound in Santo Domingo City and
cost $15,000, increasing the value of the entire plant
to above $65,000.

A bookstore has been established in the mission
building and is having a good patronage. This, and
the building itself, so prominently located in the city,
are making a very favorable impression for the impor-
tant work for which they are set apart.

Soon after evangelistic work there was inaugurat-
ed the Evangelical Hospital was opened. This has
twice outgrown the temporary buildings first occupied,
rendering necessary larger accommodations. Recently
a large business house, centrally located, was secured
at a rental of $300 a month. While lacking some
appointments necessary for a modern hospital it is
nevertheless fairly well adapted to up-to-date hospital
purposes. In it are wards for both men and women,
private rooms for individuals desiring them, rooms
for daily clinics, a baby clinic room, dispensary, nurses’
quarters, etc. Dr. Horace R. Taylor is the superin-
tending physician and surgeon, and is thoroughly
consecrated to the holy ministry of giving healing
and comfort to the sick and suffering. The institution
has a farmacist, three American graduate nurses, and
eight native nurses in training.

The report of the superintendent shows the
number of hospital patients increasing and the minis-
try of the institution extending to other cities largely
destitute of medical help and care.

The general superintendent of all this varied up-
lift work is the Rev. N. H. Huffman, D. D. Heis a
missionary with a tried and noble record. His
experience as a worker in mission fields, beginning
with his valuable service in connection with mission
work in Porto Rico, embraces a period of twenty-five
fruitful years. He knows the Spanish language and
uses it with the readiness and skill of one to the
manor born. He knows the Latin American people,
with their racial temperament and customs, and has a
spiritual endowment in sincerity and consecration
which gives him ready access to their confidence and
esteem. He represents the United Brethren in the
Dominican Evangelical Church, and is supported by
our Foreign Mission Board.

After visiting all the stations in this field two
or more times, and having come into close contact
with both pastors and people I can but record my
favorable impressions of what I witnessed with my
eyes and what I felt in my heart. The results of
three years of aggressive missionary activity, with
a clearly outlined program, in this long neglected field,
are most stimulating to faith in the power of the
gospel to transform and uplift human life, and thus
to make it a priceless asset in instead of a menacing
lability.

santo Domingo is the next door neighbor of Porto
Rico and for its new spiritual opportunities and
awakening it is essentially indebted to the influence of
our Porto Rican leaders and churches. Porto Rico is
preeminently the foster mother of the new evangelism
born in the Island Republic. Or, changing the figure,
by its Torch a fire has been kindled, the light of
which, please God, shall never go out.

“Jehovah reigneth; let the earth rejoice;
Let the multitudes of isles be glad.”
The brief summary of facts connected with the

beginning and progress of cooperative mission work
in Santo Domingo, something quite new in modern
church history, should not be closed without the tes-
timony and endorsement of Bishop McConnell, to
whom a previous reference has been made. Ina letter
to the Christian Advocate, entitled, “A Glimpse at
Santo Domingo,” among other things he says:

“The brightest light in the picture comes from
the work of the missionaries, and the responsiveness
of the people. About the time the United States
seized Santo Domingo the various Home Mission
boards in this country got together in a plan for
cooperation in the island. No one board could put
in enough money to carry on a separate denomination-
al enterprise. The Methodist boards give as much as
any, I think, and our share is not over $20,000 a year.
By throwing our resources together and by laying
stress on self-support, we are doing an excellent hos-
pital and dispensary service in Santo Domingo City,
and are carrying forward effective evangelistic effort
in four of the chief cities of the island. I have never
seen so much done with so little money. The success is
due to the fine spirit of the cooperating boards and to
the type of leaders we have secured, both Americans
and Dominicans. I cannot express too strongly my
admiration and gratitude to Dr. W. L. McDowell, of
our Home Board, for the way he has stood for the

Dominican enterprise........ When the Dominican
joins our church he joins the Evangelical Church of
PANLOmUOUINGD Hela aL. As far as I can see, the

Dominican Christians are praying and testifying
without having discovered our denominational dif-
HELENCES.)4,'s\ 2 54 /)'e It was a joy to me to think of
belonging to a Methodism which can so put the merely
denominational in the secondary place as our workers
have done in Santo Domingo. I was proud of the
way our Home Board has stood for the plans of the

Committee on Christian Work in Santo Domingo.”

Others present and representing the several mis-
sion boards at the conference in Santo Domingo freely
shared in the same joy and pride of Bishop McConnell
when they saw the fine fruitage of this newly begun
cooperative work without the introduction of denomi-
national names and peculiarities, which are wholly
non-essential to Christian life and character. When
they saw these things, like the great Apostle to the
Gentiles, who, on his way to Rome was met by accredit-
ed “‘brethren,” they “thanked God and took courage.”

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE WEST INDIES.

As has been previously stated the mission
work in Porto Rico and Santo Domingo is so inter-
related that the history of one must in some measure
include the other. A review of the progress and
achievements in one island must also include the
others. It is for this obvious reason that an article
written by Dr. Philo W. Drury, who has spent twenty-
three years as a missionary in Porto Rico including
the few months spent in Santo Domingo initiating
and organizing the Union work there, is included in
this publication. While some facts mentioned by him,
which have previously been given, may cause some
duplication of certain features, they appear here with-
out change in his own setting, in the light of his wide
knowledge and varied missionary experience, covering
almost the entire period of which he writes.

In the article referred to above, which appeared
in “The Religious Telescope” under date of January
26, 1924, Dr. Drury says:

Twenty-five years is a comparatively short
period, yet it embraces the larger part of a generation, —
and when during that period the forces that make for
greatness and goodness are brought to bear upon indi-

vidual and social life a quarter of a century is replete
with deep significance. Twenty-five years have
passed since the Spanish-American war occurred which
brought about the liberation of Cuba from Spanish
cruelty and the annexation of Porto Rico. The change
of sovereignty opened up to these islands new op-
portunities, and these in turn have brought a new life
to the people.

The introduction of American institutions into
these islands has wrought a wonderful transformation.
Monarchy has been replaced by a republican form of
government. Illiteracy is yielding gradually to the
advancing forces of education. The oppressive and
superstitious rule of the Roman Catholic church is
being shattered as the evangelical forces continue to
fulfill their glorious mission. Progress is noted every-
where—materially, intellectually, morally, and spirit-
ually, socially as well as individually. Strong opposing
forces are met at every turn, but they vainly attempt
to stem the tide.

For more than twenty-two years the writer has
resided in Porto Rico and it has been his rare privilege
to observe at close hand some of the changes that
have take place, and it is chiefly to this Island that
reference will be made.

When the occupation forces of the United States
landed here, Porto Rico was necessarily a Roman
Catholic country, for here that church ruled to the
exclusion of all other churches and religions. The
Bible then was a closed book. There was but one
Protestant church in the Island, which had the distinc-
tion of being the only one in Spanish territory, and it
was here as a special favor to English subjects granted
during the short-lived Spanish republic. Services
were to be conducted only in English, and the use of
the church bell was prohibited. The public schools
at that time were largely under the control of the

Catholic clergy, the enrollment being about 20,000.
Certianly, the conditions were such as to invite the
entrance of Christian forces under a constructive pro-
gram. They were prompt to respond, and consequent-
ly very real transformations have been effected. More
than 200,000 children are now in the public schools,
which furnish standard courses of study through the
high school, and limited opportunities to normal,
college, and professional students. Churches with
good material equipment are to be found in most of
the towns of the Island, while in many country dis-
tricts chapels are to be found, sometimes crowning
the very summits of the mountains. Who can calcu-
late the beneficient results of the intensive work of
these two institutions for twenty-five years!
Oftentimes the church and the day school under
its care were fore-runners of the public schools in
the country districts. Day schools and kindergartens
have been directed by the missions in the towns, and
in some cases this work is being carried on at the
present time. Schools for the care of orphans and
the preparation of young people for service have been
established by the missions. The Polytechnic Insti-
tute of Porto Rico and the Blanche Kellogg Insti-
tute are large contributing factors to the formation
of Christian character among the young people. In
addition, there is the Evangelical Seminary of Porto
Rico, an institution for the preparation of ministers
in which seven denominations cooperate, located im-
mediately in front of the University of Porto Rico.
It is one of the large factors in the development of
the work. The aim is to afford the very best prepara-
tion to the prospective ministers. A high school
course is required of all students who are candidates
for graduation and we are gradually working toward
an A. B. degree requirement. At the present time,
there are young men from Venezuela and Santo Do-

mingo being prepared in the seminary, there being a
total of thirty-eight in preparation. The fact that
the seminary students take courses in the University
of Porto Rico, where they must measure up to other
young people who are preparing themselves for other
callings, gives a new prestige to the Christian ministry
in Porto Rico.

Three of the best hospitals on the Island were
founded early in the history of the work under the
direction of Protestant missions, and through them
and their dispensaries their healing ministry has
been rendered to multiplied thousands.

A union paper is maintained by seven of the
Protestant denominations, the same which cooperate
in the Evangelical Seminary. It represents the united
forces of Protestantism, and speaks with authority
in their name. This is published at the union printing
plant, which has in connection with it the union book-
store.

In the activities of the Protestant churches in the
island, it is impossible to divide the work into denomi-
national sections and at the same time do justice to
the work. In matters of social and moral reform, the
churches act as one body, as was clearly evidenced in
the prohibition campaign and the social purity move-
ment, their influence being far in excess of their
numerical strength. The churches are so closely
united in cooperative work that oftentimes enterprises
sustained by denominational agencies are considered
as interdenominational. Thus one denomination will
meet one need, another one a second need, and so on,
so that, with the contribution made by each, a well-
correlated plan of activity is pushed forward with
vigor.

The medium of cooperation is the Evangelical
Union of Porto Rico, which was organized in 1916,
supplanting a somewhat looser form of cooperation

such as obtained through the Federation of the Evan-
gelical Churches of Porto Rico. Whenever this
organization asserts itself, it does so in the name of
the Protestant churches of the Island.

One of the agencies that operate under the direc-
tion of the Evangelical Union of Porto Rico is
the summer conference held annually on the grounds
of the Polytechnic Institute. Last year, 200 workers
from all denominations came together for a week,
leaving aside all differences that exist among them,
fellowshiping in a most fraternal spirit and studying
the problems common to all in the work. There can
be no more delightful occasion than the summer con-
ference, which has been so successful for the past
four summers. ;

The latest statistics of the churches which
compose the Evangelical Union give the following
interesting information: Number of ministers and
preachers, 282; number of preaching places, 488;
number of organized churches, 199; number of
members, 12,377; number of Sunday schools, 373;
enrollment in the Sunday schools, 24,717; number of
young people’s societies, 129; number of members in
these societies, 6,150; number of church edifices, 179;
other buildings, 74; contributed by the churches for
all purposes in 1922, $55,221; total valuation of prop-
erty, $1,798,600.

In addition to the churches included in the Evan-
gelical Union are three denominations which have
work in the Island. Taking into consideration their
statistics, there are about 14,000 communicants in
the Island, the total valuation of all properties is
in excess of $2,000,000, and the total amount contribut-
ed for all purposes in 1922 was $66,474.

The churches have likewise been active in the
promotion of missionary enterprises. About fifty
chapels have been built in the Island with funds

contributed by the churches, and also some workers
have been supported. But the outreach of the work
has been greater. The neighboring island of Santo
Domingo, lying in the midst of deep spiritual dark-
ness, has constituted for the Porto Rican churches a
Macedonian call which has not been unheeded. Its
claim was presented boldly and persistently. For some
time the churches maintained a small work there and
met all of the expenses incident to its work. The
presentation of the claims of this field, together with
the work that actually was being carried on, constitut-
ed a call to the missionary agencies of the United
States, and later on an interdenominational board,
known as “The Board for Christian Work in Santo
Domingo,” was organized and assumed all respons-
ibility for that field; but the Porto Rican churches
gladly continue to contribute to the support of
the work. In addition, the churches of Porto Rico
have released three of their best workers, ordained
ministers, for service in Santo Domingo. Thus Porto
Rico, although receiving help from mission boards,
has imbibed the same spirit that prompted the mis-
sionary activities in Porto Rico twenty-five years ago,
and has become a factor in the great missionary enter-
prise of the Church of Christ. Does not this
recognition and assumption of responsibility yield
encouragement to those who have invested their en-
ergies and their money in this field?

The Porto Rican churches now are observing the
twenty-fifth anniversary of the beginning of the evan-
gelical work in the Island. As a part of this
celebration, a special number of “Puerto Rico Evange-
lico” was issued on November 10. In its 52 pages
was presented a history of the work, as well as the
different phases of present-day activities. Then, in
connection with the annual meeting of the Evangelical
Union, which was held in Ponce in November, a

pageant was given with a view to presenting graph-
ically to the public the development of the work
with its many-sided activities. It was a revelation
as to what is being accomplished throughout the is-
land, and furthermore a prophecy as to the results
that rightly may be expected.

Who can place a just estimate upon the blessings
broadcasted by the Protestant churches in this Island
for twenty-five years? Statistics fail to register the
benediction received by the heart, the joy carried into
the home, the life-giving impulses transmitted to
society; but the blessing is there, and eternity alone
will reveal the results of Porto Rico’s first twenty-five
years under the influence of Jesus Christ.

Porto Rico, where two Civilizations meet, the Saxon
and the Latin.

“And a highway shall be there, and a way........ and the
ransomed of Jehovah shall return, and come with singing unto
Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shail
obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee
away.”

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Princeton ical Seminary—Speer Library