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 PANAMA 
 
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 THE BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS OF THE 
 
 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE U. S. A. 
 
 156 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 
 
 August, 191 6 
 
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 Panama to Parana 
 
 By ../ 
 Abram Woodruff Halsey 
 and, 
 George H. Trull 
 
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 <ijH\tt<\ t 
 
 Entering the Locks, Panama Canal 
 
 Presbyterian Foreign Board 
 1916 
 
 §]fa[5p[5T ra[5na[5ua[5Tra[5 Tia[5 na 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Panama to Lima 6 
 
 Lima to Santiago 22 
 
 Santiago to Buenos Aires 43 
 
 Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro 56 
 
 Rio de Janeiro to Curityba, Parana 59 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 HE Congress on Christian Work in Latin 
 America closed its sessions at Panama 
 February iqth, iqi6. In many respects 
 it was one of the most remarkable relig- 
 ious gatherings of the present genera- 
 tion. For ten days three hundred 
 representatives from all the Americas, 
 a few from abroad, gave undivided attention to the study 
 of religious problems affecting Latin America. The spirit 
 of unity and harmony characterized all the proceedings. 
 In the vast amount of information imparted, in the zeal, 
 earnestness and consecration manifested by all who had 
 part in the proceedings, and in the breadth of its plans for 
 Christian work in Latin America, the Panama Congress 
 marks an era in the history of evangelical Christianity. 
 
 If the Panama Canal represents one of the greatest 
 mechanical achievements of the age, the Panama Congress 
 stands for a great moral achievement. 
 
 A series of Regional Congresses held at strategic centers in 
 Latin America followed the Congress at Panama. The 
 design was to carry into the Congresses the spirit and 
 information of Panama, and to study local conditions and 
 needs, with a view to a great forward co-operative evan- 
 gelical movement for all Latin America. A deputation, 
 representative of the Panama Congress, was appointed to 
 hold these Regional Congresses at Lima, Peru; Santiago, 
 Chile; Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 
 The last of the four Congresses, held at Rio de Janeiro, 
 
closed its sessions on Tuesday, April i8th. The majority of 
 the deputation left that afternoon for New York, but 
 representatives of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign 
 Missions spent two weeks in visiting the mission work of 
 the Board in the States of Sao Paulo and Parana. A full 
 report of the four Regional Congresses will be published by 
 the Committee on Co-operation on Christian Work in Latin 
 America. This pamphlet, "Panama to Parana," is designed 
 to give a bird's-eye view of things seen by the way on this 
 memorable visit, with special reference to the mission work 
 of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions as carried 
 on in the Republics of Chile and Brazil. 
 
Children on 
 the streets of 
 Panama 
 
 Capturing an 
 escaped pig in the 
 market, Panama 
 
 Panama Lot- 
 tery, located in 
 a section of the 
 Roman Catholic 
 Archbishop's pal- 
 ace, Panama 
 
PANAMA TO LIMA 
 
 ^HE deputation left Balboa, the Pacific coast port 
 of Panama, on Monday, February 21st, and reached 
 Callao, the port of Lima, Tuesday, February iqth. 
 On the third day from Panama, the first stop was 
 made at Guayaquil, Ecuador. This is a city of 
 75,000 inhabitants. Ecuador seems a small place on 
 the map, but it is twice as large as the State of Illinois. 
 
 The city of Guayaquil^ as seen from the deck of a steamer is not 
 of special interest. While we were at anchor in the harbor the Rev. 
 W. E. Reed, an independent missionary who has spent seventeen 
 years in Ecuador, boarded the steamer and gave a most illuminating 
 account of mission work in that Republic. For many years the 
 Gospel was not allowed to enter. In i8qo, a colporteur of the British 
 and Foreign Bible Society was driven out of the country and told 
 that as long as Chimborazo (the great mountain of Ecuador) stands, 
 the Roman Catholic Church would not permit the Bible to be circu- 
 lated in Ecuador. Five years later, at a Bible School in Nebraska, 
 a group of Christians were gathered in a prayer meeting making 
 special request for a new door to be opened for mission activity in 
 Latin America. Ecuador was the door opened. Some twenty-five 
 missionaries have been sent out, only a handful of whom remain. 
 The population of 1,200,000 is largely Indian. Few Indians speak 
 Spanish and their native language is difficult to acquire. The majority 
 live, as did their fathers, in rude huts under physical and moral con- 
 ditions that render mission work most trying, yet the people are 
 receptive and a great door and effectual is opened. "If I had a 
 teacher," said Mr. Reed, "I could open a school tomorrow with forty 
 pupils." Ecuador is a needy and neglected part of Latin America. 
 Thus far the work carried on has been of the most primitive character, 
 almost entirely evangelistic and very little educational. No delegates 
 from Ecuador attended any of the Regional Conferences. The field 
 is an inviting one for missionaries with a stout heart. The story of 
 the heroic labors, especially of some godly women living in the midst 
 of wild Indian tribes, and patiently endeavoring to lead them to a 
 larger life, is one of the romances of missionary history with which 
 the Christian Church is but little acquainted. 
 
 NOTE — The numbers in the text refer to illustrations numbered to correspond. 
 
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 *« .im 
 
 •^'•«i-^-:a;3 
 
 I — Guayaquil, Ecuador 
 
 2 — Paita, Peru 
 7 
 
Our next port beyond Guayaquil was Paita.^ We saw numerous 
 oil wells and were told that for nineteen years the town had had but 
 one rainstorm. The Mayor of this town boarded our steamer. 
 He came with a purpose. The Principal of the Instituto Ingles,* 
 the Presbyterian school at Santiago, Chile, was a member of the 
 deputation. The Mayor had been educated at the Instituto. In 
 addition to holding the office of Mayor he was head of the Department 
 of Instruction for all North Peru. He spoke English well. We 
 met the graduates of the Instituto also at Iquique, at Arica, and 
 in other places throughout our long journey. They were able men, 
 occupying positions of influence and usefulness, although few of 
 them have ever made an open confession of Evangelical Christianity. 
 The indirect results of mission work as seen in the graduates of the 
 Instituto Ingles cannot be tabulated in any ordinary table of statistics. 
 As we looked into the face of this young man, the Mayor of Paita, 
 who twelve years before had been graduated from the Instituto Ingles, 
 we recognized the place which such institutions have in mission 
 activities throughout the world. 
 
 Deck passengers now began to board the steamer at every port. 
 At Pacasmayo small boats crowded around the steamer bringing 
 vegetables, chickens, cattle, sheep and merchandise of all sorts. 
 Cattle were hauled into the ship by bands fastened around their 
 body, or in some cases by chains fastened to their horns. Passengers 
 were brought in by the "mammy" chair.* Great skill was shown in 
 landing goods on the steamer, albeit two bags of brown sugar out of 
 four thousand fell into the water the day we were at Salaverry, and 
 at Callao the mail bags took a plunge, rendering many of our letters 
 indecipherable. On the other hand, a sick man on a couch^ was 
 safely lifted from a small boat to the deck of the steamer without 
 any apparent discomfort. 
 
 The Indian population is very large in Peru, as in most of the 
 Republics. It is estimated that at least fifty per cent of the population 
 of over 6,000,000 are pure Indians, and at least half of the remainder 
 have Indian blood. The workmen, as we saw them, from place to 
 place, seemed industrious, good natured, energetic, but cleanliness 
 did not enter into their list of virtues. The aft deck was a sight to 
 behold.'' It was strewn with orange peels, banana skins, dirt every- 
 where abounding. In one corner a mattress was spread out on which 
 were sitting four Peruvian women, whose garments were not very 
 clean, a sewing machine, a box with live chickens, a number of bundles 
 of various sizes, contents unknown, and miscellaneous articles spread 
 out everywhere. Long before we reached the shores of Peru we 
 realized that the mass of the people were still poor, ignorant, illiterate 
 and lived in most primitive ways. It must not be forgotten, however, 
 
4 — Boarding the steamer in a rough sea, west coast 
 
 5 — Sick man being taken on board in a rough sea, west coast 
 
 10 
 
that there is an educated element and that the people naturally are 
 polite, courteous and generous to a fault. 
 
 The harbor at Callao is spacious and attractive. Great ships lay at 
 anchor as we entered, many of them interned on account of the 
 war. It was interesting to see a raft made of bamboo poles, lashed 
 together by vines, and loaded with fish, and near it an up-to-date 
 spruce naphtha launch, beautifully upholstered and occupied by well 
 dressed Peruvian ladies and gentlemen. The one craft belonged 
 to the si.xteenth century, the other to the twentieth, and this fittingly 
 portrays the contrasts in the Peru of today. There is much reminding 
 one of the past, and many features indicating progress. 
 
 It is a short and pleasant ride by trolley or railroad from Callao to 
 Lima. The first sign that attracted our eye after alighting from the 
 train at the station at Lima was one on which was the legend 
 "American Saloon."" 
 
 Lima was a strategic center in which to hold the Regional Congress. 
 To see Lima is to see Peru.'* It has all the elements of the Peruvian 
 civilization. Here you meet the cultured, refined Peruvian gentle- 
 man, and you see also the poor native in his homespun suit, riding 
 in a cart drawn by bullocks that belonged to a past age. You see 
 milk being served from cans swung over a horse. One of the most 
 delightful hours at Lima we spent in the home of the Rector of the 
 University, whose treasures of art, and especially of the magnificent 
 hand work of the old Incan civilization, are probably the finest in all 
 the world. As we left his house on one of the busy streets, a girl 
 not eleven years of age urged us to buy lottery tickets. One member 
 of our party was asked twenty-two times, within the space of fifteen 
 minutes, to purchase lottery tickets." Most of those who sold the 
 tickets were either old men or little children. 
 
 The local Committee, in much fear and trembling, had arranged 
 for an evening mass meeting in one of the theatres in the city. No 
 such gathering of Evangelicals had ever before been held in this 
 "City of the Kings." It was not until November, 1915, that the 
 law granting religious liberty had been passed in the national Congress 
 and this only with the bitterest opposition. Echoes of that fight 
 were still heard in the streets of Lima during that first week in March 
 when our Congress held its session. The theatre meeting was a 
 great success.^" "The large auditorium was crowded. The addresses, 
 in Portuguese and Spanish, were listened to with breathless interest, 
 and applause followed every statement of the speakers who plead for 
 toleration, education of the masses, religious liberty and character 
 based on the teachings of Jesus Christ. Every appeal for the preach- 
 ing of a pure Gospel and the developing of a pure national life 
 in Peru was received with tremendous enthusiasm. It was a unique 
 
 11 
 
6 — Game of cards on steamer deck, Sunday morning, west coast 
 
 7 — The first sign seen in Lima, Peru, after leaving the railroad station to enter the city 
 
 12 
 
8 — View of public square and mountains, Lima, Peru 
 
 q — Child selling lottery tickets at cathedral steps, Lima, Peru 
 
 13 
 
event in the history of Lima. The photograph of the Lima Congress 
 was taken on a historic spot on the steps of the present Senate 
 House, formerly used as the Hall of the Inquisition/* Behind its 
 portals scores of persons had been condemned to death. In Lima 
 alone i8q heretics were burned at the stake. Facing the Senate 
 House is the Plaza of the Inquisition, where possibly some of these 
 executions took place, though others were said to have been held 
 on the main plaza of the city in front of the Cathedral. The religious 
 problems confronting the Congress at Lima were many. Illiteracy, 
 ignorance and illegitimacy are dominant. At least one and a half 
 million Indians know no Spanish and can only be reached through 
 their own language, a tongue difficult to acquire, and practically 
 without grammar or literature. The work is from the bottom up. 
 There are a variety of dialects, and, while related each to the other, 
 yet there are essential differences requiring close study. Even the 
 Indians who know the Spanish have only the most meagre knowl- 
 edge of that language, and it is practically impossible to impart 
 much instruction to them in the Spanish tongue. All the missionaries 
 who are doing any effective work must learn at least two languages in 
 order to reach the people. There are, however, some hopeful signs. 
 Religious toleration has been finally granted in Peru as in other Latin 
 American Republics. In one of the reports presented to the Congress 
 was the following statement: — 
 
 "Religious liberty is of course very much more ample than mere 
 liberty of worship. The Constitution prohibited the public exercise 
 of any non-Roman worship. This prohibition was removed by Act 
 of Congress in November, iqi5. But on the other hand, a man in 
 official position cannot identify himself with the Evangelical move- 
 ment. These men allege that such a step would close all doors to 
 promotion and posts of honor. All the institutions of public benef- 
 icence are run by nuns, and even where entirely maintained by 
 public funds the Evangelical cannot get the benefit of their services. 
 In many places there is no provision for the burial of the non-Romanist, 
 and there is record of a recent case in which the Cura (priest) insisted 
 on the corpse being thrown into the river. He did not have his 
 way, but this was due to the fortunate chance-visit of a gentleman 
 of position who takes a keen interest in that particular village. The 
 School-code includes, by special government decree, obligatory in- 
 struction in Romanism, and the teacher is obliged to accompany the 
 children to church. In neither case is there any allowance made for 
 conscientious objection, while in practice this obligation is frequently 
 extended by those in charge of schools, compelling the children to 
 go to Confessional and Communion with their class." 
 
 However, conditions are very much improved over what they were 
 
 16 
 
a few years ago. One of the members of the Lima Conference was 
 the Rev. Francisco Penzotti, the story of whose heroic suffering 
 should be known by all who are interested in the progress of the 
 Gospel in Latin America.* For holding Evangelical services in the 
 city of Callao he was thrown into a foul dungeon where he was kept 
 for nine months. His case was carried up through every court before 
 a decision, given under pressure, set him free. Twenty years ago 
 Bibles were contraband merchandise in the Custom House of Peru. 
 Today we may preach the Gospel freely, and the Scriptures are 
 now sold publicly wherever the colporteur cares to travel. 
 
 Public opinion has also been modified. The influence of the 
 missionary's personal life, the evangelical schools, and the splendid 
 self-denying work of the staff of trained nurses in the Evangelical 
 Union of South America stations in the interior, have gradually brought 
 home a truer notion of what the Evangelical movement really stands 
 for. The public mind is also much better informed. In addition to 
 the influences just mentioned, the stream of Evangelical publications 
 and thousands of copies of Holy Scripture being perused by the people, 
 have spread abroad a clearer idea of our doctrines, have awakened 
 many to the Gospel truth, and very many more to a sympathy with 
 the movement. 
 
 Roman Catholic churches abound in Lima, there are more than 
 seventy of them. But we saw few worshippers. The dominant 
 Church has large wealth, social power, and political influence, but so 
 far as could be learned from our short stay its moral influence is 
 small. The writer of these lines was in the home of a worthy 
 citizen of Lima whose boys are attending the Presbyterian School 
 in the City of Santiago. This man said, "I am glad to have my 
 boys in the Santiago School. They are making men of them. In 
 Peru our schools fail to make men."'^ ^^ '° 
 
 In the report presented to the Congress at Santiago a statement 
 is^made that the ex-Rector of the University, speaking of the uni- 
 versity and the liceos (high schools) once said, "We turn out good 
 scholars, but for some reason we do not turn out good citizens." 
 
 The Evangelical mission work in Peru is small compared to the vast 
 establishments of the dominant church, but its effect is apparent on 
 every side. The entire evangelical force in all Peru is most inadequate 
 to meet the pressing demands made upon it. 
 
 There are twelve departments in Peru, averaging each about the 
 area of Holland, which are entirely unoccupied by any evangelical 
 agents. The total staff of the several missions giving their time mainly 
 to evangelistic and pastoral work, including men and women, is 
 nineteen married couples, two single men, and eight single women. In 
 
 *Sce pamphlet pviblishcd by the .American Bible Society. 
 
 18 
 
13 — Cathedral at 
 Lima, Peru 
 
 15 — Native horre 
 near Chosica, 
 Peru. Note the 
 cracks in the mud 
 walls 
 
 19 
 
addition there are three married foreign missionaries, devoting 
 themselves entirely to the school work, and to the Bible Society. 
 Even when the native force, which is small, is added, the inadequacy 
 of the missionary to the task is glaringly apparent. There are 
 not ten organized Protestant churches in the whole country. The 
 Methodist Church has developed some excellent schools and the 
 Evangelical Union has a flourishing industrial mission at Cuzco. 
 Their extensive farm school in the midst of a numerous Indian popu- 
 lation is helping to solve a proplem that is not peculiar to Peru, but to 
 a greater or less extent affects all of South America. But when you 
 enumerate every agency and every type of Christian activity, it 
 seems insignificant to meet a needy population of 6,000,000 people. 
 The missionary bodies at work in Peru are the Evangelical Union 
 of South America, the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Seventh 
 Day Adventists, the Salvation Army and the British and Foreign 
 Bible Society. Of the total foreign staff, a large number are in Lima 
 and Callao, the vast provinces outside being left to a small number 
 of workers. The door is open. Much religious literature is being 
 distributed. Several papers are published by the various missionary 
 bodies. Tracts and Bibles are freely sold and distributed. Public 
 opinion favors the evangelical missionary more than at any time 
 during the last fifteen years. A clear idea of the situation can be 
 seen from some of the findings adopted by the Lima Congress, after 
 four days of most earnest discussion of the several problems involved, 
 by men who have given their lives to the work of evangelizing Peru. 
 The unoccupied area of Peru, as already intimated, is very large. 
 The northern half of the Republic, with a population of more than 
 2,000,000 people, is entirely unoccupied, save for a few sporadic 
 efforts along the coast, and in the other half of the Republic there 
 are many points as yet untouched. 
 
 The harvest is plenteous but the laborers are few. In the museum 
 at Lima are many objects of historical interest and of artistic merit. 
 Two especially interested us, the wooden cross brought by Pizarro 
 and implanted by the hands of this doughty warrior in the soil of Peru 
 and the noble painting, "The Last of the Incas," in which the artist 
 represents the priest as holding a cross before the eyes of the dying 
 Inca Chieftain. It was toward evening as we passed out of the museum 
 with the vision of these two crosses vividly impressed on our minds. 
 Crosses abound everywhere in Lima and Peru, but the toiling millions 
 in the land once ruled by the Incas are worshipping a dead Saviour, 
 .and are looking in vain for the Living Christ. 
 
 20 
 
Indian women 
 on horseback, 
 Lima, Peru 
 
 Street mer- 
 chant on burro, 
 Lima, Peru 
 
 21 
 
LIMA TO SANTIAGO 
 
 ■^HE Chilian steamer "Aysen" brought us in safety 
 and comfort from Callao to Valparaiso, the seaport 
 of Santiago, in seven days. We left on March 
 8th and arrived on the 15 th. Few stops were 
 ] made by the way. The second morning we arrived 
 at MoUendo, a busy place, second only to Callao 
 in commerce, although a much inferior city in other ways. Here 
 a number of our missionaries, who had been present at the Panama 
 Congress, left us for their stations in Bolivia. 
 
 Boliva is spoken of as the "Tibet of South America." It is the 
 hermit land, shut in by great mountain peaks and together with 
 Paraguay is the only country of South America without a seacoast. 
 La Paz, the capital, is a city in the clouds, with an elevation twice 
 that of Denver, and yet at this height of two miles it is only half 
 way up the Cordilleras, whose highest peak, Aconcagua, is 22,858 
 feet high. 
 
 Bolivia, because of its isolation, is one of the backward countries 
 where the Roman Catholic Church has long held sway. It was 
 not until 1Q05 that religious liberty was granted, and civil marriage 
 not recognized until IQ12. Recently the State has taken over some 
 of the vast church property. A Sunday rest law has been recently 
 promulgated. There are about two and one-half million inhabitants, 
 one-tenth of whom belong to the upper class. About one and a 
 half million are Indians and 750,000 mixed. The traditions and 
 customs of the people have been a bar to progress. 
 
 The Canadian Baptists and the Methodists have work in Bolivia, 
 but the force is pitiably small. There are not a dozen Evangelical 
 churches in the whole country. 
 
 The barren hills and the sterile coast all along the west from 
 Panama well typify the moral conditions of these many millions 
 in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. 
 
 Arica* was the first Chilian port at which we were permitted to 
 embark. It was a pleasure to meet a good Methodist brother and 
 to hold service in the little Evangelical church in which he ministers. 
 On the walls of this House of the Lord was this sentence: "We have 
 one Master, even Christ, and all we are brethren." This was well 
 
16 — Gathering out- 
 side the Metho- 
 distChurchwhere 
 service was held, 
 Arica, Chile 
 
 18 — Boy carrying 
 water in Stand- 
 ard Oil tins, 
 Arica, Chile 
 
 23 
 
illustrated in the deputation that held service that afternoon. There 
 were present a Methodist Bishop, a President of a Disciples College, 
 a Congregational minister, two secretaries of the Presbyterian Board 
 of Foreign Missions, and a group of godly men and women representing 
 a number of different denominations. 
 
 The next important port south of Arica'* is Iquique, one of the cities 
 whose wealth has been derived from the nitrate industry. At Iquique 
 we visited the fine school carried on by the Methodist Church, and 
 were interested to note that among the students, in addition to 
 Chilians, there were Japanese and Chinese lads. At an early morning 
 hour the church was crowded with a group of eager worshippers, 
 ready to welcome the members of the delegation and to listen to the 
 word of God. 
 
 The Chilian seemed more alert than the Peruvian. Everything 
 indicated an aggressive and energetic people. The limited stay of 
 the vessel did not permit us to inspect the splendid work carried 
 on by the Methodist and Presbyterian Churches in this northern 
 section of Chile. There are several centers occupied by the mis- 
 sionary bodies, and here is one of the great open doors in Chile. 
 
 In the north the men who own and administer the great nitrate 
 companies are in thorough sympathy with the work of the missionary, 
 possibly, because of the material advantages which the Gospel affords 
 to their employees. They have aided our missionaries in many 
 ways. The opportunities for work are limited only by lack of workers. 
 
 One's heart goes out to these thousands of men and women and 
 little children who live and work under the appalling conditions in 
 the nitrate district. "After twelve and often eighteen hours of the 
 hardest physical labor, much of it under a broiling tropical sun, 
 in the nitrate pits getting out the raw materials, loading it on cars, 
 feeding the crushers, or tending the boiling vats, the only relaxation 
 the men know is the bar and the gambling den, where they leave the 
 most of their wages. The horrible little huts built of corrugated 
 iron in interminable rows, with only a thin wall to separate families, 
 many of the huts without windows, without ventilation, with the 
 sand of the desert for a floor, without the most primitive sanitary 
 arrangements, scorching under the mid-day sun, chilling in the wintry 
 nights, — what enticement do they afford from the grog-shop']' And 
 how the children swarm; swarthy, half-naked, with no acquaintance 
 with water since they entered the world; these are the fathers and 
 mothers and the citizens of "to-morrow." 
 
 There are groups of believers scattered all through these nitrate 
 fields, and the story of the work being done is one of the romances 
 of missionary life in Latin America. 
 
 "A little o\er a year ago a building was completed at Santa Isabel. 
 
 24 
 
21 — Oxen in front 
 of Union Church, 
 Santiago, Chile. 
 Note the yoke on 
 their heads 
 
 25 
 
A hall was erected for Christian service, and among those who gathered 
 to witness the ceremony was the big Superintendent of machinery. 
 He was head and shoulders over the average Chilian, a man of power- 
 ful build, a good workman when sober, but he spent two-thirds of 
 his time in drunken debauchery, and was the terror of his employer 
 and fellow- workmen. One day a comrade invited him to go to a 
 meeting held by the Evangelical Christians. He had nothing to 
 do and he went. The young girl who presided at the organ played 
 an air which charmed and haunted him. That night the grog-shop 
 and the gambling den lost their best customer. On the night of the 
 dedication the light of heaven shone on his scarred and rugged face 
 as he stood up before his comrades and said, "You fellows know 
 what I was and you know what has changed me. Come and try it, 
 men. Jesus will c'o the same for each of you." It was a source of 
 deep regret that we were not permitted to visit this wonderful field 
 of missionary operation. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church has three organized churches in the north, 
 each with a commodious edifice. They are stationed at Tocopilla. 
 at Taltal and at Copiapo. These churches are centers of activity 
 with preaching, Sunday School, Christian Endeavor, Women's Leagues, 
 Children's Meetings, etc. 
 
 In Valparaiso there is a strong Evangelical work domi- 
 nantly evangelistic and educational. There is the Union Church,'" "^ 
 attended by English-speaking residents and self-supporting. It 
 is located in the busy downtown section and draws its congre- 
 gation from all parts of the city and from the suburbs. There is 
 an Anglican Church, German Lutheran, Methodist and the San 
 Martin Presbyterian,"" "'' which is the center of the Presbyterian 
 work for the district. It is located in a needy and crowded sec- 
 tion of the city and is doing a splendid work among the 
 Chilians. 
 
 In addition to our work in the San Martin Church we have in 
 Valparaiso the splendid "Escuela Popular, '"^ "' which is a day 
 and boarding school. It has elementary and secondary departments. 
 It is training teachers who will conduct other popular schools for 
 needy children in strategic centers. We visited half a dozen of these 
 schools located in and near Valparaiso and were convinced of the 
 abundant opportunity they afford to reach scores of homes with 
 the message of evangelical Christianity. What is the school room on 
 week days becomes the preaching place and Sunday School on Sun- 
 days and thus a large number of people is reached. On the Sunday 
 the writer spent in Valparaiso there was in attendance at our various 
 Presbyterian Sunday Schools about one-tenth of the entire Evangelical 
 Sunday School enrolment for all Chile. The evangelistic note is 
 
 26 
 
22— Primary Department in San Martin Presbyterian Church, Valparaiso, Chile 
 
 23— Sunday School of the San Martin Presbyterian Church, Valparaiso, Chile 
 
 27 
 
24 — Primary Department, "Escuela Popular," Valparaiso, Chile 
 
 25 — Children in playground ot "ti^cucla Popular," Valparaiso, Chile 
 
dominant in all the work that is being carried on by Presbyterians in 
 Valparaiso. 
 
 The Chile Congress was not held in Vaparaiso but in Santiago, 
 the capital of the Republic. Its population of 500,000 is double that 
 of Valparaiso. Santiago is in the Central District, the garden spot 
 of Chile. Agriculture flourishes; there is rain and sufficient water 
 for irrigation where the rain fails; the climate is mild, the soil pro- 
 ductive, flowers bloom and cereals are abundant. From early days 
 it has been the seat of the Government. Here are the universities 
 and the principal institutions of learning. But in all this vast section 
 with 2,700,000 people, or three-fourths of the total population of 
 Chile, there are only 34 organized Evangelical churches. Such a 
 statement carries its own lesson.'*' "' -' 
 
 The Congress at Santiago was unique. At the first meeting echoes 
 from Panama were heard. It was encouraging to see the Union 
 Church crowded to the doors with a group of eager worshippers, 
 who remained deeply interested until nearly eleven o'clock at night, 
 listening to the story of the Panama Congress as told in English, 
 or Spanish or Portuguese, by representatives of the deputation. The 
 meeting the next evening, however, was the event of the Congress. 
 The Committee, with great faith and large vision, had hired one of 
 the finest theatres in all Santiago. It was crowded to the doors. No 
 better idea of the impression produced by this meeting on the non- 
 Evangelical can be given than by the following article: — 
 
 THE ADVANCE OF PROTESTANTISM 
 
 (Translated from "La Union" of Santiago de Chile.) 
 
 "Some of the daily papers gave the notice, recently, of the arrival in 
 the country of certain delegates to the Congress on Christian Work 
 which was recently held in Panama. 
 
 For this reason, there was to be held in a theatre of this city, a 
 great meeting to which all the Evangelicals of Santiago were invited, 
 in order that they might hear the message of these delegates and come 
 to know of the decisions formulated in that great assembly. 
 
 This invitation provoked our curiosity. We had heard mention 
 made of this Protestant sect which our people has christened with 
 the picturesque name of "Canutos. ' ' * 
 
 We had the impression that the Lutheran religion had gained some 
 ground among us, thanks to the persevering labor of the Salvation 
 Army which, under pretence of fighting alcoholism, is carrying forward 
 a formidable propaganda in favor of Protestantism. 
 
 *A11 Protestants in Chile are called "Canutos," the name signifying followers of Canute, one of the best known 
 of the early preachers. 
 
 29 
 
26— Rev.W. H. Les- 
 ter, D. D., and 
 family in their 
 patio (garden), 
 Santiago, Chile 
 
 27— A double- 
 decker trolley in 
 front of the Uni- 
 versity of Chile, 
 Santiago 
 
 i — 1 nterior of 
 Holy Trinity 
 Presbyterian 
 Church, Santi- 
 ago, Chile 
 
 30 
 
In a word, we were convinced, beforehand, that Protestantism, 
 in spite of its exotic character, as regards the mentality, the mode of 
 life and the religious traditions of our people, had gained a few adepts 
 among the Chilians. 
 
 But we never thought that the thing might assume greater propor- 
 tions. In going to the Theatre of the Comedy, we imagined that we 
 would find it more or less filled with foreigners, numerous misses and 
 ladies; a few Chilians more or less curious, like ourselves; a few 
 women of our land, and a very, very few specimens of the male citizens 
 of the native land of O'Higgins and Arthur Prat, who, as is known, 
 are ardent devotees of the Virgin of Carmen. 
 
 Our surprise, therefore, was great when we found the theatre full 
 from the pit to the highest gallery, all the seats occupied by a gather- 
 ing that, it is true was cosmopolitan, but in which the national element 
 predominated. 
 
 On the main floor numerous foreigners were to be seen, both men 
 and women; there were also present a good number of Chilians, and 
 of Chilian women, in particular. The same may be said of the boxes. 
 
 But, when we came to the galleries. There was a complete dearth 
 of foreigners. The Creole element filled them completely. Men 
 and women were crowded together in them, like clusters of grapes, 
 without showing the slightest weariness in that ill-smelling, thick 
 atmosphere. 
 
 One might think that we were to witness the debut of some famous 
 production, and that in anticipation of the coming pleasure no one 
 paid the slightest attention to the inconveniences of the moment. 
 
 Thus the moment came for the opening of the program. The 
 curtains were drawn and the platform came into view occupied by 
 the desk of the president, and behind this groups of ladies and gentlemen 
 who as we afterward saw, formed the chorus of singers. 
 
 In the front row there were a number of gentlemen who wore the 
 high collar and the frock coat which are the characteristic dress of 
 the Protestant pastors, and of the professors in the colleges which 
 the sect has among us. At one extreme of the platform sat Colonel 
 Bonnett, the head of the Salvation Army in Chile, and scattered over 
 the platform were brigadiers, soldiers, and female soldiers of that 
 same army, with their characteristic uniform. 
 
 The program was begun. A gentleman who occupied the place of 
 president and who, we understand, was a bishop, invited us in the 
 Portuguese tongue, to sing a hymn. It should be stated that as the 
 people came in, all received a small booklet full of religious songs. 
 At first we supposed it was a sort of keepsake, such as are given out 
 at concerts, but we were to find out that it had a practical application; 
 the booklets contained just the hymns which were to be sung. In 
 
 31 
 
this way, the audience could accompany the chorus on the platform 
 and the singing soon assumed the character of a general invocation. 
 
 When the hymn was finished, the Bishop President gave us in a 
 few words the object of the meeting. There were present three 
 delegates to the Congress of Panama and they desired to speak to 
 the Chilian Evangelicals. We were to hear three renowned orators, 
 and they would speak to us, respectively, in the language of Shakes- 
 peare, of Camoens, and of Cervantes, since one of them was a North 
 American, another was a Brazilian, and the third an Argentine. 
 
 And immediately he presented the North American, adding that 
 consolatory notice that his discourse would be translated into Spanish 
 by another Reverend. And so it was, the North American orator 
 arose and with great emphasis began his discourse, with a vibrant sal- 
 utation to Panama, in which he dwelt on the great work of the canal and 
 described it as one of the greatest triumphs of human energy and skill. 
 
 He then spoke of the meaning of the Congress in Panama, in con- 
 nection with the religious ideals pursued by Protestantism. There 
 were in that Congress 21 flags, which signified that there were just 
 that same number of peoples who were thirsty for the Gospel. Those 
 flags spoke of liberty, of wealth, of commerce, of power, and yet 
 neither liberty, nor wealth, nor commerce, nor power were sufficient 
 to make these peoples happy, unless, together with having these 
 things, they possessed a spiritual life. 
 
 It pained him to confess that not all those peoples were living 
 according to the teaching of Christianity, among them his own land 
 which he so dearly loved. 
 
 But in order to live like a Christian, it was necessary to snatch 
 men from the darkness of ignorance. Therefore, one of the duties 
 of the Congress should be that of aiding in the diffusion of knowledge, in 
 such a way that at the side of each temple there should be a school, 
 where mankind might learn to read in the great book, in the Book of 
 Books, in the Bible, where are to be found the destinies of humanity. 
 
 Such was the discourse of the reverend North American, which, 
 thanks to the interpreter, was perfectly understood by all his hearers, 
 although in the translation a good part of the emphasis and fervid 
 eloquence was lost. The orator and the interpreter did not comple- 
 ment each other, for in temperament they seemed to be diametrically 
 opposed the one to the other. 
 
 But in spite of this, the matter was perfectly understood, and this 
 was what interested us. 
 
 After we had sung another hymn as before, the reverend president 
 announced that we were now to hear the language of Camoens, or, 
 in other words, the Brazilian orator. 
 
 He was a gentleman of venerable aspect, and of splendid figure. 
 
By the terms in which he was introduced we learned that he was an 
 eminent Evangelical pastor in Rio de Janeiro. His language was 
 essentially mystic. His discourse was really a sermon on the need of 
 the spiritual life; that is the religious life, not only for individual 
 felicity but also for the felicity and grandeur of the nation. He 
 insisted in particular on the transforming power of religion. The 
 sciences, art, riches, cannot in themselves regenerate the individual. 
 Only religion has power to illuminate the conscience of the good 
 thief, and to place in his lips the redeeming word of pardon. Religion, 
 the divine principle that fills it, was that which produced a reaction 
 in Saul of Tarsus and converted him from an implacable persecuter 
 of the Christians into a formidable champion of the Church of Christ, 
 into the great Apostle Saint Paul. 
 
 The orator becomes more and more enthusiastic, more and more 
 fervid. His tropical imagination suggests brilliant similes. Taking 
 a walk in Santa Lucia* he found a strange inscription, — "To those 
 who are expatriated from Heaven and Earth." The place which 
 is today one of the most enchanting parks in the city, was, at one 
 time, a cemetery. In the same way ought religion to work in the 
 soul, transforming it, purifying it, beautifying it. The human 
 heart, too, is customarily a cemetery, in which lie faith and hope. 
 That heart must be awakened to life, infusing into it the Spirit of 
 Christ. It must be converted into a garden, from which man can 
 address the Creator with those immortal words, "Our Father, who 
 art in Heaven." 
 
 The assembly, carried away with its emotions, applauds wildly. 
 A breath of mysticism passes through that theatre which is called 
 "The Comedy." 
 
 A still more fervent hymn is sung, with the greatest unction, as 
 an harmonizing echo of the discourse. Then the president introduces 
 the E\'angelical pastor of Rosario, Argentina, who is to speak to us in 
 the language of Cervantes. 
 
 This orator shows from the very first moment that he knows the 
 weak side of the Chilians, consequently as soon as he advances to 
 the front of the platform, he takes out two flags, one the Chilian, 
 the other the Argentina, and unfolds them interlaced. A thunder of 
 applause greets this simple manoeuvre and when he salutes the flags, 
 evoking the glorious days of Naipo and Chacabuco, we have no power 
 to describe how the thunder is converted into a veritable tempest of 
 applause. 
 
 The discourse of this orator is an apology of Protestantism. He 
 makes it clear that his is the revealed, the only religion, founded by 
 Jesus Christ himself. 
 
 'A public park in Santiago. 
 
 33 
 
His striking gestures, his resounding voice, his vigorous phraseology, 
 his sober mimicry, — all give to the orator the aid of one who is carried 
 away by his passion, of one who is vehement, a fanatic. His concep- 
 tions are like his physical characteristics, instead of convincing, he 
 seems to crush down opposition. They, the Evangelicals, admit one 
 and only God, one only law, one only Lord. One only God, that is 
 to say, a loving father, who does not punish his sinning son, but 
 sacrifices himself to save him. One only law, that is to say, the 
 Bible, which is the only code according to which the Evangelical 
 ought to adjust his life, there being no human power which can oblige 
 him to accept other rites or precepts. One only Lord, one only 
 mediator, one only priest, one only way to reach God, that mediator 
 is Jesus Christ, and with Him there is no need of more. 
 
 This fervid discourse has produced a suggestion of mysticism. 
 When the orator speaks of God, there fall from the galleries such 
 phrases as these uttered with trembling voices, "Hallelujah! Glory 
 to God!" But little was lacking to produce symptoms of hysterics; 
 cries, sighs, self-accusation. The atmosphere was saturated with 
 these spiritual aspirations. 
 
 The orator feels that he dominates the situation. His voice, far 
 from becoming hoarse, in spite of the high pitch in which he speaks, 
 seems to grow stronger and stronger. Protestantism not only interests 
 itself in the soul, it busies itself, too, in material things. It is a valuable 
 ally to instruction and social questions. In it there is no human ine- 
 quality. Inequality is an invention of man. God has created his 
 children absolutely equal; and if there are beings who die of hunger 
 and have no bread with which to fill their mouths, this is not because 
 the common Father is a miser, the earth produces three times more 
 than that which humanity needs for its support. The trouble lies 
 in the fact that man has forgotten that he is a brother of man, and 
 that it is not lawful for him to build his happiness on a heap 
 of corpses. 
 
 The benefits of Protestantism are not yet exhausted. It is there 
 that the arts and sciences flourish, the nations that march in the very 
 vanguard of civilization are those which profess the Evangelical 
 religion, and if it is true that some of those nations are now at war, 
 it is perhaps that in them is being produced again the episode of 
 Job, the Patriarch. Satan, who was jealous of his fidelity to God, 
 overwhelmed him with suffering and disappointments. But, in- 
 asmuch as his faith held true, the Lord recompensed him, returning 
 to him more than he had. So in the present case. Satan, envious 
 of the splendor which those nations, under the protection of the 
 Gospel, had reached, has unchained on them the horrible plague 
 of war. But surely, they will rise above this trial, and God will 
 
 34 
 
return unto them, with interest, that which they have lost in order 
 that they may continue their glorious way. 
 
 Thus spoke the orator, and with a final hymn, this meeting of the 
 Evangelicals of Santiago came to an end. The congregation went 
 out with a grave demeanor, receiving at the door a copy of the '"Chris- 
 tian Herald," which we understand, is like an official organ of the 
 sect. 
 
 For us, all this had been a revelation. Protestantism has advanced 
 considerably among us. Its apostles, those who propagate it, its 
 elements of action, are formidable. We propose to study, with all 
 calmness and with a spirit free from passions, that which this advance 
 means for the country. We believe that it involves grave peril for 
 our social tranquillity, for the harmony of the Chilian family. Far 
 be it from us to suppose that its agents and propagandists deliberately 
 intend to create these disturbances. But their work is bound to 
 have such an unfortunate result, because they aspire to the making 
 of Protestantism the national religion and this pretension, as history 
 shows, has made seas of blood to run and has sunk in misery those 
 peoples who have fallen into those abysses of misfortune known as 
 religious wars. ' 
 
 (Signed) Peter Sauchez. 
 
 We do not wonder that the writer of the article was astonished 
 at what he saw and heard on that evening in the theatre. 
 
 Two days later, in the great hall of the University of Chile a large 
 meeting for students was held under the auspices of the Congress. 
 The following week the students themselves arranged a mass meeting 
 in honor of Professor Eduardo Monteverde, and the Rev. Charles J. 
 Ewald, General Secretary of the Y. M. C. A. for Latin America. 
 Professor Monteverde is connected with the University of Uruguay 
 and is Secretary of the Y. M. C. A. He was President of the Panama 
 Congress, a member of the delegation. The students from the 
 University filled the hall and were most enthusiastic in the reception 
 which they gave to Professor Monteverde and his fellow-workers. 
 No better indication could be had of the interest on the part of leading 
 men in Santiago in the Evangelical Movement than these three 
 public meetings held in connection with the Regional Congress. 
 They mark a distinct advance in the history of the Evangelical 
 Movement in Chile, and if nothing else had been done in the Four 
 Regional Congresses than to hold these gatherings, they would have 
 been well worth the money and the time spent upon them. The 
 educated classes in Latin America have not been reached by the 
 Evangelical work and these indications of the readiness of students 
 
 35 
 
to listen to men who came with a distinct Gospel message are 
 suggestive of the crisis through which the work in Latin America 
 is now passing. So impressed were the members of the Congress 
 with the opportunities presented for student work that the following 
 resolution was adopted on the last day of the Congress: — 
 
 "The Congress finds that Santiago is the strategic center for work 
 among students, of whom there are about b,ooo in schools and higher 
 institutions. It, therefore, strongly recommends that adequate 
 provision be made to begin Christian work among them. ' 
 
 Two of our Presbyterian missionaries are by appointment instruc- 
 tors in the University. This gives them a standing and opens the 
 way for co-operation between the mission force and Christian men 
 in the University. The Union Church in Santiago is very near 
 the University and with slight additional expense could easily be 
 used in connection with work for the students. A Y. M. C. A. Secre- 
 tary has been appointed for Santiago, but as yet there is no organiza- 
 tion and no building. One is greatly needed and a proper co-oper- 
 ation between it and the mission force would do much toward reaching 
 the student class so numerous in Santiago. 
 
 It was a great privilege on the Sunday of the Congress to see various 
 aspects of Christian work in Santiago. There are two strong Presby- 
 terian churches in Santiago, the "Church of the Redeemer" and 
 "The Church of the Holy Trinity." Both have national pastors, 
 and they give every evidence of being strong centers of Christian 
 activity. In one of them the missionary, who was formerly the 
 pastor, is now the Superintendent of the Sunday School, and works 
 under the supervision of the National Pastor. This is indicative 
 of the fine spirit rapidly developing in Chile, and in other parts of 
 Latin America. The National Church is more and more assuming 
 responsibility, and is beginning to recognize the great obligation 
 which rests upon it. In all the Regional Congresses the slogan was 
 "A National Church uniting all denominations and administered 
 by national workers." There are only four Presbyterian churches 
 in the three large cities of Santiago, Valparaiso and Concepcion. 
 The combined population of these cities represents more than 800,000 
 people. A rude chapel in the outskirts of Santiago was shown as 
 the place where service was being held, a Sunday School and Day 
 School in full operation, and the prospect of a church organization 
 in the near future. 
 
 The Church has for the most part been made up entirely of the 
 poorer classes of the community. They have, however, a very good 
 name for thrift, industry and sobriety. The writer of these lines 
 asked a business man of Santiago how the Evangelicals were regarded. 
 His reply is significant: — 
 
 36 
 
"The Evangelicals are good people. They do not drink, are in- 
 dustrious, thrifty and make good citizens, but that is not religion. ' 
 
 When asked what he meant by religion, he replied that attending 
 mass, confessional and the services of the Church. Unconsciously 
 he outlined the whole problem presented to the Protestant Church 
 in Chile and Latin America. The dominant Church is a formal 
 institution, requiring formal service, but with little deep moral, 
 ethical or spiritual power. 
 
 Moral conditions were brought vividly before us when one day we 
 went to obtain some films which were left to be developed at a photog- 
 rapher's. He apologized that they were not ready because two 
 days before had been pay day and three of his men had been on a 
 drunken debauch since. Then he frankly stated that he rejoiced 
 that pay day was only twice a month, as after it the men had to be 
 away for a day or two on account of dissipation. In the report 
 presented to the Congress on "Survey and Occupation" it was stated : — 
 
 "Drunkenness is greatly on the increase. So greatly has the vice 
 increased that Sunday and Monday have become, among the working 
 classes, days of drunken debauchery." 
 
 Some idea of conditions can be obtained from further statements 
 and reports as follows: — 
 
 "It is stated that 75 per cent, of all children die under two years of 
 age. The principal reason for this high mortality is the unsanitary 
 conditions in which the great number are compelled to live . . . 
 It is frequently stated that 7^ per cent, of all births are illegitimate and 
 this proportion is more or less correct. It should be borne in mind, 
 however, that no inconsiderable number contract illegitimate relations 
 ignorantly. They mate as the birds. Their conduct is unmoral 
 rather than immoral. But after making all due allowance, the 
 fact is that the rate of illegitimacy is distressingly high . . . We 
 find two classes in Chile, one small, rich, educated, absolute in 
 government, ruling in many respects well — the other the proletariat, 
 large in number, poor, ignorant, degraded." 
 
 Moral conditions are certainly bad. We took evidence of the 
 barrel window in connection with the Orphan Asylum of Providencia, 
 Santiago. There are about one thousand children in this asylum, 
 ranging from 2 days old to 16 years. It is supported by a government 
 Committee of Charity and is under the Roman Catholic Church. 
 Foundlings are brought to the window, placed in the barrel, which 
 revolves, and are taken out on the other side, with no questions 
 asked.*" 
 
 At the conclusion of the Santiago Congress, one of the members 
 of the deputation made a trip to southern Chile to visit the Pres- 
 byterian mission stations there located. The first stop was at Curico, 
 
 37 
 

 32 — Interior of Presbyterian Church, lalca, Chile 
 
 29 — Barrel window in Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum, Providencia, Santiago 
 
 38 
 
a small but prosperous city located in the beautiful central valley 
 which lies between the Andes on the east and the Coast Range on 
 the west. Our equipment at Curico consists of a small rented 
 chapel the exterior of which is herewith shown, also the picture of 
 the sexton who, with his wife and four children, occupy the quarters 
 back of the room used as the chapel. There are possibilities of a 
 much larger work in Curico and vicinity, if there were equipment 
 both in building and in teaching force for a school. We held a service 
 in the little chapel, attended by a few faithful believers. 
 
 Leaving Curico, we took the night train for Concepcion, the largest 
 city in Southern Chile. The Methodists have two splendid schools 
 here, one for girls and another for boys. They also have a church 
 building whose exterior was the most attractive of any Evangelical 
 church we saw on the entire West Coast of South America. 
 
 It is a good investment to construct Protestant churches that 
 appeal to the beauty-loving instinct of the Latin American. He 
 has an aesthetic sense to which too little regard has been paid in the 
 construction of most of the mission property that we visited. 
 
 Our Presbyterian property in Concepcion consists of a substantial 
 church with adjoining manse, and a rented building on the outskirts 
 known as the "pampa school""" (school on the prairies).''^ There were 
 forty children crowded into this little building the afternoon we 
 visited it, ranging in age from five or six to sixteen. They showed 
 proficiency in drills in Bible, geography and arithmetic. Back of 
 the building is a small play ground in which the children have good 
 times. The homes from which they come are very poor. The 
 tenements which we saw in Concepcion, while not built in tiers as 
 in North American cities, had the same squalor, darkness and un- 
 sanitary conditions that prevail in many places in our own land. 
 The overcrowding in such places breeds immorality and disease. 
 The opportunity for such enterprises as the "pampa school" are 
 unlimited. It would be well to open more of them just as rapidly 
 as teachers and buildings can be secured. They would become the 
 centers for educational evangelism. 
 
 South of Concepcion, we have three small out-stations which are 
 visited by the missionary resident at Concepcion. Leaving Con- 
 cepcion on the return journey we went north and stopped first 
 at Chilian. Our time permitted only the twenty-minute-for-lunch 
 period, but we hired an antiquated rig at the depot and drove like 
 Jehu to inspect our little chap)el in the center of the town. In appear- 
 ance it is similar to others in the various out-stations where we have 
 established work. We got back to our train three minutes before it 
 pulled out and shortly afterwards arrived at Talca. 
 
 The Talcans have a proverb, "Talca, Paris and London." If you 
 
 39 
 
30 — Pampa School, Concepcion, Chile 
 
 31 — Rear of Pampa School and playground, Concepcion 
 
 40 
 
have not heard before of the first of this trio, it is your misfortune 
 in the estimate of the Talcans. The city is beautifully situated in 
 the central valley and is moderately progressive, with its stores and 
 market, its theatre and flour mill. Our Presbyterian work has been 
 established here for a number of years. The property consists of a 
 chapel and accompanying manse, well located.''" A national pastor 
 and his wife are in charge and are doing a very effective work. We 
 were greeted by a large audience at the evening service. On an 
 opposite corner the Roman Catholics have built a church with a 
 school adjoining for the purpose, it is said, of running out the Evan- 
 gelicals, but the competition has in no way proven disastrous to our 
 work. Many people in Talca and throughout Chile are beginning 
 to see the value of the Evangelical work and are its loyal supporters. 
 
 One of the hopeful features of the work in Santiago is the Union 
 Seminary, in which Methodists and Presbyterians have joined forces, 
 and while the organization is still young, it is full of promise. We 
 endorse heartily the finding of the Congress: — 
 
 "The Congress notes with pleasure the beginning of a Union Theo- 
 logical Seminary for the training of the Chilian ministry. It recom- 
 mends that the interested Boards be urged to strengthen and develop 
 this institution, inviting all recognized evangelical bodies at work 
 in Chile to co-operate in its support. The Congress further strongly 
 recommends the organizing in connection with the Seminary of a 
 special course for the training of lay workers, such as colporteurs, 
 Sunday School teachers and others." 
 
 The field in Chile is in no sense occupied by the dominant church. 
 In the report presented to the Congress on this subject it was stated : — 
 
 "We doubt if more than 400 or 450 priests devote themselves to 
 the spiritual needs of the three and a half millions of Chile's pop- 
 ulation." 
 
 The entire number of ordained Evangelical missionaries engaged 
 in the English and Spanish work of all denominations, Presbyterian, 
 Methodist, Anglican, Christian Alliance, Baptist, Salvation Army, 
 English and Foreign Bible Society and the Y. M. C. A., is very small. 
 
 41 
 
SANTIAGO TO BUENOS AIRES 
 
 ^HE trip from Santiago to Buenos Aires over the 
 Andes affords abundant opportunity for seeing 
 the grandest of mountain scenery. The train leaves 
 Santiago in the early evening, and the passenger 
 ] spends the night at Los Andes at the base of the 
 mountains. The railroad runs along the Aconcagua 
 River, on which Los Andes is situated, then up a beautiful 
 valley^ which grows narrower as you ascend, passing quickly 
 from tropical vegetation to barren rocks and snow, and from 
 scenes of exquisite beauty to the grandeur of the mountain peaks. 
 It was after eight o'clock in the evening when we arrived at Mendoza, 
 a city of 45,000, the largest in West Argentina, on the eastern base 
 of the Andes. By nine o'clock in the evening almost the entire depu- 
 tation was in the beautiful and commodious Methodist Church 
 attending a meeting held to welcome the delegates from Panama. 
 It was delightful to see a church crowded with eager worshippers who 
 stayed to a late hour listening to short and crisp addresses on Panama 
 and the Regional Congresses. 
 
 From Mendoza we sped on to Buenos Aires where the Third Re- 
 gional Congress was held. We were at once hurried by automobiles 
 through the magnificent streets and passed the stately buildings 
 and beautiful parks of this great city of Argentina. Within half an 
 hour of our arrival in town, we had opened the first meeting of the 
 Congress in a large hall in the center of the city. It was an enthusi- 
 astic audience that greeted the deputation. The band of the Salva- 
 tion Army led the music. Hymn sheets scattered throughout the 
 hall gave an opportunity for all to join in the singing, and the addresses, 
 short and full of the Panama spirit, were received with applause by 
 the assembly. 
 
 The Third Congress was called the "Congress of La Plata," since 
 it embraced the three Republics of Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. 
 All the sessions of the Congress were held in the hall of the St. Andrew's 
 Scotch Presbyterian Church, in the heart of the city."*^ The Church 
 of St. Andrews has for half a century stood for pure religion and 
 undefiled, in a city given over largely to materialism. For more than 
 a quarter of a century the pastor, the Rev. J. W. Fleming, D. D., 
 
 43 
 
has been a leader in all social, philanthropic, educational and religious 
 movements in the city. The place of meeting was well chosen, for 
 St. Andrew's Church in its spirit and scope well typified the aims 
 and purposes of the Congress. In addition to the numerous activities 
 carried on in the mother church, this organization holds various 
 suburban services at Belgrano, Campana, Hurlingham, Quilmes, 
 San Fernando, Tallares, Temperley, Chaschomus and other centers. 
 It is a bee-hive of Christian activity. The pastor of this church, 
 the representatives from the Anglican Church, and from practically all 
 other religious organizations, including the Y. M. C. A. and the 
 Y. W. C. A., gave a hearty welcome and cordially supported the 
 Congress in all of its deliberations. A protest had been sent to the 
 Committee on Co-operation of the Panama Congress from a number 
 of Christian workers in Argentina, but it was based on a misunder- 
 standing. Many of the signers of this protest attended the Buenos 
 Aires Congress. The numbers present, the keen interest taken in 
 the discussion, the frank and candid expression of opinion, and the 
 Christian spirit pervading these sessions of the Congress, were most 
 remarkable. The findings of the Congress give an idea of the great 
 problems involved in the discussions during the four momentous 
 days. The Congress declared: — 
 
 "That the three Republics included in this Congress form one of 
 the most important sections of Latin America; that within their 
 immense territory there is a population of more than ten millions; 
 that this population is destined to be, if it is not already so, more 
 homogeneous as regards race, language and customs than that of any 
 other section of equal extent in Latin America. That the immense 
 natural resources of the three Republics are such as to insure for this 
 section of South America a position of wide influence in the molding 
 of the future history of all Latin America, and even in the directing 
 of movements of world thought and action." 
 
 These are words of truth and soberness, which were impressed 
 upon the deputation the more they saw of this leading city of Argentina 
 and of the other Republics included in the Congress. 
 
 Argentina alone is today the largest exporter of grain, of cattle 
 and, with the exception of Australia, of wool, of any nation in the 
 world, and this is only a slight indication of the vast possibilities of 
 the material development of this great section of Latin America. 
 
 There was hardly an hour in the Congress that was not full of 
 interest. 
 
 The afternoon in which the work among the Chaco Indians was 
 presented was one never to be forgotten. These Indians in Paraguay 
 have been almost totally neglected save by one small missionary 
 society. Readers of "An Unknown People in an Unknown Land, 
 
 45 
 
or "'A Church in the Wilds," by W. B. Grubb, are not unfamiliar 
 with the splendid work carried on by this South American Mis- 
 sionary Society among these wild Indian tribes in Paraguay. Possibly 
 no one class in all Latin America have been more neglected than 
 these Indians who represent the very lowest stages of civilization, 
 yet who are intensely human. When the missionary became irritable 
 because of mosquitoes, they asked him if he knew the language of the 
 mosquito. 'Because if you do," they said, "it would be wise to speak 
 harsh words to them." In other words, the Indian was following 
 the wise maxim, "What cannot be cured, must be endured." 
 
 "We admitted our first two converts in i88q," writes Mr. Grubb, 
 "and we have impressed upon the Christians that it is their duty 
 and must be their ambition to administer, so far as possible, their 
 own Church, which they do even now to some extent." The Congress 
 was deeply moved at the presentation of the work, and voted that 
 "such work is in a very special sense distinctly missionary since it 
 reaches a pagan population which is a stranger to the claims of the 
 Gospel, and merits, and should receive, the fullest sympathy and 
 help." 
 
 The whole question of the Indian work in the various countries in 
 which the Regional Congresses were held was fully discussed. The 
 Christian Church has hardly touched this vast, unevangelized, pagan 
 population, which is to be found in every Republic of Latin America. 
 
 One of the interesting communications sent to the Congress was 
 from a group of Armenians who had been driven from their home by 
 persecution by the war, and plead in language most pathetic that 
 the Congress should aid them in securing a preacher from their own 
 people. The Congress found: — ■ 
 
 "That there is in some of the larger centers of these Republics a 
 rapidly increasing number of representatives of the ancient Armenian 
 faith. These people are now passing through a crisis such as few 
 peoples of the earth have known and endured, yet as a proof that 
 even in the dark hour of their trial they have not forgotten the faith 
 of their fathers, they are asking that an Evangelical worker be set 
 apart for their special needs." 
 
 The Congress took some special steps toward securing this Evan- 
 gelical worker. 
 
 By special invitation, a number of members of the Congress were 
 permitted to inspect the magnificent work of the philanthropic 
 Schools and Institutes carried on by Rev. William C. Morris. This 
 noble man has under his immediate supervision some six thousand 
 boys and girls, the neglected children of the great city of Buenos 
 Aires, all of whom are receiving the very best of Christian instruction 
 and training. Abundant opportunity was given to members of the 
 
 46 
 
34 — Children in Philanthropic School cf Rev. S. C. Morris, Buenos Aires, Argentina 
 
 35 — Sunday School in connection with the Philanthropic School, Buenos Aires, 
 
 Argentina 
 
 47 
 
Congress to address the pupils of these schools of Mr. Morris. It 
 was a rare sight to see two thousand children gathered from the 
 slums of the city, clean, bright, happy, singing Christian hymns, 
 and being instructed in all that makes for Christian citizenship. ^* ^'^ 
 
 In some respects the Evangelical forces in Argentina and the other 
 sections seem entirely inadequate to the vast work to be done, but 
 the zeal, consecration and uselfish service shown, was most heartening 
 and bodes well for the future. Much attention was shown the 
 members of the Congress. An opportunity was given to see the 
 fine printing plant of the leading paper of Latin America. A dis- 
 tinguished senator invited members of the deputation to visit the 
 public schools of Buenos Aires, and the Superintendent of Instruction 
 accompanied this party and explained the splendid system of instruction. 
 
 The most picturesque delegates at the Congress were those who 
 came from the Waldensian Church in Uruguay. The Nestor of the 
 Waldensian preachers. Rev. Daniel Armand Ugon, with a group of 
 his fellow-workers were in attendance at every session, and took 
 part in the discussion, always with profit, and with a courtesy and 
 Christian grace most praiseworthy. The Congress was so impressed 
 with the work of these our fellow-Christians, that a resolution was 
 adopted to the effect that "the Waldensians of Uruguay merited 
 the very special sympathy and help of all bodies of Christian workers. 
 The Congress suggests the possibility of recruiting from this body 
 of consecrated Christian men and women, whose ancestors have been 
 tried in the fires of persecutions for seven centuries, young men and 
 women who would be able to render valuable assistance in the Evan- 
 gelical work of this particular section of Latin America, as pastors 
 and in other forms of Christian activity among the large Italian 
 population." 
 
 At the invitation of the Waldensian pastors a group of delegates, 
 among them a Presbyterian missionary and Board Secretary, were 
 invited, at the close of the Congress, to visit the work of the Wal- 
 densians in Uruguay. ■'*' ^' 
 
 Two services were held on Sunday afternoon at Riachuelo and at 
 Tarariras, in the heart of the open country. The congregation crowded 
 the buildings and listened intently to the messages delivered. They 
 had come from miles around. They were a fine type of people and 
 it was an inspiration to look into their faces and summon them, in 
 view of their glorious history and of the present opportunity, to 
 respond to South America's need for Christian leadership. Sunday 
 evening we were entertained in the home of the village wheelwright, 
 and while none of us could speak his language, we could understand 
 and appreciate the genuineness of the hospitality offered Christian 
 brethren from afar. ^- *" *" 
 
 48 
 
44 — Pastor U g o n 
 and one of his 
 comm unicant 
 classes of young 
 people 
 
 
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 36 — A Waldensian 
 of the old school, 
 Mrs. Margarita 
 G. Tolman, in 
 front of her home , 
 Colonia Valden- 
 sia, LVuguav 
 
 37 — A Waldensian 
 woman with her 
 spinning wheel, 
 Mrs. Tolman 
 
 49 
 
38 — Waldensi an 
 Church at Ria- 
 chuelo, Uruguay 
 
 39 — Pastor Julius 
 Tron and his ses- 
 sion, Waldensian 
 Church, Tarari- 
 ras, Urugua\' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 40 — Congregation 
 outside the Wal- 
 densian Church, 
 Tarariras, Uru- 
 guay 
 
 50 
 
Monday morning we drove over the pampa or plain to Artilleras, 
 where at 9:30 we held a meeting for the country folk of that district. 
 We were surprised to find about fifty people gathered at that early 
 hour on Monday morning for a religious meeting. 
 
 From Artilleras we drove to Cosmopolita, some miles farther on, 
 where we were entertained at the midday meal by Pastor Peter 
 Bournous. His home was simple and attractive in the midst of 
 beautiful flowers and near by was the commodious church which 
 was packed with men, women and children for a service at 3 p. m. ■" "*" 
 
 The custom among the Waldensians is for the men to occupy one 
 side of the church and the women and children the other, as is done 
 by the Quakers. *^ 
 
 Leaving Cosmopolita, we went the same evening to the center 
 of the Waldensian settlement, Valdensia Colonia, where Pastor D. 
 A. Ugon and his wife *■' have been laboring for thirty-nine years. He 
 has the appearance of a patriarch, with his long white hair. He is 
 vigorous both in body and in mind, and is full of cheer and good will, 
 his face glowing and his eyes snapping as he talks. He and his 
 family were most genial hosts. In addition to ministering in the 
 church which adjoins the manse, Pastor Ugon and his able daughters 
 and other assistants are conducting a splendid school. He has two 
 catechetical classes of young people in training for church member- 
 ship. One of these we were permitted to attend and address, as 
 it met the day we were there. We were impressed with the potential 
 of these young people. ""^ 
 
 In the afternoon the large church was filled with a most intelligent 
 audience who listened intently. We were impressed with the at- 
 tendance of so many men at all of the services held among the Walden- 
 sians. They are a sturdy people with a noble ancestry. That they 
 may be worthy sons and daughters of their heritage is our prayer, 
 and that God would quicken them to a sense of responsibility for 
 propagating in Uruguay and elsewhere Evangelical Christianity. 
 
 An informal service was held in the evening for those interested 
 in Sunday School work. After a few hours rest, we left at 3 a. m. 
 by automobile to make connection with the train which would bring 
 us to Montevideo that morning. Thus was concluded a trip of 
 three days, which will ever linger in our minds with tender 
 memories. 
 
 The members of the deputation in Argentina, as well as at Lima 
 and Santiago, during their stay, did very effective service in the 
 various churches and missions. A total of hundreds of addresses 
 were delivered by members of the deputation during these various 
 Congresses, and the beneficial effect will, we are confident, be felt 
 for a long time to come. 
 
 51 
 
41 — Pastor Pedro Boiinous in Ironi: ot his home, Cosmopolita, L'ruguay 
 
 lar 
 
 42 —Pastor tsounous and his session, Cosmopolita, Uruguay 
 
 43 — Audience at Monday afternoon service in Waldensian Ch., Cosmopolita, Uruguay 
 
 52 
 
No one who has not visited a city like Buenos Aires, so prosperous, 
 so wholly given up to material things, so indifferent to religious ideas, 
 can form any adequate conception of the difficulties of carrying on 
 Christian work in Latin America and of the need of Evangelical 
 Christianity. 
 
 53 
 
Waldensian 
 Church at Cos- 
 mopolita, Uru- 
 guay 
 
 Children out- 
 side the Walden- 
 sian Church after 
 service at Cos- 
 mopolita, Uru- 
 guay. 
 
 45 — The pastor, 
 Daniel A. Ugon 
 and his wife, in 
 front of their 
 home, Colonia, 
 Valdensia, Uru- 
 guay 
 
 54 
 
BUENOS AIRES TO RIO DE JANEIRO 
 
 ^HE Fourth Regional Congress was held in the City of 
 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.'**' 
 
 It is a five-day trip by steamer, and as one sails 
 away through the La Plata, a great estuary formed 
 by the junction of the two mighty rivers, Parana 
 jy and Uruguay, and realizes that they drain an area 
 of 800,000 square miles, more than eighty per cent, of that drained 
 by the Mississippi, he recognizes the future possibilities of these great 
 Republics, which united in the Third Regional Congress. But the 
 Fourth Congress embraced a still larger territory, and presented 
 problems requiring the highest Christian statesmanship to solve. The 
 Congress at Rio de Janeiro in its findings stated that "The Republic 
 of Brazil forms the most important geographical entity of Latin 
 America. Within its immense territory there is a population estimated 
 at twenty-two millions. This population is welded together by seem- 
 ingly indissoluble ties of language, political organizations and racial 
 unity. The Immense natural resources of Brazil are such as insure for 
 this section of South America a position of wide influence in the mould- 
 ing of the future history of all Latin America." In one report it was 
 stated that three-twelfths of the population is white, four-twelfths 
 entirely black, five-twelfths mixed white and black. Our observation 
 in a month spent travelling through Southern Brazil would lead us 
 to believe that the only mistake in these figures would be that the 
 white population had been estimated at too high a figure. The 
 problems arising out of such a mixture of races can be better conceived 
 than described. 
 
 In the report on "Occupation" presented at the Rio Congress it 
 was stated: — "The total number of believers in Brazil, of all denom- 
 inations, will hardly be more than 50,000, not counting the Lutheran 
 colonies, and what influence can that have on a population of twenty- 
 two million? It is like a drop of milk in a barrel of ink. There is 
 no specific work among any special class, no work being organized 
 for the regeneration of the military class, nor the agricultural classes, 
 nor even among the students, for what is being done in the schools 
 and the Y. M. C. A. has very little influence on the enormous mass of 
 people in general." 
 
 56 
 
The most refreshing feature of the Fourth Regional Congress was 
 the candor and honesty with which the men on the field faced their 
 problems, stated their difficulties and boldly and with great faith 
 thanked God and took courage as they closed the sessions of the 
 Congress and went back to their fields of labor. 
 
 There was no lack of enthusiasm or interest in the Congress. The 
 National Church was well represented. The place of meeting was 
 well chosen. It was the great Presbyterian Church in Rua Silva 
 Jardim. This church marks a milestone in the progress of the Kingdom 
 in Brazil. It is a large, self-supporting, self-governing, self-propagating 
 body of Christians. No less than ten centers of work, half of them 
 organized churches, "the daughters," as the pastor lovingly called 
 them, of the Church, have been established in various sections of 
 Rio de Janeiro. The Church has the mission spirit, and any church 
 possessing this must move forward. It is an example of what may 
 be looked for all over Brazil. At the evening service of the first 
 day the Congress opened, the church was crowded with a body of 
 worshippers who listened with evident deep interest to the story of 
 Panama as told by the various members of the deputation. At 
 each evening session the church was always crowded with Evan- 
 gelicals. Moreover, the Brazilian Church seems to be made up 
 of a body of strong, virile, aggressive men and women with vision. 
 The Brazilian Christian has no false notion as to who is to evangelize 
 Brazil. In the report on "Occupation" presented to the Congress 
 is this statement : — 
 
 "The greatest mistake of the missionaries has been and is to assume 
 the responsibility of any national work. We are of the opinion, 
 after twenty-six years of missionary experience, that no missionary 
 ought at any time to assume any place of responsibility in the evan- 
 gelical work. The first church organized should have been handed 
 over immediately to the direction of the congregation, and the mis- 
 sionary as simply a member, to work and help the congregation to 
 carry out this responsibility." 
 
 This, we believe, is the sentiment of the entire Brazilian Church. 
 It has caught the national spirit, the spirit of independence. Brazil 
 for Brazilians, Chile for Chilians, Latin America for Latin Americans! 
 One of the reasons why the people from the United States are looked 
 upon with more or less suspicion is the fear that Uncle Sam covets 
 territory or authority in Latin America. We did all in our power to 
 assure our brethren in Brazil that this was not so. It will take many 
 years to remove this prejudice based on some historical facts, such 
 as the occupation of Panama, not quickly forgotten by loyal Latin 
 Americans. The most hopeful sign in Brazil was the splendid charac- 
 ter of the men in the Brazilian ministry, and the representative men 
 
 57 
 
who, if not openly uniting w ith the Evangelical Church, are standing 
 with the Evangelicals. One of the notable features of the Congress 
 was an address one afternoon by Dr. Jose Carlos Rodrigues. He 
 was for many years the editor and proprietor of one of the leading 
 papers in Rio de Janeiro. His speech at the Congress was a plea for 
 the reading and study of the word of God as the only hope of Brazil. 
 Senor Rodrigues represents probably the most influential newspaper 
 in Brazil. His library is considered the best private library in all 
 the Republic. He is a man of wide learning and deep research; 
 a man of force, a scholar, an author, an editor, and for years he has 
 stood as the champion of all good things. He came of his own accord 
 to the Congress. He was elected a Corresponding member, and 
 given the privileges of the floor. He spoke for a half hour w ith a force, 
 a beauty, a depth of spiritual intuition of the word of God that would 
 have done credit to the most intellectual clergymen in our own land, 
 and the next day he invited a group of representative men of the 
 deputation to visit his home, which gave every evidence of being a 
 refined, cultured. Christian home. 
 
 An impressive address was made at one of the evening sessions of 
 the Congress by Mr. J. B. Silvado, a devout, Christian man, who 
 has been a pioneer in the work of reaching deaf mutes. It was 
 reserved for a Christian man to begin work for this neglected class in 
 Brazil. The Gospel in Brazil, as in China, Korea, India, the world 
 over, has been the pioneer in humanitarian and philanthropic efforts 
 for the relief of suffering mankind. It was also natural that a few 
 men most interested in the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty 
 to Animals should have sent an appeal to the Congress asking sympathy 
 and help. The great outside world is understanding that the Evan- 
 gelical propaganda has a very wide outreach. 
 
 Among the delegates to the Congress was Dr. Joaquin N. Paranagua, 
 a practicing physician, formerly a governor of one of the States of 
 Brazil, and also a deputy representing his State in the Brazilian 
 Congress. He took an active part in the Rio Congress. He is a 
 member of one of the Evangelical churches and exerts a wide in- 
 fluence for good in his community and the nation. 
 
 The task before the Brazilian Church is surely a great one, and the 
 need of co-operation is everywhere manifest. The Fourth Regional 
 Congress, we believe, set in operation forces which will gradually 
 unite the various Evangelical bodies in their Christian activities, 
 and materially advance the Kingdom in the great Republic of Brazil, 
 
 58 
 
RIO DE JANEIRO TO CURITYBA, 
 PARANA 
 
 HE afternoon of the day on which the Rio de Janeiro 
 J Congress closed most of the deputation sailed for 
 " New York. A small group of Presbyterians, how- 
 ever, remained in order to visit the work carried 
 on by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions 
 in Southern Brazil.^' 
 
 SAO PAULO 
 
 It takes but a single night to reach Sao Paulo, a city of half a 
 million, and the capital of the State of Sao Paulo, which has two and 
 a half million inhabitants. The State of Sao Paulo is the center of 
 the coffee trade in Brazil and produces a quarter of the worlds coffee 
 supply. The city of Sao Paulo is the home of Mackenzie College.** 
 
 From Panama to Curityba we saw no such group of buildings, no 
 such equipment, as those at Mackenzie. With few exceptions they 
 were well planned, well built, well lighted, well adapted to college 
 purposes. A new dormitory is now in the process of erection. We 
 were assured it would be filled with students as soon as it is ready 
 for occupation. The college equipment, while not altogether adequate^ 
 was the best we saw in any Latin American institution. Good desks, 
 excellent blackboards, well equipped chemical and physical labora- 
 tories, most modern instruments in physics, chemistry and engineering, 
 a first-class, up-to-date modern college in the heart of Brazil. The 
 group of four hundred or more students we saw in morning chapel 
 seemed a more virile group of students than those we had seen at 
 Montevideo, Buenos Aires or Santiago. This impression was not 
 dissipated as we met these students in their rooms or at a reception 
 given by them one evening at the English Club. The game of foot- 
 ball between two teams of the college, gotten up in our honor, was 
 conducted in splendid style, the hoys showing a knowledge of the 
 fine points of the game, doing excellent teamwork, andwithal exhibiting 
 an enthusiasm and a spirit not often seen in Brazil. The religious 
 interest in the college has not been sufficiently accentuated. There 
 are few, if any, students for the ministry, and the religious life did 
 
 59 
 
47 — Members of South Brazil Mission, iqi6 
 
 
 
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 48 — Athletic field, Mackenzie College, Sao Paulo, Brazil 
 60 
 
not seem to us to be vigorous. Those in charge of the school recognize 
 the situation, and are making strenuous endeavors to remedy it. 
 They were men of great vision who planned Mackenzie. It is a 
 noble institution. It stands for great things in the intellectual world. 
 Everywhere we went we heard words of commendation for Mac- 
 kenzie. The opportunities for Christian service there, it seems to 
 us, are larger than in any single institution in all Latin America. 
 The elementary department of the institution, known as the "American 
 School," is located in the heart of the city, in a neighborhood 
 that is most unsuitable from a moral point of view. It is proposed 
 to transfer the school to the college campus. There is room sufficient 
 for this, and it would seem wise to make the transfer. We saw the 
 boys and girls, hundreds of them, at their studies, and were impressed 
 with the possibilities of Christian service in such an institution. 
 Our stay, however, was too limited to examine the school in detail. 
 
 Sao Paulo is a great industrial center. It has many educational 
 institutions, boulevards and beautiful homes. It is a city of rare 
 beauty, with fine streets and parks. Moral conditions, however, are 
 far from satisfactory. A strong Christian sentiment is needed to 
 remove immoral conditions that would not be tolerated in any city 
 in North America. 
 
 The Independent Presbyterian Church, and the Presbyterian 
 
 Church of Brazil, are strong organizations manned by National Pastors 
 
 of ability and consecration. The Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A. are 
 
 rendering valuable assistance to the needs of Evangelical Christianity. 
 
 What is needed is a unification of all the forces against the powers of 
 
 evil. 
 
 CAMPINAS " '" '' 
 
 Campinas is a distance of only two hours' ride by rail from Sao Paulo. 
 
 Here the Union Theological Seminary of Brazil finds its home. 
 This Seminary is a combination of Presbyterians North and South, 
 and of the Brazilian Presbyterian Church. The hasty traveller 
 could see no reason why other denominations should not combine 
 with this Institution to form one strong seminary for this section 
 of Latin America. The Baptists have a seminary at Rio de Janeiro 
 and also the Methodists. It would be a great step forward if all 
 the denominations could unite in one institution of sacred learning. 
 
 The seminary at Campinas is located in the heart of the city, on 
 a beautiful campus. The property is owned by the Brazilian Church. 
 When purchased some years ago, one of the professors, with true 
 foresight, planted numerous trees, which now adorn the campus and 
 furnish many a quiet nook for study and meditation. The buildings, 
 while plain, are well adapted to house the students and there is ample 
 accommodation for class rooms. New equipment is needed in the 
 
 61 
 
49 — Palms in public 
 square, Campi- 
 nas, Brazil 
 
 50 — Theological 
 Seminary, Camp- 
 inas, Brazil 
 
 51 — Rev. Thomas 
 J. Porter, D.D., 
 in front of coffee 
 trees, Campinas, 
 Brazil 
 
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line of desks and furniture, some of which is very old and ill adapted 
 to the uses of the seminary. We had an evening meeting at the 
 seminary where the students and their friends filled the assembly 
 room. We were impressed with the character of the students. Each 
 one is recommended by his Presbytery and the standard is kept 
 high. At a recent meeting of the Presbytery a resolution was in- 
 troduced asking that the members of the present class should be 
 given their diplomas without pursuing the full course. The pro- 
 fessors of the seminary declared on the floor of the Presbytery that 
 while they would obey the Presbytery and sign the diplomas as sug- 
 gested, they would at once resign if the Assembly demanded this 
 short-cut operation of railroading men into the ministry. A group 
 of strong men compose the seminary faculty and they believe in 
 quality and high standards. Exact records are kept of the standing 
 of the students, examinations are severe, and the whole tone of the 
 seminary is of a high order. The library of 4,000 volumes is well 
 housed and marks a good beginning. It was interesting to see a 
 volume of sermons of the Rev. A. G. Simonton, who went to Brazil 
 in 185Q and spent eight years there in devoted service. The sale of 
 one of his published volumes of sermons furnished the money for 
 the purchase of the books that formed the basis of the library. Mr. 
 Simonton gave his best for Brazil and his memory and work still 
 abide. Campinas is in many respects an ideal place for a seminary. 
 It has many attractive features. "Gomez Park," with its row of 
 ninety-seven noble royal palms, dedicated to the memory of Brazil s 
 great composer, is worth going a long distance to see. There is a 
 literary and scholastic air about Campinas very helpful to the student. 
 The greatest need of the Brazilian churches at the present moment 
 is for trained leaders. The Union Seminary is manned by men of 
 learning and of vision. They are building for the future. When I 
 asked, "Do you not wish more students? " the reply of one of the most 
 learned of the professors was, "We believe that we should graduate 
 students only as fast as there are self-supporting churches ready 
 to receive them as pastors. Brazil needs an independent, aggressive 
 ministry who will lead the people to the larger things of the Kingdom. 
 It is because in the Brazilian Church there are men who have these 
 high ideals that we have hope for the future of the Gospel in the 
 
 Republic. 
 
 CASTRO 
 
 South of the city and state of Sao Paulo is the large state of Parana. 
 
 Our first stop in Parana was at Castro, some 250 miles southwest of 
 the city of Sao Paulo. This was opened as a mission station in iSqj- 
 A large group of dusky worshippers greeted us on the evening that we 
 held service in the church at Castro. The church is under the charge 
 
 63 
 
of a missionary and is the center for various Christian activities 
 for the entire region. It is looking forward to the time when a na- 
 tional pastor shall be in full charge. This is the ideal set forth in all 
 the Regional Congresses, and is the only hope of permanent evangel- 
 ization for any land. But it was not the church at Castro that 
 awakened our deepest attention. Six years ago Secretary Robert E. 
 Speer visited the Brazilian Mission, and in his report he made the 
 following statement : — 
 
 "We have in the South Brazil Mission no boarding schools for boys. 
 Mr. Landes has long been anxious to have an industrial farm school in 
 the region of Mandury to teach the Brazilian boys and young men 
 how to farm, on the ground that we cannot have self-supporting 
 churches until we have self-supporting men." 
 
 The dream of Mr. Landes has been realized at Castro. 
 
 A ride of two miles and a half over a rough country road from 
 the Railroad Station at Castro, brings you to the "Instituto Christian© 
 of Practical Arts." It is well named. It is purely and simply a 
 Christian School and it is eminently practical. Thus far only boys 
 and girls from Christian homes have been admitted to this school. 
 It is planned to keep it distinctively Christian. Every pupil under- 
 stands this before entering. The discipline demands it. The design 
 is to train the sons and daughters of Christian parents in all that 
 makes a useful life, to furnish candidates for the ministry, but also 
 for business, for the farm, for the home. The number of pupils in 
 the school the day we visited it was twenty-three, about nineteen 
 of whom were boys. In the distribution of the Kennedy Legacy, 
 the South Brazilian Mission invested $2,500 in 600 acres of land, 
 with twenty-five head of cattle thrown in. This land is bounded on 
 three sides by a river and a creek. When purchased, in iqi4, it was 
 a wild bit of woodland, dense undergrowth and practically no clearing 
 or cultivated area. As we drove up to the school we were profoundly 
 impressed with the practical side of the short-lived existence of the 
 "Instituto Christian© of Practical Arts." On the west of the highway as 
 we approached the farm was a very large field of corn and of manioc. 
 Later in the day we travelled over this large area and saw where great 
 trees had been felled and huge roots dug out or burned out, where now 
 corn twelve and fourteen feet high was growing. At another patch 
 we saw oats and large areas of manioc. Numerous melon and pumpkin 
 vines told the story of how well the land had been utilized. As we 
 turned from the road and entered the school property we came to 
 a fine bit of cleared land; on our left a home-made fence enclosed a 
 vegetable garden. On the right another fence encompassed a huge 
 field in which cattle were peacefully grazing. The clearing just 
 ahead showed still some burning stumps, the last of the trees to be 
 
 64 
 
taken from the "campus." The "campus" was well filled with buildings. 
 Directly in front is a two-story brick building; to the left a wooden 
 building used as a dormitory for students; a bathtub made of brick 
 and cement in the rear, especially interesting to us because of its 
 homemade appearance. Beyond were large sheds for the cattle. 
 Immediately back of the center building was a large wooden building 
 used as a workshop on the first floor, and dormitory for the students 
 on the second. A number of other buildings, tool houses, houses for 
 storing goods were on the other side of the campus. All these build- 
 ings were erected by the students. The chairs, tables, stairways, 
 banisters, beds, Morris chairs and most everything in the building 
 were made by the students. All the plastering and carpentry work 
 was done by them. They are taught to work in leather, metals, 
 and wood, are taught the value of soils, of fertilizing, and all that 
 pertains to planting and harvesting crops. Each student, whether 
 paying full tuition or not, must engage in manual work a certain 
 number of hours a day as well as study. The writer of these lines 
 arose at 6:15 a. m. in order to watch a group of students, with no 
 overseer, who for an hour worked like Trojans to remove stumps 
 from the ground. Each student, after a certain number of hours of 
 work, receives extra pay for such work done. The girls do all the 
 housework, as the boys do all the farm work, milking the cows and the 
 like. One man and one woman are the only hired help on the place. 
 The class room is not neglected, as all the morning after breakfast, 
 at 7:15, until noon is spent there. We saw on the blackboard in the 
 main schoolroom, the morning it was our privilege to speak to these 
 practical students in the Christian Institute at Castro, very difficult 
 examples in fractions. 
 
 To be sure a critic could find fault with the plan of the buildings. 
 The halls were too narrow; one boy had missed his calculations on 
 a banister — it had to be pieced, and there were other defects, but 
 as we looked over these broad acres and realized that eighteen or 
 twenty months before they had been a wild wilderness, and that all 
 this clearing and these buildings had been the work of unskilled boys 
 while they were attending school, we thanked God for the Castro 
 School. It is a Bible School; daily prayers are held; there is a Chris- 
 tian atmosphere about the entire place. On Sundays there is a two 
 and a half mile walk to church, some going twice a day, but the 
 second service is not required. 
 
 At the railway station the morning we left we were shown many 
 cords of wood just sold to the Railway Company, all of which came 
 off the school farm. We were told there was enough timber on 
 the farm to pay for the full amount expended in purchasing the 
 600 acres. 
 
 65 
 
The river is near enough to furnish water sufficient for ail the needs 
 of the school, present and prospective. Anyone acquainted with 
 the loose method of instruction in the home, farm and schools of 
 Brazil can realize what it means to have a boy sent to the Castro 
 School. Each boy has a number. When he takes a tool out of the 
 tool house, he must put his number in the place of the tool. He is 
 responsible for that tool until it is returned. One of the lads is in 
 charge of the tools and is called the "Chief of Tools." Discipline 
 is the one thing that the Brazilian boy is not accustomed to in his 
 home. The school requires promptness, order, exactness, obedience 
 to rule and purity of lip and life, along with a scientific cultivation 
 of the soil in a land where the agricultural resources have hardly 
 been touched, much less exhausted. The expenditure for the Castro 
 School in addition to the $2,500 has been very small. Unless all 
 signs fail it will be a self-supporting institution in the near future. 
 A Tuskegee or a Hampton for Brazil. It bodes w^ell for the future 
 of the mission work. It should receive the hearty support of the 
 Church at home. Some idea of the eagerness with which these 
 lads enter into the spirit of the school can be shown by the fact that 
 the severest punishment that can be meted to a student is to say to 
 him, "I have no work for you today. You must go to your room." 
 To be taught to love work is one of the great needs of the Brazilian 
 youth, only second to be taught morals and Christian ethics. 
 
 We congratulate the missionary who for years dreamed of the 
 Castro School and we felicitate the mission on the success already 
 attained and bid it God-speed in its work. 
 
 PONTA GROSSA 
 
 A short ride of less than t\\ o hours from Castro brings the traveller 
 to Ponta Grossa,'^- a city of 15,000. 
 
 The chief importance, from a mission point of view, of this city is 
 that it is a center from which the missionary can readily reach groups 
 of Christians scattered through the great State of Parana. There 
 are three railroads centering here, and a fourth one running to the 
 west is already in process of construction. Then, in addition, good 
 roads lead to villages and towns throughout Parana from Ponta 
 Grossa. Scattered throughout this vast State are little groups 
 of believers. One of the many duties of the resident missionary at 
 Ponta Grossa is to minister to these groups of believers, many of 
 which, under the proper fostering care, will develop into organized 
 churches. The work is not large at Ponta Grossa. An audience of 
 fifty assembled in the large room of the house where the missionary 
 and his familv reside. There is no church building. The station 
 
 66 
 
Children of employees on coffee haciendas, Campinas, Brazil 
 
 52 — Brazilian cart and five yoke of oxen, Ponta Grossa, Era: 
 
 67 
 
was opened only two years ago, although for years previous it con- 
 tained the nucleus of the church. There was a fine group of young 
 men in the audience the evening it was our privilege to hold service. 
 It was a typical Brazilian audience, white, black, Indian, mixed, 
 were all in evidence. The mixture of Indian and especially of African 
 blood is very large. One has to get accustomed to these strange 
 mixtures of races that meet him everywhere in Brazil. 
 
 We were in Ponta Grossa on Easter Monday. On the Friday even- 
 ing preceding. Good Friday, a great procession marched through the 
 streets of the city. It stopped in front of the Mission House, a motley 
 crowd of men, women and children, with banners, candles, torches, 
 brass band, and a huge casket supposed to contain the body of the 
 dead Christ. In the window of the house opposite the mission home 
 was the image of some saint with lighted candles illuminating the 
 scene. The crowd knelt on the dirty street — and the streets are 
 very dirty — sang, and offered some sort of worship to the image in 
 the window. It was a weird scene in the flickering light of the candles 
 and torches, the songs, the wild shouts, a mingling of Christian truth 
 with native superstition, and that in Holy Week in the year iqi6. 
 Five minutes" walk from the mission home is the Cathedral, situated 
 at the end of the beautiful square. The images on the outside of 
 this Cathedral are the most hideous we saw in Latin America, one 
 under which was the legend "Senhor Bom Jesus" being especially atro- 
 cious. 
 
 There is no other Evangelical church located at Ponta Grossa. 
 A good school is greatly needed. Persecution is practically unknown. 
 There seems to be an open door at this center. 
 
 It would have been a great pleasure to have journeyed with the 
 missionary on one of his itinerating trips. This occupies much of 
 the time of the Brazilian missionary. We did not see as much of 
 this work as we desired, but we saw enough in Parana to give our 
 cordial assent to the following statement found in Albert T. Hale's 
 interesting volume, "South America": — 
 
 "Anyone who has followed the colporteur on his bypath journeys 
 across Brazil knows that it is not always contempt or bigotry which 
 perpetuates ignorance, but that quite as often the native never had 
 before an opportunity to find out truth for himself. Anyone who has 
 followed the daily round of the true missionary among rich, poor, 
 cultured or unlettered, aristocrat or peasant, and has seen the eager- 
 ness with which progressive Christianity is received, knows that the 
 Brazilian has plenty of grace in him. Our church envoys are teaching 
 cleanliness as well as religion, chastity as well as good manners, in- 
 dustry as well as genuflection, physical as well as spiritual uplifting; 
 all this in the name of America. One of the most powerful agents 
 
 68 
 
in making familiar to Brazil the ambitions of our country is the 
 American Missionary, and a large proportion of the newer education 
 offered to Brazilians comes from religious sources. " 
 
 CURITYBA 
 
 Curityba was the extreme southern limit of our journey through 
 Parana. It is the capital of the State of Parana, a well-built, pro- 
 gressive city of 75,000 inhabitants. Here, for a quarter of a century, 
 the Presbyterian Board has carried on one of its most efficient edu- 
 cational institutions, known as the "Eschola Americana." The 
 school has always lived "in its own hired house." The present build- 
 ings occupied by the school have for many years been its home, 
 but they are old and need much repairing, all of which, according 
 to the contract, has to be done by the Board. In the division of the 
 Kennedy Legacy a few thousand dollars was allowed to the Curityba 
 school. A fine piece of property, only a few hundred feet beyond 
 the present building, on the same street, and directly opposite the 
 Presbyterian Church, was purchased. A well-built house faces the 
 street, and the large lot extends through to the next block. The 
 house is already occupied by the boarding pupils. It is well adapted 
 for its purpose, save that it seems very small and will soon be filled 
 to overflowing. The lot is deep and affords ample room for the 
 erection of buildings in some degree adequate to the growing needs of 
 this important educational work. *■'' ^•* 
 
 But a school does not consist in buildings, but in teachers and 
 pupils. The new building is still on paper. The school exists. It is 
 a potent influence in Curityba and Parana and the regions beyond. 
 The photographs present the pictures of the two noble women who 
 have been instrumental in the development of the "Eschola Amer- 
 icana," Miss Mary P. Dascomb and Miss Elmira Kuhl. It was late at 
 night when we arrived, our train having been delayed by an accident 
 at Castro, but Miss Kuhl and Miss Dascomb greeted us heartily at 
 the door of the school as the younger teachers had greeted us at 
 the station. Miss Dascomb has been forty-seven years in service, 
 Miss Kuhl forty-three years. Ere these lines are in print Miss 
 Kuhl will have reached the homeland. The increasing infirmities of 
 years warned her that her day of active labor was over. ^^ ^^ 
 
 "It would be a great pleasure to remain and see the school housed 
 in its new building for which I have so long labored and prayed. 
 But I fear I might become a burden to the workers here, and, there- 
 fore, have decided it is best for me to return to the homeland. It 
 has been a great privilege to see the school develop. We have never 
 used controversy — love is the more excellent way, and we followed 
 St. Paul closely in the government of the school." 
 
 69 
 
53 — Street scene in Curityba, Parana 
 
 54 — Pine trees, Curityba, Parana 
 
 70 
 
55 — Miss Elmira Kuhl, 
 Curityba, Parana, ap- 
 pointed missionary of 
 the Presbyterian Board, 
 1874 
 
 56 — Miss Mary P. Das- 
 comb,Curityba, Parana, 
 appointed missionary of 
 the Presbyterian Board, 
 
 71 
 
These words were spoken in the quiet of the evening by this servant 
 of the Lord, who thus, unconsciously, gave a page from her autobio- 
 graphy and unfolded the secret of her life work. 
 
 Miss Dascomb, after forty-seven years of service, is still full of life 
 and vim, despite an injured limb and dimmed eye. These lines were 
 written at sea on board the steamer "Byron" en route to New York 
 from Rio de Janeiro. At the mention of the word "Dascomb" a 
 good woman near, who with husband and daughter were traveling 
 to New York, said: — "Why, she was my teacher twenty-five years 
 ago at Sao Paulo, and what a teacher and what a woman she was!" 
 The writer of these lines added, "and is." 
 
 Miss Dascomb is unique. Her room is filled with photographs, 
 books and everything suggestive of teacher and missionary. She 
 is as young in heart, in spirit and in life, as any of her associates. 
 A doll sixty-five years old, whose dress is washed each week, has a 
 place on the book shelf. Photographs of friends and great men 
 and women meet your eye everywhere. 
 
 Books abound. The modern reader's Bible, pamphlets and periodi- 
 cals like "The Christian Calendar," "The Continent," "The Presby- 
 terian," "The Christian Herald," "Woman's Work," "New York 
 Times" and much else. One picture represents a spinster with a 
 lighted candle looking under the bed and unconsciously burning her 
 hair in her search for a burglar. In the corner of the room is a broom 
 used nightly under the sofa to make sure that no intruder is there. 
 
 Miss Dascomb is still alert, up-to-date in all her methods. The 
 school shows the results. All its Brazilian teachers practically were 
 taught in the school. It was a delight on Sunday morning to see 
 one of them presiding at the organ in the church, others in the choir, 
 still others teaching in the Sunday School or assisting in making the 
 school one of the best in Brazil. 
 
 "By their fruits ye shall know them." The fruits of the Eschola 
 Americana were before us on that memorable Easter Sunday in the 
 self-supporting Presbyterian Church in Curityba. The church is 
 one of the most aggressive that we saw in Brazil, a well-ordered 
 Christian congregation worshipping in a simple but churchly edifice, 
 built by the people and ministered to by a National Pastor. We 
 believe that the school has had much to do with the life of the church. 
 We watched Miss Dascomb teaching a class of uomen in the Sunday 
 School. She evidently was teaching, not doling out some dry-as- 
 dust platitudes to these mothers in Israel. The other Brazilian 
 teachers from the school seemed equally alert with their classes. 
 
 In days gone by the school suffered persecution — even high eccle- 
 siastics attempted to interfere with its work. Today it is too strongly 
 intrenched in hundreds of homes in Curityba and Parana to permit 
 
 72 
 
this. There is still some persecution. It was our privilege on the 
 afternoon of that Easter Sunday, to call on one of the Colporteurs 
 of the Independent Presbyterian Church. Three weeks before, this 
 brother had suffered persecution for Christ's sake. He had been 
 cruelly beaten by a fanatical Romanist. It was a delight to talk 
 with this man who for fifty years had lived with the wife of his youth. 
 Twenty-eight of these years he had been a professing Christian and 
 for seven years he had given his entire time to the preaching of the 
 Gospel. He was praying for his persecutors, though suffering much 
 physical pain from the blows he had received. Persecution is found, 
 however, only in a few places, and among fanatical men only. 
 No one event marks the growth of the truth more than this absence 
 of open violence. 
 
 It was fitting to end our long trip from Panama to Parana at 
 Curityba and at the "Eschola Americana." "' "' 
 
 In every one of the Regional Congresses, in practically every city 
 or town we visited, in our conversations with men of Latin America 
 or with missionaries, the three great needs that appeared above all 
 others were the need of morality, the need of education and the need 
 of a national Christian leadership. 
 
 Both at Panama and at the Regional Congresses there was some 
 difference as to the figures of illiteracy and illegitimacy in the various 
 Republics. Whatever may be the exact truth no one who is at all 
 acquainted with the facts can question that the illiteracy in practically 
 all the Latin American Republics is very large, running from forty 
 to as high as eighty per cent. The eagerness with which the best 
 families send their children to mission schools, even against religious 
 and social prejudices, is the best evidence of the failure of Latin 
 America to furnish the kind and quality of education required. The 
 various Republics are doing much to remedy this, and the Christian 
 Church, so far from criticising their efforts, should aim to assist and 
 co-operate with every movement seeking to educate and enlighten 
 the people. 
 
 But the gravest situation in Latin America as we saw it from 
 Panama to Parana, was the question of morals. It is true as Albert 
 T. Hale states: — "The greatest evil in Brazil is the laxity of moral 
 tone." But this only expresses half the truth for Brazil and the 
 rest of Latin America. It seems to be a lack of moral sense. In 
 travelling through the great State of Parana we were impressed with 
 the large section of untilled land where not even cattle were grazing. 
 A missionary of many years standing stated that the land lacked 
 nitrogen. Latin America lacks "moral nitrogen." We give herewith 
 a few facts which came under our observation, none of which did 
 we seek. In the Regional Congress at Santiago, in an afternoon 
 
 73 
 
57 — New Dormitory, "Eschola Americana," Curityba, Parana 
 
 58 — Group of missionaries and visitors in yard oi' "Eschola Americana," Curityba, 
 Parana. Note the well in foreground. 
 
 74 
 
devoted to education, every instructor who spoke gave a vivid picture 
 of the fact of the unmoral condition of the pupils in the school. No 
 training at home, no discipline, no sense of truthfulness — the very 
 elements of obedience and truth telling and trust had to be inculcated 
 in the mind and heart of the pupils. 
 
 In an afternoon spent at Petropolis, the suburb of Rio de Janeiro, 
 we visited the admirable Methodist Girls' School. We were there 
 told in almost the same language that though the pupils came from 
 some of the best families, they had to be taught to accept th§ word of 
 the teacher as truth. "Our mothers would tell us things, but we 
 never believed them, nor did they intend us to believe them," were 
 the words of the pupil when spoken to regarding the lack of truth. 
 
 In a conversation with a number of leading business men we learned 
 that discipline, order, promptness, and even honesty in connection 
 with the use of funds, were traits of character that had to be inculcated 
 in most of the employees. One example was given of a man who 
 had received money for his company, spent it for the care of a sick 
 wife, and defended himself on the ground that his wife had a right 
 to the money. In one of the large schools the professor rebuked 
 his pupils for lying. This made no impression. When, however, 
 he accused them of being ungentlemanly in their conduct they were 
 smitten to their hearts and begged to be forgiven. To lie, to cheat, 
 to steal, were minor matters, but to be discourteous and impolite 
 were matters of grave offense. 
 
 A professor in one of the very large schools founded by Christian 
 men assured me that among their pupils he did not believe that 
 five per cent, of the boys were morally pure. This same statement 
 was made so frequently and by those connected with so many insti- 
 tutions that they must be substantially accurate. 
 
 A leading business man in one of the large cities defended the 
 action of a father who not only permitted, but encouraged his boys 
 to satisfy their carnal desires, the father declaring that health and 
 nature both demanded this. 
 
 Members of the deputation who called on one of the leading pastors 
 of a large church in a metropolitan city in Latin America were openly 
 solicited from the windows of the house next door to the parsonage. 
 The church was adjacent to the manse. In the street on which one 
 of the best of the Regional Congresses was held there was open solicita- 
 tion of members of the Congress. It was so flagrant as to call forth 
 deserved rebuke. Yet prominent workers in that city assured the 
 writer of these lines that what he had seen in passing into that church 
 was insignificant as to what could be seen in the red-light district 
 of that city. 
 
 It is true that there are many pure homes in Latin America. It 
 
 75 
 
is true that the oversight of the girls of the best homes is most search- 
 ing and careful, but the boy is supposed to have impulses and desires 
 that can only be gratified by methods which are abhorrent to all 
 right-thinking men. 
 
 A father came to one of our schools with two boys. He said; — 
 "Your school makes men with character. Our schools give learning, 
 but our boys go to the bad. I leave my boys with you because I 
 believe the product of your educational factory is character." 
 
 These testimonies we heard on every side. 
 
 It is this point of view that exists in Latin America that makes the 
 situation so full of peril, and so pressing in its claim upon Evangelical 
 Christianity. 
 
 In a memorable address delivered before Clark University two 
 years ago by Senor Don Federico Alfonso Pezet, Minister of Peru, 
 he forcibly and fairly reminds us that we are not to judge Latin 
 American civilization by the standards of Anglo-Saxon civilization- 
 We agree with his fair and candid statement, but the fact is it is a 
 condition and not a theory that confronts us. Senor Pezet declares : — 
 "Now we are developing our true nationality and we know now that 
 the formative period may be considered as well over, and we feel 
 ready to face the future with full confidence in ourselves and in our 
 country." These are noble words. The formative period is past. 
 Latin America is facing a crisis. It is the Evangelical opportunity. 
 She has a large body of good men who recognize the situation. No 
 finer body of men have we found anywhere than those which 
 represented Latin America at the Panama Congress and at the 
 Regional Congresses. They were loyal, patriotic, and true Latin 
 Americans, and they were shot through with Gospel ideals and Gospel 
 ideas. They love their country and are ambitious for its success. 
 They and others like them, and their number is growing, are striving 
 mightily for a new Latin America. Yet the fact remains that in our 
 trip from Panama to Parana the conviction grew that the deliverance 
 of the Buenos Aires Congress was most true and timely, that "Latin 
 America is a legitimate field for missionary endeavor on the part 
 of Evangelical forces of Christendom." It is true that Latin America 
 has much to teach us in its cleanly streets, well governed municipalities, 
 in the courtesy and kindness of its people, and in its love for the 
 beautiful in art and nature, but it lacks what the Evangelicals can 
 give, A LIVING CHRIST. 
 
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