p. 13 | Portugal by C. E. RENTFRO

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 21, 1915

Portugal

By C. E. RENTFRO

C. E. RENTFRO

MISSIONARY work is being conducted in Portugal in two places, Lisbon and Porto. At the beginning of the war, public work was stopped in Porto and in a small town called Vianna de Castello. In the latter place the landlord rented the building to others, as he feared he would lose money through our work; but in Porto we were able to rent another hall after getting into communication with our Latin Union headquarters.

According to the law, we must have a license from the authorities in order to hold meetings at night. At the time the Germans in Africa invaded Portuguese territory, the authorities, fearing disturbances, refused to give us the license. We appealed to the minister of the interior through our ambassador, Colonel Birch, and after two months or more we were given full liberty. I had often visited the administrator and explained to him our work, and told him that we advocate the separation of church and state, and obedience to the authorities, and had given him literature. He assured the higher official that we would cause no trouble.

During the interval we held day meetings, which were attended by a few. The Sunday meetings were quite well attended. We also endeavored to get articles printed in the papers. One daily accepted six articles, to which the editor gave the following titles: “The Fall of Universal Nations;” “The Destruction of Turkey;” “The Place of the Last War;” “The Part That Russia Will Take in the Last War;” etc. These articles attracted considerable attention. One man and his wife began to attend the meetings. He had been an earnest Catholic, and was warned against us, but continued studying and soon began to keep the Sabbath. Others are interested as a result of reading the articles. One minister requested that I speak in his church on “The War and the Coming of Christ.”

In Lisbon the work is progressing quite well. A minister and a Bible worker are leading out in the work, and are helped by members of the church in a personal way. A hall has been rented in the outskirts of the city, where an interest had been awakened by the sale of literature by some of the members; and with aggressive labor and the aid of the stereopticon we look for good results.

We have desired to see more literature printed, on a greater variety of subjects, so that better work might be done in distributing tracts among the people. This branch of the work does not get the attention it deserves, though we hope to see it strengthened in the near future. Two editions of the Signs series were printed in 1914, of 5,000 copies each, and in 1915 another edition, and a tract entitled “The Universal War and the Destiny of the Nations.”

In this city, in the month of July, a baptismal service was held at a bathing establishment on the river Leca, an ideal spot and our usual place for such services. Five persons were baptized, among them three young men whom we desire to see educated for the gospel work. Our aim is, besides finding those who will walk in the light, to find young people who may be trained for service. Later, the man and his wife whose attention was called to the truth by the articles in the paper, were baptized. A church was organized, with a membership of twenty-three.

In the month of May, Elder L. P. Tieche, the president of our Latin Union Conference, made us a timely visit, the first in four years. Owing to sickness in his family, he could not visit our work in Porto. Although his stay was short, it was much appreciated.

The canvassing work has been carried on by a young man, who has gone over nearly all of Portugal, and a girl of seventeen years. But the church members in Lisbon and in Porto have helped in the distribution of our literature.

We rejoice to learn of progress in the world-wide work in spite of the great war, and pray that God may hasten the day for the coming of the great King, our Lord and Saviour.

Porto.