A Needy Field in Brazil by F. W. SPIES

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 26, 1907

A Needy Field in Brazil

By F. W. SPIES

F. W. SPIES

At last, after months of desire to come to this province (Bahia), I finally find myself here, in a new field, awaiting new experiences. I was pleased with the scene as our steamer sailed up the beautiful Bahia de San Salvador (Bay of the Holy Saviour), from which the city takes its name. Along the beach is a small strip of land, only a few feet above sea-level, on which are markets, wharves, custom-house, warehouses, a few industries, and dwellings, and then there is quite a steep incline, which at some places amounts to a wall of granite reaching a height of two hundred thirty-five feet above sea-level, and on this elevation the main part of the city of Bahia is located.

When our steamer anchored, it was almost sunset, and so on the day of my arrival I could see but little of the city. But the good impression I received when I viewed the city from the boat, rapidly faded when I saw it the next day as it really is. As I contrasted the dilapidated and tumbled-down condition of some parts of Bahia with Rio de Janeiro, which I had so recently left, it seemed to me as if the hand of progress on the clock of time had gone back about a century. Yet while there is not that spirit of progress apparent that I have seen in some other Brazilian cities, there is another sense in which the people also seem not so far advanced, and that is in iniquity. While I do not mean to say that Bahia is not full of wickedness, it does not appear to be so far advanced in this respect as are Rio, Sao Paulo, and Santos, and this feature seems to atone somewhat for its lack of material progress, when we realize that the saving of souls, and not of cities, is our work.

I made the acquaintance of a family with whom I had a very pleasant visit, and hope they may see and accept the whole truth. I also visited one of the Baptist pastors of Bahia, a young American, and in the course of our conversation, which touched several principles of the truth, he remarked, “The more churches that labor here, the better it will be for the cause of the gospel in Bahia.” I felt that it certainly would be better for Bahia and its people for the last gospel message to be proclaimed among them.

As at the beginning of the Sabbath I sat in my room in the hotel, I could but ponder over the situation. Here was Bahia, the capital of the province of the same name, a city estimated to contain two hundred fifty thousand inhabitants. How much this province needed a worker to locate here and go to work. The impressions I had received of it during the short time I had been here, through the various people with whom I had come in contact, had been very favorable. But among all this vast multitude there seemed to be no one who knew of the claims of the commandment that says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,” and of the exhortation of the prophet, “Prepare to meet thy God.” No one seemed to know that Jesus was soon coming. It made me think of the days of Jonah, when the people knew not their right hand from their left. How long must this place yet wait ere a messenger could come to this field, feeling that the burden was upon him to go and work for these people? At best I could remain here only a few weeks, could satisfy at present only the most crying demands, as other calls and interests hurry me on.

But as in the Sabbath hours I pondered over all these things, I bowed before the Lord and told him my burden for that city and for its people, and laid before him its needs. As I did this, I felt that the Lord knew all about Bahia, all about its needs, all about its unsaved souls, all about the importance of having a laborer come here, and I received the assurance that somewhere the Lord has a man in training for this place, that somewhere he is preparing a worker upon whom to put the burden of the work in Bahia, and that somewhere he is preparing other hearts to sustain him in this field with their means. Then I felt happy because I had now placed it all in the Lord’s hands, assured that he, the Lord of the harvest, will send a reaper into this field.

Thus I pass along these, my first impressions concerning this province. I shall soon be among those who have for some time been keeping the Sabbath, and then will write further concerning my experiences in Bahia.

Bahia.