Guatemala by E. L. CARDEY

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 23, 1908

Guatemala

By E. L. CARDEY

E. L. CARDEY

It has been with great interest that we all, workers and lay members, have looked forward to the opening of our work in this country. I do not wish to infer in this report that we have opened work there, but the first steps have been taken toward such a move.

The night of November 4 found me on board the steamship “Mobila,” on my way from Belize to Puerto Barrios. I had some misgivings for a time about going so far in a strange country, and among a strange people and language; but there was no alternative. However, I met with very little trouble.

The next morning our boat pulled up to the large wharf at Puerto Barrios where a train was waiting to carry us on toward the city. We arrived at the half-way place, Zacapa, in the evening at seven.

The ride during the day was very interesting as well as enjoyable. I was surprised at the service and accommodation of this railroad. The roadbed is very good; and the trains run smoothly, and make good time, all things considered.

The country is very thinly settled for the first hundred miles, or as far as Zacapa. Nevertheless the ground is good, and where plantations are made crops grow well.

The United Fruit Company has a number of banana plantations here; however, the country is open to any one, and land can be obtained very reasonably. For the most part of the way our road lay along a beautiful river, at times going within a few feet of the water; then, with the river, rushing between two mountains barely wide enough to pass through. Zacapa is but 650 feet above sea-level. Here our train stopped for the night, and the next morning at an early hour we were on our way again. The country around and west of this city is very beautiful; and especially along the river bottom the country is well cultivated. The road rises gradually until one gets to the capital, it being five thousand feet above the sea.

At one o’clock we arrived at Agua Calliente, the end of the present railroad. The road will be finished on to the city in a few weeks. Here we took a carriage drawn by four mules; from this point to the city it is twenty-five miles. In this distance we had to climb three thousand feet; thus it will be seen that we must go up-hill most of the way. This part of the journey proved to be the most interesting by far in a number of ways. Our driver seemed to be in a great hurry, especially on going down hill, when he would put the mules on the run; over the rocks, around the curves, we would go at a break-neck speed, at times going within a few inches of the edge of the precipice, two or three hundred feet straight down.

I can’t say that it just struck my fancy as to what a carriage ride should be, yet one feels like putting a great deal of confidence in the driver at such places and times.

The scenery was extremely beautiful as we climbed the mountainside. The well-cultivated valleys with their many shades of green (caused by the variation of crops grown) lying one thousand feet or more below us, was truly a scene of beauty. Twelve miles from the city we came to the end of the railroad coming out from it, where another train was waiting to take us on. What was my surprise to step into an apartment car as fine as any I was ever in. In another hour we were in the city. The contractor of the railroad, who was on the train, kindly showed me to a hotel where I stayed while there.

Already I had been forcibly impressed with the change in the atmosphere; my tropical clothing was altogether too light for such an altitude, and I was glad to stir around to keep warm. The city is well lighted with electricity, and the streets are well paved. On either side of the street is a good sidewalk—a luxury rarely found in Spanish towns.

I tried to study the country, its people, and the conditions from every side, that we might know how best to enter it. It seemed to me that the population of the city was nearly half German, but all speak Spanish, and many speak English. In the city and on the west coast I found a very fine class of people as a whole. In this section the country is in a high state of cultivation. All kinds of tropical plants, as well as plants grown in the temperate zone, are grown in abundance. Living is thus very cheap, as very little is imported to eat. The larger cities on the west side are connected by rail with the capital, thus it will be easy to work these cities from the standpoint of travel. Despite these natural advantages it will mean some hard work to get a foothold in this country.

The power of Catholicism has complete sway in religious matters. Guatemala City—which is a sample of all the cities—has twenty large churches and cathedrals. One I measured, roughly, to be 500 feet long and 250 feet wide. The walls of the larger ones are from twelve to eighteen feet thick, solid stone. I was told that some of them are over three hundred years old. I visited a number of the cathedrals, and watched the almost continuous train of worshipers coming to bow before the many images. It was enough to impress one with the need of the people, and with our duty to carry to them the light of the gospel which says, “Now the just shall live by faith.”

I stayed one Sabbath in the city, spending the day largely in the beautiful parks, with which the city abounds, as well as making a few calls on some American families.

Conditions are fair for opening medical work in the city. The government is very free toward schools, and I was told by the American minister that we would be welcomed in such an enterprise. There are two small Protestant missions in the country. Some priests told me, through the American consul, that no more missionaries would be allowed to enter the country, and the governor at Barrios said we could pass no more of our books through the customs. But I was told to go ahead and try it at any rate. This we shall do. There were three earthquake shocks while I was there. I am sure the time has come for us to enter this needy field with the message for this generation. This gospel must be heard by all these people that now sit in darkness and the shadow of death. Pray that the way may speedily be opened for such a step.