p. 13 | First Camp-Meeting in Central America

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 16, 1908

First Camp-Meeting in Central America

By W. A. Spicer

W. A. SPICER

The first camp-meeting in Central America was held in the town of Coxen Hole, on the island of Ruatan, March 5-15. Ruatan is the largest of the Bay Islands, which lie in the Caribbean, just off the coast of Spanish Honduras.

When the Central American believers made request for some one from the General Conference headquarters to visit the field at this time, it was felt that response to the request would involve quite a long journey for attendance at one meeting only. However, the believers urged the plea that in all the fifteen or eighteen years that their work has been growing, they had never had a visit from the General Conference workers, and inasmuch as the field had been self-supporting during the last two years, and had contributed liberally for the work beyond its own borders, it was decided to respond to their request. I was very thankful, on reaching the meeting, that the committee decided favorably, although for so short a trip it involved the maximum of disagreeable sea travel.

The camp-meeting was an excellent one, and important advance moves were made. Elder U. Bender, the president of the West Indian Union, who was expected to be present, found it impossible to get ship connections, and so Elder E. L. Cardey would have been left the only minister in attendance had not a representative from the General Conference joined him.

The Central American mission field was well represented, the believers coming in by little schooners from British Honduras, the mainland of Spanish Honduras, and from the islands of Utilla and Bonacca, as well as from different parts of Ruatan. About one hundred fifty of our people were in attendance. I have attended smaller camp-meetings in the States. It would have made any heart rejoice to see such a representation of earnest believers in the message as gathered here at Coxen Hole.

Coxen Hole is a little town of several hundred population, but is the chief port of entry for the Bay Islands. It has been one of the most difficult places in which to get a foothold for our work. However, the camp-meeting deeply interested almost the entire town in the truths which we preach. The people were most kind and hospitable. The camp was pitched in a cocoanut grove near the main street of the town. Nearly all the delegates found rooms in the village. Several family tents, a small tent for children's and youth's meetings, and the large pavilion gave the grounds the regular camp-meeting appearance. From early morning until late at night the meetings continued with unwearying interest on the part of the brethren and sisters, and with most excellent attendance from the public at the evening services. Every night the tent was full, with many standing on the outside. As the camp-meeting proper closed, Elder Cardey planned to continue meetings for another week, and there is every prospect that the interest aroused will develop a company of believers in Coxen Hole.

Before the camp-meeting ended, a number of people were saying that they intended to keep the Sabbath, but necessarily much instruction is to be given as to the full platform of the truth. Brother J. R. Green, one of the early believers in Ruatan, gave the conference a large house in the country, which is to be removed and put up in Coxen Hole as a meeting-house and mission room. A lot for the purpose was offered by an interested citizen at a very low price, and the money for the lot was quickly subscribed by those attending an evening service.

It was decided to organize the Central American work into a conference. The work of the committees was well done, and the meetings in which plans were discussed and business transacted were of the deepest interest. It was the first time representatives from all parts of the field had ever been brought together, and this first camp-meeting and conference session will surely mark an era in the development and strengthening of the work in Central America. It was voted to hold the next camp-meeting in the city of Belize, British Honduras. The following-named officers were elected: President, E. L. Cardey; Secretary and Treasurer, Mrs. E. T. Nowlen; Executive Committee: E. L. Cardey, C. A. Nowlen (British Honduras), C. E. Morgan (La Ceiba), David Haylock (Bonacca), C. Jones (Ruatan); Educational Secretary, J. G. Smalley; Secretary of Sabbath-school and Young People's Work, Miss Ida Shirley, with Miss Alma Osgood as assistant.

The key-note of the conference was that of pushing on into unentered territories within the conference boundaries. These believers have a large mission field, and a difficult one. Most of the work thus far has been done in the Bay Islands and British Honduras. Now a foothold has been gained at a few places along the coast of Spanish Honduras, and three adult believers are reported at Olanchito, well back in the interior. Two countries are unentered; namely, Guatemala and Salvador. It was voted to open the work in Guatemala at an early date, and if conditions seem favorable, the conference headquarters may be removed from Belize, British Honduras, to Guatemala, the most populous of these republics, and a healthful country.

These brethren and sisters in Central America are good, old-fashioned Seventh-day Adventists, and are devoted to this message, and rejoice with us in every victory gained. As work is opened in fields like Guatemala, it is hoped that some of the young people in the Bay Islands may be drawn into service on the mainland. Five schools have been in operation in the field, and I believe we shall see young people from these schools joining in active field work. In fact, the conference voted to encourage one young brother, Jerett Wood, of Ruatan, to go to the Black River region of Honduras, to work among the Indian settlements in that district. The Young People's Societies in the conference are gathering a fund to assist in establishing a training-school in Guatemala or some other place on the mainland.

Of laborers known to our people in the States I was glad to meet Brother and Sister C. A. Nowlen, who came from Belize. Brother Nowlen has been blessed in selling much literature in British Honduras and adjoining regions. Brother C. E. Morgan and wife, of California, were present, Brother Morgan being engaged in the colporteur work up and down the coast of Spanish Honduras. Brother J. G. Smalley, who went down from Michigan five years ago to engage in school work, is teaching at French Harbor, Ruatan, and helping generally among the churches in that island. Brethren Frank and George Carey, of California, are in Bonacca, doing school work and canvassing, and also engaging in agricultural work. Sister Ida Shirley, of California, who has been teaching in Utilla, was transferred to the school at Bonacca, where there are many of our young people anxious for an education.

At La Ceiba, on the mainland, I was glad to meet, among other believers, Brother Moncada, a lawyer, one of the first to receive the truth among the Spanish people of Honduras. As the first-fruits begin to appear among the Spanish people, as here and at Olanchito, all feel especially encouraged to push into the Spanish fields.

Elder Cardey's report will doubtless give details of business transacted. The conference sent its greetings to the believers in the West Indian Union and in other places. This newest of the conferences is but a little one, the entire membership being only about three hundred, but it is set in a dark corner of the earth, and I am sure no conference will be more devoted and loyal to the cause of the message, or more earnest in doing what it can to enlarge the work within its borders.

The principal business along the coast of the mainland is banana raising. The little steamer on which I returned from Honduras brought thirty-six thousand bunches of bananas. From the point of view of our work, we may derive a personal satisfaction at the increasing development of trade between the States and Central America, for it means better facilities for intercommunication, and brings means into the hands of the people in those countries who must be reached by our literature. A large work must yet be done with our Spanish publications through these small republics. This sowing of the fields with publications is the work that brings returns, as demonstrated not only in that field, but in all the world. We must push in among these people with the literature of the message. This the brethren are determined to do in spite of difficulties and obstacles. They must have our prayers and our assistance in opening up unentered portions of their field.

Takoma Park, D. C.