The Alto Parana Meeting by N. Z. Town

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 1, 1916

The Alto Parana Meeting

By N. Z. Town

At the close of the camp meeting in Montenegro, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, W. W. Prescott, O. Montgomery, and I took the train for Argentina via Uruguayana. Our Pullman was somewhat different from even the “tourist” in the States. The accommodations consisted of a plain board seat running the whole length of the car on each side, and another through the middle. But it had this advantage over the ordinary tourist in that the long board seat was there all the time, thus enabling one to lie down at any time that one’s dignity and the number of passengers in the car would permit.

Leaving Montenegro Sunday morning, March 5, we reached Paso Libres on the Argentina border Tuesday morning, traveling by day and staying at hotels at night. At Paso Libres Brother Prescott took the morning train for the south, en route to the sanitarium, while Brother Montgomery and I waited until evening for the train to take us north, to Villa Encarnacion, Paraguay, where the Alto Parana meeting was to be held. We found Elder J. W. Westphal and Brother S. Mangold and family on the same train.

Villa Encarnacion is a small town just across the upper Paraná River from Posadas, a thriving port town in Misiones, Argentina, where are the headquarters of the Alto Parana Mission. When I visited this field in 1909, the only means of reaching these towns was by boat, but now one can make the entire trip from Buenos Aires to Asuncion by train, in a first-class Pullman coach. A few miles north of Buenos Aires the train is taken across the Paraná River on a large ferryboat, and again at Posadas, where the line enters Paraguay. In 1904 when I made the trip from Villa Encarnacion across Paraguay to Asuncion, it took four days by stage to make the first seventy-five miles to the end of the railway line. But this is all changed now, and it is comparatively easy for our workers to travel from one part of the field to the other.

But these improvements for travel are not the only signs of advancement that one notes in this field. The third angel’s message is making progress also. In 1909 it was my privilege to attend in Villa Encarnacion the first general meeting held by our workers in Paraguay. About fifty of our people were present at that meeting, while at the meeting just held we were happily surprised to find a company of 120, besides children, or more than 150 in all. The superintendent reported seven churches and one company, with a total membership of 272 in this mission at present, the net gain during the past two years being about sixty. There are fifteen Sabbath schools, with a membership of 320.

The accommodations secured for the meetings and for those attending could not have been better. The brethren were able to rent an unoccupied hotel containing a large hall, a commodious kitchen with a new double cooking range, and sixteen living rooms. The house was built on the Spanish style, around three sides of a square, with a wide corridor, or porch, running all the way around on the inside. So we were protected from the hot sun during the day. That the rent for this building for five days was $1,000, will sound rather large to some of our brethren; but in United States currency it is only $25, which is very reasonable. Milk in Paraguay money costs $3 a quart, a small box of matches $1.70, and eggs $11 a dozen, and other things in proportion.

This was one of the most enthusiastic and interesting meetings that we have thus far attended in South America. The believers in this mission do not have so many such privileges as those in some other fields, and they indeed appreciated the meetings. The rapid progress of the work; the nearness of the end; the personal preparation needed to stand through the trying times just before us; and the responsibility of each in finishing the work, were especially emphasized during this meeting. There was a most hearty response from those present, and the determination expressed by nearly all to be more faithful, and to do more to bring others to the truth, is a good omen for the future of the work in this mission field.

The following resolution, which was enthusiastically discussed and unanimously voted, shows that the same spirit of devotion and labor for souls has taken possession of the believers in this mission as in the homeland and in other parts of the world:—

“Whereas, The times in which we live are urgent, and it is high time that God’s people arise and finish the work; therefore,—

“Resolved, That we do all in our power to give the message to the people in our field, by personal effort in visiting, holding Bible readings, and distributing literature.”

A resolution was also voted favoring the plan recommended by the recent union conference of raising eight cents a week for missions per member throughout the union. This will mean $3.20 for those of our brethren who have to use the Paraguayan currency. Resolutions were also considered and passed, urging the young people to take the Reading Course and to follow faithfully the plan of the Morning Watch.

The territory of the Alto Parana Mission now consists of the republic of Paraguay, the province of Corrientes, and the territories of Misiones, Formosa, and El Chaco in Argentina. Careful consideration was given to the question of how to reach the people in this field with our literature. Brother E. Villafane, who has done successful work in the southern part of Argentina, was chosen to take charge of the colporteur work in this mission. He brought with him from Buenos Aires 400 each of “The Great Controversy” and “The Coming King,” and with two others will begin work at once. Owing to the reduced value of the Paraguayan peso, or dollar, which is worth only two and one-half cents gold, the brethren have been tempted to believe that they are facing a crisis. But at the meeting they learned that there is no crisis with the Lord, and they are engaging in the work with new determination. As the workers in Paraguay have been obliged to sell the missionary paper for from $1.50 to $2, action was taken asking the publishing house to furnish the mission with 1,000 copies each month for Paraguay, on cheap paper, giving to the mission the benefit of the difference in the cost.

In the last general meeting of this mission two years ago, the Sabbath school offerings amounted to about $38 Argentine money. This year at the opening of the Sabbath the brethren voted to double the offering of two years ago. When the envelopes were gathered, it was found that the grand total amounted to $53.45 Argentine. When this was announced and it was asked how many were dissatisfied with the result, hands went up all over the room. So a hat was passed to relieve the consciences of those who were not feeling satisfied, with the result that the offering was soon raised to $77.25, a little more than double the offering of two years ago.

During nearly six years Brother Julio Ernst has done good work in this field as superintendent, but the hot climate has so affected his health that, on his request,

at the recent union conference he was released. He was elected business manager of the industrial departments at the school and sanitarium in Argentina. Brother Santiago Mangold takes his place as superintendent of the Alto Parana Mission. The local committee has also asked the union conference for Arthur Westphal to engage in evangelical work, in place of Brother Luis Rojas, who is going to Argentina.

I was much interested in meeting the family that accepted the truth as a result of the Bible which a company of half-civilized soldiers took from a young man at the meeting which I attended in Villa Encarnacion six years ago. During that meeting the soldiers who were encamped in the town made all sorts of trouble, throwing brickbats, old bones, green oranges, etc., at the tent, and cutting the curtains with their long knives. One evening after the meeting several of them surrounded a young man, compelled him to accompany them some distance, and finally took his Bible from him. This Bible they took to the barracks, where it was kicked about from one to the other, no one daring to read it, until a sergeant became interested, and for $2 Paraguayan, bought it from the man who then had it. He at once began to read this Bible, and gave strict orders to the soldiers who cared for his quarters that nothing should happen to that book. In the meantime his wife also became interested, and soon they were both keeping the Sabbath. He took the Bible to Posadas to his mother and brothers, who also became interested. As the result, three brothers, one sister, and their aged mother are now in the truth. I met all except the mother at the meeting.

The believers in this mission field send their hearty greetings to our brethren in the north. N. Z. TOWN.