The Uruguay General Meeting by F. W. Spies

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 28, 1908

The Uruguay General Meeting

By F. W. Spies

F. W. SPIES

IMMEDIATELY after the close of the second session of the South American Union conference, which was held at the Camarero training-school, Argentine, Elder J. W. Westphal, president of the union, with several ministering brethren from the west coast, and Elder John Lipke and the writer, who were on their way to Brazil, set out for Rosario, Uruguay, to attend the general meeting of that mission field.

The meeting was held in an empty warehouse which had been rented and fitted up for the purpose. The warehouse was very large, so a number of apartments were made by using the wall of the large tent for partitions. In this manner a spacious meeting room, dining-room, and a number of sleeping apartments were made, thus accommodating all who attended the meeting.

On the Sabbath fifty-three brethren were present. This was about one half of all the Sabbath-keepers in the field. According to the testimonies given, it was evident that many of the brethren had received great blessing at the meeting, and we hope it may have been a source of strength to the whole work. Meetings were held for the young people. During the course of the meeting the brethren contributed one hundred fifteen dollars toward the Camarero school, one hundred forty dollars for the new sanitarium that has been started at Camarero, and eighty dollars toward opening up a work among the Indians on the west coast.

The Rio Grande do Sul conference came very soon after the Uruguay meeting, so we had to leave the latter ere it closed. As the train came into Rosario on the morning of our departure, it seemed rather strange to see three soldiers stationed on the engine, and others on the cars. As we traveled on, we found similar guards stationed along the line, and especially at the bridges. The reason for this was that there was a strike on among the employees of the railroads, and as the companies had employed new men, mostly from Argentine, the former employees had made an attempt at blowing up railroad bridges, and thus, to protect the property of the railroad companies, and also to insure safety of travel, the government had taken this measure.

As we see these labor troubles spreading, and developing such proportions even here in these South American countries that are generally so far behind in progress, it is plain that we have come to the time when the carrying of this message is growing more and more difficult, and that the Lord’s people need to make haste to improve the time of the peace yet granted us in order to finish the work. We are now at Santa Maria, Brazil, in the midst of the annual meeting of the Rio Grande do Sul conference.