The Needs of the Spanish West Indies
By Mrs. Ida M. Fischer
“He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.” Isa. 42: 4. This is a precious promise to those whose work is confined to this part of God’s wide harvest field. There is no territory, tribe, or individual so small but that our Heavenly Father sees their needs, and his tender heart is touched with compassion. Sometimes, we almost lose sight of the fact that there are other great nations besides ourselves, whose needs are just as great, both spiritually and physically. Our hearts go out to the great needs of China, India, and many other fields where consecrated men and women have laid down their lives for the gospel’s sake; and God would have it so, for he has said, “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” Yet out in the wide, wide oceans are little worlds, each foreign in many respects regarding its government and people. For some reason, God has scattered a goodly number of these little worlds, or islands, through the Caribbean Sea, and Spanish, French, Danish, Dutch, English, and native East Indian—the leading languages of the world—are found here. As we mingle with these nations, learning their languages and customs, our interest becomes awakened, and we realize their needs as never before. Thus it is that the Spanish people appeal to us so strongly. The Spanish West Indies—Cuba, Hayti, Porto Rico, with their smaller islands lying off the coasts—have over five million souls who know almost nothing of the third angel’s message; this number divided among the representatives of our people in this part of the field would give each one a parish of six hundred and twenty-five thousand people to labor among. Think you, my readers, that with this vast throng to labor for we do not long for consecrated young men and women to help carry this message to a people steeped in ignorance and superstition concerning God’s Word? God has endowed them with capabilities and traits of character which many of us, who have had greater advantages, long for. The Spanish people are no worse than any other people without the sanctifying influence of the gospel. From all parts of the world they are appealing to us, as God’s representatives, for a knowledge of the true God. Cuba’s doors have been opened to other denominations. Missionaries are tolerated in Hayti. Our own work is moving on in Porto Rico. The smaller islands have not yet been touched. Vieques, or Crab Island, off to the southeast of Porto Rico, still under Spanish rule, with six thousand inhabitants, is waiting for some one to sound the warning. Culebra, or Snake Island, with its five hundred fishermen, must hear the glad tidings of the soon coming of our Lord and Saviour. John in his vision on the isle of Patmos saw representatives from every nation, before the throne. God is calling for men and women of principle, who will take their stand for right if it costs them their lives. Those of the Spanish people who have let the gospel come into their lives have indeed been converted men and women. Naturally hospitable, their doors are opened to the stranger. I remember stopping in a Spanish town on the island of Porto Rico, while canvassing for our Spanish paper El Centinela de la Verdad (Sentinel of Truth), and some of the natives, in giving me its history, told me that before the island came under American rule, it was the custom when a stranger arrived in town, especially in the interior, where there were but few hotels, for the alcalde, or mayor, to go to some leading citizen and invite him to take care of the stranger as long as he remained in that town. Often has my heart been touched as I have seen some poor emaciated beggar dividing his scanty store with some fellow creature, whom he thought was worse off than himself. Love conquers almost everything, and as this poor downtrodden people see the heart of the worker filled with love for them, they respond most readily. I have seen them patient in suffering, sympathetic, quick to forgive, and devout in their religious belief. For over four hundred years Rome has held sway in these Spanish isles. It is hard for this people to grasp the truth of righteousness by faith, for their whole lives have been given to working their way into the kingdom of heaven. Once I was called to see a lady, the wife of a prominent lawyer in our city, who wanted me to tell her what Protestantism was. I tried to show her, after defining the word, the difference between the false and the true. As I presented the sanctuary question, Christ’s mediation and our acceptance of him by faith, her eyes filled with tears, and she exclaimed, “O, you don’t have to work your way to heaven like we do! Your religion is so much better than ours.” “Can we, whose souls are lighted
With wisdom from on high,
Can we, to men benighted,
The lamp of life deny?
Salvation, O, salvation!
The joyful sound proclaim
Till earth’s remotest nation
Has heard Messiah’s name.”