IN this field the year 1902 has been a year not so much of harvest as of seed-sowing, although forty-two persons were baptized during that time. We recognize the advantages of circulating our literature, and believe that what has been said of The Signs of the Times as a pioneer missionary paper among English-speaking people, is equally true of our Spanish literature in Spanish fields. So we are endeavoring to make our Spanish Signs of the Times, Señales de los Tiempos, a pioneer for this field of four republics, for which it is published.
A NATIVE HOME IN PERU
Until the year just past little effort had been made to open up the work in the other three republics, the work being limited almost entirely to Chile.
The first of last September two brethren started for Bolivia, selling tracts, books, and papers. They worked especially in the interests of the paper Señales. During the trip of four months they sold about twenty-three hundred copies of the paper, and took nearly eight hundred paid yearly subscriptions. In one city, La Paz, they secured one hundred and eighty yearly subscriptions, and sold nearly eight hundred copies in less than three weeks' time.
We rejoice in this good work. At our committee meeting in the early part of 1902 it was suggested that we send a man to Bolivia to secure the names of persons to whom we might send the paper free. But how much better that the people themselves should pay for the paper, as they will be much more liable to read it. And besides, the paper work has not been made a burden of debt to the Mission Board. The last year it has been self-supporting, with some gain financially after paying the expenses of printing fifty-seven thousand copies during the year. We are now printing eight thousand monthly, with and hope soon to print ten thousand; so the present year we expect to print and circulate more than one hundred thousand copies. The sowing of this seed will certainly bring some fruit.
At our recent committee meeting, plans were laid to send one or two colporteurs into each of the other republics, — Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. Thus we hope to see the work open up in all parts of the field.
Our force of workers is now small, only two ordained ministers in the field. Elder Balada, having a desire to carry the truth to his native land, is going to Spain in a few days. Last year he labored in Peru. Ecuador is the only untouched field, but within a few months we expect to have one or more workers enter that country, and then at least a beginning will have been made all along the coast.
