p. 18 | Bay Islands by E. L. Cardey

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 14, 1907

Bay Islands

By E. L. Cardey

UTILLA.—The two meetings I held in Bonacca were surely blessed of God. At one place I organized a church of fifteen members, and a Sabbath-school of forty. At the other, where there has been a church for years, the Lord came in with great blessing. During the first part of the services it seemed as if all were going to accept the message; but when we presented the great testing truths for this time, and people began to decide to obey, great opposition set in. It became so fierce that men drove their wives and daughters away from home at the point of a gun. Time after time men sent me word that they were going to kill me that night. One night after meeting, as I came out of church, I passed right by two men who had just declared their intentions of shooting me, and had their revolvers with them; yet they were as meek as lambs when I came near them. In all this, I assure you, the promise of God was very dear: “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”

Of course this opposition did more good than harm; for many took hold of the truth. Before leaving, I baptized twenty souls. About that number will be baptized later. To Him be all the praise. I have held one hundred fifty meetings in the past ten weeks, as many as five on some Sabbaths. I feel none the worse for it now, although I had a few days of malaria fever.

For a number of reasons, I have decided to move the headquarters of our work to Guatemala, and take the oversight of opening the work there. There we shall have the best of mail service, and shall also be in a healthful country, and among the people. We are still thinking of building an industrial school in that country. At the workers’ meeting held September 28 and 29, one of the recommendations passed was that I go to Guatemala, and look over the country, in view of establishing a school there. What we do must be done quickly; for we have a large number of young people from the age of fifteen to twenty-two, and they want to do something. If we do not set them to work, we shall lose them to the work, and perhaps to the truth.

Financially our field is rapidly improving. The tithe for the first seven months of this year is $807, against $915 for all last year. The offerings have increased accordingly; and this in face of the fact that we have had a number of local enterprises

for which to raise money. We have started and successfully operated the Central American Herald. I have raised over two hundred dollars gold for tents in which to hold camp-meetings, and hundreds of dollars have been raised for new church buildings.

We have decided that the camp-meeting shall be held March 5-15, 1908. We have the ground, in a fine cocoanut grove. We expect there will be a large representation of our people present at this meeting.

We have had what many doctors call a light attack of yellow fever. With a strong constitution, it took me weeks fully to recover and get my head in thinking shape; but Mrs. Cardey did not seem able to rise above the effects of it. Since returning to the States, she has recovered rapidly, and is now in very good health. E. L. CARDEY.