Self-Supporting Work in Porto Rico
By Mrs. A. M. Fischer
For the benefit of a number that have written, asking questions in regard to self-supporting work in our field, I wish to make the following statements:— We have two seasons, the rainy and the dry. The rainy season begins about May, and closes in December, the rest of the year constituting the dry season. The temperature ranges from sixty degrees to ninety-eight degrees, but the sun, during the middle of the day, is very hot all the year round. It is well to bear in mind that we have the tropical sun to contend with. During the rainy season the nights in some parts of the island are very warm. This is largely due to the fact that many of the houses are built with few facilities for ventilation. To those who have been accustomed to plenty of fresh air, it is trying indeed to be shut in behind barred doors and windows, with only a few port-holes for ventilation. This is not true of all the houses, but of the majority. While we have many things here with which to contend that we do not have in the States, yet the same things do not exist alike in two States in the Union. Those who are thinking of coming to Porto Rico must prepare themselves for anything. Some have asked if their children could live here. I wish to say that children from the States seem to live here as well as they do there. People live and die in Porto Rico just as they do in the United States. Now in regard to self-supporting work. In the first place, trucking, or gardening, is always open to the missionary. There is a good market for vegetables. Poultry raising is another enterprise that would pay well. The dairy business is a good one, as it is almost impossible to buy good butter here now. Land can be secured for thirty dollars an acre and upward, and is on the rise. Then the man who desires to branch out on a larger scale may export and import fruit. There is also an opening for broom factories, as broom corn grows rank. Bees also do well here. In regard to the canvassing work, I will give the financial statement of a young Bible agent. In twenty-eight days he sold for cash thirty-three dollars' worth of Bibles. Nothing can be done by taking orders. All of the work must be by cash sales. This may seem small to many of our canvassers, but when we stop to consider that about seventy-five per cent of the people can not read or15write well enough to understand (aside from their own names, or perhaps a few words), we can readily see that some interest is being manifested in the Word of God. The people are kind and hospitable, but quick to resent an injustice practiced upon them. To one who has become familiar enough with the language to make himself understood, they are very friendly and sociable. Of course we all know that when people can not understand each other, naturally there seems to be a restraint upon each one. In my experience with the people, both poor and rich, I find the kindliest of feelings existing, and a willingness to be very friendly. As I become better acquainted with their customs and their language, I find much of the prejudice, which existed at first, being overcome. I am convinced that in order to do good work with them we must live among them. Not that it is necessary for us to adopt their customs, as many do, but to seek by our life and example to lift them up. I am not alone in this opinion. Others who have spent years here, working to benefit the people, spiritually and socially, say the same thing. As our only object should be a missionary one, we should never for one moment swerve from principle and truth. Every word and act is being watched by the people. They are quick to see a point, and draw their conclusions accordingly. Do not let any one think that we have an inferior race of people with which to labor in presenting the truths for this time. It is true that they have been kept under Spanish Catholic rule for over four hundred years, and we know what Catholicism does for its people and countries when it has full control; but to the credit of the people I must say that many of them at heart have long resented this rule. Some have written asking in regard to the number of Sabbath-keepers here. As far as I know, the workers here are the only ones that are keeping the Sabbath. There was a sister who came from Antigua and made her home in San Juan, but I have failed to find her through correspondence. Practically no work had been done until our arrival in June, 1901. Only those of us who have been here can realize the need of faithful laborers. It seems too bad indeed that this field, lying so near our home field, has been deprived of the privilege of hearing the last warning message. Surely the blood of souls must rest upon our garments for neglecting this work so long. May God help us to fill the place he designs us to, and may the words of the prophet Ezekiel not apply to us: "And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none." Eze. 22: 30.