Health conditions are not of the best. This is to be expected of the hot and swampy lowlands; but in the highlands, where the climate is all that could be desired, there is sad neglect of sanitary provisions. Caracas is a fair example. It is a city beautiful for situation, 3,000 feet above sea-level, with good water and drainage; but there is much sickness and death in the poorer districts, because of the uncleanly conditions amid which the people live.
The people of Venezuela are chiefly Spanish and Indian, with some Negroes. There seems to be no organized system of general education. It is said that taking the country as a whole, less than five per cent can read and write.
There is said to be four hundred miles of railway in the country, in five or six widely separated sections. Of roads there is no general system, those that exist turning into mere paths a short distance from the towns.
Thus it can be seen that Venezuela can be classed as one of the very difficult fields to cover with Gospel effort.
Infidelity is a strong and growing factor. A large part of the people have no place in their lives for religion. The government itself runs lotteries and gambling enterprises. Yet here, too, are many whose hearts hunger for the truth of God.
We arrived here with no knowledge of the language, but trusting in God to lead us. In a little less than eight months our first little church was organized, and the hearts of the believers are full of courage as we seek to spread the message of the coming Saviour.
