MISSIONS by F. H. Westphal

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Jan 25, 1905

MISSIONS

By F. H. Westphal

CHILE, SOUTH AMERICA.

WHEN I came to Montevideo to take the boat for Chile they were celebrating a feast in memory of the peace that had been effected. Their revolution had been more severe than the former one. It was a most cruel revolution; for it was found that very often a father and one son were on one side, and two sons on the other. The revolution was much more than a family quarrel. They were glad that it was over. Many bands played in succession. One tried to surpass the other. The feast lasted for three days, and nearly every one seemed to be happy. There were, however, some sad faces, for some mothers and sisters were dressed in black. There were also wives dressed in black and some children, for some had fallen in the strife and could not join in the gathering.

While there my mind was carried forward to the happy meeting and gathering in the kingdom of heaven, when the long strife between good and evil, and sin and righteousness, and death and life, shall be ended. God will add joy, but there will be no sorrow with it.

When the night came and Montevideo was illuminated, and the discharge of the rockets was added to the beauty, I was especially impressed with the grandness of the sight. But what will be the grand sight when the City of God shall be illuminated, with the glory of God and shall shine above the brightness of the sun! God's people themselves will shine brighter than anything that we have as yet seen. I would long to be in that peace gathering, as I believe many others long to be. Well, the journey is almost complete, and soon we shall be there, if we are faithful until the end.

After a very pleasant journey I reached Valparaiso, Chile, November 4. The business portion of the city of Valparaiso is situated in a valley below, but most of this ground has been stolen from the sea. The sea sometimes tries to claim this territory, and so sweeps onto the city, causing considerable damage. The city is now being raised several feet, so that the danger will be greatly diminished.

They have some very pretty plazas, and the people gather there for pleasure and display. There is also a fine alameda, or wide street, being arranged.

The dwellings are mostly on the cerros (hills) and it takes some strength to reach them. I am sure that any one who would do colporteur work in this city, would have exercise enough.

Among the common sights are asses carrying stones, lumber, hay, groceries, milk, brick, and in fact everything can be seen carried on their backs. One day as we were passing along they were milking an ass, and some individuals were standing around waiting to get a drink of milk.

A Missionary Field.

This city has about one hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, and there is truly a field for work. There are many places where strong drink is sold, and there are many who buy. The standard of truth must be lifted up among this people before the great and dreadful day of the Lord shall come. Earthquakes are frequent. One occurred while I was there. The people say that at first they are not afraid, but after a time, if the tremblores occur often, they get more nervous. Chile has been visited with some very destructive earthquakes in the past. In the year 1836 nearly all the cities of southern Chile were destroyed. Concepcion, Chillan, and other places were completely destroyed.

We came to Santiago, the capital city of Chile. It is a beautiful place. Before reaching Santiago the snow-covered Andes Mountains come in sight. There is a stream flowing from those mountains that continually washes the city and keeps it clean. The alameda, fully as wide as three ordinary streets, has two streams flowing all the time. There are wide sidewalks on each side and in the center a wide walk, and then there are the two streams flowing continually on each side of the walk in the center of the alameda. There are small streams of water flowing through each lot in the city to carry away the refuse. These streams are very swift. The fall is sufficient to keep the city clean.

On the Alameda, San Martin in Santiago, Chile.

There are many large Catholic institutions here and many churches. I was especially interested in the large public buildings that the Spaniards built here, when the country was under Spanish control. The windows are all well secured by heavy iron rails. It is grand to go on top of the Cerro Santa Lucia and take a view of the city. This cerro, or hill, has been made beautiful by the many trees that have been planted there. The flowers of various kinds are always in bloom. The Andes can be seen very clearly from this hill which is six hundred and twenty-nine meters, or over two thousand feet, above the level of the sea.

At this place the message has taken root. A Seventh-day Adventist church of about twenty-five members is here as a witness to the truth. We held three meetings with this church. The devil does not like to see this church here, and so he tried to frighten the members by a letter threatening the members that if the government did not drive these miserable Seventh-day Adventists away, the Catholics themselves would do it. But I think this letter was written by a fanatic; for the government is very liberal. A few years ago a Protestant hardly dared to tell any one that he was a Protestant; for he would almost certainly be knocked down or killed. Now we can preach freely, and the government says, Go ahead and preach all you desire to.

There is even a desire to hear the Gospel among the natives. It is peculiar that there is a special desire to hear the Word, and even much more among the Chilenos than among the foreigners that are here. What the people need here is the Gospel in its simplicity. Their customs need to be changed, and their general habits of life. Other denominations recognize this and they are trying to effect this by the establishment of schools; but there is nothing that can effect such a change as the Gospel of the soon coming of the Lord. We need a school where workers can be educated to carry the message to all the people. The government is very favorable to such enterprises, and it seems to me that we should build up the work as fast as possible.

I am glad to see the truth finding its way to every nation on the earth. God has gone out before us to prepare hearts for the reception of the truth. I just met a young man who is an earnest worker, and he told me how he came to take hold of the truth. He was walking on the streets in Santiago and he heard two men talking, and one said to the other, 'Somos bendicido de Dios.' The man immediately walked up to those men and saluted them and kissed them. He said he had never seen them before, but he saw them in a dream the night before and heard them speak those words. As soon as he heard them speak those words, he recognized the voice, and when he looked at them, he recognized their faces, and so he walked up to them and kissed them.

This young man was only seventeen years old. He was sick at the time and he told his brother that he met some brethren on the sidewalk, and he had seen them in a dream the night before, and he told his brother to visit them, for he believed they had something of importance to tell them. As he was sick, he remained at home himself, but his brother went. When his brother returned, the young man asked him what he thought of those men, and of what they said. He responded that these men have the truth, and they keep the Sabbath. "Well," said the young man, "I shall keep the very next Sabbath." When he would not work on the Sabbath, his oldest brother struck him a number of times, and greatly injured him, and then threw him on the street. This young man went to the meeting without his hat and without his coat. His oldest brother also struck his other brother who had inquired of those men, because he also commenced to keep the Sabbath. These two laborers were Brother Bishop and Brother Davis. The young men who embraced the truth are Brethren Eduardo and Victor Thomann. The older brother who struck the other two is now also keeping the Sabbath, and is going into the work as a canvasser to help spread the truth. The Lord knows how to bring souls to the knowledge of the truth.

I traveled on through the fruit belt of Chile. Chile yields an abundance of fruit. And all through this valley the trees are well loaded with fruit. We finally came to Rengo. Here is a family living that has embraced the truth almost as a whole. There is one son who is an officer of a prison who has not yet accepted the truth. One of the sons is a lawyer. He publishes a paper, and every week he has splendid articles that contain the Third Angel's Message in his paper. Very often these articles are translations of some of the best articles in the SIGNS OF THE TIMES. We can see how the truth is advancing and soon every one will have heard the message. We spent the Sabbath here at this place and enjoyed the meeting very much. Several strangers came to the meeting, and we hope soon to see them in the message with all their hearts.

We next came to Chillan, where there is one sister who is faithful to the message and loves it with all her heart. This city is one of the many that was destroyed in the year 1836. It has all been built up again, and no one would know by its appearance that it had ever been destroyed. All along the way the snow-covered Andes can be clearly seen. I finally reached Pua and Brother Krieghoff met me. He and I will soon be out with a tent to preach the truth among the people. On our way to his house we could see the Andes and their tops still covered with snow. One was an active volcano. Whenever there is to be a change of weather it steams and smokes. It did not deceive us, for to-day it has been raining. There is another volcano in sight, but it has not been in action for many years.

I am now here at the frontier, and have met some of the Indians. They are very shy when any one desires to take their picture. There is a general belief among them that when they have their picture taken they can not live longer than two years more. The Indians are generally lazy. The women have to do all the work there is done, and that is not very much, but the men do nothing at all. There is an Indian at Imperial who offers land so that we might start a school among them. I think that it would be a good thing if some teachers could go there and educate the Indians in the principles of true Christianity. Now is the time to work in this country. Since peace has been restored between Chile and Argentina, the condition of things looks a little brighter. Business is beginning to pick up, and in every way we can expect to see the country grow and prosper. What we lack is more workers. It used to be very dangerous here at the frontier, but since thieves are shot right down by the government officials, things are beginning to improve very much. Brethren, pray for this field, and think of our school in your prayers; and if the Lord should tell you to give something for our school work, then send your donations to the mission board and tell them that it is for the school in Chile.

F. H. WESTPHAL.