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24 th:
EVANGELISTIC NOTES FROM
NORTHERN BRAZIL.
In January I visited Caxias. one of my
former fields of labor. Caxias is one of
the interior towns of the State of Maranham,
about 259 miles from Sao Luiz,
the capital, on the coast. To get to
Caxias you have to go on a small river
steamer about the size of the Lapsley
of our Congo Mission. The accommodation^
for the first-class passengers are
on the upper deck. I am not going to
ten now not n is wnn tne Doner underneath
and a tropical sun overhead, with
only a thin covering of pine boards between.
It is not exactly what one would
call a "pleasure trip, but 1 must say that
I have had no little pleasure 011 the
many trips I have made up an*d down.
1 have been in a good many places in
my life, and I have yet to find one where
there are absdlutely no redeeming features.
There is always a bright side if
we have eyes to see. The trip up this
time took only five days, but, at times,
it takes as many as fifteen, when the
river is very low. We arrived early, so
iiuu i. lie uuvuiaage ui me iresu, cuui
morning. I was received by the little
band of Christians with manifestations
of joy.- I had seen none of them for more .
than four years. It did me good to look
again upon the faces of these friends,
many of whom I baptized and ministered
to for the best part of six years. When
1 first went to Caxias there were many
bitter enemies, but now I find no signs
of hostility, even from those who were
bitterest in those days. Even before I
left there the priest that had tried to do
me all the harm he could, and who at
one time organized a band of "lewd fellows
of the baser sort" to drive us out
of the town, became friendly and actually
went to my house and complained
bitterly to me of the treatment he had
received at the hands of a colleague in
the town. I have some erood friends
there who are not Protestants. It was a
real pleasure to see these again. It is
to be doubted if there is a more generous,.
kind-hearted people than the Brazilians
on the face of the earth. They are
especially nice and kind to strangers and
foreigners. I have found them so, at
least.
The work in Ca*las for the last six
years has been under the care of Sr.
Baymundo Honorio, one of our efficient
helpers, who has been connected with
our mission twenty-four years. He is
an earnest and faithful worker. He possesses
great tact and patience, two very
important requisites for this work. He
is respected by all who know him for
his sterling worth. In the last letter I
had from him he tells me he is losing
his sight. An oculist told him it was
only a question of time. The day is not
very far distant when* we shall lose this
valuable worker? I preached some fifteen
times and observed with them the
Week of Prayer. I baptized twelve
adults on profession of their faith. I
baptized alfco five children. Caxlas was
visited by Rev. Belmiro A. Caesar about
eighteen months before my visit, and
E PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SOUT
about the same number of persons was
baptized. Some time before that Mr.
Womeldorf visited the field and baptized
Bix or eight. I think nearly all these I
have mentioned were influenced directly
or indirectly by Sr. Raymundo.
From Caxias I went over by rail to
Therezina, the capital of the neighboring
state of Piauhy. Here we have had
a small congregation for some time under
the care of Sr. Pontes, another of
our faithful laymen, but for more than
a year he has been unable to do anything
because of advancing age and
other infirmities. His is a pitiful case.
He has bee# engaged in Christian work
for some thirty-two years, first as a colporteur
and then as a helper. He has
teen connected with our mission almost
twenty years. Now he is laid on the
shelf, and his wife, .a most excellent
woman, is almost blind, so that she can
do very little.- They have nothing in the
world to live on except what their friends
may send them, and the most of these
are poor. 1 had a letter from Sr. Pontes
a short time ago, in which he said he
had received very little from any source.
Then he adds: 'However, we are not
cast down; our trust is in Jesus, and
from him we await help for the rest of
life, which will not be long. Troubles
and trials will soon be over." In There- *
zina I baptized, on profession, eight per
sons. Of these all were young people
except two, a man and his sister-in-law.
These two heard and accepted the Gospel
some twenty years ago, but, for some
reason, would never fully identify themselves
with the Church until this visit.
They heard the Gospel from Dr. Butler,
who visited Caxias and Therezina more
than twenty years ago. The man referred
to above had a brother in Caxias
who heard the Gospel from Dr. Butler
on this same trip, and he became a Christian
and united with the Church at the
first opportunity, which was when I
located there. He fell on sleep a few
years ago. God's ways are truly wonderful.
My experience and observation
on the mission field for a good many
years have served to make me believe
more firmly than ever in the distinctive
doctrines of our Church. I don't believe
there is another Church better suited
to the masses. So far as I have been
able to see, none of the Churches has
more success amongst all classes of the
people than has the Presbyterian. 1
know that no other Church strives
harder to train up the people in the
great basic truths of the Gospel. It
teens I can not stick to my text. To
return, I made arrangements for the
worker in Caxias to visit the congrega
uon in Therezlna once a month until
they can secure some one to look after
them. I spent ten days in Therazina
and preached for -them nine times.
On my way down from Caxias I
stopped off at a small town, Codo, and
spent two weeks preaching. There are
two families there who have accepted
the Gospel. One of. them was received
by Mr. Womeldorf some years ago and
the other I received on this trip. I bap
H. July 28, 1909.
ttzed the whole family, the father, an
old man of seventy, the wife and mother
and four daughters, six persons in all.
TJiey have been keeping the Sabbath
and having family worship for some
time. This means a great deal more out
here than at home. It requires a great
deal of courage to come out and be' different
from ail your neighbors, especially
when what you do is condemned by
cici; one. we nave now this little beginning
in Codo. I found very little opposition.
There seemed to be a good
deal of real interest in the Gospel.
There was no attempt to persecute us.
We had all our services in peace, and
many came to hear with all respect. It
seems to me that the Gospel can be
proclaimed in these two states of Maranham
and Piauhy with very little opposition.
We are doing next to nothing
for these big states because of a lack
of men and means to support them, if
they were forthcoming to-morrow. There
is a dearth of candidates for the ministry
out here also. 1 don't know how
long these two states are going to remain
open. The Jesuits are working in
all Brazil as never before to get things
llflfk Intn K-rvl- i "
...w iucii nanus, ana they are
succeeding only too well in many places.
They are being run out of Europe, and
they are coming over here. There is
always this consolation, that the Lord
knows those that are his, and he will
see that they get the truth somehow.
W. M. Thompson.
Manaus, Brazil, June 1, 1909.
MESMERIZED
A Poironous Drug Still Freely Used.
Many people are brought up to bplieve
that coffee is a necess'ty of life, and the
strong hold that the drug has on the syt>
tern makes it hard to loosen its grip
even when one realizes its injurious ef
ICVIB.
A lady In Baraboo writes: "I had used
coffee for years; it seemed one of the
necessities of life. A few months ago,
my health, which had been slowy failing,
became more impaired, and I knew
that unless relie< came from some source,
1 would soon be a physical wreck.
"I was weak and nervous, had sick
headaches, no ambition, and felt tired of
life. My husband was also losing his
health. He was troubled so much with
indigestion that at times he could eat
only a few mouthfuls of dry bread.
"We concluded that coffee was slowly
poisoning'us, and stopped it and used
hot water. We felt somewhat better, but
it wasn't satisfactory.
."Finally, we saw Postum advertised,
and bought a package. I followed directions
for making carefully, allowing it
to toil twenty minutes after it came to
the boiling point, and added cream,
which turned it to the loveliest richlooking
and tasting drink I ever saw
served at any table, 'and we have used
Postum ever ninrh
"I gained fljre pounds in weight in as?
many weeks, and now feel well and
strong in every respect. My headaches
have gone, and I am a new woman. My
husband's indigestion has left him, and
he can now eat anything." "There's a
Reason."
Read "The Road to Wellville," In
pkgs.
Ever rea- the above letter? A new
one appears from time to )ime. They
are genuine, true, and full of human Intereet.