tral American Bulletin

Published by the Central American Mission.

PARIS, TEXAS, U.S. A., JAN. 15, 1912. No. I.

85

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CENTRAL Al\IERICA<)>.
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GuATEMALA.- Area, 48,290 square miles

VANGELICAL-U:-IDENOMINATIONAL.
Tl1.e ~rpose of this Mission is to "Preach tl:: e
GrJSpitt k> every creature" in Central America.
SI1PP0Jt,TED BY VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS.
Bxecutive Council,
Lu~ Rees, Chairman, - - Paris, Texas .
D. If,,~ cott, Treasurer, - - - Paris, Texas.
Dt. . I. Scofield, Sec., .. . 156 Fifth Ave., N.Y.
CENTRAL AMERICA.
bea~tifuland fertile region which (ex-
c-_ll!IMIIG' B~tttsh
Honduras and the Mosquito
~f Nicaragua) forms the field ot the Cen -
merican Mi:;sion, is divided into five re-
as follows:
Population 1,804,000, composed of Whites,
Mestizos, and Indians, the latter vastly pre-
dominating.
NICARAGUA.- 4Q,200 square miles. Popula-
tion about 6oo,ooo. The predominent religion
is the Roman Catholic, but it is not recogntzed
nor supported by the Government as a State
Religion.
HONDURAS.-46,250 square miles. Popula-
tion 745,000. More than 300,000 are Indians,
partly civilized,.but wholly destitute of the Gos-
pel.
SALVADOR.-Area 7,225 square miles. Pop-
ulation 1,707,000, or 236 to the square mile.
All religions are tolerated, but there was no
Missionary in Salvad or, until Rev. S. A. Purdte
reache,d -there.
CosTA RrcA.-Area 18,400 3quare miles.
Poptlation 357.176
2 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN.
YhB CBntral AmBrican Btl11Btin.
Published by the
Central American Mission.
Entered at P. 0., Paris, Tex., as second-class mattt:r,
and issued quarterly on 15th . ofJany., Apr. July and Oct.
Subscnption Price, Twenty Cents per Annum
Missionaries,
A. E. Bishop, ......... Guatemala, City, Guat.
Mrs. A. E. Bishop " " "
Mr. C. F. Lmcoln, . .... " "
Mrs. C. F. Lincoln, .. . .
Dr. Caspar Wistar .... .
Mrs. Caspar Wistar... . " " "
Dr. H. A. Becker, Papalhuapa, de Jutiapa, Guat
Mrs. H. A. Becker, " " " divisions of Protestantism: Evattf{'eltcal-lt
F. G. Toms, ........ .. . Huehuetenango,
.Mrs. F. G. Toms,...... " saints: Evangelistic-It beli~ves that. the. eva.n-
Herbert W. Toms ... . .
Miss Carrie M. Toms ..
Miss Annie J Gobrman
Mrs. Gertrude Bell, .. .
J. G. Cassel, ........... San :vi arcos,
Mrs. J. G. Cassel,...... " THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL.
W. H. Hooper . ........ .. .... . Managua, Nic.
Mrs. W. H. Hooper.... . . . . . . . . " "
R . H. Bender, ........ San Salvador, Salvador
Mrs. R. H. Bender, ....... Upland, California.
Miss Laura Nelson, Santa Rosa, de Copan, Hon.
Mrs. M. J. Dillon, El Paraiso, de Copan, Hon.
ORIGIN AND PURPOSE OF T HE MISSION.
In the summer of 1888 the spiritual destitu-
tion of the five republics of Central America
was brought to the attention of Mr. Scofield,
and he began to be burdened for the souls of
the millions without the Gospel, so near to our
own land. It became a conviction with him
that God would surely hold the Christians of
the United States to a stern reckoning for these
perishing ones unaccountably neglected.
It seemed to him also, that the divine plan of
campaign for the evangelizatiOn of the world
laid down in Acts 1 :8, forbade the passing over
of near region~ unevangelized to carry the
Gospel to the far off lands.
Becoming convinced that none of the de-
nominational boards were prepared to open
a new Mission in the near future, he, after
much prayer, put the whole matter before
three Christian business men, E. M. Powell,
Luther Rees, (who has since entered the
ministry), and W. A. Nason, all of Dallas,
Texas. As a result the Central American
Mission was formed Nov. 14th, 18qo, with
Mr. Scofield as Secretarv and E. M. Powell,
Esq., as Treasurer. Mr. Rees was made chair-
man of the executive council. In 1893 Hon.
D. H . Scott, of Paris, Texas, was added to the
council, and accepted the onerous and of
course unpaid, ~ffice of ~r~asurer. Mr. and
Mrs . McConnell the first Missionaries, were
appointed in January, 1891.
The following bases are fundamental.
I. DOCTRINAL.
We believe in one God, revealed as existing
in three equal persons, Father, .Son and H?lY
Spint; in the death of Jesus Chnst for. our sms
as a true substitute; in salvation by fa1th alone
without works; in good works as the frmt of
salvation; in the Scnptures of the. Old an~ ~ew
Testaments as verbally inspired m the ong1!lal
writings and in a future state of unend1
blessed~ess for the saved and unending
sc1ous suffering for the lost.
II. PRACTICAL.
The Mission is undenominational. It does
not seek to reproduce on mission groun~js th.e
holds to the faith once for all delivered to the
gelizatJOn of the world, . not 1ts CIVIhzatJon, Its
the true work of the church. rwo other pnn-
Ciples are fundamental: The Mission does not
personally solicit either m1sswnanes or money,
and no salaries are paid to any oAe.
The Executive Council considers itself, to-
gether with the missionaries, as constituting the
Mission.
Towards the Lord's people in the United
states and other lands, the council holds itself
committed to recognize and maintain in fellow-
ship as missionaries only those whom 1t regards
as sound m the faith, of godly lives, endowed
with ministry gifts, and truly called of God to
labor in Central America.
The CounCil receives the gifts of God's peo-
ple for the evangelization of Centr~l America,
d1stnbuting the same to the m1sswnanes ac-
cording to their needs.
The serv1ces of the council are wholly gratui-
tous, and postage, stationary and printing are
the only items of expense.
The Mission was duly incorporated under the
laws of the State of Texas, on Sept. 27th , rqor,
and as such is authorized to hold property and
to receive legacies.
- - - - - --
Form of Bequest.
I hereby bequeath to the Central American
Mission of Paris, Texas, the sum of $---to
be pa1d to the Treasurer of said Mission.
Any friends wanting the Bulletin one year
::an send 20 cents in stamps. On account of
our large correspondence, payment in stamps
is preferred.
Friends receiving extra Bulletins will under-
sta:J.d that we expect them to be used in spread -
ing the good news of the Lord's work m Cen-
tral America among new friends. The use ?f
these extra copies will give you a real part m
this good work.
 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN.
NOTES.
As will be seen from our Bro. Bender's
correspondence in this Bulletin, be has
been having much tribulation over a
mission bouse. The priests of Rome
have .sought with all their p >wer, which
is immense in San Salvador, to prevent
him from securing a bouse, or keeping
one after it was rented. His church has
been on the wing, driven from pillar to
post almost ever since his return to that
field; be-;ides, any house he can secure,
even temporarily, is wholly unsuited for
his work . His last message says he is
offered a house and lot in a good part of
town for $2,ooo of our money; $rso.oo
of this has already been given by good
friends, and so with the small sum of
f,r ,8so.oo this faithful Messenger of the
Master can be permanently housed, free
from the power of fanatics to remove
him. Now let us all join in the prayer
of faith for the immediate supply of this
need. San Salvador is the center of his
good work, and here native worker:. can
be trained and sent out to evangelize the
whole country round about. "And
whatsoever ye shall ask in my name,
that will I do, that the Father may be
glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask
anything in my name, I will do it."
We have the pleasure of announcing
the reappointment as missionaries of this
mission F. W. Boyle and wife of
Dallas, Texas. Bro. Boyle ha~ now
some burdens growing out of his real
estate business in that city. consisting
of some encumbered property that he
feels that he should dispose of before
leaving for the field, and the Lord is al-
ready hearing our prayers in this behalf.
The plan agreed upon in consultation
with us, is for them to take charge of
the work in Costa Rica. locating at San
Jose, and occupying our mission bouse
there. He is specially gifted as a Bible
teacher, and can do a good work in help
ing develop and send out native workers,
which is one of the chief plans of this
mission. We desire all our friends to
3
join us in unceasing prayer for this dear
brother and sister, that the Lord may
speedily release him from his business
burdens, and send them forth to their
life work.
With praise, thanksgiving and the
voice of melody in our hearts, we send
forth this Bulletin as a message of God's
matchless grace. For another three
mouths every current need . so far as we
can see, h~s been fully supplied, and al-
together from those who follow their
offerings with their prayers, sympathy
and love, both for the lost for whom
Jesus died, and for the blessed Lord
himself. Seldom have we had so many
small gifts, showing that God is using
people of small means to send out His
light to this needy land, because not
many of the wealthy will heed His call
to send out His gospel to the lost beyond
the sea. One Sunday school is support-
ing a native worker at $r 5 per month,
several men and women are doing the
same, and one dear girl out of a monthly
salary is paying $rs per month to sup-
port a native worker. ''They shall be
mine, saith the Lord of hosts. in that
day when I make up my jewels." In
response to the faithfulness of the rope
holders in this land , reports are coming
up from almost every station in Central
America of the salvation of souls. In
fact, it seems the Lord bas at last an-
swered our prayers for an outpouring of
His spirit upon this needy land.
Dr. Caspar Wistar and wife sailed from
New Orleans for Guatemala on Nov. rs,
and during the following week reached
Guatemala City. They had not at last
account fully settled on their field of
labor, but he plans to do medical miss-
ionary work at some good center, and
his wife being an educated native of
Central America, plans a good work for
the Master among her country women.
Let us all have daily fellowship in prayer
for these dear ones, who already have
the language and can at once proceed to
give the gospel to the needy .
4 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN.
Those of you who are supporting mis-
sionaries and native workers are enjoy -
ing a privilege the highest except one,
that of being a missionary on the field.
Let us call your attention to Phil. 4: rg .
This text is usually supposed to be the
promise upon which a ' faith worker' '
should rest. By close attention to the
context you will notice that when the
Phillipian church sent an offering to sup-
ply the needs of Missionary Paul, that
he sent Phil. 4: I 9 back to them. A
missionary's heart sometimes sinks with-
in him when looking for funds to supply
pressing needs, he opens a letter, and in-
stead of the check he anticipates, out falls
an imitation bank note or check with
Phil. 4:I9 printed on it .. We suggest
that friends consider this seriously and
that they send the real cash or its
equivalent, as the Phillipian church did
and let the missionary send back as Paul
did Phil. 4: I9 to the donor. The one
who supplies the needs of missionaries
rests upon Phil. 4: I 9; he can be certain
that God will supply his needs and in-
crease his own supplies and earnings.
See also I Cor. 9:8-Io, II. If one has
any troub1e in resting on Malachi 3: IO
from a dispensational standpoint, he can
be sure of the same result by sending
funds to missionaries and in claiming
that God will fulfill Phil. 4:I9 to him.
A. E. Bishop.
During the months of November and
December our secretary, Dr. C. I. Sco-
field, visited Texas, stopping three days
in Paris, and two weeks in Dallas with
his old church . He gave a number of
excellent messages and scriptural teach-
ings at each place, with the old time fire
and power, but intensified by long and
deep experience in handling the word of
God. We never had better fellowship
together since the organization of this
mission. We had several conferences of
the Central American Mission council,
both at Paris and Dallas, and the power
. of the Holy Spirit was realized at each
meeting. The whole field and the work
of each missionary was fully gone over in
counsel and prayer for the needs, burdens
and blessings of each and all. Several
new plans were agreed upon for the fur-
therance of the gospel in Central Amer-
ica. Among other things, it was decided
to select in the east near where Dr.
Scofield is located a council to help in
prayer, counsel and in every other way,
the evangelization of this needy land.
But our main dependence now, as it has
eve_r been, is your prayers.
Our Bro. and Sister C. F. Lincoln
have temporarily located at Antigua, the
old capitol of the Republic of Guate-
mala, the native worker who has had
charge of that station having come to
this country to work among the Spanish
speaking people. Bro. Lincoln is now
able to preach in Spanish, and this ex-
cellent young couple are making good
progress in the Master's work. Let us
all continue to hold them up in unceas-
ing prayer.
------------------
Miss A. Fern Houser, of Minden,
Neb., has been accepted as one of our
missionaries. She bas taken a course in
the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago,
and is well prepared for gospel work in
Central America, besides being a faithful
child of God, ready and anxious to go
forth to this needy land in accordance
with Christ's command. She plans to
go out with our Bro. Bishop to Guate-
mala City and work with Miss Zimmer-
man tn that city, especially among the
children and young people. We ask our
friends to add her name to the list for
unceasing prayer.
--------------
Our Bro. E. M. Powell, of Dallas,
Texas, who has served on our council
for 2 I years, and the first five years as
treasurer of this mission, tendered his
resignation at our December meeting at
Dallas. It was with many regrets that
we accepted same, and our friends are
urged to continue in prayer for him, that
the Lord may continue to use and bless
him in His own work.
 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN. 5

On Dec. 4 our Bro. Bishop and his
daughter Mary went to Dallas to attend
Dr. Scofield's Bible addresses. While
the many conversions during the past
year, for His mercy and grace manifest-
ed in so many ways and in intercession
for greater blessings during the present
year. The afternoon was spent in recre~
ation, and all felt that they bad a profit-
able time. The Sunday following there
were 158 present at Sunday school and
the offering amounted to $85.25. In the
Sunday evening gospel service four new
ones testified to saving faith in the Lord
Jesus.
All remittances to our treasurer may
be made by any friend in the United
States by simple bank check signed by
the contributor and drawn on any bank

DR. C. I. SCOFIELD, SECRETARY.

there he was led to consult a medical

specialist-an expert physician- Dr.
Walcott, who kindly gave his services
on account of the cause be represents.
We are happy to report that he is greatly
improved irl health by the treatment and
he and Mary now plan to leave Dallas
about the 2oth for New Orleans, so as to
be able to sail on the 24th to Guatemala.
All our prayer helpers are urged to join
us in constant prayer for his complete
restoration to health, and that be may
return to his beloved field of labor pre-
pared to do for the Lord the greatest
work of his life.
Mrs. Bishop writes that about 150 of JUDGE D. H. SCOTT, TREAS.
the Sunday school and native church where he has funds deposited. This
spent the first day of the year in the will save all expense in the transmission
country near some fine private baths, of funds, as the treasurer can cash the
which were placed by the proprietors at checks without expense.
their disposition. The forenoon was
spent in reading the scriptures, in giving As one who has been on the field in
personal testimony, in praising God for Central America now nearly r6 years,
 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN
and who keenly realizes the need our
mission has of a consulting director to
frequently visit every one of our mission-
LUTHER REES, CHMAIRi\IAN.
ary centers and out-stations, and then to
return to the States for a period of time
to present to the people of the Lord an
account of the actual workings of God
through our missionaries . and native
workers that they might be more inter-
.ested in praying for and sustaining the
word, I am. I believe, fully led pf the
Lord to make an appeal to you to join us
in prayer that our Father may open the
way by setting free our faithful chair- Conve1rted tltrouglL a Bo1'rowed Testament.
man pastor Luther Rees, so well quali-
fied for the work, in order that he may
.take it up. A. E. Bishop.
Rev. F. G. Penzotti.
No record of the work of the Central is quite ill, and she hopes to retu;n and
American Mission would be complete join her husband soon.
without mention of the name of Mr.
Penzotti, who came into Central Amer-
ica as the representative of the America
Bible Society, soon after we entered the
field. He came from Ecuador, South
America, where be was imprisoned for
nine months for the crime(?) of preach-
ing the gospel. His imprisonment turned
out unto the furtherance of the gospel in
that republic. He is now in charge of
the work of the Society in Buenos Aires.
He was always so sympathetic and
helpful and willing to co-operate in every
possible way with the missionaries. He
was untiring in his labors. Bro. Wtlbur
died in his arms. He . recognized the
importance of the work of the Mission,
as it would have been impossible for him
to have accomplished so much without
the assistance of the efficient colporters
trained in the mission stations. His tes-
timony was that during his long expe-
rience in mission labors. he had never
known the same amount of work accom-
plished with the same outlay.
The last word from our Bro. W. H.
Hooper was that be was on his way to
Managua, Nicaragua, to take charge of
the. wor~ t?ere. Mrs. Hooper is in. De-
trott, Mtchtgan, with her mother who
 THE CENTRAL A ME R ICAN BULLET IN . 7

perature and altitude, avoiding the ex-

pense of a trip to the States.
Twenty-One Years in The people who inhabit these Repub-
lics are Indians and a mixed people
called 1:estizos, with a small proportion
Central America. of Castillian or Spaniards. In . many
places the Indians have remained sepa-
ate ; in Guatemala alone there are about
November I4, I9 r I, was the Mission's eighteen distinct tribes, aggregating
twenty-first anniversary. Visions of in- about a million.
dependence and freedom from restraint
are naturally associated with the twenty-
first birthday. But at this juncture we
found ourselves still dependent on Him ..
who laid Central America on our hearts
and indeed rejoicing that we had no de-
sire to become independent of Him . As
we look back we are made to feel keenly
our failures and insufficiency, but we
take courage as we contemplate His pa-
tience and faithfulness. As one reaches
his majority he seeks to find his place in
life and to measure up to the responsi-
bilities devolving upon him. So, as we
look into the future, we want to catch
our Lord ' s purpose for Central America
and in His strength aod wisdom to co-
operate in the work of its speedy evan-
gelization.
It is 'appropriate that we should at this
time give our readers a review of the
work of the Mission, under four sub-di-
vi ions-our Field, Faith, Force and PR AY IN G FOR THE DEAD.
Fruit.
Politicall y, these Central American
The Field. states are called Republics. They are
It compri es Central America, with a so only in name, the great mass of the
population of about s.ooo,ooo souls, and population being incapable of self-gov-
an area of about I69,365 square miles. ernment. The line between prince and
Physically this is a beautiful country; pauper is clearly and severely drawn.
the scenery on the central plateau cannot The Indians are beasts of burden, and
be excelled anywhere. Wes.tern Guate- because of their ignorance 1hey become
mala with its volcanoes, mountains and the victims of designing and unscrupu-
lakes is the Switzerland of America. lous minor officials.
Here you will find all shades of climate, The common people are very poor,
from the malarial and oppressive heat of living in huts often built of cornstalks
the coast country to the cool and invig- and branches of trees, and they are often
orating atmosphere of the interior. Here scantily clothed and underfed.
we have a demonstration of the fact that Tbe men are subject to being drafted
climate i not so much a matter of lati- for military service and one can imagine
tude as of altitude. This variety gives what this means in countries where rev-
mi ionaries relief from extremes of tern- olution is the normal condition.
 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN.
Religiously the people of Central Am-
erica are Catholic. There Romanism
means idolatry and superstition; the
people are kept in ignorance of the Bible.
TALAl\fANCA INDIANS.
Rome's attitude to God's word is shown
in a document preserved in the National
Library of Paris, containing adviee by
the Cardinals to Pope Julius III on his
election to the pontificial throne in r 550.
It contains the following passages:
"Of all the counsels that we can offer your
holiness, we have kept the most necessary to
the last. We must open our eyes well and ex-
ercise all possible force m the matter, viz.: To
permit the reading of the gospel as little as
possible, especially in the common tongue in
all those countries under your jurisdiction.
"Let the very httle suffice that is usually
read in the Mass and let no one be permitted
to read more.
"So long as the people will be content with
that little, your interests will prosper, but as
soon as the people want to read more your in-
terests will begin to fail.
"This is the book which more than any other
aas raised against us the disturbances and
tempests by which we are almost lost.
"In fact, if any one examines diligently and
compares the teaching of the Bible with what
takes place in our churches he will soon find
discod, and will see that our teaching is very
often different from it and still more frequently
contrary to it. . .
"And if the people understand th1s, they w11l
never cease challenging us till all be divulged,
and then we shall become the object of univer-
sal scorn and hatred.
"Therefore, it is necessary to withdraw the
Bible from the sight of the people, but with
great caution in order not to raise tumults."
(Fol. B, No. 1088, Vol. 2, pages 64I6so.)
The same abominable abuses that
aroused Luther and brought about the
reformation are still practiced in Central
America. The following is a translation
of a Portuguese circular issued by the
Bishop of Taubate, in Brazil, which
shows what Rome is at heart today:
"Do you wish to obtain for yourself and your
dear dead relatives, and friends a real treasure
of grace and merit in life and after death? In-
scribe yourselves and your beloved dead in the
very rich 'Association of the l;ord, the Good
Jesus of Tremembre,' of this Bishopric of
Taubate. Behold what advantages, almost
without onus, this beautiful and advantagous
Association offers you.
1st.-Twenty four masses will be. celebrated,
every year in perpetuity in the chapel of the
Diocesan Seminary of Tau bate, for all members
living and dead.
2nd.-Every priest, supported by the funds
of the Association, will be obliged to say an-
nually, all his life, five masses for the living
and dead.
3rd.-The students of the Seminary, who are
aided by the Association, will offer a commun-
ion every month, and pray daily one orison on
the Rosary of the Most Holy Mary on behalf
of all the members.
4th.-The members will participate, in life
and after death, in all the good works and
merits acquired by the priests in the exercise
of their ministry, for havmg contnbuted' indi-
rectly to that end.
5th.-His Excellency the Diocesan Bishop
will grant each member, on the day of his ad-
mission, fifty days of indulgences and his pa-
ternal blessing.
6th.-Each parish which cotributes a total
sum of $3,500.00 for the above object will have
the perpetual right to place in the Seminary,
at the cost of the Association, a boy, who de-
sires to be ordained and who has the requisites
referred to in the Statutes of the Association; if
the amount contributed to the Association by
the aforesaid Parish be 20 ooo$co (about $7000)
it will have the right to place two students in
the Seminary, and so on in the proportion of
one student for every ten cantos of reis ($3500).
And what sacrifice is asked of you that you
 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN.
may do justice to so many and such g-reat ad-
vanta~es ? Simply one penny each mon~h
only during five years; or else ssooo ($1.50) m
one amount, with no further obligation what-
ever. * * * "
Through the confessional and the sac-
raments money i::. extorted from the
poor, priest-ridden and ignorant people .
The Indians (especially in Guatemala)
are still sun worshippers. In front of
some of the churches are altars where at
sunrLe and sunset they burn incense to
tile sun. This is permitted by the
church as long as they do not forget
their offerings to the priets. and these
are paid or collected as fees for officiating
at baptisms, weddings, funerals, etc.
There is a decided drift away from the
church, esp ~c ially on the part of the
men. 'fhis is partly due to the spread
of skeptical literature and also to the im-
morality of the priests. There seems to
be practically no connection between
Romauism and morality in Central
America.
Our Faith.
This embraces our message and our
polity : We believed we were calle~ to
preach the gospel in Central Amenca.
While we look with sympathy and fra-
ternal interest upon schools, hospitals
and orphanages when maintained by the
native churches, still we would feel that
the funds of the Mission should go into
the direct work of evangelization. We
know that when the gospel is preached
and true vital christianity roots itself in
any land , the mind is arou sed and pity
is awakened . We look at these seconrl-
ary fruit s of the gospel such as schools,
hospitals and orphanages as most pre-
cious but our mission is of infinitely
great~r importance than mer~ humanita-
rianism. We believe that the people
of Central America need to be born again
through the preaching of the gospel,
which is the power of God unto salva-
tion. Often we will be tempted to turn
aside and put the emphasis on the secon-
dary, but we trust we shall be kept true
to our Lord's last loving co mmand.
The state!Jlen~ of belief fonnd else-
9
where will convince all that we have no
sympathy with the socalled liberal t~e
ology of the present day. We proclatm
the old gospel of the new birth thro~gh
the shed blood of Calvary-of salvatwn
by grace and unto good works. \Ve
could not , fellow ship those who preach
"another gospel." When one of the
members of our Executive Council wrote
the president of one of our ch~rch boards
protesting against the appomtm~nt as
missionaries those who were herettcal on
the very fundamentals of christianity,
the reply was that the Board.' w~s t~e
ao-ent of a church or denomtnatwn m
;hich these differing and conflicting
views were promulgated, and no discrim-
nation could be made against those hold-
ing liberal views. . . .
The Mission is uot antt-denommatwn-
al nor so much undenominational as it is
interdenominational. After the needs of
Central America were laid on the heart
of our secretary, an effort was m~de to
interest one of the large boards 111 the
field but back came the reply, " no funds
for ~ew work, especially in Catholic
lands.'' A young man thoroughly
equipped applied for . appointment_ as
missionary to Costa Rtca, and recetved
the same response. But before us and
at our door was Central America with its
five million souls without the gospel, ex-
cept one mi ssion in Guatemala City ,.which
was then in a state of suspense. Would
we be justified in saying, "we. h~ve .
sought to interest 'the regular mtssto_n
agency in this field and now our work ts
done. " We felt otherwise, and on ~ov.
14. r8go, formed t.he Central Amencan
Mission Council, consisting of Dr. C. I.
Scofield, E. M. Powell, W. A Mason,
and Luther Rees, and announced th ~t we
would fellowship any whom we beh~ve~
were called to that work. Two pnnct-
ples were made fundam.e~tal-:-that .V:e
would not personally sohctt etther mt?s-
ionaries or money , and that no sa lanes
would be paid to any ~me. At first the
needs of the field were made known
through occasional bulletins, ~ut for sev-
eral years the Central Amencan Bulle-
IO THE CENTRAL AMERICAN ~ULLETIN.
tin has been published quarterly.
In undertaking this work, no reflec-
tion was intended upon the church
boards. We have always encouraged
all efforts to evangelize the lost.
Although we make no appeal for
money for this work, still we are increas
ingly being made to feel the opposition
MR. AND MRS. MC .CONNELL, MR.
PENZOTTI AND MISSIONARIES.
of the regular boards to our work . \Ve
are informed that recently in a great
gathering a prominent speaker advised
the people not to give to independent
missions, an assumption of authority
rivaling the Pope of Rome.
Our Force.
We now desire briefly to review the
work on the field. We do this in testi-
mony to the faithfulness of our Lord.
Costa Rica was the Republic where
the work began. In January, 189 r. two
months after the organization of the
Mission, -Mr. and Mrs. W. W . McCon-
nell were appointed, and in February he,
in company with Mr. Powell of the
Council, arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica ,
on the 24th. They found an interesting
field, a republic with about 280 ooo pop-
ulation and no work among the Spani~h
people. They found at Port Limon a
mission among the English speaking Ja
maican negroes, supported by the Jamai
can Baptists. There was a small Pro-
testant church a San Jose where Englisll
services had been held, but neither an
organization nor a mtmster. Since, this
has been used by the Episcopalians. At
San']ose the brethren were most kindly
received by the English speakfng resi-
dents and before Mr. Powell's departure
a Sunday school was organized. On May
I 1 of the same year Mrs. McConnell and
the three little boys reached Costa Rica.
These faithful missionaries continued to
live and labor for the Master in Costa
Rica until May, 1909, when they came
to the States because of Bro . McConnell's
failing health, but he kept in close touch
with the native workers and the church
and out-stations until August 2d, 1910,
when he passed away at Roswell, New
Mexico. How fitting are the words of
Dr. Scofield concerning him:
"The gentle and beloved apostlt: of Costa
Rica has fallen asleep. The Central American
Mission both mourns and rejoices-mourns that
one of the truest, bravest, noblest of the soldiers
of Jesus Christ has fallen out of the fighting
line ; rejoices in the work done, victories
achieved and in the fragrant and beautiful
memory of him that survives. He literally laid
down his life m his passion to make Jesus
Chnst known in Central America. To him was
given the rare distincti on of being the pioneer,
not only in the work of this Mis~ion, but also in
brin ging the gospel to the Spanish speaking
people of Costa Rica. The Jives of Bro. and
Sister McConnell and th eir children illustrated
and adorned the gospel they preached.''
Bro. Boyle, his fellow laborer in Costa
Rica, says of him :
"He led no armies to bloody victory; he un-
locked no secret of nature whereby men ac-
claimed him a g re<J.t scientist; no impassioned
speech made him famous in legislative halls;
he accumulated no collosal fortune-and ytt,
when he passed on to the pre s~ nce of the Lord.
the earth lost a great man. Great! Wait until
eterna l sight gives us the visicn to weigh great-
ness. Then when pomp shall shrink and pride
shall flee away, and violence shall no longer
plu~k the laurels of greatness-then out of the
 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN I I

be married, he and Mrs. Jamison re-

valley of mediocrity wili loom up the figure of
our beloved W. W. McConnell in the presence turned to Alajuela, where they continued
of the truly great. Any reference to his life
would be glaringly incomplete, which made no until 1899, when they returned to. the
mentwn of the true 'helpmeet' he had in the States.
companionship of our beloved sister who re- In March, r8gs, Rev. and Mrs. F. W.
mains with us. To those who knew them inti- Boyle and children and Miss Blanche
mately on the field, a referen ce to him as aGilbert and Miss Maria Farias arrived at
factor in any work always embraced her in its
San Jose. They labored there and at
scope, for their union of thou~;ht and purpose
and sacnfice was ideally one." Cartago . Bro . Boyle came back to
Si5ter McConnell's interest in the work Texas early in r goo on account of ill
in Costa Rica continues unabated. Her . health.
heart is there and she longs to return to In February, r8 97, Miss H. Ruth
the field. Chadbourn came to Costa Rica as a mis-
On February 2 c, 1893, Clarence M. sionary, accompanying Mr. and Mrs.
Wilbur and wife and Miss Margaret McConnell on their return from a visit
Neely reached Port Limon. By April to St. Paul. Miss Chadbourn 's training
16 they had settled at Narango de Ala- and devotion combined to make her a
juela. Mr. Wilbur came to us from the valuable missionary . Iu January, rgo6,
GospelMissionaryUnion and did aggress- she left the field because of ill health,
ive work from the beginning. He ac - but has maintained a real interest in the
quired the language in a short time and work ever since.
was a fea rless servant for the Lord . Early in 1902 Miss Emma S. Johnson
In December, 1893. Mr. H. C. Dillon reached San Jose, and for several years
and wife, of Paris, Texas, arrived in rendered faithful service there. She re-
Costa Rica , on their way to Salvador. turned because of ill health.
They remained in and around San Jose March, 1899. Miss Grace Eaton was
until they undertook .the trip through appointed a11d labored at San Jose and
Nicaragua with Bro. F. G. Penzotti of lived in the family of Bro. McConnell.
the American Bible Society, in May, She was untiring ih her service. F~r a
1894. Mr. Wilbur accompanied them, time she was at Grecia.
while Mrs. Wilbur and little Carlos re- On the departure of Bro. McConnell
mained at Narango. Mr. Wilbur con- from Costa Rica be left one of the evan-
tracted fever in the Lake Nicaragua re- gelists, David Rogriguez in charge.
gion , and on June 20, 1894, died in Mr. Later Mateo Carceller, a Spaniard, be-
Penzotti 's arms. No more consecrafed came acting pastor. He has since mar-
life was ever laid down in any mission ried Miss Eaton and they have returned
field, although hi s remains were refused to Southern California, where he bas
burial in the consecrated cemetery. Mrs. tak en up mission work.
Dillon was sick when Bro. Wilbur died, At San Jose the Lord was pleased to
and she and Bro. Dillon took train for give us a commodious mission building,
Corinto and there took ship for Salvador. combining a home and meeting place. It
Before reaching port, she passed away, is well located. Bros. McConnell and
and Bro. Dillon brought Howard and Boyle were used in . trainin g several
Ruth back to Texas. They were re- native evangelists who have co-operated
ceived in the home of Bro. and Sister in the work of the gospel. Some of the
Devlin, at Dallas, where they were ten- Jamaicans have 'also rendered valuable
derly cared for. service in this field .
Early in 1895 Mr. L . H . Jamison Mr, Farrand Pierson (the son of the
reached San Jose and soon began work late Dr. A. T. Pierson ) , with his wife,
among the Chiripo Indians, and contin- reached San Jose on November 4, 1903,
ued there for sbme time with much inter- and labored there and in Alajuela for ,
est. After a yisit t9 the States, where about two years.
12 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN.
Bro. Boyle's health having been re-
stored, he and his good wife have again
been accepted and are expecting soon to
return to Costa Rica. The church there
is greatly cheered by the news of their
appointment. Through all these faith-
ful embassadors a great work has been
wrought in Costa Rica. A substantial
church and Sunday school in San Jose
and groups of believers in many out-sta-
tions and scattered ones throughout the
republic are the evidences of G'od 's
favor upon the labors of all these Joyal
witnesses.
Honduras.-On May 30, r8g6, our first
party of missionaries set foot on Hondu-
ras soil. Pastor A. E. Bishop, his wife,
Miss Belle Purves and Miss Dora Shipp
were called of God to labor in that neg-
lected republic. They located at Santa
Rpsa, in the western part, the capital
BISHOP A. ' D PARTY AT SANTA ROSA.
town of the department of Copan. Our
readers are familiar with the arduous
labors of Bro. Bishop and his co-laborers
in Honduras. In November, r8g6, Geo.
R . Jackman and wife reached Honduras,
but on account of illness returned to the
States the following summer. Bro. H.
C. Dillon and Miss Margaret Neely were
married April 22, r8g6 . The evangeli-
zation of Central America laid heavily
1\IRS. M. J. DILLON.
upon their hearts and they made fre-
.qu t nt trips into the destitute districts.
They visit ed Santa Rosa in February.
189 7. where a special service was held
for six. weeks. From there they went to
El Paraiso, where a most remarkable
work was inaugurated. Mr. Dillon soon
began to suffer from fever in that deadly
climate, but continued hi" labors until
July 27. when he breathrd his last. The
Lord did not take him home until be was
permitted to witness some of the won-
derful res ults of his labors at El Paraiso .
His dear companion. though urged to
leave for a more healthful climate, re-
mained at her post, and after a period of
fifteen years she is still there. On hear-
ing of Bro. Dillon's death,,a friend sent
money to pay her expenses home, but
 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN. 1 2 -A

she immediately returned it, pleading The list of the victorious ones awaiting
that it be used to send out new workers. the crowns grows.''
The Lord has wrought mightily through June, 1899, Mr. and Mrs. Cassel came
her and miraculously preserved her to Honduras, arriving in Gracias but a
health. In this isolated village the Lord few days before Bro. Torence was taken
has drawn near and revealed Himself to sick and he remained there until earlv in
her. Under her training and direction 1901, when he came to Guatemala.
the church at El Paraiso has become a Miss Edith Wood:;, who had been
missionary center, the native evangelists teaching in Central America, entered the
going out in all directions and even into work of the Mission in Honduras the
other republics with the gospel. Her latter part of 1899 , and continued at
messages breath a spirit born of intimate Santa Rosa until about the clo~e of 1903.
communion with her Lord, and they While at the . present time we have
have been greatly used to uplift and en- only two foreign workers in this repub-
courage others. Her expenditures have lic, it is evident from the above that
averaged about $ro.oo a month, and much seed has been sown. The' native .
much of that has been bestowed on oth- evangelists and pastors under the direc-
ers, but no one can estimate the treasures tion of these missionaries are diligently
laid up in heaven . . pressing the battle. We trust very soon
Mr. H . L. Carter landed at Port Cor- to be .able to enter Tegucigalpa, where
tez December, I 897, and labored at San a blind rope-maker, now with the Lord,
Augustine and Santa Rosa. Dark Hon- whose spiritual eyes wen~ opened through
duras was again favored with another the testimony of Bro. Bishop on one of
missionary party in April, r8 98, by the his trips, was used to gather out a little
arrival of Mr. and Mrs. J. H . Swart, group .of believers.
Miss Callie Ham and Miss Laura Nelson. Salvador .-Rev. Samuel A . Purdie
Bro. and Sister Swart, after a brief ser- reached Salvador on July 14, 1896-the
vice at Corquin, returned to the States. first missionary to this needy fanatical
Miss Ham located at El Paraiso and later field-the smallest of the five republics,
at Corquin, where she married Don An- ha'ling an area of only 7,335 square
tonio De Moscos. Since leaving the miles, but over a million souls-more
mission she has continued to seek the than in Honduras. Nicaragua and Costa
salvation of the lost in Honduras. Miss Rica combined . He was well equipped,
Nelson has maintained a vigorous work having bad a large experience of over
at Dulce Nombre, most of the time alone. twenty years in Spanish-American work
She has gathered into her home several in Mexico in fellowship with the Friends.
orphan children and has visited other Mrs. Purdie and Joseph, the son , joined
points in company with native evangel- him January 29. 1897, and all continued
ists and helpers. to labor faithfully in the face of many
Wm . M. Torence and family, of obstacles until Aug. 6, 1897, when Bro.
Weeping Water, Neb. , reached Hondu- Purdie fell asleep in Jesus after four days
ras December 22, 1898, and in February of intense suffering from lock-jaw. Mrs.
settled at Gracias. After bearing testi- Purdie and Joseph came home to North
mony there and in neighboring towns, Carolina soon after, but later Joseph re-
he was stricken with fe ver Jul y 28, and turned and labored in fellowship with
on Aug. 6, r898, d eparted to be with tht:.! the Mission from the spring of 1901 to
Lord, and the Mission was called on for April , 1903.
the fifth time to chronicle the loss of a Bro. R. H. Bender landed at Port
faithful gospel messenger. On learning Cortez , Honduras, March 3. 1897, and
of his death, Dr. Scofield wrote: "Truly on his way overland to Salvador stopped
our Lord is taking seizen of that soil. a few days at Santa Rosa for fellowship .
He is consecrating that land to Himself. He reached his destination April 6, and
 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN.
at once began to hold forth the word of
life in dark, fanatical Salvador and to
enter into Bro. Purdie's work. He was
present during Bro. Pmdie' s sickness,
and after his death, in the face of cppo-
R. H. BENDER A N D FAl\IILY.
sition and illness continued at his post.
He carried on the work alone practically
until March 2 r, r899. when he was
united in marriage with Miss Belle
Purves, who had been doing a good
work at Dulce Nombre, Honduras. They
have labored faithfully under what might
be called adverse conditions. Mrs. Ben-
der has suffered physically during all
these years and is now in Southern Cali-
fornia on this account. Bro. Bender
has enjoyed the co operation of a band
of native evangelists and through their
united endeavors with the representatives
of the Bible societies a mighty work has
been wrought in Salvador. In addition
to Shepherding the churches at Salvador
and Santa Anna, he organized, visited
and encouraged statedly a large number
of out-stations throughout the western
portion of the republic.
In May, I909, Mr. Percy T. Chapman
and wife came to Salvador, locating at
Santa Ana, where they were cordially
received bv the believers. He had ac-
quired the language readily and was able
to minister to the flock there and in the
villages round about. About July, I 9 r r,
Mr. and Mrs. Chapman resigned from
the Mission and became missionaries of
the Northern Baptists. A majority of
the church withdrew from our fellow-
ship and asked Bro. Chapman to remain
as pastor, which he has done.
(;untema!n .-On April 22, I896 . Bro.
H. C. Dillon. and Mi,s Margaret Neely
were married at San Jose, Costa Rica,
aud then proceeded to th eir chosen field,
Antigua, the old capital of Gqatemala.
They became our first missionaries to
this large , populous and needy republic.
But, as we have seen elsewhere,. the
Lord bad other plans for them.
Early in I 899 our Bro. A. E. Bishop,
then in H onduras, where his labors
seemed to be blessed, was impre~sed that
the Lord was calling him into a new
field. The providential cause leading
him was the fact that the climate at
Santa Rosa did not agree with Mrs.
Bishop, and also that we had no mission
in Guatemala since Bro. and Sister Dil-
lon had left for Honduras. Subsequent
developments have convinced him that
he was being Jed of the Lord. On the
wth of May, 1899, the party reached
Guatemala City, sowing the seed on the
way. He decided to make that city his
headquar~ers, locating at a point distant
from the present mission. The mission
at Cioca Calle ( 5 streets) soon became a
strong center.
Miss Eva Dawson and Miss Fannie
Buck came to Guatemala City in 1900.
On October ro of the same year Miss
Dawson was married to Salvador Avilez,
 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN.
and they went to Nicaragua, lie being a
native of that republic. November, 1901,
Bro. Boyle and family, accompanied by
Miss Eva T. Ridge, arrived in Guate-
mala City, where he went to look after
the work during the absence of Bro.
Bishop. The physician soon advised a
lower altitude and Bro. Boyle went to
Nicaragua. It was then decided that
Bro. J. G. Cassel should come and care
for the field with Misses Buck and Ridge.
Bro. Cassel came in May, 1901, and was
warmly received by the church and Bro.
Penzotti. In April, 1902, Bro. Bishop
and family returned to Guatemala City,
accompanied by Bro. F. G. Toms and
family, Miss Daisy Ifert, Mrs. Gertrude
Bell and Miss Anna Alloway. Bro.
Toms had been rendering effective ser-
vice in Kansas, Michigan and Pennsyl-
vania: but felt he must go to the place
of greatest need. They were real rein-
forcements to the work . The mission
force was sufficient to enable different
ones to evangelize, and Sisters Buck,
Alloway and Ridge had the privilege of
doing village work at San Marcos, and
elsewhere.
While Bro. Toms was acquiring the
language the Lord gave him a special
service for which he was emanently qual-
ified-that of superintending the erection
of the mission bouse at Guatemala City.
Bro. F. B. Gambs reached Guatemala
January 31, 1905, and soon located at
San Martin , laboring among the Chachi-
quel Indians. After two years he re-
turned to the States.
In 1905 Miss Ifert was married to Rev.
Mr. Anderson of Zacapa , and died in
North Carolina in 1907. Miss Alloway
was married to Rev. W . E. McBath of
the Presbyterian Mission at Quesalte-
nango, Guatemala, in April, 1906, and
entered heartily into the work. . In the
spring of 1906 Bro. Cassel spent several
months at Managua, Nicaragua, caring
for the flock there. Upon his return to
Guatemala he came to the States with
his family for a much needed rest. On
his return he took charge of the work at
San Marcos and has labored there and
I2-C
in the territory adjacent until the present.
During the visit of Mr. Rees to the
field in 1906, Bro. Toms decided to lo-
cate iri Huebuetenango, in Western
Guatemala, but they did not reach there
until March, 1907. Mrs. Bell, who has
made her home with the family for sev-
eral years, went with them, and together
they have wrought a great work. What
a privilege-to be permitted to bring the
gospel to a great department! Already
the foundation of a great work has been
laid.
In December, 1907, Dr. H. A. Becker,
an independent missionary, came into
our fellowship . For some time he la-
bored in and around Panajacbel. Dec.
25, 1908, he and Miss Fannie Buck were
married and soon went into Southeast
Guatemala, where they have served and
sacrificed for .the Master. His medical
work opens wonderful doors for testi-
mony. They minister to many groups
of believers around Papalhuapa.
On January 30, I9II, Mr. and Mrs.
Fred Lincoln, of the First Congregation-
al Church, Dallas, reached Guatemala
City. They have made rapid progress
with the language and he has been
preaching for some time. They have
just located in Antigua for the present.
In this Bulletin we learn of the ap-
pointment of Dr. and Mrs. Caspar
Wistar. Mrs. Wistar is a native of
Guatemala , and they purpose laboring
in that republic.
Thus you will see that something has
been done toward obeying the last com-
mand in Guatemala.
Nicarag ua:-We had long been pray-
ing for Nicaragua, the only republic
which our mission had not occupied.
We felt a great interest in it, especially
since our Bro. Wilbur laid down his
life at Granada.
Early in 1900 Mr. A. B. DeRoos, a
converted Jew who had been laboring
among the English speaking residents of
Costa Rica between Limon and Cartago,
began work at San Carlos , Nicaragua.
He preached the gospel at various other
points west of Lake Nicaragua and on
I 2-]) THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN.
the islands. On Feb. 23, I 90I, he was
united in marriage to Miss Minnie Boyle
at Guatemala City. After doing some
evangelistic work in that republic, they
returned to Nicaragua, where the labor-
ed faithfully amid persecution and suffer-
ing. He did much evan geli~tic wor~ in
the republic and was used m the butld-
ing up of a good work in M anagua.
Mrs. E va Dawson Avilez , with her hus-
band , Salvador Avilez, also assisted in
the work at Managua , and later located
' ..
G . A . 'l'AVEL, EX -F R ENCH P RI EST .
at L eon. Bro. Boyle and family also
came to Nicaragua but were compelled
to return to the States on account of ill
health ; Near the close of I 903 , Bro .
DeRoos and wife returned to Texas on
account of her health . Miss E . M.
Blackmore, who had entered the work
in Costa Rica, came to Nicaragua from
there with Mrs. DeRoos, accompanied
them to the States and then returned to
Managua, taking charge of the work and
rendering faith ful service until Novem-
ber, I 905 , when she left for her home in
E ngland for a much needed rest. On
March 26, 1895, Walter J. Schieferstien
of Chicai'o, arrived at Managua and en-
tered enthusiastically into the work and
seemed to be greatly used. On June 6,
after a brief but helpful service, be fell
asleep. The church felt his loss keenly.
The church at Managua has been sig-
nally blessed in its native pastor, Braulio
Galin, who has remained steadfast for so
many years. Nov ., I 908 , Bro. A . B .
DeRoos again reached Managua and
took up his old work, remaining until
Sept . , I 9 10, when be returned to Texas.
In I 9 10 Mr. G . A . Tavel, a converted
French priest, came to Nicaragua from
Costa Rica , where he had held some
h elpful meetings. He has manifested an
humble spirit and has done much of the
p reaching at Managua since his arrival.
H e is a forceful preacher and is fearless
in proclaiming the gospel.
Miss Eva Ridge, who was formerly
with u s in Guatemala, began an inde-
pendent work at Granada, and for sev-
eral years, and especially when we had
no foreign worker on the field, rendered
valuable service to the church in Mana-
gua a nd at the out-stations. Miss Black-
more al so returned to Managua in the
fall of r 907, and w bile she has not been
technically connected with the Mission',
she could not have done more to further
the cause in Nicaragua . Both of these
sisters have manifested a most self-sacri-
ficing spirit.
The Fruit.
At the close of a meeting in Dallas,
the writer was walking to the hotel with
Mr. Moody , when a man joined us and
said: " Mr. Moody , how many converts
have you had here?" Mr. Moody
promptly answered: "I don ' t know; I
preach the gospel, the Holy Spirit con-
verts and the Lord keeps the record . , .
So, our Father alone knows the result of
the seed sowing in Central America dur-
ing the past 2 I years.
Often it would not be best for us to
know the result of our testimony . We
would take credit for His work and soon
become useless.
We have not placed much emphasis on
statistics thus far, fearing lest we should
be guilty of "numberin~ the people/'
 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN.
In foreign mission work there is great
danger of creating a false impression .
Our home christians may be largely to
blame for this. They have an abnormal
WATER CARR I E R S.
taste for the startling and the unusual.
Many think nothing is being accom-
plished unless there is some remarkable
manifestation of interest. Christians
who would not think of withdrawing
their support from a church, although it
had not add ed a member on confession
in years , would soon lose interest in the
work abroad unless some startling fig-
ures and stories were forthcoming. Some
missionaries, before they fully reali ze it,
find themselves trying to satisfy this
craving for the exciting things and prob-
ably omitting information as to trials
and failures. We would not want to
,make the impression that the believers
I 2 -tt
have always proved true and steadfast.
Indeed all the workers have been sorely
tried by the failures and lapses into sin
of those who had promised well. Still
we would we had space to bear witness
to the transforming power of the gospel
in communities and individual lives.
Men who were slaves to drink and gam-
bling and wholly irresponsible are now
occupying positions of trust and confi-
dence. Marroquin, who is now under
Bro. Bishop in charge of the evangelists,
when converted had been in prison 63
times. All the missionaries can point to
marvelous illustrations of the power of
the simple gospel. Members of our
churches are sought by corporations and
men of wealth because they can be
trusted.
We have not received reports from all
the stations , but from the reports at hand
and conservative estimates, we find as
follows:
Guatemala.-Believers, 593; out sta-
tions, 16; native evangelists, 18.
Honduras.-Believers, 204; out-sta-
tions, 14; native evangelists, 5
Salvador.-Believers, 457; out-stations,
22 ; native evangelists, 5
Nicaragua.-Believers, 175; out-sta-
tions, 4; native evangelists, 3
Costa Rica.-Believers, 150; out-sta-
tions, 7; native evangelists, 3
TotaL-Believers, I,579; out-stations,
63; native evangelists, 34
Those who have confessed Christ but
have not yet been baptized are not in-
cluded above, and there are many such.
Since the Mission began its work prob-
ably I, soo have fallen asleep in Jesus,
refusing the ministrations of Rome. As
John Wesley said concerning his follow-
ers, we can bear witness for those who
have confessed Christ in central Amer-
ica. "They die well." Our figures do
not include the large army of sympa-
thizers with the work.
Substantial mission' buildings have
been erected at San Jose, Costa Rica,
Guatemala City, Guat., and Managua,
Nicara~ua. The building in process of
 ,

12-F THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN.

erection a!: Santa Ana, Salvador, ba s estino Quesada, a Costa Rican, was
been occupied by the Baptist. At El chosen to accompany Bro. Dillon as his
Paraiso. Honduras, and Papalhuapa , helper. The work proved to be exceed-
Guatemala, suitable chapels have just ingly laborious, as most of the traveling
been completed. At several out-station s had to be done on foot through almost
the local churches have built chapels. impassable jungle and forests and over
We are constantly being made to feel the
need of mission homes at all the central
stations. Bro. Toms at Huehuetenango,
Gu.a t., Bro . Cassel, at San Marcos, Bro.
Bender at Salvador, and Miss Laura
Nelson at Dulce Nombre a~ e pleading
with our Father for the supply of thi s
special need.
The statistical report shows that thir-
ty-four native pastors and evangelis ts
are in service. Our hope for the evan -
gelization of Central America is here.
The Lord has favored the work in send-
ing forth missionaries who are q ualified
and equipped to train, develop and direct
the native helpers. Taking into account
the native helpers who earn their living,
but who, ''as they go , preach," our
native force is twice as great as the for-
eign. Again, we believe that a larger pro-
portion of the believers in Central Amer-
ica are active in personal work than in
the homeland. The deliverance from
the bondage of Rome is so signal and H. C. DILLON.
marked that the converts cannot but
prectpttous mountains. The forests
bear testimony to their new-found joy.
swarmed with wild beasts and poisonous
All these constitute a mighty evangel-
reptiles and insec ts . No braver nor
istic force which is doing much to bring
more self-sacrificing soldier could have
the light to dark Central America. I.-. R.
been chosen for the work.
He spent nearly eighteen months in
The Arthington Exploration. the work and endured untold hardships,
The late Robert Arthington, of Leeds , but without a murmur. Writing Jan.
England, the well known friend of miss- rst , 1896, he says: ''It seems strange
ions, who had long had upon his heart that such a great field lying just at our
the unevangeli zed aboriginees of Central door with its many nations should have
and South America, in r 894 authorized been absolutely neglected during the
our Mission to undertake explorations whole century of missions. Twenty-
with a view of determining the location three tribes have beep visited, number-
of every Indian tribe in Central America. ing I . soo,ooo souls, of whom perhaps
It was astonishing how little was known one-fourth are purely pagan and worship
of these Indians, even by the govern- idols. All of these 1i ve practically as
ments under which they nominally lived. they did before the conquest, except that
The work of systematic investigation now most of them get drunk, lie and
was put in charge of Mr. H. C. Dillon. steal, leading a wretched slave life with-
He began in December, 1894. Mr. Cel- out food and clothing.
 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN.
This makes a journey of 4,872 miles
since entering Costa Rica at Port Limon,
2, I 35 miles having been traveled by rail-
way and in steamboat; 667 in sail boat;
210 in dug out; 6go on mule back, and
I, I 70 on foot. "
-----------------
The Indians of Central America.
Pastor H . C. Dillon speaki ng of his
PICKING COFFEE IN GUATEMALA.
work of exploration among twenty-three
tribes which he visited numbering more
than I ,soo,ooo so ul s, say s:
"Each of the twenty-three tribes h as tts own
language and most of the languages have sev-
eral dialects, so that there are fields for many
mtssionaries. The Quiche tribe has z8o,ooo
souls, the Cockchiquel I3o,ooo, the 1\lam I25,-
ooo, the Queckcht rzo,ooo, and so on down to
the Guatusos with about I ,ooo. In December,
I8g+, the exploration was begun among the !n-
dians of Coj in Costa Rica, numb ering about
2,000, a part of the once mrghty Talamanca
l\ation. The real Talamanca are in the
southeast corner of Costa Ri ca, in the head
waters of the Tilire river ; north of these are the
hiripos. About roo miles west of the Chiripos
are the Tucurriqut, th en Carchi and Aro zi, all
originally from Talamanca. Crossing the
12-G
country through many towns of Spanish people
to the Pacific and to the north central part of
Costa Rica are the Guatusos. Passing through
Nicaragua we find th ousands of people without
a single messenger of Christ, and the same may
be said of Honduras. From Tegucigalpa we
pass through many towns, reaching Juttgalpa,
Jans and Yo ro. No one has ever v istted these
for Ch rist. About \'oro were found the large
tribe of Xicaq ues, many of whom are savage
Indians, thence turning southward to Comaya-
gua, La Pa z, Ojatora and Torera, Salvador, all
without the g ospel. The old Lenca tribe of
India ns ~s found around these last two towns,
about whose origin nothing is known. Turning
north to Yojoa and southwest to Cbiquimula,
th e whole c ountry is found to be filled wtth de-
cendants of the Lempire Indians. The valley
of Ch:quimula is literall y alive with Indi ans of
the Charti and Pipil Nations. From here to
Guatemala Ctty, a distance of 1 so miles, the
road is lined with Indians and Spanish, and we
pass many towns of the Peco, M~m and Zinca
tribes. From Guatemala City I went north-
west to Chtmaltenangu and here begins the
great lndian country of Central America, ex-
te nding west to the Mexican line, and east to
Caban. We find here many large tribes, ag-
g-regating I ,ooo,ooo, with not a word of gospel.
From Cohan to Livingston and in the moun-
tains adjacent are found Quec kcbes. At Liv-
ingston and on the coast are the Ca rribes, who
in many places have their own religion and al-
ways their own language . In this fieh.l are
found all varieties of climate. There are large
tribes which can be reached in ten days from
New Orleans and at a cost of ~ s o . oo. Who
will go?"
We are glad to be able to say that
so;nething bas been done to reach these
neglected people. Dr. C. F. Secord has
carried on an independent work at Santa
Tomas and out-stations among the
Quiches. Our missionaries have also
been used to reach some of the Indians
at nearly all the stations, bnt still the
field is practically untouched. It would
seem that these aboriginees have a pecu-
liar and strong claim upon the christians
of the United States. Shall they have
the go. pel in this generation?
Faith Missions.
In these last days, money in the Lord 's
work and how to get it, is the great
question. Churches and organizations
connected therewith, are inventing all
kinds of plans, and often schemes of
very doubtful character are resorted to
12-H THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN.
in order to raise funds. The fields are
broadening and doors are opening for the
gospel far more rapidly than gifts are
increasing. The writer some time ago,
responded to a request from his church
periodical for suggestions of new plans
for raising funds for the foreign board ,
by suggesting a call to prayer. Sad to
say, the article was dumped into the
waste basket, and the paper for several
issues was filled with suggestions of
schemes, mostly plans for new offices,
more committees and additional hustling
which often costs 50 per cent. of the
funds raised. Many of the very be.s t
equipped foreign missionaries are kept
at home indefinitely to canvass for funds.
But worst of all is the feeling toward
and treatment of faith missions by some of
these. In many cases we are held in
scorn and contempt. One man ~ho was
one~ in good fellowship with this Mission
and helped us at many stations, now a
leader in a church mission work, calls
the work of this mission 11 Brigandage,"
and says it is not worthy of notice. No
comity is extended to us on this field by
some of the boards, in fact we have no
rights as a mission that should be re-
spected by them . And so we are beset
on every side, and yet there is perhaps
no other mission on earth with more
faithful and prayerful rope-holders, or
more consecrated missionaries and native
helpers, all looking and longing for the
coming of the Lord. Our critics are
much exercised for fear some of these
dear ones at the front will go hungry,
but they do not seem greatly distressed
with this fear; but we verily believe every
one of them would cheerfully endure
hunger if need be in order to preach the
gospel to those sitting in darkness.
Now, can it be that this and other
missions which look only to the Lord in
faith for the supply of all needs, are not
doing His will? Have we spent $15o,ooo
and twenty-one of the best years of our
lives for naught? "Does Jesus care?' '
If not, why has He saved so many souls
out of the deepest sin and shame in all
this land, using as His messengers a lot
of men and women from the common
walks of life-no hands laid upon them
but the hand of God? Now, is there not
serious danger that those who oppose
and abuse this work, are resisting the
Holy Spirit? We verily believe the Lord
is with us, not because of any good in
us, but because of His matchless grace,
for all our help has come from Him, and
surely He would not have so marvelously
supplied all our needs if He disapproved
of the polity and purpose of this mission.
11
And behold God himself is with us for
our captain . ** Fight ye not against
the Lord God of your fathers; for ye
shall not prosper."-2 Chron. 13:12.
We believe the following lines voice the
feelings of every missionary on the field:
"Does Jesus care when my heart is. pained too
deeply for mirth or song,
As the burdens press, and the cares distres, and
the way grows weary and long?
0 yes, He cares! I know He cares
His heart is touched with my grief.
When the days are weary, the long nights
dreary,
I know my Saviour cares."
We therefore urge the friends of this
mission and all who believe we are fol-
lowing God's piau for giving the gospel
to the ?eathen , to ste~dfastly join us in .
unceastng prayer for all this work and
r~member every dollar contributed' goes
dtrectl~ to the spread of Christ's glorious
gospel tn a land as destitute as Central
Africa, China or India.
The present circumstance, which
presses so bard against you ( if surren-
?ered to Christ,) is the best shaped tool
10 t~e Father's band to chisel yor for
etermty. Trust Him, 1:ben. Do not
push away the instrument, lest you lose
tts work.
There is nothing too small for His care
There i_s nothing too great for His power;
There ts nothing to wearing for His love.
The chri~tia? may be truly happy,
whatever ~ts circumstances may be, so
long as he ts really trusting in God and
satisfied with Him.-Muller. '
 THE CENTRAL AMJ:tRICAN ~ULL:!TIN.
Rev. Manuel Fernando, D. D., bas
been appointed superintendent of Chrii't's
Mission, 331 West 57th Street, New
York City , and editor of the Converted
Catholic, in place of our well beloved
brother, Rev. Jam es A. O'Connor. who
entered into glory on July 25th, 19 r 1,
. with an abundant entrance. We verily
believe that this Mission and this publi-
cation are the Lord's own, and are doing
a mighty work for Him in the most
needy field that we know in this land.
We give our Bro. Fernando hearty chris-
tian greeting in his" great field, and ask
our friends to join us in prayer for him
and all his work.
In this, our Historical Bulletin, we
desire to "bear testimony to the great
work of our Bro. Robert T . Grant, and
:H R . BENDER AND NATI VE HELPERS.
the Los Angeles Bible Society, both of
Los Angeles, California, in furnishing
our missionaries with Spanish gospel
tracts, Testaments and portions for free
distribution . Our Father only knows
the great help this has been in all Cen-
tral America , and the souls that have
found the light in this way. For our-
selves and all our missionaries, we desire
to thank these dear friend s, as well as
all other societies and individuals who
have bad part in this ministry, as there
are others whose names we cannot give.
We pray the Lord's b1essing upon them
all.
Foreign missionaries frequently com-
plain of the hurtful influence upon their
work of foreign residents in mission
lands from so-called christian nations.
They often lead lives of debauchery and
manifest anything but a christian spirit.
We are glad to bear testimony to the
helpfulness of many of the foreign resi-
dents in Central America. When we
bt.gan work in Costa Rica, Mr. Lang
and Mr. Ross . and their families wel-
comed us, and during all these. years
Mrs. Ros<> and Mr. and Mrs. Shorts have
manifested a practical and sympathetic
interest in the efforts to evangelize Cen-
tral Ameri ca .
Notes From the Field.
GUATEMALA.
A. E. Bishop.
Paris, Texas. Nov . 24. 191 r.
So many interesting things have trans-
pired, that I am impressed as I wait upon
the Lord, to write of them , that you may
rejoice with us in the blessings and sym-
pathize with those who have passed
through trial and tribulation .
Shortly before we left Guatemala late
in June, our son-in-law, Barrueto, who
has assisted me for years, gave himself
exclusively to the work . "Through
faith in that name," and by having in
no little measure the respon sibility of a
large .work upon him, the congregation
has stood by him, the attendance has not
diminished in our absence , new people
in goodly !:Umbers are attending the
meetings. and some 20 have teitified to
saving faith in the Lord Jesus.
 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN.
At Jalapa, 75 miles east, a native be-
liever was martyred a few weeks ago,
because be refused to take a drink. The
president gave orders that in the event
of such persecution taking place again
the guilty parties, if captured, should be
NATIVES OF GUATEMALA.
shot on the same spot where the detd
was committed.
Just recently in a new department
where work was commenced a few
r~1onths ago by the native worker sup-
ported by the Congregational Sunday
school of Paris, Texas, he and our trav-
eling evangelist, Morroquin, and eleven
native believers were imprisoned for five
days for the only offense of having
preached the gospel. When the matter
was placed before the officials at the cap-
itol, orders were given for their release
and n promise made to remove the petfy
official who caused the arnst and im -
prisonment. You will never k11ow per-
haps in this life what it costs to preach
_the gospel to a Roman Catholic heathen
country. The native converts suffer
even more than we missionaries , but
without them it would be impossible to
evangelize our field. You will know
how to rejoice in the blessings, and bow
to pray for and sympathize with our
faithful, suffering native workers and
believers.
Last Lord's day here in Paris, we bad
t!le privilege of presenting the gospel_ of
the grace of the Son of God to a sectton
gang of uine Mexicans. They listened
with much interest; said they understood
the way of salvation as explained to
them . and each one professed to receive
the Lord Jesus as his personal Saviour.
The following day I saw one of them
again, who claimed that he was saved,
and the joy of the Lord did seem to light
up his countenance. By the kindness of
the Los Angeles Bihle House, of Los
Angeles, Cal., we were enabled to sup-
ply them with Spanish Testaments and
other helpful literature . Meditating
upon my privilt:ge of giving them the
gospel in their own tongue, and think-
ing of the 6o millions or more of Spani ~ h
heathen, I rejoice greatly in my call, and
glory in God "who separated me from
my mother's womb and revealed his Son
in me , that I might preach Him among
the heathen," of whom none are more
needy and destitute of saving light than
my own lost Guatemaltecos.
Dr. C. I. Scofield has just spent a few
days here in Paris, and the small unos-
tentatious council of the Central Ameri-
can Mission bas been in prayer and deep
thought as to bow to do more efficiently
the great work ~ommitted to us of evan-
gelizing Central America.
The Central American Mission com-
pleted its 2rst yea r last week. Its his-
tory is one of many trials and almost un-
paralleled blessing in the annals of miss-
ions . God bas given us 12 new mission-
aries of late. Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln who
hav e been in Guatemala since early in
th e yea r , have made good progress in
the language and have been doing some
good public work 9f late . They may
soon move on to a needy center in Hon-
duras. Mr. Lincoln and Barrueto have
recently returned from Cbimaltenango,
an out-station 36 miles west of Guate-
mala City, presided over by Ramirez , a
 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN.
native pastor supported by Miss S. of
Philadelphia, where they baptized ten
converts who have been waiting to be
received into fellowship for some time.
Mr. and Mrs. Hooper, Detroit, Mich . ,
who went to Guatemala since our com-
ing to the States, will soon go to Nica-
ragua, and Mr. and Mrs. Boyle , who for-
merly worked in Costa Rica, have been
received again and hope to soon be at
work in San Jose, Costa Rica. Miss
Zimmerman and Miss H ouser, both grad-
uates from Moody Institute . expect to go
to Guatemala City in D ~ cemb e r to take
up special work among children . These
latter ones go, thrust out by the pra yers
of years, and have been given since child-
hood by their mothers to the Lord for
mission work.
This has been a fruitful year on our
mission field. God has set His seal upon
the work and Satan bas strenuou sly op -
posed. In these day s .of un soundness
MR . BISHOP . OFFICERS O F GUAT . C i TY CHURCH
~ AT HIS HOME.
and falling away from the truth of God ,
when so few are interested in a work
like ours, we want to enlist your prayer-
ful co-operation with the Central Ameri-
can Mission. With o ut the help of those
who bel'ieve in the fundamental s as set
forth in the Central American Bulletin,
a copy of whi ch will be mailed free on
request , by D . H . Sco tt , Paris , Texas,
we cannot do the work committed unto
us, as it should speedily be done.
Mary and I have had many trials of
faith since leaving horne , but God has
taught us many preciou s lessons qnd He
is more real to our hearts for them . Our
eyes now look with longing toward
home, toward our dear workers and be-
lievers and toward the uuevangelized
ones, including our eighteen tribes of
1 ,ooo ,ooo Indians , one of the greatest
tasks that confronts us as a mission .
What a pri\ilege it is to pnach the
unsearchable riches of Christ to the lost
ones of Central Am erica, and what grace
is bestowed upon us and our native
worker s in being the in struments through
which many are being made rich .
F. G. Toms.
Huehuetenango , Gu at.,
Oct. 1 7. r 9 r r .
The enem y has been unu sua ll y acti\-e
since our return, nevertheless we are
privileged to see manifestations of His
presence and power with us in the salva-
tion of some new ones. Carrie and I
were over to San Marcos for a few days
about a week ago. The work in that
department is taking on new life. Her-
bert is on the road this morning to Que-
saltenango to see the dentist.
Dec. 25 .-The work generally is quite
encouraging, though the fierce on-
slaughts of the enemy during these
months have left their mark on som e .
Some of the believers are still out of
touch with the Lord, yet we are trusting
that they may fully recover themselves
from the snare of th e devil. Our face s
are to the front and we a re not in the
least di scouraged . We know that every
step in advance will be hotl y contested.
This is strictly the enemey' s territor y ,
and until the gospel came here , was un-
disputed. Th e so-called church of Je s us
Christ in the States th ese days, seems to
be . rejoicin g because - of the speci al
6r 'tHE CENTRAL AM;ERICAN BULLETIN.

honor(?) the Pope of Rome has conferred "He abideth faithful," because it is :md
on the United States in appointing the will always be true. Every time I write
three Cardinals. If they only realized it or cause it to be written, it comes with
just what that meant, instead of rejoic-
ing, they would put on sackcloth and
ashes. Every advance of the church of
Rome, whether in the States, England,
or in these Latin countries , means the
advance of the most bitter enemy of the
gospel of Jesus Christ. While it brings
sadness to our hearts to see such blind-
ness on the part of many of the Lord's
dear children, yet to those of us who
have bren privileged to have some in-
sight into the real condition of Rome and
professed christendom, and the time in
which we are living, our confidence is
not shaken. We know that the gospel
of our Lord and Saviour is triumphing
and that He is calling out His own, one
here and another there, and that soon
the number necessary to complete the
bride will be made up and our Lord will
return. Then Rome and apostate chris-
tendom will be left to enjoy the fruit of
their labors and teachings in the tribu-
lation times which are fast approaching. SUN WORSHIPPERS.
The eyes of many will be opened them,
but too late to ever be a part of the bride renewed freshness to my own faltering
of Jesus Christ. heart.
Gertrude (Mrs. Bell) is in San Marcos We are seeing some new faces in the
helping Bro. Cassel for a few months in meetings, and there are evidences of His
the village work. Mrs. Toms is fairly manifest pre~ence among us. We have
well bnt her strength and endurance are every reason to be encouraged.
not sufficient to enahle her to do much Vve have been visiting at irregular
visitation work. Herbert and Carrie are times the town .of Malacatancito, about
our main stays in the work. Our eleven miles from here, for two or three
native helpers are all doing- good work; years. We are now given the use of a
they are real helpers. The first work of nice room in the bouse of one of the be-
reaching the people must be done by lievers of the Huehuetenango church,
them. May this new year prove the and we have established a mission there,
richest in blessings t bat you have ever going regularly every two weeks. We
known, should our Lord tarry till its hope soon to have benches and lamps
close. and fit up a comfortable mi ~;sion room.
Huebuetenango, Jan. 1, 1912. It may be that some of the Lord's stew-
The year has just closed upon many ards who read of this need will be glad
failures and much unfaithfulness on my to furnish the $:o.oo necessary . A num-
part, but not one moment of faithlessness ber of the believers go down with us
on His part. I shall be more than glad from here, returning the same night
to keep for my headline, through another about half past ten o' clock. They have
year, should our blessed Lord tarry so no priest now ; many of the people seem
long, my fa...-orite text of past years- to hke to bear the gospel, though they
 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN.
have much fear of each other and do not
care to identify themselves with us very
openly. Very few are willing to be seen
inside of the room , but great numbers
will stand in the street, listening quite
attentively through an entire service.
Surely the Lord bas His own in that
place, an~ we trust to soon see them de-
claring themselves publicly.
We trust it may please the Lord to put
into our hands soon the money needed
for buying site and building the home
for missionaries, chapel and public inn
for this station- This will be a great
privilege for some of the Lord's faithful
stewards. It will surely bring large
eternal returns on the money invested.
Letters at hand indicate that the Lord
is working in the extreme northern imd
northwestern part of this department.
We hope soon to visit those parts. We
now have four native workers, supported
by friends in the States and the native
church here, We trust we have other
workers in making. Their help is in-
valuable and we are expecting a rich
harvest from the faithful seed sowing of
these dear workers as they travel from
place to place. More and more we real-
ize the important place . the native work-
ers occupy in the evangelization of this
land.
Sister Bell and Lolita Castillo, one o(
our native workers, are assisting Bro.
Cassel in the village work of the depart-
ment of San Marcos for the present.
The chief autho:ities are generally
quite friendly to our work and workers
and help us greatly in giving the neces-
sary military exceptions for our natives
though in many of the smaller towns and
villages, the authorities hinder the work-
ers as much as they can, until they re-
ceive their orders from those higher up.
The whole land is ripe for the gospel and
the need is for workers, both missionaries
and natives. As we look out into the
unfolded new year upon which we have
already entered, we see "the prospects
are as bright as the promises of God,''
which are all unclouded to the eye of
faith.
W. H. Hooper.
Guatemala City, Nov. 30, Hj rr.
I have just returned from a sixteen
day trip through San Martin anc1 the
mountains. I was pleased to see a num-
ber of believers and to hear their testi-
MAKING TORTILLAS.
monies. I expect my wife to return by
the last of December.
Dec. 30.-As it is uncertain as to when
my wife will return, I expect to go on
to Managua, Nicaragua, this next week .
I am glad I can go.
- --
c. F. Lincoln.
Guatemala City, Sept. 30 , 191 r.
The meetings are being well attended
and much interest is bei11g shown. At
last Tuesday night's service many of the
testimonies had the true ring. I am
writing sermons in Spanish now ; the
teacher corrects them and in that way I
am learning the correct mode of express-
ing the gospel in Spanish. Our teacher
is very helpful , as he is a believer.
Oct. 20.-As Don Artura Borja, the
native pastor at Antigua, is going to the
United States , I think it may be well for
me to do what I can toward caring for
the work there.
Dec. 12.-I have just returned from
an eight day's trip to Antigua. While
there I started negotiations with a view
of renting the same house, in whi'c h the
gospel has been preached for two years.
 J8 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN.

There are about 25 believers there. these poor hearts of ours have not al-
Dec. 23.-Am so very glad that Dr. ways been free from complant. But let
Scofield could be in Dallas. I have re- that sin be charged to us and let it not
ceived word from the owner of the house come as the last hour upon the faithful
in Antigua that he now wan ted one hun- promises of God. "Your heavenly
dred pesos per month rent. This is an Father knoweth, that ye have need of all
increase, but it seems best for us to pay these things." "He careth for you."
it, as it is a good location ( the next The principle of Trusing God for all
block from the plaza) and the place we things, especially on the part of those
have occupied two years. Then I find who engage wholly in the Lord's work,
it is difficult to rent a house in Antigua, is a logical and scriptural principle. It
as the people are so fanatical ; but as the bas been nobl y upheld and practiced by
()Wner of this house does not live in the such men as George Muller, of Bristol,
city, he will not suffer persecution at the and Hudson Taylor , of the China Island
hands of friends. Mission_. Whv it should be opposed by
J. G. Cassel.
San Marcos, Guat., Dec. 23. 1 9 11.
We are almost at the threshold of an-
other new year, and I am reminded that
it is time to take a retrospective glance
o ve r at least the last three months of the
d ying year. It always requires an effort
on my part to write about the work, and
a m glad you do not exact formal reports.
I recognize, however , that it is entirely
just and necessary that the friend s who
stand by us faithfully in prayer and fi-
nancial s upport should know something
of what is going on in our respective
fields of labor.
May I be permitted to give a word of
personal testimony with reference to the
faithfulness of God in caring for us in
material things. It is now fifteen years
or more since I entered the pathway of
faith for the supply of personal need s ,
having been thrust upon this way before
marriage and before offering myself as a
missionary. During all these years the
Lord bas been faithful to me and mine,
and we have never lacked any good thing
that was really necessary for our well-
/b eing. Let ao one think that this is
-w ritten in a boastful spirit or to set our-
-selves up as examples of faith . That is THE WOOD CARRIER .
far from m y thought. On the contrary, any christi an is indeed hard to under-
I feel that God's faithfulness and tender stand .
care over us stands out rather on the . The door of opportunit y in this par-
.sombre background of our little faith. ticul ar part of the field is still wide open.
It has not always been easy to walk this In tb~ begi nni1.1g of this month my wife
pathway, and our Father knows that and Sis ter Lola Castillo spent nearly two
 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN.
-weeks in the out-station La Reforma.
They had splendid opportunities to do
personal work, and the change was also
helpful to Mrs. Cassel.
In November five persons were bap-
TH E TOMS F AMILY AND MRS . B ELL.
tized. We made this an occasion for a
day in the country, by the side of the
mountain stream where we always do
the baptizing. The time was profitably
spent in singing, reading the word, ex-
hortation and prayer.
Recently Mrs. Gertrude Bell bas come
over from Huehuetenango to help us.
May the Lord richly bless her labors.
She and Miss Castillo will go to El
Rodeo for a few months. The believers
there are rtjoicing, for they h!lve long
been asking and praying for some one to
come to them .
The Indian believers are now return-
ing to their homes from the coffee plan-
tations, as the coffee crop is about gath-
19
ered , and in January I hope to visit
them .
During thi:> quarter, I suffered the loss
of my mule, valued at $r ,3oo.oo thi!
money, or $ 7o.oo U. S . money, This is
a real loss, as I need a good beast more
than ever now. May I ask the friend s
to pray that this need may again be sup-
plied . A brother in Huebuetenango
hearing of the death of the mule prompt-
ly sent . me a horse to use until I should
be able to get another. I regard this as
a real proof of brotherly kindness, and
praise God for it.
- ---
Mrs. Gertrude Bell.
Huehuetenango , Oct . 3. rgr r.
The enemy is active and we are kept
much on our faces before God . We
reali ze that He alone can make the
crooked things straight . Along with the
trial s come blessings . During the pa!t
week several ha ve manifested a desire te
follow the Lord . The work in the vill-
a ges seems to be taking a little m ore defi-
nite form . Lolita is in San Marcos. I
sometimes shrink when I think of all
that is involved in this work , but He
g iveth more g race. The need appeals to
me so much I cannot get a way from it.
Nov. I.-There are a few things in
the work just now that would naturally
cause anxiety. But we are seekin g to
cast every burden on the Lord , knowing,
. C HA PE L AT OSTUMA , SAL.
as some one has said , that " Anxiety
does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow
but it empties today of its strength. It
20 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN.

met several who have

been interested in the
gospel through visitation
work. There is a large
field here for this kind of
work. San Pedro, three-
fourths of a mile from
here, is a good sized
town. We were receiv-
ed kindly in a number
of homes there. Even
the priest's family receiv-
ed us with open arms,
but I fear their hearts
were not open to :receive
our message. We never
know, thoug,h, where
the seed will bear fruit.

Miss Anna J. Gohrman.

Huchuetenango, Gnat.,
October 2, r g r r.
The weather is growing
colder here, especially in
the mornings: it is hard
at seven in the morning
to realize that one is in
the tropics. I am sorry
that I cannot report so
GUATEMALA INDIANS. well of my health t his
brings a double weakness, for it makes month as last, but tb~ truth is, the alti-
us feeble in today's endeavors and faint- tude has begun to tell on my nerves, re-
hearted for the future." Our God is sulting in nerve-racking headaches which
still at the helm, working everything interfere very much with my study of
after the council of His own will. Noth- the !anguage.
i1ng happen s, praise the Lord. I have Nov. r.-I have faith that He who
noticed many times that the things that sent me to Central America ( and I know
seem so hard to understand are the He sent me ) will give me sufficient
things that, in the end, work out greater strength for the work He has for me to
glory to His name. do , if not in Huehuetenango, then else-
I "Blind unbelief is sure to err and scan where.
His ,works in vain ;
God is His own interpreter, and He Dr. H. A. Becker.
will make it plain." Papalhuapa , Agua Blanca, Gnat.,
Some new ones have been attending November r, rgu.
the. meetings lately and have publicly This last month the adversary has.been
confessed Christ, so the work is going on specially active. We have heard of one
in spite of the many attempts of the fearful murder after another. It is the
enemy. mpst common mode of death among the
San Marcos, Guat., Dec. r.-I have mt:n of this country. All, except the
been here nearly two weeks. Have few believers, go armed with revolver ,
 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN.
and many with a long knife in a sheath
hanging at their side. Practically every
night they are passing up and down,
singing, drinking and howling at the
top of their voices. Then there are all
manner of lies circulating about us and
the work. One of the most common is
that every one who becomes a believer
must sign his name with his own blood.
All these things would tend to disturb
our peace, but our minds are stayed on
Jehovah, the eternal God, and . under-
neath us are the everlasting arms. The
believers are very firm to resist the temp-
tation to drink which is almost forced
upon them.
In one place there are several new ones
who have declared themselves desirous
of following the Lord . Like many oth-
ers, they are not married . We trust in
the Lord these two couples may arrange
their marriages so as to live in accord
with the laws of God and man. Four
young women in the same place, who
love the Lord, are hindered by their old
father.
Dec. I.-This month we have been
made to rejoice because of the salvation
of several; one is a young man ruined by
drink who went to his brother, a believ-
er, to ask his advice about going to the
hospital. The brother told him to seek
the Lord for his soul and body, and then
brought him to me. I trust he was
saved. It was blessed to hear the
brother, himself a recent convert, trying
to lead the young man to Christ. Lately
we have been working with an old man
who came to me because of heart weak-
ness and very ill. Through the word
and testimony the light has entered his
soul. He seems really changed . In
another place there is a woman past mid-
dle age who has been very fanatical. To
visit her little house in a remote place it
is necessary to jump over stone walls,
brush fences, etc., but I always feel well
repaid for my difficult journeys. Pray
for these. We never can tell how many
will proye faithful, but your prayers can
help them . I have lately been called to
21
a place thirty miles . away to see a sick
man . Near there we found a house
where there were gospel texts on one
wall and idols on the other. \Ve read
and talked to the family several hours.
Since returning have heard that the idols
have been taken down and the texts put
in their place. We are still trusting for
money to build two new rooms. The
following is the testimony of our Sister
Ersilia, one of our strong believers:
"Before receiving the gospel, I was lost, ver y
fa r from God, without peace in my heart; but
when the blessed gospel of Jesus Christ came
into my heart, it was the light which shown into
it. In my lost state I was devoted to St. An-
thony; I prayed to him, lighted candles for him
and visited the temple which is devoted to him,
and is distant at least one hundred and fifty
miles. This distance I went three times on
foot, suffering much on the way, from hunger
and weariness, burning my ba re feet in the hot
sand, and sleeping out-doors. I went to burn
candles in front of the idol, thinking thus to
gain some favor, such as the cure of sickness,
and that I mil!'ht ha ve success in borrowing
money. In this temple there are benches full
of candles, placed there by pilgrims who had
promised to burn candles to St. Anthony in
case they recovered from sickness. My mother
had taught me that St. Anthony was not dead,
but had gone to heaven without dying and
could do seven miracles every day. In my
house I prayed to St. Anthony every night. I
thought by doing this he would not forget me,
but if not be would hate me. Three years be-
fore I accepted the gospe l, I had begun to Jose
faith in St. Anthony, because I noticed that
there was no result from my prayers. My
friends had told me that I should seek an idol
called the child God with the torch ; they satd
that this could make one rich or give anything
that one wanted. But I did not seek this idol
as my intercessor. For three years I was with-
out a defender. I bad known that Jesus Christ
had come to the world, but I did not think that
I was a sinner. Ratbe.r I justified myself.
From hearing the gospel I came to know that
I was a sinner, because the word says, "All
have sinned." At that time I went to a little
meeting of a few believers; I was desirous to
give myself to the Lord. I went trembling and
cold for fear of God, because of my sins. When
I knelt in prayer for the first time in my life the
sweat dropped off of me, but when I arose I
had more peace. Then I returned to my house
and fell on my knees, and, weeping, asked God
to pardon me of all my sins. A~ that time I
had three idols in the bouse called the Virgin
of the Rosary, St. Anthony and Our Lady of
Carmen .
22 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN.
\Vhen I i.turned unto"'the Lord, I broke the
glass coverings which were o:ver them and gave
the idol pictures to the children to tea~ up.
Since I bowed before the Lord that first t1me,
my life has not been the same as befo~e; l now
ha ve peace in my heart and s?uL Now not~).
ing takes away my h 'lpe or aitl1cts me above
measure . I try to obey the word of the Lord
which says, 'Do "not be anxious about what to
eat or wear.' Now I say my heavenly Father
knoweth what I need. Now my conversatwn
everywhere is about the love of God."
SALVADOR.
R. H. Bender.
San Salvador, Sal., Oct. I 3, r 9 r r.
Through the offering jui't received I
have been able to arrange with two
brethren to take charge of some of our
outstations-two choice men, one of
them has been a colporter for years. I
will have to pay them at the rate of $r5
each, gold, per month. One of them
has been earning about $2o.oo gold, but
I always instruct the churches to con-
tribute toward support of their pastor.
During this month we have had a very
large attendan.ce at the meetings-about
sixty and more-and we have had coo-
versions in nearly every service. Last
night three confessions and one back-
slider reclaimed. I could not wait until
the end of the month to write and im-
plore your continued intercession for the
work here. Oh! how I wish we had a
building.
Oct. 28.-I am just back from a trip.
I spent four days with the believers at
San Julian. One day we had an all-day
meeting with fi 1e services and many tes-
tified to the blessing received. We had
sixty at all the services . At one service
here we had eight confessions. I am
endeavoring to keep low at His f .. et.
Bro. Claudio, who has oversight of
Ostuma, says they are having good meet-
ings and large attendance.
Nov. 9.-We have been notified to va-
cate the house we occupy as chapel.
Because houses are scarce and the people
so fanatical, it is difficult to secure quar-
ters. How we Ion~ for our own place
of worship. One sister offers $200, an_d
with what we have in bmk our fund IS
$sao. This seems_ ~ut a small begin-
ning. but we trust 1t ts the earne~t ot the
supply of this great need.
Dec. 8.-We have moved the chapel
to another house, bttt we are asked to
vacate as soon as possible, so you see we
are on the wing.
We have rented a house in Cojute-
peque and located a worker there who
reports good interest and attendance.
Mrs. Bender has had the privilege of
forwarding to her husband au offering of
$100 from Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Montgom-
ery of Oakland, Cal , toward this build-
ing fund. In her letter to us she adds:
"I am expecting God to give the needed
money for this building, as it is truly a
need, and I have been asking Him to
put His finger on the person or persons
that He would have to give this amount."
On Dec. '29, 191 r, Bro. Bender writes:
"They want us to vacate this house by
the 3rst inst., and thus far we have not
found a place. Two thousand gold
would buy a house on the outskirts of
t.he city; four thousand would enable us
to secure a more central place. Recent-
lv we have had some friction in the
~ork; Satan is doing all be can to hinder
us. But I want also to give you the
bright side. During the past month I
have started a young men's Bible class,
which now numbers eight. I invite them
to PlY bouse and serve refreshments.
Those attending last week brought others
with them. We have had our Christmas
exercises with a nice program, followed
by gifts, etc.; it was the most delightful
service we have had since my return.
The only trouble was that our chapel
was too small, yet we packed in some
hundred and fifty, not counting those
who stood outside. Our pastor at San
Julian writes of the Lord's blessing in
that church. He has received several
invitations to visit other nearby towns
that are without the gospel. Bro. Abel
came in from Cojutepeque Monday; he
reports that the work is fine. This is
wonderful, when we con~ider what a
 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN. 23

stronghold for Satan this was, but there or, literally, held in the arms of God,
is nothing too hard for the Lord . He was? As the Lord wrestled with him,
also reports new interest and good at- he passed His arm around Jacob evident-
tendance at Esperanza and El Paraiso. ly, and touched his thigh and there he
Bro. Claudio sends us good news from was broken, but in the Lord's strong
Ostuma. A telegram just received from arms. And then, as if to st-e if he really
him says: 'We are having good meet- recognized his weakness, He said: "Let
ings-eleven unconverted at the meet- me go," but Jacob did not make a single
ing." We have great reason to praise effort; he knew the s trength of those
the Lord for his evident blessing upon arms now, for were they not hi s strength
the work. There is great need of some now that he had none and would be not
one to work with the children . fall to the gro und a helpless ma ss should
I have found a house and expect to he try to let Him go or loose himself.
move the chapel into it tonight after the What a sweet picture of "resting" in the
service. Two thousand gold would en- Lord's arms. Certainly this is the great
able us to buy it and make alterations; it lesson the Lord wants to teach His chil-
is in a good location ." dren-to rest in Him. He trit:d to teach
------ it to His disc ipl es after returning from
HONDURAS. their first mi ssionary : "Come ye your-
selves apart into a desert place and rest
Mrs. M. J. Dillon.
awhile ."
El Paraiso, Hon., Nov. 13, 19 11.
Our evangelists came in and reported Miss Laura Nelson.
blessing with a numb r of confessions of Dulce Nombre, Hon ., Sept. 30, 1911.
Christ. On their return, one of them I have been sick all this month-too
was taken gravely ill, and we dispalred sick to have the regular services or keep
of his life, but tbe Lord raised him up. the school, but have been better the Fast
Prayers went up for him from every few days . Rum ors of another revolu-
home, for he i s much loved in the tion are pretty loud and with the failure
church. Tbe other brother, Don Nico- in the corn crop arid the beans, the out-
medes, left again eight days ago to evan- look is bad. "Education is what these
geliz e and instruct the new believers, as people need ," said an American the
he is well founded in the truth. He will other day. Yes, I said, educa~ion in the
be gone until about the first of the new knowledge and fear of the Lord . Until
year. A boy of about seventeen years, we can fill this land with men and women
the son of one of our brethren in Caba- who know the Lord and dare serve Him,
nas, will accompany him. The first of there is no hope for them, and at times,
the year, should the Lord tarry, they it looks like a hopeless task. Jehosha-
hope to return to Ocotopeque again to phat's prayer (2 Chron . 20:12) is often
see if the seed fell in good ground. After on our lips and in our hearts . May He
much sickness and the death of many keep us faithful to Himself.
children, the Lor"d has given us health Nov. 10.-The work here goes on as
again . I have been trying to have the usual. .The meetings are well attended
title to the house and lot here put in the and there seems to be good interest. The
mission, but thus far have not been able commandante who confessed Christ last
to do so. I do not want it in my name, year died Sunday night ; he was sick
as I do not think it either safe or right. some time , but the family wo uld not al-
Of course I know this property is of but low any o ne to see him, so I do not know
little value, but the principle of the affair if he di Ld believing. War rumors w hich
is what we must look at. were heard recently have quieted down
Had you ever noticed what a beautiful again the last few days. Food is very
pictnre Jacob , broken and leaning upon, high here on account of crop failure. I
 THE CENTRAL AMERICAN BULLETIN.

am asking the Lord for a good native we are here to preach the gospel to everY.
evangelist that I may have time for- the creature, and there never was a time in
outside work. Nicaragua when it was easier to get a
My health is not very good just now, hearing for the truth if only there was
but do not think it anything serious. settled peace, but while one does no
know of war or revolution, it's a con-
NICARAGUA.

Miss E. M. Blackmore.
Managua, Nic., Sept. 29, 191 r.
In spite of our troubles, I believe we
are on the victory side. In a recent
prayer meeting there were confessions.
Last night there was no meeting, but
four men came and asked for the key of
the hall , as they wanted to pray. I
went down and we had three profitable
hours of intercession . The first half of
this month my servant was helpless with
rheumatism, and the last two weeks the
native evangelist has an abcess on the
foot that has had to be lanced. One of
the old Indian believers is dying in Min-
diri and we have helped with clothing
and nourishment. All the believers are
anxious for Mr. and Mrs. Hooper to G uatem ala City Mission House.
come on. stant recruiting, and this day or two
Dec. 3.-Thanks for funds; I appre- they seem to have been making lots of
ciate the way you are supporting the political prisoners and party colors are
work during these trying times, and am showing with more than usual vigor. It
trying to show some here that such con- seems Satan's way of keeping the pecple
duct on your part should be responded distracted so they pay no heed to eternal
to by gratitude and faithfulness on their things.
side. There are many things to discour- Dec. 14.-Don Braulio bas not been in
age, yet any night you open the mission Managua recently, but bas made two
hall you can gather a congregation and trips to scattered believers.

TREASURER'S REPORT FOR FOURTH QUARTER OF 1911.

Total receipts to last report, Oct . 1st, 1911, . .... ..... .... ... ..... ............ .... ;j\147,564 16
Total receipts since last report, gifts Nos. 7994 to 8099, inclusive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,691 90
Grand Total: . .. ...... . . .... . .. . ......... . ..... .. ..... ... . . ...... .. ....... $150,256 o6
RECEIPTS.
Cash on hand Oct. rst, 1911.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 5 r8
Receipts from Oct. 1st, 191 1, to Jan. 1st, 1912 ....... ....... ... .. . . .. . . 2,691 90-$ 2,6<)7 oS
EXPENDITURES.
Paid to Missionaries, outfit and passage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... .. . . . . $2,546 so
Paid on R1ghtly Dividing the Word in Spanish, (Special)... ..... ... . .. 100 oo
Paid for pnnting Bulletin, Oct. 15, 1911, .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 oo
Pa1d for ~tationery . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 75-$2,~4 25
Balance on hand . ...... . . . ...... .. . .. ... . .... .. ........ . ................. $ 2 83