General Conference Bulletin, vol. 1

THE WORK IN ARGENTINA

E. W. SNYDER

(Address delivered before the State Agents’ Convention.)

AT the suggestion of the Foreign Mission Board two canvassers besides myself were appointed to go to Argentina to pioneer the work in this field. Naturally we felt that we were going out of the world, as it were, but ever remembering the Saviour’s commission to go into all the world, and teach, or make Christians, of all nations, we found him just as near to us as when we were at home. The truth seemed more precious to us, and the experiences and lessons we learned could not be valued with money, and this has been the testimony of all the workers. GCB March 4, 1895, page 461.1

We will first take a survey of the field, the nationalities, and the customs of the people, as they have a bearing on the success of the work. The area of the country is 1,212 600 square miles, the extreme length from the Bolivian border to the Straits of Magellan being 2000 miles, while the average width is about 500 miles. The country for the greater part is a level plain, the view being unobstructed by forests or hills, and only here and there a Monte of Eucalyptus trees being discernible, and marking the location of an Estancia house. GCB March 4, 1895, page 461.2

In the northern province, near the Gran Chaco, are found heavily timbered districts. The wood, as a general thing, has no value for commercial purposes, owing to its density. GCB March 4, 1895, page 461.3

The climate is equable, and on the whole healthy, there not being the extreme of heat and cold that there are in our country. The two warmest months of the year are January and February, but in the greater portion of the country the heat is not as intense as it is here, and cases of sunstroke are very rare. The climate during the months of September, October, November, and December corresponds to that of May and June here, while that of the months of March, April, and May corresponds to the climate of the months of October and November. Our coldest months are June and July, and in midwinter the thermometer rarely falls but a little below freezing, and snow has been seen but once in twenty years. For the greater part of the year the climate is dry, and the country enjoys comparative immunity from throat and lung diseases. GCB March 4, 1895, page 461.4

The three winter months constitute the rainy season, and at this period sufficient water is furnished for the whole year. GCB March 4, 1895, page 461.5

Taking a general view of the field, we have as cosmopolitan a population as is to be found in any part of the world. Merchants have testified that in an hour they have had occasion to use four or five different languages, and this feature is noticeable on the streets as well. Statistics indicate a foreign population in the city of Buenos Ayres as follows: Italian, 235,000; German, 12,000; English, 10,000; French, 23,000; with other nationalities represented in smaller numbers. GCB March 4, 1895, page 461.6

As we became acquainted with the field, we were forcibly impressed with the truth of the testimony that we were years behind in our foreign missionary work. Had we entered the field five or six years before, in a time of general prosperity of the country, doubtless tenfold more could have been done; but entering as we did at the time of a crisis, the work was up-hill from the start. Leaving England in the latter part of November, 1892, we arrived in twenty-eight days at Montevideo. Having been booked for that place, we went ashore, and on inquiry ascertained that they were in the midst of a crisis, during which the English population had left the town, leaving a population of but 2000; and to a greater or less degree other foreigners also had left. Learning that there was a duty of eight per cent on books here, while they were admitted free in Buenos Ayres, we soon decided to locate in the latter city. But our twenty-four hours’ experience in Montevideo cost us $16.50 in gold. This fact impressed us with the importance of making foreign fields a greater study before entering them. In this respect English people surpass us, they having become familiar with the commercial customs, condition of the markets of the world, and duties imposed upon imported articles. GCB March 4, 1895, page 461.7

On opening our work in Buenos Ayres, we divided up the territory, Brother Stauffer, our German canvasser, going among the colonies of Santa Fe, while Brother Nolan and myself remained in the city. After four months of labor, we had sold about two hundred books, but one of the most encouraging results was the addition of Brother Brooking to our forces, a young Englishman who embraced the truth from the reading. In his embracing the truth we saw the providence of the Lord, since, having a knowledge of Spanish, he was prepared to enter the Spanish fields that seemed an open door before us. In his taking hold, we felt repaid for all the hardships we had experienced. As a result of Brother Stauffer’s work in Santa Fe, a family of twelve accepted the truth, and they in turn gave the truth to another family. Two families together constitute a church at San Cristobal. GCB March 4, 1895, page 462.1

In July, 1892, Brother Brooking entered the work in the French Colonies of Santa Fe, and drove four hundred and fifty miles northward to the Gran Chaco of Paraguay. On this tour many publications were scattered, and although he passed a country infested by bandits and Gauchos, where people were obliged to travel armed with rifles in broad daylight, he made the journey with only the assurance of God’s blessing and protection, unharmed. In the extreme north of Santa Fe he visited two brethren and their families, who desire to enter the work, but for the want of school facilities they are unfitted as yet for this. In a subsequent visit through the same district, he followed up the interest awakened by the books, and as a result three families embraced the truth in Colonia Felicia, two of these being North American widows with their families, and one a French brother, who is also able to preach in Spanish and Italian. GCB March 4, 1895, page 462.2

Brother Brooking’s next field was the Waldensian colonies of Uruguay, which number about five hundred families, the result of his labors here being the acceptance of the truth by two brethren. We can count some twenty-six souls who have embraced the truth within the last two years. It has been well said that those who embrace the truth, as we near the end, will develop much more rapidly than those of early days. This fact we have seen demonstrated in our experience in South America, in the missionary spirit and zeal manifested by the new adherents to the truth, and the readiness with which they embraced every point. The rapid progress of the cause in Argentina in the past gives us grounds to hope for a rapid growth in the future, from the fact that we now have over 100 keeping the Sabbath. Our greatest need for the advancement of the work in South America is schools in which to educate the young people who have been deprived of these advantages. (Continued on page 465.) GCB March 4, 1895, page 462.3