THE METTLE OF THE NATIVE CHRISTIAN.
In 1894, Francisco da Silva, soon after his conversion in Bahia, went
to Victoria in the State of Espirito Santo to live. He went into the
interior with some surveyors, and in addition to the work he was called
upon to do, he found time to tell the story of Jesus. Eight people were
converted and he wrote Dr. Z. C. Taylor to come and baptize them.
Dr. Taylor was not able to go immediately, and one of the men secured
his baptism in a very unique way. He asked Francisco to baptize him
Francisco replied that he could not because he was not ordained. The
man returned home and examined his Bible and came back a few days later
and demanded again that Francisco baptize him. Francisco replied that
in order to baptize, one must be ordained. "No," said the man, "I have
looked in the Bible and I do not find it necessary for one to be
ordained in order to baptize." So catching hold of Francisco, he pulled
him along to a river near by, Francisco through it all holding back the
best he could and arguing with the man that he could not baptize him.
But the man constrained him and forced him into the river. Francisco
seeing his zeal, performed the ceremony. Some question afterward was
raised about the validity of this baptism, and the man was baptized
regularly by the same Francisco, who had in the meantime received
ordination.
When he had finished with one party of surveyors another wanted to
employ him, and they went to the first party to find out about him. The
men said: "He has fine qualifications for the position, but there is
one objection to him--he is a Protestant." "Ah," said the second party,
"can't we with a little money get that out of him?" "No," replied the
first, "it seems to be grown into him." He was taken by the second
party, the chief of which and all his family soon became devoted
Christians.
The desire to tell the story of Jesus burned in Francisco's heart so
warmly that he gave up his lucrative employment with the surveying
party, bought a mule and other necessities for his journey and started
out to proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ to the people of that
State. He was remarkably successful and soon gathered about him a
little band of believers, who, because of their faithfulness to Christ,
were called upon to suffer severe persecution. They were compelled to
flee into the distant mountains where Missionary Jackson afterward
found them, organized them into a church and baptized seventy-five
converts. Later they were able to return to their homes, due to the
fact that a more lenient administration was inaugurated in Victoria.
Very soon afterward our faithful missionary, L. M. Reno, was sent to
this State, and the work from this good beginning has had remarkable
prosperity. The pioneer missionary, da Silva, after having gained the
title of Apostle to the State of Espirito Santo, was called in 1910 to
his reward.
From what we have been saying, you have no doubt made many inferences
about the kind of Christians these Brazilians make. If you had seen
them face to face, you would have been, as I was, impressed with their
appearance. They were the best-looking people I saw. Their countenances
were clearer and there was a hopeful, resourceful look upon them that
was not noticeable upon the non-believers. Sin and fear always break
the spirit of men, and though there may be a brave look assumed, yet
there always hangs a cloud over the countenance of the sin-stained and
fear-driven man, be he a religionist or atheist. This change in
appearance is produced by a change in their way of living. When they
are converted they cease drinking, gambling, Sabbath-breaking, and
often the men give up smoking and the women cease taking snuff. The
fact is they sometimes are extreme upon this subject. I heard of one
church that made the giving up of tobacco and another the laying aside
of jewelry the test of fellowship. These people coming out from under
the domination of a religion of fear into the light and liberty of the
gospel are changed from glory to glory, having upon them the light of
God's countenance.
They are liberal givers. There is a much larger proportion of tithers
among them than among the Christians in the States. Here, too, they
often go to extremes. More than one church in Brazil makes tithing
obligatory upon its members. Last year the Brazilian Baptists gave as
much per capita for foreign missions as did the Baptists in our
Southern States. They have set their aim this year higher than the
Southern Baptists have. They sustain foreign mission work in Chili and
Portugal. They engage in this foreign mission endeavor because the
leaders think that the foreign mission principle is vital to the life
and development of the churches. This giving to foreign missions is not
to the neglect of their home enterprises. They have Home and State
Mission Boards which they support liberally. They have am Education
Board to which they gave forty cents per capita last year and all of
this giving out of such grinding poverty!
Here and there are people of larger means who are munificent in their
gifts. It was the generous offer of $5,000 by Captain Egydio that made
possible the founding of the Collegio Americano Egydio, which school
was established by the Taylors in Bahia. He paid $650 the first
installment upon the furniture, but his sudden taking off prevented the
college from realizing the whole amount promised, because the family
lost so heavily by persecution after the father had been taken away.
Col Benj. Nogueira Paranagua, a rich cattleman, built a church, school
and library building at Corrente in the State of Piauhy at his own
expense and afterward paid the salary of a teacher for the school. When
the church in San Fidelis, which was established in the face of trying
persecution, was considering how it could possibly build a meeting
house, a coffee farmer, who was not yet a member, rose and said: "I am
old and useless, but I want to do something for Jesus and His church.
I, therefore, offer to erect the church building and the church may pay
me six per cent. annually until I die, and then the building will
belong to the church as a legacy which I intend to leave." As the work
on the house progressed he signified his desire to be the first one to
be baptized in the baptistry. This was granted gladly and his thought
of charging six per cent on the building until his death disappeared in
the watery grave and he made the church a present outright of the
beautiful chapel. Not only this chapel has been built by an individual,
but others have been built in the same way. Usually, however, the
churches are built out of the sacrificial offerings of the people. So
well has this church building movement progressed that now about
one-third of the 142 Baptist Churches organized in Brazil worship in
their own buildings, and with a few exceptions, these buildings have
been erected by the gifts of the people and not by the gifts of the
Foreign Mission Board. The Presbyterians show a better proportion of
buildings than this and the Methodists quite as good.
The subject of self-support is a live one. There has been good progress
made in this matter, but, of course, it will require many years to
teach the churches their full duty in this regard. Many churches have
reached the point where they take care of all local expenses. Some of
the missionaries go so far as to advocate not organizing any more
churches until the congregations can be self-supporting. The South
Brazilian Mission, in its recent meeting, adopted the rule that no
church should be organized hereafter until it could pay at last 60 per
cent of its own expenses--these expenses to include the care of the
house, the salary of the native pastor, etc.
I have already cited instances of personal work. I wish to say more
particularly that the great success which has attended the work in
Brazil must be in a large measure attributed to the fact that those who
have been led to Christ have been zealous in witnessing personally to
others of the grace which had been bestowed upon them.
One of the greatest laymen in Brazil is our Brother Thomaz L. da Costa.
He is the Superintendent of a very considerable business firm in Bahia.
He is a deacon in the First Baptist Church, one of the moving spirits
upon the Brazilian Foreign Mission Board and practically superintends
the work of the State Mission Board of Bahia.
Years ago he was converted in Rio through the agency of his
washerwoman. This faithful woman is a member of the First Baptist
Church. She decided she would attempt to lead Thomaz to Christ. So on
Saturday when she would bring his laundry she would invite him to come
to her house on the following day for dinner. I might say by way of
parenthesis, that there is not a steam laundry in Brazil. All of the
laundry work is done by hand. Sometimes there is quite a considerable
firm which employs many laundresses. Thomaz, after declining the good
woman's invitation many times, finally one day decided he would accept
it.
On Sunday he appeared at her house for dinner. After the dinner was
over she suggested that they, in company with several of her children,
should take a stroll through some of the parks. They passed through the
great park in the center of the city, and after a while they found
themselves in front of a building in which they heard singing. The good
woman suggested that they go upstairs into the hall from which
proceeded the sounds of the music. They went in, Thomaz not knowing
what sort of place it was. Dr. Bagby, the first missionary of our board
to Brazil, was conducting a service and soon began a sermon which
impressed Thomaz very greatly. The sermon drew such a picture of his
life that he accused the woman of having told Dr. Bagby about him. She
had not done so, she declared, and this fact impressed Thomaz even more.
Next Saturday, when she brought his laundry, she invited him to take
dinner with her again on Sunday, but he was too shrewd for her and
declined, saying that he understood her purpose. The message which he
had heard in the sermon, however, stayed with him. On the following
Saturday the good woman again invited him to take dinner with her on
Sunday. He declined. When the third Saturday came, before she had time
to extend her usual invitation, he said: "I am coming to dinner with
you tomorrow." He went according to promise, and after the meal had
been finished, they did not take a round-about course, but went
directly to the church, and there the man listened to the gospel again
and gave himself to Christ. He has not missed a service since unless
providentially hindered. I asked him if he was sorry of the step he had
taken and he replied: "No, indeed. It is as Paul says, 'A salvation not
to be repented of.'"
There can be but one inevitable result to such faithful witnessing as
this. One of the most hopeful signs in connection with the work in
Brazil is the fact that a large percentage of the members of the
churches endeavor to lead others to Christ in a personal way. A large
percentage of them will conduct public services wherever the
opportunity can be found. In the First Baptist Church in Rio there are
more than twenty men who will go out and conduct public services. They
are not skilled preachers. They may have very limited education, but
they can take the Book, read it, explain its message through the light
of their own individual experiences, and by this means of witnessing to
the power of the saving grace of God in their own lives, they are able
to lead many to Jesus. Is not this after all the kind of preaching our
Lord has sent us into the world to do?
The severest persecution which these Brazilian Christians are called
upon to endure is not that which comes to them when they are stoned, or
when their property may be destroyed or when their business may be
taken away from them through boycotts or when they may be turned into
the streets through the bitter hatred of hard-hearted priests, but the
most trying persecution is that which comes from the insinuating
remark, the sneer of the supercilious and the doubt of the envious. The
taunt of hypocrisy is often thrown into the teeth of native Christians.
Their motives are frequently impugned. I was profoundly impressed with
the answer they usually give to such persecutions. They reply by
saying: "See how we live. Note the difference between our careers now
and our careers before we became Christians." And this challenge of the
life is the one which will finally answer the ridicule and doubt of all
who assail them.