CHAPTER XII — The Latin American Field

CHAPTER XII --- The Latin American Field XII. THE LATIN AMERICAN FIELD
By Mack Kercheville

If we are to successfully evangelize Latin America we must understand and learn how to overcome quite an array of obstacles. First of all, though, we need to know the size of the job. There are 130 million people in Latin America. If in over a hundred years of effort we have not completely evangelized the 137 million of our own country, we mustn’t think it will be a quick campaign for us south of the border. But these 130 million people of Latin America are scattered over an area of 8 million square miles, an area three times the size of the United States, which makes the. job all the harder. In other words, just to know the size and the population of this field is to know that it will require stupendous effort to evangelize it. But the field is further complicated by the fact that it is divided into 20 different nations. Every national boundary we have to cross tends to slow down the work, because we have to adapt ourselves to new laws and customs. Every one of these 20 nations has its own immigration rules, its own laws governing religious activity, its own customs and traditions. We have to learn how to deal with the peculiar situation in each country in order to plant the Gospel there.

Theoretically most of the Latin American countries guar-antee the same liberties of speech, press, and religion that our own Constitution allows, but actually such is not the case. For example, in Mexico there are a number of laws which curtail our freedom of action. It’s illegal in Mexico to preach on the street corner or distribute literature on the streets. It’s illegal to rent a hall and use it for religious services. In order for a man to have full rights and liberty as an evangelist he must first get a license from the Government. He can’t get that license unless he is a Mexican citizen, and until he has a church house built according to Government standards and opened by Government permission. That is merely a sample of the kind of restrictions we are likely to meet in any nation of Latin America.

Then, of course, there is the language problem. In none of the republics to the south of us will you find English spoken. They speak Spanish in 18 of them, Portuguese in one of them, and French in one. That means that some of us will have to learn a foreign tongue to reach them with the Gospel. It means that we will have to go to some extra expense and trouble training young Latin Americans so they can go to their own people with the Gospel. It means that we will have to spend considerable money and time getting literature written in the languages of those people. The language barrier is a real one, but it must be hurdled. Did you ever stop to think that, in giving the Great Commission, Jesus required some of us to learn a foreign tongue? If we can’t go to Heaven without fulfilling the Great Commission, then we can’t go to Heaven without learning other languages. In other words, our salvation depends in part on our willingness to learn foreign tongues. I don’t mean that every individual must learn another language to be saved. But I do mean that if a man has the ability and the opportunity to preach the Gospel in some other tongue and doesn’t do it that he will have to answer before God for his neglect. “To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not to him it is sin.” Americans are notoriously lazy about learning other languages. But members of the Lord’s Body cannot conform to that custom and do the Lord’s will.

However, the greatest of all obstacles to the success of the Gospel in Central and South America is the Roman Catholic Church. Here at home we consider Catholic communities the most difficult in which to work. But I can assure you that there is no place in our country where the Catholics are so well intrenched as they are almost everywhere to the south of us. The Catholic clergy has such a strangle hold on the Latin Americans, not only religiously, but socially, politically, and economically that only the most zealous and peisistenl effort on oui part will accomplish anything. There are fanatics among the Catholic people who will 3top at nothing to prevent the spread of non-Catholic faiths in those countries. Did you know that Protestant missionaries were killed this last year in Mexico, their homes burned, and church property damaged? One of our own evangelists, Brother Gabriel Perez., was forced to appeal to the Governor of the State because his life was in danger. In addition to these serious types of persecution, there are many other kinds of opposition- Christian business men are boycotted. Stores refuse to sell goods to non-Catholics. Church property is subjected to vandalism. Even little children are beaten up on the school ground because their parents have forsaken Catholicism. Homes are broken up, husbands and wives separated, children disowned by their parents all because of Roman Catholic fanaticism Don’t misunderstand me. I don’t intend to say chat ALL Christians in Latin America suffer persecution like tins ALL the lime. But I do want you to know that such things are so common as to constitute a real problem for the Church in those countries.

Now, add to these problems and obstacles that I have just mentioned the difficulties common to the preaching of the Gospel everywhere, and you will have some idea of the task that is before us in this field. But I want to emphasize, with all the. force I can that there isn’t a problem nor obstacle in this work that can’t be overcome. I don’t want any of you to get the idea that it is impossible to establish the true church in Latin America. In the first place, I refuse to use the word impossible in connection with the Gospel anywhere any time. Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation.” There is power in the Gospel—dynamic power—God-given power. Isaiah said that the word of the Lord would not return unto him void. I believe that, and it doesn’t make any difference in what language nor in what country it is preached. People have told me that it’s impossible to make converts among the Catholics. But I don’t believe it, because I have had the privilege of baptizing former Catholics with my own hands. Some say, when they see the difficulties of evangelizing Latin America, that it can’t be done. But I refuse to believe that the Lord would have told us to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature if that were an impossible assignment. It’s our business to go ahead and preach the Gospel to the whole world. It’s God’s business to give the increase, and He will do it just as He did in Corinth, Athens, Rome, yes, even in Caesar’s household! If you can find a spot more unlikely for the Gospel to succeed than there, I would like to know about it.

Many of the Protestant denominations have established themselves rather firmly in Latin America. In practically all the major cities of Mexico you can find prosperous Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian churches. If they can overcome all the obstacles, and plant their perverted gospels there, we can certainly plant the truth in Latin America.

I believe the job can be done because of what our brethren have already done. While some of us “practical minded folks” were sitting around counting up on our fingers reasons why it would be a waste'of time to attempt the evangelization of Latin America, a few men like Brother Howard L. Schug and Brother John F. Wolfe, who were too “visionary and impractical” to know the task was impossible, went to work and did it. In the 20 years they have been working in this field they have succeeded in establishing a pretty firm beach head for the Gospel among the Latin Americans. The result is that there are now about 1,500 to 2,000 Spanish-speaking Christians living in the United States, Mexico, and Cuba. There are approximately 30 small congregations meeting regularly, and almost that many preachers giving all or most of their time to the preaching of the Gospel in Spanish. Brothers H. L. Schug and J. W. Treat are co-editors of an eight-page monthly paper printed in Spanish which serves to give us instructive and inspirational articles and to keep us informed of the work being done in different fields. Plans are now being made for the building of a Christian school in Mexico, with perhaps a clinic too. In the meantime, the college here is rendering the Latin American work a great service with their liberal scholarships offered to young Spanish-speaking men and women. We have three boys in school here this year from Mexico, who are planning to go back to their country as Gospel preachers. The work is gathering momentum, and I’m confident that in the next 20 years we will see astounding progress in Latin America. New workers are coming into the field, new congregations are being established constantly. A number of churches over the country, following the lead of the College congregation here and the Montana and Raynor church in El Paso are backing the Mexican work with their time, money, and talent. The Tampa, Florida, church is backing the very successful Cuban work with the cooperation of other congregations. The pessimist who says the job can’t be done is out of date. The job not only can be done; it’s being done by the help of the Lord. But some, instead of being pessimistic about the work, are extreme optimists. They expect the Gospel to sweep Latin America like wild fire as soon as the first sermon is preached in Spanish. Then when it doesn’t turn out that way they become disappointed and lose respect for, the work and the workers. They expect too much of the work too soon. Imagine, if you can, a congregation of less than 50 members in which not a member had heard of the church of Christ 10 years ago. Imagine a congregation like that which has to increase its membership by converting Catholics. Suppose that in that church the members are moving away at the same rate that members move away from the average congregation, but no new ones were moving in to place membership. You see, in the Mexican field, congregations are so few that it’s very rare to have any additions by the placing of membership. Now suppose this imaginary congregation has a preacher who is a foreigner who speaks very imperfectly the language. Suppose this church has no Bible school literature, very few tracts and pamphlets, and no books at all to help teach them the doctrine. If you can imagine a church like that you will know why some of the Spanish-speaking congregations grow rather slowly. We don’t want either extreme optimists nor pessimists in the Spanish-American work. We want and need the help of people who have plenty of faith in the power of the Gospel and a real understanding of the difficulties of the field.

Now, I would like to take up the rest of the time naming some of the things you and I can do immediately to speed up the campaign for the evangelization of Latin America. The first thing that I’m going to suggest is the elimination of racial prejudice. It is and always will be impossible for us to influence people as long as we feel or act like we feel superior to them. If there were nothing else wrong with our custom of racial discrimination but the fact that it hinders our efforts to preach the Gospel to the whole world it would have enough to condemn it. Jesus, by His example in John 4 talking to the woman of Samaria, and by the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10 condemns racial discrimination in die clearest terms. The same lesson is confirmed by Peter’s experience on the house top in Acts 10. Yet our own brethren today have allowed racial and national egotism to creep into the Church to such an extent that they will not and cannot fulfill the Great Commission. There are, as we all know, racial differences which must be recognized. I certainly wouldn’t argue that all races are the same, because they are not. But the idea that any race is inherently superior to another is a myth based on an over supply of egotism and an undersupply of information on the subject. If we go to the Latin American people with a patronizing and condescending air of self righteousness, we not only will fail miserably in our missionary effort, but we will damn our own souls besides. Brethren, we are already failing to reach the Latin American people right here in Texas because of our selfrighteous attitude toward them. Let’s pray fervently that God will help us rid our hearts of such sinful pride!

I mentioned the elimination of racial prejudice first because it must come before this second suggestion which is to increase our campaign among the Spanish-American people right here in the Southwest. Many of these people speak English, and you can teach them the truth without having to learn their language. In the three years I have been in El Paso, I have converted more Mexicans by teaching them in English than I have by teaching in Spanish. There is no reason why many of the congregations here in the Southwest couldn’t have a number of Spanish-American members in them except that we just haven’t paid enough attention to these people to reach them with the Gospel. So I urge you to invite them to the services and make them feel welcome when they attend. Give them good literature to read. Provide them with Bibles. You are making a mistake if you assume that all Latin American people in your community are devout Catholics and wouldn’t listen to anything else. Many of these people are hungering for the truth. I promise you that, even though you will find many fanatical Catholics among them, you will also find a surprising number of them ready to read any good literature you give them, ready to talk to you about the question of religion, ready even to open up their homes and invite their neighbors in to hear the truth as soon as you gain their confidence. Then after we have converted Spanish-speaking people at home, we can send them to others of their own race to preach to them much more effectively than we ever could. The quickest way to evangelize Latin America is to evangelize the several million Latin American people in the United States.

You already know the importance of suggestion three: the backing of the Latin American work with your money. The brethren have been very generous in backing this work in recent years. But the need for money continues because there are some big jobs still to be done. We urgently need more and better literature printed in Spanish. At present we have “El Camino” the monthly paper published here in Abilene, and a few short tracts, and that’s all in the way of literature. We need better facilities for training Spanishspeaking preachers, teachers, and workers. Both of these jobs cost money. Then there is the eternal need for church houses in both Mexico and Cuba. I explained to you earlier that it is illegal to rent a hall and use it for religious services in Mexico. We can have private services in a private home, but we have to go from there into a church house built according to Government standards and opened by Government permission. Obviously no church can become strong enough meeting in a private home to build the kind of church house it needs. So our assistance in the building of church houses is urgent. We are just finishing a much needed building in Juarez, Mexico. The College congregation here is now sponsoring the building of another house in Durango where Brother Francisco Avila preaches. If you are in a position to cooperate with that or any other building program in Mexico, please remember its importance. To make financial matters worse, Mexico and most of Latin America is suffering seriously from inflation. A few years ago the American dollar would buy twice or three times as much as it does now. Some of our evangelists down there now need a raise in salary to meet increased living costs. But we want more than your money in the Latin American work. We want your prayers. Paul not only preached; he prayed for the salvation of souls, saying, “My heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is this: that they might be saved.” He also asked for the prayers of others in his work. All evangelists need your prayers; but especially those who are laboring in foreign fields under special handicaps. You may not be able to go yourself, nor even send money, but you can certainly pray for the work. And I can assure you that many times your prayers will be more important than any gift you could make because there are some problems that neither man nor his money can solve. We need God’s help to solve them, and we need your prayers in our behalf.

Let me close this talk on a note of optimism by telling an experience Brother Ramirez and I had in El Paso about a year ago. We were doing some house-to-house work in East El Paso among the Mexican population. We knocked on a certain door and explained to the senora who answered that we were Bible teachers offering a home Bible study course free of charge as a public service. At first she was a little hesitant, but we continued to explain that we had nothing to sell, no ism to promote, just plain Bible teaching. Finally she smiled and said in Spanish, “He estado orando que alguien viniera para ensenarme el evangelic).’’ (I have been praying for someone to come and teach me the Gospel.) Before I had time to answer Brother Ramirez replied, “The Lord sent us in answer to your prayer.” The woman immediately opened the door and said, “Pasen astedes.” (Come right in.) About two months later we baptized that woman and her daughter even though we taught under a handicap. She explained to us the first day that her husband was very prejudiced against “protestantes” and that we would have to come when he wasn’t there. We agreed to do so, but the trouble was that he changed shifts every two weeks, so we had to do the same to keep from arriving when he was there. But this thought for your consideration. If there was one person praying for somebody to come to her with the Gospel, doesn’t it stand to reason that there are thousands of other Latin Americans with the same prayer on their lips? Whatever the cost, whatever the sacrifice we must find those people and satisfy their hunger for the truth. I want the pleasure of telling others as Brother Ramirez told this woman, "The Lord sent me in answer to your prayer.”